The light is a bit uncomfortable.
I woke up with the sun blinding me and had to scream inwardly at the sight of the Grand Duke’s face in my field of vision.
I’d gone to bed after the old lady left, my mind racing, but I couldn’t believe I’d slept like this all night.
The Grand Duke, too, was sound asleep, holding me in the same position as last night.
He’s so pretty in his sleep, especially since I can’t see his fierce eyes.
‘If you open your mouth, you’re going to…….’
I want to get out of this embarrassing position.
I gingerly lift his arm around my waist,
The arms around me did not budge.
The Grand Duke is still in a deep sleep.
I lifted his arm with a little more force.
Still, his arm didn’t move.
The Grand Duke, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly opened his eyes.
The sudden eye contact startled me, so I let out a loud yell.
“After sleeping in my arms all night, you’re getting rid of me because you don’t need me anymore?”
“……Are you making fun of me?”
The Grand Duke opened his eyes and immediately began to crack jokes in a hushed voice.
What a strange man, in more ways than one.
I blushed with unnecessary shame, even though I knew it was a joke.
“Now, will you please remove your arm?”
The Grand Duke removed my hands from around his waist.
The searing warmth that had warmed my body vanished.
“Still… thank you, I slept well thanks to you.”
“I often have nightmares, but I slept so well tonight that I don’t think I had any…….”
The Grand Duke, who had raised his upper body and leaned against the bedspread, looked at me in surprise.
“You even know how to say that?”
What the hell is this man taking me for?
“A thank you is a thank you.”
I had the illusion that the Duke’s face was glowing in the bright sunlight.
He ran one hand nonchalantly through his disheveled hair and smiled.
“It’s good to hear that from you this morning.”
“Are you going to ……go to the priest again today?”
“The priest named Varan, who made the poison yesterday, if you remember.”
Varan was one of the two men who struck up a conversation at the door as the priests were exiting the meeting.
The priest who had brewed the poison that was ordered to him.
“The poison will be used in the Imperial Palace, so we’ll have to catch up.”
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
If Eden’s followers are on the side of Omen and the Queen, it would make sense that the poison would be used against Entry Noctis, the Crown Prince.
I nodded in agreement with the Grand Duke.
“I’ll get ready as soon as I can.”
Apparently, when the two priests were talking, they said they had already completed the poison.
You never know when or where they’ll need to use it.
As I follow the Grand Duke out of bed, he looks at me with a puzzled expression.
“What are you preparing for?”
“I’m going to go find the priest named Varan……with you.”
Why is he asking me such an obvious thing?
He spared my life to use me for something like this.
The Grand Duke narrowed his brow at my words, stepped toward me, grabbed my shoulders, and set me back on the bed.
“You’re not needed, so get some rest.”
“I’m fine, I slept well, I’m not sluggish, and I’m energized.”
Apparently, my complexion wasn’t good at the abandoned palace.
I figured I should go along with him, so I held out my hand and laughed.
“Seriously, you need my skills.”
That’s what the old lady told me. To trust myself and trust her.
We’re not dealing with the queen right now, and I need to be a part of this, so this will be done quickly.
If the priest is right, and the poison is already complete, so then whatever happens, will happen.
“Ha, that’s what you said at the abandoned palace yesterday. You don’t listen.”
“Well, the gathering was bigger than I thought, and there were more priests, so who has time to rest now?”
If I’m going to get out of this novel, I’m going to have to hang on for dear life.
Since I already caught the Queen’s eye as the Grand Duchess, I’ll have to win my way out alive.
“You were almost in danger yesterday.”
The Grand Duke gripped my shoulders, holding me down.
“Your Majesty protected me.”
Before the priest could do anything, the Grand Duke easily subdued him.
Even if it wasn’t to protect me, but to get the priest, it’s clear that he’d hidden me behind him.
“I can count on Your Majesty to protect me in the future.”
“I’m not very good at using my body.”
I smiled as brightly as I could and pulled the Grand Duke’s hand from my shoulder.
