Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Poisoning
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Why?
Why him?
Daphne couldn’t believe what had just happened right before her eyes.
Why had he collapsed?
With his eyes closed, Asherad was carried away. The red trickle of blood from his mouth soaked into his white clothes. Daphne sat there for a long while, her hands trembling uncontrollably.
She remained lost in thought like that. It wasn’t as if she were trying to figure out a reason. She simply couldn’t accept it, so she was escaping reality.
No one paid any mind to Daphne in that state. Quite some time later, Yohannis came looking for her.
“Daphne.”
Is he dead? What happens if Asherad dies? Don’t tell me the Emperor has passed...
“Daphne, pull yourself together.”
Yohannis let out a sigh as he took in Daphne’s dazed, trembling form.
When Yohannis’s hand touched her, Daphne flinched in shock and shrank back. Her face was ghostly pale, as if she might drop dead at any moment—no, as if she might simply wither away.
“Ah... Viscount.”
Daphne’s voice shook. Tears welled up in her large blue eyes. She tried her best to regain her composure, but her breathing came in ragged gasps. It was a typical reaction for someone in deep shock.
“Breathe in slowly and deeply. Then exhale.”
Daphne followed his instructions, taking big breaths. Her gasping seemed to ease a little.
“Asherad is safe.”
Daphne’s body jerked. Was it a wish that he had died? Or relief? She didn’t even know what she felt herself.
“You need rest.”
Daphne nodded weakly. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, she spoke up.
“My tea... He collapsed trying to drink my tea.”
“I know.”
“Yes...”
Right, that must be why Veronica’s maid was dragged off. Daphne’s hands trembled.
“The Thalassa Princess has been taken into custody. She insists on her innocence.”
“...”
“It seems she was trying to poison you.”
Poison? Trying to poison me? Why? That woman had no reason for it. Daphne recalled Veronica’s calm arrogance. She could have crushed someone like Daphne without resorting to poison.
“Yes. Whoever planned this apparently lacked that kind of judgment.”
Daphne gave Yohannis a puzzled look at his words.
“Then who...”
Yohannis didn’t answer. Yet somehow, Daphne felt she already knew.
“In the Thalassa Kingdom, the person with the greatest power is undoubtedly the Queen.”
“...”
“She’s the Empress Dowager’s mother.”
As Yohannis explained slowly, Daphne’s mouth fell open. Why was the Empress Dowager’s mother coming up here? Yohannis continued, seeing her confused expression.
“The Empress Dowager wields no power here. But in the Thalassa Kingdom, she commands great influence.”
“...”
“More than the Thalassa Princess—no, the Arald Duchess.”
“That means...”
“I believe the Empress Dowager bought off one of the Arald Duchess’s maids. Being Thalassan, the maid would have been easy to bribe.”
Calista... Daphne ventured the question, peering at Yohannis’s composed face.
“Is there evidence?”
“We’ll have to trace the poison’s source. If we don’t find it...”
“If not?”
“Then the Empress Dowager becomes the nation’s highest authority.”
Daphne’s mouth fell open.
* * *
The moment Calista entered her room, she let out a scream. A wail of torment.
“It’s your fault! Your fault! All your fault!”
She snatched up the hairpin she’d been wearing and stabbed at a cushion as if it were a deadly weapon. Feathers scattered from the shredded fabric.
She absolutely hadn’t meant to kill Asherad. Daphne was supposed to drink the poison and die, with Veronica pinned for it. That was the plan.
Uncharacteristically, she’d put some thought into it. She’d bought off one of Veronica’s maids.
It hadn’t been hard. Veronica had scattered maids to gauge the palace mood; all Calista had to do was snag one and pay her off.
The Emperor would grieve losing Daphne. It didn’t even matter if the grief wasn’t deep. If his love wasn’t that intense, Calista could reclaim her shattered pride. And Veronica—poisoning in the Emperor’s very presence—would face dire punishment.
Calista hadn’t given a thought to endangering ties between her homeland and the empire. Truth be told, she wouldn’t have cared even if she had. Hadn’t her homeland cast her out?
