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Chapter 12…
If he pushed her into panic, wouldn’t her true feelings come out?
If, when she stood on her toes to kiss him, he swallowed her lips and pushed her down onto the bed—would she still keep acting innocent? Kirion was curious.
“Please excuse me for a moment, Your Majesty.”
With trembling hands, the Empress lit the incense candle.
The scent spread instantly, and Kirion stiffened.
The fragrance was strangely rich and dizzying. He took a deep breath.
The moment he smelled it, he knew. This was poison incense. With a scent this strong, its effect had to be intense as well.
There was no need to guess what kind of effect. It was clearly designed to drive a man mad.
‘So it was a trick after all.’
A hollow laugh rose inside him.
As expected. Just as he thought.
The woman who had been trembling as if she knew nothing chose the perfect moment to release the seductive scent. Even while lighting the candle, she wore a pitiful expression, as if she might faint from nerves at any second.
Kirion silently applauded her acting. As the marquis’s pawn, she was impressive. Not only was her performance skillful, but her timing—her understanding of a man’s psychology—was precise.
Perhaps she had even been trained in the arts of the bed, despite that innocent face.
Did she think that once he smelled the incense, he would rush at her?
If so, he had no reason to disappoint her.
Kirion twisted his lips into a faint smirk and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Ah…!”
A startled sound escaped her.
Calmly, Kirion flipped her over and pushed her onto the bed. Her head touched the sheets as she looked up at him with wide, startled eyes—like a frightened deer.
“Y-Your Majesty?”
Was she cheering inside while pretending to be shocked? Thinking that even the lofty Emperor was just another man in the end?
‘Unfortunately.’
Lowering his head to press his lips against her neck, Kirion thought coldly.
No poison affected his body. He was immune to all toxins—a trait he had gained from his unusual upbringing.
His mind was as clear as ever.
And yet—
“Ah…!”
The moment his lips touched her neck, the Empress shuddered.
Her skin was impossibly smooth. A sweet scent rose from her, like she had been soaked in honey and perfume. It was as if sweetness would spill out if he bit her.
What is this?
An alarm rang in his mind.
Perhaps the Empress herself had been raised like a poisonous flower. As his tongue traced the curve of her neck, he considered the possibility.
He was only touching her skin, yet his clear reason wavered with impulse. The scent rising from her was sweeter than the incense itself.
When he lightly grazed her with his teeth, she let out another broken sound. It was less a moan and more like the cry of prey about to be devoured. Beneath him, her body was stiff as a board.
“A-ah, Your Majesty, wait…!”
She gasped urgently.
Was this what it felt like to be a thug forcing himself on an innocent village girl?
Kirion, born noble as royalty, found the feeling unfamiliar—and unpleasant.
She knew exactly how to draw out a man’s darker desires. She clearly understood how to make someone want to dominate and ruin her.
That meant she was far from innocent.
He didn’t know whether his disgust was directed at the Empress or at Marquis Zephyr. Perhaps both. They had dared to toy with him.
“Ah—Your Majesty, please listen—”
Her hand tried to push him away, but there was no strength in it.
He caught her wrist and pinned it to the sheet. Then he tilted her chin up and pressed his lips to hers.
“Mmph.”
He chased and tangled with her fleeing tongue, drawing her in. Each brush of their bodies made the sweetness intensify until it nearly drove him mad.
Poison flower.
The word surfaced again. There were women raised entirely to trap men like this.
Her pale hand tapped weakly at his shoulder, as if she was running out of breath. Only after he had taken in as much of her breath as he wanted did Kirion release her lips.
“Ha… Y-Your Majesty…”
Even as she struggled to breathe, her lips moved as though she still had something to say. They were swollen and red.
“This… this isn’t the incense I meant to light…”
Her voice was so faint it was hard to hear, but there was a moist, sensual tone to it.
Kirion lowered his lips to just beneath her collarbone. The dress she wore for their wedding night was loosely fastened at the chest with only a knot. It looked like it could be undone with one hand.
Her white shoulders were flushed pink like flower petals. The redness deepened toward her chest. He found himself wondering how red she was below.
His thoughts were a mess, like mud during the rainy season. He took a deep breath.
When he looked up, her eyes were closed, as if she had surrendered to everything.
He brushed her cheek and spoke in a low voice.
“Is this how you wanted it to unfold, Empress?”
Her eyes flew open. She stared at him in disbelief.
He deliberately lifted the corner of his lips.
“The stage you prepared and your acting deserve praise.”
As he spoke, he reached out and crushed the incense candle beside the bed.
“But poison at this level has no effect on me.”
As he said it, he mocked himself inwardly.
Immune to all poisons?
He let out a hollow laugh.
He had nearly lost himself over nothing more than a kiss. Like a tyrant from history, his reason had nearly been swept away by desire.
“Y-Your Majesty…”
Her eyes shook violently. She must think everything had been exposed.
“Please… just listen to me once. This incense really…”
She took a shaky breath.
“It truly wasn’t what I meant to light…”
Her eyes looked unfocused.
Something felt wrong.
“No…”
And then she collapsed, like a doll with its strings cut.
Seeing her sprawled across the sheets, Kirion felt a surge of irritation.
“Hah.”
The sight stirred an unpleasant sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen something like this before.
“Empress.”
“…”
“Shouldn’t you have grown out of pretending to faint to avoid punishment by now?”
She didn’t respond.
Kirion touched her eyelids. Her skin, which had been burning hot beneath him just moments ago, was now cold.
When he lifted her eyelid, her brown eyes showed no reaction. No matter how good an actress she was, she couldn’t fake that.
Only then did he realize she had truly fainted.
“…Court physician.”
His murmur echoed in the bedroom.
“Call the court physician! At once!”
His voice exploded like thunder.
The attendants waiting outside rushed in.
Lucrezia slowly opened her eyes.
Judging by the ceiling, she was clearly lying in the Empress’s bedchamber—but she couldn’t remember what she had done before falling asleep.
“…Didn’t you know? The temple framed the fairy race and persecuted them…”
The Emperor’s voice suddenly flashed in her mind like lightning.
That’s right. He had told her something shocking. And when he mentioned the word “fairy,” she had noticed that his tone was different. Unlike other citizens of the empire, who avoided the word as if it were taboo.
‘Perhaps His Majesty doesn’t hate the fairy race as much as others do.’
In fact, he seemed to dislike the temple and the high priest more than the fairies.
If that were true…
Lucrezia felt her fingertips tremble.
The Emperor might not kill her simply for being of the fairy race—if she gained his trust first.
At that thought, she let out a weak laugh.
‘Gain the Emperor’s trust? Someone like me?’
All she could do was simple healing magic. She couldn’t imagine him ever looking at her with trust.
Then the memories of last night began to return.
Lucrezia jolted as the scenes flooded her mind.
The warmth tracing her neck. The heat of another’s breath in her mouth. The overwhelming, burning sensations that made it hard to think.
‘I’m crazy…’
Her face burst into flames.
Touching her burning cheeks, she desperately tried to recall what happened.
But from the moment the incense was lit, her memories blurred like wet paint. Only the vivid sensations remained.
“The incense…”
Remembering it, she groaned softly.
The Emperor must think she had deliberately used it—to break down his reason and ensure they spent their wedding night together.
Any ridiculous plan of earning his trust now seemed even more laughable.
