Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Poisoning (4)
-Splash!
The water pouring from Vivian’s mouth completely soaked my arm.
At this point, no food came out anymore.
Only black water mixed with charcoal spilled out.
Truthfully, perhaps because she had eaten so little, she began vomiting only water after the first few times.
This was already the twenty-second time.
But it still didn’t feel like enough.
After watching Vivian throw up the water, I stretched out my hand toward the maids behind me.
Their hands trembled as they handed me yet another cup of charcoal water.
Vivian had already reached her limit.
Her limp body had long since completely leaned against me.
Unable to endure the dizziness, she had even closed her eyes.
Her breathing came easier than before, but it was still so shallow and weak it seemed ready to stop at any moment.
“Drink more.”
Even seeing her like that, I still forced more water into her.
Exhausted, she now barely reacted to my words, her consciousness wavering in and out.
“...”
So I gently laid Vivian against my arm.
Then slowly poured water into her mouth.
By instinctive reflex, she swallowed little by little.
The floor of the hall was littered with cloths soaked black from the charcoal water.
The maids busily drove away the onlookers while others fetched fresh charcoal and ground it nearby.
The charcoal I originally prepared had already all been consumed by Vivian.
But now there was more than enough charcoal water ready beside us.
“Cough! Cough!”
Then Vivian suddenly coughed violently, unable to swallow properly.
I lifted her upright and patted her back.
The cup I had tried to feed her from tipped over and rolled across the floor.
“...”
After coughing, Vivian slumped weakly again.
I could instinctively tell she had reached her limit.
Pushing her body any further now looked impossible.
I spoke to the maids.
“Mix the charcoal thicker and prepare one last cup. She’s not vomiting this one back up.”
They obeyed immediately, preparing water twice as dark as before and handing it to me.
All I could do now was hope this final cup helped her.
I shook Vivian gently to wake her.
“Rondor, stay conscious.”
Her eyelids slowly opened weakly.
Beneath them, jewel-like red eyes looked at me.
“This is the last one. Drink this and then sleep.”
“...”
-Nod.
Vivian nodded again in agreement.
I brought the cup to her lips.
The rough texture of the charcoal clearly bothered her, because she frowned slightly.
But she still drank every last drop I gave her.
After swallowing the final mouthful, she looked at me again.
Her expression seemed to ask whether it was truly over now.
“...”
I nodded back at her.
That was enough.
The strength completely left her body.
She lost consciousness and collapsed limply against me.
“...You did well.”
I whispered quietly to her.
Then I slid my arms beneath her back and lifted her up.
“Urgh...”
She was heavier than I expected.
No.
I was weaker than I expected.
I’d gotten overconfident because my body had grown a little lately, but now I realized I really needed to train harder.
“W-We’ll carry her.”
The maids hurried over and spoke to me.
Maybe because I was still short, they didn’t trust me to carry her properly.
But I shook my head.
Because I trusted them even less.
These were the same maids who could do nothing while their lord was poisoned.
Even after she collapsed, their response had been slow.
If I were the head of the family, none of these maids would have escaped punishment.
...And besides, I suspected one of them might be the traitor.
I couldn’t entrust Vivian to them.
The moment I decided to stand on Vivian’s side, the scenery around me started looking different too.
Was this how Vivian had always felt?
Everyone suddenly looked suspicious.
Honestly, if they openly hated her like they openly hated me, things might have felt easier.
But pretending to care while hiding their true intentions only made them more unsettling.
Like I said before, the war had begun.
I didn’t know who targeted Vivian, but they wouldn’t give up just because the poisoning failed.
I planned to stay beside her until she regained consciousness.
There was no telling what tricks someone might attempt while she remained unconscious.
Maybe my presence wouldn’t really change anything.
Still, staying beside her felt better than leaving her alone.
“So clean this place up.”
After ordering the unreliable maids around, I started walking.
A few maids awkwardly followed after me.
I ignored them.
Vivian’s room was on the third floor.
Carrying her there was harder than expected.
By the time I finally laid her onto the bed, sweat was dripping from my forehead.
Vivian was running away.
“Haa...! Haa...!”
She didn’t know what she was running from.
But instinctively, she knew that if she stopped moving, she would die.
She pushed through thick bushes as she ran.
Far in the distance, she could see the backs of her father, mother, and brother.
“Ta-Take me with you too!!”
Vivian shouted desperately toward them.
But not a single one turned back.
“I-I’m here too!!”
Vivian was trying as hard as she could, but her family only drifted farther away.
Something seemed to cling to her body, slowing her movements.
The suffocating frustration was unbearable.
-Grab!
Then suddenly, something chasing her seized her shoulder.
Frozen with fear, Vivian couldn’t even scream.
When she turned around, Baellor stood there.
“It would be better for Rondor if you didn’t exist. You cannot become my lord.”
His voice was cold.
-Grab!
Someone else appeared beside her.