She’d thought she could pull it off.
She’d succeeded before. That was how she’d killed her husband.
But... but!
Why Asherad... why did he eat it...!
Why?!
Was he that willing to take food from her hand? Were they that tender, that unbound? Tears streamed from Calista’s eyes.
The sight of Asherad vomiting blood and crumpling lingered vividly.
She’d cried out “No,” faintly—but she’d known it was already too late.
She’d wrecked her own scheme.
The absurd part, though...
“Empress Dowager! Count Dito seeks an audience. Ah, and Baron Inesil too!”
Calista let out a hollow chuckle at the attendant’s words. Asherad’s collapse had drawn a swarm of people requesting her audience.
If Asherad died, the imperial family’s elder would decide the successor. She, Calista, would hold that power.
“They said he’s in critical condition...? He’ll die soon...”
Calista’s hands shook.
Fine, it’s come to this...
“Seize that wench! That wench!”
She’d rip her apart and kill her. The root of every problem! Calista bellowed.
* * *
Duke Turbul and Yohannis were reviewing the royal guard. With the Emperor in peril, the realm would tremble. Duke Turbul had rallied the capital’s forces alongside Count Rocania.
Yohannis frowned at the knights in the palace.
“Hm? Aren’t you her protection detail?”
Daphne’s guards were here.
“I summoned them.”
Yohannis turned. Duke Turbul approached. Yohannis spoke, his face hard.
“His Majesty’s command. Protect that young lady.”
“His Majesty comes first. We’re one man short as it is.”
True enough, they couldn’t spare anyone in this crisis. But...
“You’re hoping Daphne ends up in danger.”
Yohannis’s voice was even, but laced with ice.
“And you—why make such a fuss over one woman? That seductress’s whelp.”
Disgust flickered across Duke Turbul’s face. Father and son locked glares. Yohannis’s expression sharpened as he growled low.
“She’s the one Asherad loves.”
“...”
“Don’t you see? She’s the only one he acts like a child around.”
Duke Turbul’s eyes widened. Yohannis abandoned any further explanation to his father, mounted up, and spurred his horse toward Daphne’s quarters.
He had to get her to safety, just in case.
Her...
He raced to her door. Knock knock. No reply.
“Daphne.”
He called politely. Still nothing. Asleep? A chill premonition gripped him, and Yohannis threw the door open.
“Daphne!”
The room stood empty.
* * *
For three anxious days, biting her nails in her room, Daphne went to see Asherad.
She found herself at his side before she knew it. He lay there like a corpse. The healthy flush of his skin had turned bluish. Even that exquisite face was fading helplessly under the poison’s merciless assault.
Physicians labored over his treatment. Daphne recoiled at the sight.
To her eyes, Asherad’s state looked dire. She was shooed away by the crowd before she could even draw near.
No one spared a thought for the lover whose intended gift had vanished.
‘What will you do without me?’
His voice echoed in her ears. Had he sensed it was the end? No—Asherad wouldn’t fall to poison. He who ended the century war, the Sun God incarnate. A hero.
Mere poison couldn’t take him.
“Ah, ah...”
Back in her room, Daphne clutched her eyes and sobbed. She couldn’t name the feelings surging through her, but the tears poured out. Why are you lying there?
This wasn’t what she’d wanted.
A knock sounded then. Daphne sniffled and bade them enter. A figure in dark garb stepped inside.
A man in black. Prominent cheekbones, gaunt frame. One of the kitchen staff, surely? Daphne narrowed her eyes.
“Who are you?”
“From Count Rocania.”
“...”
“Daphne, you must flee. Now.”
“What?”
“The Empress Dowager’s ordered your arrest.”
Daphne flinched.
“I’ve done nothing wrong...”
“Wrong can be invented. Say you’re an accomplice to the poisoning... All power rests with the Empress Dowager now. Escape before she comes for you.”
Daphne’s heart thundered. Flee... Flee! She snatched up the jewels she’d readied for flight. The moment she melted into the shadows, swordsmen converged on her room.