It didnât seem to be a told lie. Elodie Perdia that he knew was a woman who could not tell a lie. Sheâd rather be angry and violent than deceitful.
It is said that no one can change overnight, so what she was saying must be the truthâŠ.
For some reason, in an unhappy mood, Adenmir asked casually. âWho is the counterpart in this crush?â
âShould I tell you about that, Your Highness?â When Elodie opened her pretty eyes wide and asked again, Adenmir felt like he was stabbed.
âAnyway, thatâs why I canât keep my engagement to you anymore.â
Elodie tried to lift the teacup and put it back down.
Seeing Elodieâs fingertips tremble like mad, Adenmir speculated that she was nervous.
There was no way the teacup could be heavy.
âWhen are you going to hand in the divorce papers?â She asked.
Adenmir looked at Elodieâs lips, which always seemed to be talking about breaking up.
âBreak up of marriage, itâs a broken marriage.â
There was nothing that could not be done.
Elodie Perdia was not suited to become an empress, so it was Adenmirâs task to think about what to do when he became emperor in the future.
It was rather a good thing.
She said she would leave on her own and there was no reason to refuse.
Since Elodie mentioned breaking up the marriage first, the Duke of Perdia will not be able to pass the blame on him. That way they can keep their political relationship intact.
But â
âWhy donât I want to do it?â Adenmir furrowed his brow once more as he contemplated this question.
Saying that you have a crush on someone out of nowhere and talking about breaking up marriage right after.
No matter how much Adenmir thought about it, the greedy Elodie Perdia was not someone to give up the position of empress.
Adenmir watched Elodie carefully. He saw something he hadnât seen before.
She was in a cold sweat, as if something had been poking her.
He had heard rumors that she had visited the Duke of Perdia everyday to beg to be betrothed to him, and he had already known her feelings when he agreed to the engagement.
It canât be so easy to break up a marriage after all that.
It was clear that she still had a crush on him, too. Adenmir was convinced.
âThereâs no way sheâs going to give up her position as the future empress,â he decided smugly in his head.
âPrincess.â
âYes, your HighnessâŠ.â Elodieâs voice was so small and muddled, it sounded as if it was crawling out of her.
Come to think of it, she couldnât even raise her face properly.
Adenmir spit out the question he had been harboring all along.
âWhat the hell are you doing?â
ââŠâŠ.What?â
âIf youâre trying to get my attention like this, youâd better stop.â
ââŠâŠOkay?â
Adenmir, who saw Elodie looking at him with a pale face that had previously been red, got up from his seat.
âThere is nothing that can prevent you from breaking up the marriage if you wish, but itâs not a matter to be decided in a hurryâŠ.it would be better to discuss it again later.â He threw out his words coldly, gazing down at the still-seated Elodie.
ââŠâŠâŠ..â
âIt would be better to talk about that at the emperorâs â rather, your potential father-in-lawâs â birthday banquet, as we talked about earlier in a letter.â
ââŠâŠâŠâŠâ
Elodie, who said nothing, began holding her head and slumped down in her seat.
âAre you trying to attract attention by pretending to be sick? Itâs not even funny.â He had no intention to fall for such a farce. Adenmir, who didnât want to be played, headed to the door.
It was then.
Thud.
Adenmir turned his head to an unusual sound from behind, and saw Elodie collapsed on the floor, helpless.
âPrincess?â He called skeptically.
âAre you acting like you just collapsed?â
With the intention of seeing how far she would go, he crossed his arms and stared at Elodie, who had collapsed.
It wasnât long before he felt something was wrong.
ââŠ. Princess.â
ââŠâŠâŠâ
âPrincess?â
There was no answer.
Adenmir, who walked with a big stride straight towards Elodie, looked at her condition. Her body was like a ball of fire. Her breathing was unstable and cold beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.
At best, it was all about dancing together at the banquet.
His worries about the fallen person in front of him were brief. Adenmir, who took Elodie in his arms, stormed out of the drawing room.
âHello!â
He walked in the hallway and looked for people, but he couldnât find a worker walking around in the annex where Elodie stayed.
As if in a haunted mansion!
It was strange.
No matter how illegitimate the only daughter of Duke Perdia is, how can there be no permanent occupants in the building where she is staying?
It was rare for him to personally visit the Perdia family, and when he did, he tended to not notice it on purpose, but that was not now the case.
