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Chapter 50
Calix said I would feel better after some rest and told me to call him right away if I got worse. Then he left.
‘Am I really just nauseous?’
I hadn’t looked good, but until a little while ago, I’d been perfectly fine.
‘Maybe the poison I ate hasn’t completely healed yet?’
Lena was still taking medicine prescribed by the imperial doctor. Calix regretted bringing her to the party so soon.
He wished this was the Hertrio mansion. If it were, their rooms would be connected, and he could freely check on her condition.
‘As soon as she feels better, we’ll return to Hertrio tomorrow.’
Grinding his teeth, Calix walked down the hall toward his room. But before that, he had something else to do: meet the Emperor.
It was the perfect time to see the Emperor without Lena knowing. But leaving her sick behind made it hard to take a step forward.
None of this felt right. The discomfort gnawed at him. After much thought, he finally decided and headed toward the Emperor’s palace.
The moment Calix left, I jumped out of bed.
It wasn’t a lie that I wasn’t feeling well. It wasn’t just nausea—I felt sick and my head ached too.
Thinking about meeting the Prince earlier sent chills down my spine.
“Do you plan to tell Duke Hertrio about me? You really shouldn’t.”
I had been threatened.
“Oh, and if you happen to meet Lenia, please don’t tell her you met me. She wouldn’t like it if she knew.”
He had also made an outrageous request.
My mind turned cold.
So all the panic and shouting when I was poisoned—that had been an act?
Even as I collapsed, I had clearly heard the Prince calling for the Emperor in fear. He had seemed shaken.
‘So that was all fake?’
I was too shocked to even speak.
Meeting me today had clearly not been part of the Prince’s plan. When he realized who I was, the awkwardness I saw on his face was definitely real.
‘But how does he know… about me?’
My hands trembled.
‘No… He said he’s working with Lenia.’
Lenia. The heroine from the original story.
I hadn’t expected to learn about her like this.
“Do you plan to tell Duke Hertrio about me? You really shouldn’t.”
The threatening words echoed in my mind as I paced around the room, recalling the conversation.
When I met the Prince in the hallway, there had been no one else around. Unfortunately.
I had to work hard not to show fear.
“Do you plan to tell Duke Hertrio about me? You really shouldn’t.”
That was his answer when I asked what would happen if I told Calix I’d met him.
I replied sharply.
“Why not?”
“Because unlike you, the Duke has much to lose. For example…”
He smiled lightly, as if he had just thought of something, and snapped his fingers.
“What if I tell people Duke Hertrio is hiding Truxia’s missing daughter?”
I clasped my trembling hands together to hide it.
“The Emperor already knows that.”
“But knowing and covering it up is different from making it public.”
The Prince never lost his smile. He spoke to me like I was a little child who needed guidance, and it was infuriating.
I had to stay calm in front of him. I took a deep breath and steadied my heart.
“No. The Emperor won’t do that.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because the Emperor wants the dragon.”
The Prince smiled again, as if he pitied my innocence.
“Oh dear.”
“Have you never considered he might get rid of you and just take the dragon?”
“If that was his plan, he would have taken the dragon long ago.”
If I disappeared, he wouldn’t be able to get the dragon. He had five years to take it while I was missing.
The Emperor needed me. That fact had never been more comforting.
The Prince spoke softly.
“So you trust my mother?”
“I trust your mother’s greed.”
“Hmm.”
His eyes narrowed, as if trying to measure me.
“But even if my mother doesn’t get rid of you, she could still get rid of Duke Hertrio.”
My heart dropped like a stone.
“If she needs you to control the dragon, she’ll be even more eager to remove the Duke. That’s how my mother works.”
A choking sound escaped me.
“No… I would never allow that…”
“Of course, that would make it harder to get your cooperation. But my mother doesn’t care about such things.”
Even though he was talking about his mother—the Emperor—his tone was irreverent.
“Do you know the excuse my mother used when she destroyed Truxia?”
“…”
“You don’t know, do you?”
I didn’t answer, but the Prince could tell.
“She claimed Truxia was studying forbidden magic with the intent to harm the imperial family.”
“…”
“That’s how she wiped out an entire noble family. Who’s to say she won’t do the same this time?”
It felt like ice water was poured over my head.
“Of course, I wouldn’t do that myself.”
He added the words as if to comfort me, but they only sounded like another threat.
My mind went blank. The trembling in my fingertips spread through my entire body.
‘The Emperor might target Calix?’
Simply because his presence at my side could get in the way of her plans?
I had never considered that possibility.
‘The Emperor could destroy Calix the same way she destroyed Truxia…’
I closed my eyes tightly. Even in front of the Prince, I couldn’t hide my agitation. I was practically handing him my greatest weakness: Calix.
“…What do you want from me?”
It was a surrender after a long silence.
The Prince stepped closer and lifted my chin with a finger, examining my face as if I were some precious item.
It was humiliating. For a moment, his eyes reminded me of the Emperor’s.
“I don’t want anything from you, Lady Lena.”
His answer came after appraising me like merchandise. I glared and whispered.
“…Liar.”
“Does it sound like a lie? But it’s true.”
Because Lena can’t do anything.
His eyes said exactly that.
“Ah, but there is one thing. Don’t tell Lenia we met. As I said, meeting you today wasn’t in my plan. It would be inconvenient for me.”
Even as he said “inconvenient,” his face looked satisfied, like someone enjoying a delicious dessert.
I glared at him instead of answering. He only shrugged.
Then he suddenly let out a small exclamation, as if he’d just remembered something.
“And it would be better not to tell Duke Hertrio we met either.”
“Is that a threat?”
“A favor.”
A favor?
“If you don’t tell anyone you met me, I won’t tell anyone I met you.”
Not the Emperor. Not Lenia.
The unspoken meaning was clear.
“Shall I give you some advice?”
The Prince tilted his head slightly, looking at me like a younger sibling he was lecturing.
“You and Duke Hertrio are poison to each other.”
“…”
“You’re each other’s weakness. Between someone with nothing to lose and someone with much to lose, who do you think is at a disadvantage?”
He left without waiting for my answer.
“You’ll find out soon enough even if you don’t answer now.”
He was right. If I exposed the Prince’s secret to someone—like the Emperor or Calix—he would know instantly.
But he was so confident, so composed.
‘Does he know I won’t be able to say anything?’
The Emperor probably didn’t even know his son was this twisted. If she did, she wouldn’t have let him be.
The Prince had just spent the entire time threatening me.
If I told the Emperor or Calix he was colluding with Lenia, he would make sure the Emperor eliminated Calix.
‘The Emperor might eliminate Calix.’
I felt the blood drain from my body.
Even now, when I closed my eyes, I could see that night clearly: the Truxia estate burning, servants running away, shouts echoing everywhere. I barely escaped through a secret passage.
I had run and run until I reached a cliff—the very place I had planned to die.
I waited there for Calix to find me. And when he did, I jumped in front of him.
Saying I wasn’t scared would be a lie. But I had no other choice.
The last image I remembered was Calix standing against the backdrop of the burning mansion.
I opened my eyes and forced away the nightmare.
‘I can’t let something like that happen to Calix. Never.’
If I told him the Prince was working with Lenia, he would immediately tell the Emperor.