Her uncle, Robert Rondor.
“Vivian. Hand your position over to me. Rondor belongs to me.”
-Swish!
Treasurer Brinden stepped in too.
Clicking his tongue, he smiled greedily.
“Lady Vivian. Roktana has no need for an incompetent ruler. If you surrender your position... Count Corrod promised me gold coins. I trust you understand my decision.”
Then came her instructor, Lady Linne.
“Lady Vivian, please grow into exactly what suits my tastes. I’ll use you like a puppet.”
Intelligence Officer Nestor.
“Please continue being incompetent. There’s so much profit to skim from behind the scenes.”
Maid Sena.
“Please eat more, Lady Vivian. It’s full of poison.”
Vivian’s heart pounded wildly as they surrounded her.
“No... no...”
Their words were so cruel she wanted to run away, but her body refused to move.
The verbal abuse from the retainers surrounding her only intensified.
More merciless.
More horrifying.
Words that crushed every trace of hope.
She tried covering her ears, but it did nothing.
Their voices tangled together grotesquely and stabbed into her mind.
“Who would ever swear loyalty to a stuttering cripple?”
“I can’t stand seeing someone like you above us.”
“You were only lucky enough to be born well. You’ve accomplished nothing yourself.”
“Please disappear on your own. That would be best for everyone.”
She hated her family for leaving her behind among people like this.
Someone save me.
She begged desperately.
Someone please save me.
Trying to drown out the horrible voices echoing in her mind, she repeated her desperate plea over and over again.
Anyone... please... anyone.
-Grab!
At that moment, someone suddenly pulled her arm.
Vivian squeezed her eyes shut, suppressing the urge to scream.
But nothing happened.
Instead, the surroundings suddenly became impossibly silent.
Baellor’s voice.
Brinden.
Lady Linne.
Nestor.
Her uncle.
The maids, servants, soldiers, knights...
Everything vanished into silence.
Because of that silence, Vivian slowly opened her eyes and looked at her wrist.
Someone was still holding onto her.
Following that arm upward, Vivian lifted her head.
The one holding her was supposed to be her enemy.
Kylo Allen.
“...”
He said nothing.
He simply stood there quietly.
The strange sense of peace she suddenly felt calmed her racing heart.
“......Ah.”
Only then did Vivian realize this had all been a dream.
Her body sank heavily back into reality.
She could feel herself drenched in cold sweat.
Her entire body ached as though someone had crushed her.
Memories of what happened earlier returned, along with the reality that someone had tried to poison her.
Vivian slowly forced open her unbearably heavy eyelids.
Moonlight streamed softly through the dark window.
It seemed she had been unconscious all day.
She spent a long moment blankly adjusting to the lost time.
Then she heard someone lightly snoring nearby.
Her heart jumped in surprise, though her exhausted body lacked the strength to react properly.
Slowly, she turned her head toward the person beside her.
It was Kylo Allen.
Resting against her wrist, he slept peacefully.
“...”
His black hair tickled the back of her hand.
Vivian wanted to pull her hand away, but she lacked the strength to do so and remained still.
...No, perhaps she didn’t truly want to pull away.
Right now, his presence didn’t feel that unpleasant anymore.
It was absurd.
Only earlier today, she had stood at death’s doorstep.
The dizziness had been so overwhelming she couldn’t focus her vision.
Her stomach churned endlessly.
Her hands and feet grew cold while her body curled against her will.
The fact she could even open her eyes again now felt like a miracle.
She was terrified wondering who had done this.
Suspicion and fear tormented her.
Someone among the retainers and maids who stayed beside her... or perhaps someone else entirely... had tried to kill her.
Vivian realized the hidden monster had finally revealed itself.
Yet strangely, there was one person she no longer suspected at all.
The person she hated most.
The eldest son of House Allen.
Kylo Allen.
They antagonized each other.
Provoked each other.
Made each other suffer.
Yet Vivian knew with certainty that Kylo Allen was the one person who had never tried to poison her.
“If you die here... that would be too pathetic.”
Such a horrible thing to say.
Was he just saying he wanted to watch her suffer longer?
She was grateful he helped her, but an enemy was still an enemy.
And yet, how could something like this happen?
The person she hated most was the person she trusted most.
The paradoxical trust born within their hatred felt unbelievably strange.
Compared to the fake smiles of others, openly displayed hatred felt safer instead.
At least Kylo Allen wore no mask.
Unable to trust the people she should trust...
And instead trusting the person she should hate.
If she had even a little more strength left, Vivian might have laughed bitterly at herself.
But right now, it was also true that Kylo’s presence beside her made her feel safe.
Was this why Mother wanted him to become her guard?
Vivian didn’t know.
Sleepiness slowly overtook her.
Normally, loneliness and fear always made falling asleep difficult.
But tonight, wrapped in the illusion that she was finally safe, Vivian could peacefully close her eyes.
And this time, she had no nightmares.