The Grand Duke’s lips parted slightly, and he quickly turned his head away.
His ears were burning red through his hair.
“The snake’s aura is strong, so it will be difficult for you to use your abilities.”
Even after saying this, the Grand Duke seemed unwilling to lose.
“I’ll do the physical work, so you can rest.”
“But you kept me alive to use me in times like this.”
The Grand Duke scrunches up his face strangely at my words as if he’s a pint off.
“I don’t want myself to worry, so I want you to rest in the manor.”
His blunt words stabbed me in a strange way.
A strange feeling of trepidation rather than pain.
Eventually, I forced myself to nod.
The Grand Duke turned away from me, his face still stern, and stalked out of the bedroom.
“Your Highness, what is the matter?”
Harton, who had been instructed by Denver, had already located Varan’s residence.
Most of Eden’s followers lived on the outskirts of the capital.
Still, as a fairly high-ranking priest, Varan lived in a larger mansion than the others.
No wonder, since he took his orders directly from ‘that person’.
The whole time he and Harton were walking out of the capital, Denver’s expression was grim.
He wasn’t just nervous about following in the priest’s trail.
Harton, who had been by his side for so long, recognized it.
“You don’t think I don’t know Your Highness? That kind of lying doesn’t work on me.”
Harton, who resembles his master and is so blunt, replied indifferently.
Denver does not know what he is facing now.
His face is even more set than when he meets the Queen and the prince.
“Cut the crap and follow me.”
“I’m following along. If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t ask more.”
Even though Harton had been by Denver’s side for so long, he couldn’t figure out why he was looking like this now.
He hadn’t looked like this since they’d returned from the palace, even when the captured priest hadn’t spilled any information.
Denver narrowed his eyes and huffed.
“……Ah, you mean the snake we saw in the abandoned palace yesterday? Of course, because I’ve never seen a statue with so much energy.”
It was clear that Denver, the master of Harton, the master of Perus, was troubled by his main enemy, the Queen.
If not for that, he was an indifferent master.
The corner of his mouth curled up in a sneer, and he hurled a mocking glance at Harton.
For a split second, Denver’s eyes flashed violet, like those of the black lion, Perus.
“…Your Majesty, did I not tell you, please, not to reveal yourself outside our territory?”
And what if someone sees him?
Harton wasn’t surprised, but he was scolding him.
“Then why are you doing this, if it’s not because of the Queen?”
Harton’s question made Denver pause for thought.
He thought she was a good hand, and he’s sure he kept her alive because he thought she was useful.
Now that she’d said it out loud, he couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable.
‘But you kept me alive to use me in times like this.’
Those words make his mouth taste bitter.
The Grand Duke, who was supposed to go after Varan, hasn’t returned to the manor for three days.
That was unnerving enough, but it was the dream I had this morning that left me shaken.
Dewy grass, a cool breeze, and Denver Noctis lying on the ground.
A dark shadow running fast, a vial in his hand, feet scrambling.
With the shout of an unidentified man, I blinked open my eyes.
An unpleasant dream. An ominous dream.
I woke up in a cold sweat and gasped for air.
The nagging feeling never left me.
“Hardin, you didn’t find him today?”
“Yes, master……. The Grand Duke seems to be covering his tracks.”
I asked Hardin to look for the Grand Duke, but it seemed to be too much for him.
We must go to the place I saw in my dream.
If my instincts were right, this had to be a premonition.
There was a lot of grass and trees, and a few small houses passed by as the stranger ran.
I wondered if there was anything I could do to make the place more specific…….
I closed my eyes and slowly replayed the dream.
The grayish dream quickly flashed through my mind.
“I see a mountain range surrounding the imperial palace. They can’t be far from the capital, then.”
For now, Grand Duke Noctis is outside the capital.
“There are a few small houses clustered together, and a narrow, fast-moving river off to the side.”
“……Master, I don’t know what you mean.”
“A village on the outskirts of the capital, with a narrow river running through it. Do you know where it is?”
Hardin looked surprised by my sudden question, but calmly rolled his eyes.