🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 14
A black leather-gloved hand coldly shut the guest room door, blocking her view.
A low voice came from above her head.
“Looks like you came to work again today.”
Prina shifted her gaze back to Hugo.
He was still perfectly composed, elegant from head to toe without a single strand out of place.
Come to think of it, Hugo was Deklin’s decoy knight.
That meant he had just been inside that room serving his master.
Then Deklin must be inside there right now…
The thought sent chills down her spine.
Was it fortunate that Hugo appeared instead of Deklin?
“Y-yes. I’m busy to death, actually.”
Her voice trembled at the thought of Deklin.
“You came from over there, didn’t you?”
Hugo’s tilted gaze slowly drifted toward the end of the corridor.
His red eyes, fixed on Count Seyton’s area, darkened slightly.
“Come to think of it, I think I found Lady Felt near that room a few days ago. What a strange coincidence.”
His smile was gentle, but something sharp hid beneath his soft tone.
Huh… familiar?
Why did it feel familiar?
Ah, right.
Back when they were dating, Hugo had once gotten jealous when she was briefly with another man. He had sounded exactly like this then…
“Are you interrogating me right now?”
Hugo’s brows lifted slightly.
“…Did it sound like I was interrogating you? I thought I was being quite gentle.”
He looked at her as if genuinely curious.
You’re always “gently” interrogating people.
Anyone who didn’t know him wouldn’t notice.
“…You’re the Grand Duke’s escort knight, right?”
That blunt question made Hugo stiffen for a moment.
But Prina couldn’t pretend anymore either. He had just come out of Deklin’s guest room.
He was definitely heading toward the banquet hall.
And he would drink the poisoned wine from Count Seyton.
The wine she had replaced.
So Hugo wouldn’t die.
“S-so, good luck. Live well. And… try not to overwork yourself…”
“…Is this a farewell?”
“Yes, yes.”
This really was the end of their connection. Even if she couldn’t return the ring…
He was rich anyway. He could buy another.
Prina glanced at his expensive outfit. Those buttons were probably gold.
It bothered her a little that he had called it something precious… but if it were truly important, would he have given it to her?
Having completed her goal of removing the poison, she had no reason to stay.
She walked past Hugo.
He didn’t stop her.
He only watched her back silently.
With an unreadable smile.
Prina returned to the palace kitchen, carefully carrying the swapped bottle.
Soon the poisoning attempt would fail, and Count Seyton would leave without killing anyone.
But why had Seyton chosen such a reckless method?
Even if he was cornered and about to be charged with treason after the banquet, poisoning his own offering still made no sense.
Typical nobles.
Always the same.
Then what should she do with this?
She didn’t even know how to dispose of poison.
Maybe she should take it home?
Poison?
…Well, maybe it would be useful someday.
She tucked the bottle away in a corner.
“Prina, what are you doing?”
Her coworkers noticed her.
“Is that wine? Were you sneaking a drink?”
“Hey! Share a sip with us!”
Prina panicked.
This is poisoned wine! Don’t touch it!
“A-aren’t you supposed to be working? What if the cooks catch you?”
“Prina, we deal with consequences after we get caught.”
Unbelievable. These people were more reckless than Count Seyton.
“You’ll get docked pay if you’re caught! And this isn’t even from the imperial kitchen—it’s returned wine from Daisy Hall. I just brought it back by mistake!”
“Tch.”
They scattered in disappointment.
As Prina sighed in relief and tried to hide the bottle—
Her eyes fell on a silver spoon on the shelf.
Almost instinctively, she picked it up.
She didn’t know why.
Everything happened too smoothly.
She opened the bottle and poured the liquid over the spoon.
Nothing changed.
“…What?”
She rubbed her eyes and stared again.
Silver was supposed to turn black when it touched poison. But the spoon remained bright and pure.
But this was definitely poisoned wine.
So why wasn’t it reacting?
Wait.
If this wine wasn’t poisoned in the first place…
Her thoughts froze.
Then why did Hugo die after drinking it?
“Prina, where are you going?!”
The workers shouted as she suddenly ran out.
There was still time.
She had to get to the banquet hall.
Before Hugo lost his memory…
There had been a terrible storm that swallowed the capital.
And that day, Prina had been horribly unlucky.
She had been swept away by the raging river swollen by torrential rain, on the brink of death.
The furious waters roared like they would devour even boulders.
People on the bridge could only watch helplessly as she struggled to survive.
Cold, filthy water filled her lungs, her vision dimmed, and just as she was about to give up—
One person jumped into that hell without hesitation to save her.
After she was pulled out, faint consciousness filled with Hugo’s voice.
She still remembered it clearly.
“Live, Prina. Please… breathe even if you have to force it.”
“This isn’t where you’re supposed to die…”
It felt like falling back into that day again.
A wet voice echoed in her ears.
If the poisoned wine reached him, Hugo would die.
Even a crow repays its debts.
So I’m saving you too.
That was why Prina kept running despite her burning throat and burning lungs.
Even if there was something unsettling hidden beneath his kindness, she could not let him die an unjust death.
Just this once.