Regardless, he couldnât leave the patient alone, so he went into any guest room nearby and laid Elodie down.
âYou do all sorts of things,â Adenmir muttered.
He came here to see what Elodie was thinking and to discuss the emperorâs birthday banquet, but something unexpected happened.
As he sighed, he saw a maid passing by through the open door.
In his memory she was the exclusive maid who was always next to Elodie. Her name was Martha.
She was the second worker who came into his sight after stepping into this annex. The first was the worker who had served the tea, but she hadnât shown her face again since.
âCome here,â he commanded.
âYes, Your Highness?â
âYour master has collapsed.â
At the words, the worker who glanced inside the guest room nodded as if it was a familiar sight.
I didnât have any strength in my body due to the still-remaining poison, but my bodyâs condition was much better than before, perhaps because I woke up after sleeping.
Holding my forehead with my left hand, I felt uncomfortable and took my hand off.
Bandage.
While making an antidote, I remembered that I didnât have to wait if I used my blood instead of water. I accidentally cut my arm with a thread trimmer while trying to poke my finger.
It was probably because of this, combined with Elodieâs weak body that I was still not in good shape days after drinking poison.
The bandage I wrapped around myself was not well wrapped because of my poor skills, but now the bandage on the wound was definitely applied with an expertâs skill.
âHeâs an old-fashioned doctor. He said he would never see an illegitimate child and he didnât come often.â
Although they did not show it openly, there were people in the mansion who hated me as an illegitimate child, and one of them was the doctor of the house of Perdia.
In fact, neglect was a familiar thing, so it was nothing new.
âBut where am I? Whose room is thisâŠâŠ.?â
When I came to my senses, this bedroom I was in was very unfamiliar.
It seems to be a guest room in the annex, but why am I here?
Then I suddenly realized that I was talking to the First Prince in the drawing room. I could roughly predict the situation; I seemed to have collapsed while talking to the first prince.
Just in time, Martha came inside.
âMiss, youâre up! I brought some lukewarm water. Take your medicine, too.â
Probably Martha wasnât so surprised at the fact that I collapsed because Iâve been collapsing excessively due to poison in the past few days.
It wasnât perfect, but it was because they were saying that it was because of the power blooming.
âYes, but Martha, what about the First Prince?â
âHe left as soon as the doctor arrived.â
As expected, I collapsed in front of the first prince.
âWhat are you going to do?â
As long as you live, people may fall in front of you.
I swallowed the medicine Martha gave me, taking it lightly.
At any rate, it will be useless because of my power. Whether it is a medicinal drug or poison, it will be purified if it enters my body. Still, if I donât take it, Martha will be worried.
Rather Iâm more curious about how the breakup story endedâŠ.
âHis Highness told me to deliver this to you when you wake up,â Martha added, handing me a slip of paper.
I read the paper with interest.
[Iâll be at your mansion 30 minutes before the birthday party starts. Iâll see you then.]
âWhat?â
A strange sound came out of nowhere.
It didnât make any sense.
âWhy donât you break up our marriage?â I scoffed.
âI donât know. Could he have a crush on our young lady?â
I snorted and killed the letter by cutting it in half.
âThatâs nonsense, Martha.â
In the first place the prince hated our engagement, but he maintained it because of his political interests.
So, if I say I have someone I like, of course I thought the first prince would ask me to break up the marriage. Itâs obviously my fault, so he can blame the other person and keep the political interests intact.
The first prince, who insisted on interfering with my independence, was quite annoying, but I decided to put it aside as a priority.
âItâs okay. We still have a lot of time.â
There are three years left until my sister is adopted, so all I have to do is organize it well.
Preparations for independence are progressing step by step. Until then, letâs save money like hell!
âŠâŠâŠ. I thought.
A few days later, while walking down the hall. I immediately encountered a minor ambush.
âI greet the young lady. Where are you going?â
A familiar face entered my vision. It was a face I have often seen, but it was my first time since I found my memories from my past life.
The moment I saw the face, the sentence from the book came to mind by itself.
[Who would have known? Tector Arold, an aide to the Duke of Perdia, a loyal servant like a dog, would put a sword in the back of the Duke of Perdia.]
Tector Arold.
A future traitor.
And three years later, he would be the human being who swaps the poison during the attempted Estelle poisoning, and then causes us all to discover that Iâm not a member by blood of the Perdia Family.