“Ha…”
She stopped looking at the Duke's back.
She was going to leave anyway, and she had no right to expect anything from him.
She turned away from the Duke and sat down comfortably. After all, she didn't think she had much time to see him anyway, so she felt better. Alexa continued to hold the food, not sure if it was to encourage her or if she wanted to eat it.
The dessert was simple and a snack, but it looked very luxurious because it was the gathering place of the nobles. Time passed quickly as she watched people dancing and picked out fruit-decorated desserts.
"wife."
“Oh.”
Suddenly the Duchess was back at her side. She frowned at Clint, who stood next to her and continued eating the fruit. She mostly ate soup because she was acting, and everything was going well so far.
"Yes?"
Then Saiki suddenly noticed a crowd forming, and she tilted her head. Clint moved his gaze towards hers and opened his mouth to explain.
“The Crown Prince has come too. I have to go and say hello...”
Psyche stood up to go to the Crown Prince after nodding to him, but stopped in surprise. Clint also stopped talking.
"What is this?"
Something unexpected happened in an instant. She opened her mouth in surprise. It was because the Crown Prince collapsed to the ground unexpectedly. People shouted at him.
"Oh, my God!"
“Your Majesty!”
The Duke was the first to approach the Crown Prince. Psyche followed slowly. The Crown Prince, who collapsed on the ground, was conscious, but his face was pale and he looked like a corpse.
“This smell...”
Psyche, who had known the cause of the headache before, quickly covered her nose. Why wasn't she known for this disgusting smell before?
The scent of a plant has a strong presence. Once she discovered the identity of the plant, Psyche moved forward without realizing it.
“It's poison.”
She spoke indifferently and quickly approached the Crown Prince. It was clearly poison. She was sure. Psyche knew better than anyone that he was dying from poison.
Because Saiki's grandfather and biological parents were poisoned and killed. Fortunately, the Crown Prince was found immediately. The Duke took Saiki's hand and shook his head as she was about to leave. This meant no leaving.
"wife."
She was conscious. Moreover, if you go out of their way, the problem may get worse. But she couldn't let people die from the poison. This was due to the fact that the image of her dead parents was overlapping with the image of the Crown Prince's dying breath.
And this poison... maybe you can solve it.
Clint grabbed Saiki's wrist and prevented her from heading towards the Crown Prince. This was an implicit expression of non-interference in troublesome affairs.
She glanced at him quickly before shaking his hand firmly. The Duke was taken aback by Saiki's unusual appearance for the first time, and stiffened in place. Then he hurriedly gave the order to the terrified maid beside him.
“Bring gauze and cold water. Oh, I think there's snow. Snow too.”
With the Crown Prince lying on the ground, she faced the tragedy of the past.
“…”
She wasn't feeling well, Saiki's parents had died long ago.
Things from the past tend to fade away, leaving only a faded outline, like a stone worn away by the winds of time. However, some things in life cannot be forgotten even after time has passed. Sometimes, like total darkness, an event or memory is not buried in time.
Saiki's parents died one day.
Maybe even if Saiki died, he would never forget that day.
The whereabouts of the viscount couple remained unknown until late in the afternoon, and Psyche, who had just turned five years old, went out.
"Mom? Dad?"
The Viscount had always been a very hard-working person, so he never slept too much. Psyche ate breakfast alone at the table on that strange day, with no one else around. It was a strange day for sure.
No one answered her call, and parents do not return their children's calls. When Saiki entered the room, she suddenly turned the corner, and an incredible scene appeared before her eyes.
Even during the day, the couple's bedroom was dark, with blackout curtains.
His scent was strangely hazy, making her feel like she was about to get drunk. In addition to humid air. Overall, it was a weird day.
Psyche looked at the bloodless bodies of her parents in the darkness with her eyes. Even though there was no light, the dead person's face was so pale that she could not take her eyes off them.
"or…?"
Although she was young, she knew that the situation was very serious. This is something that should not happen. The cause of death was poison.
It was so precise that even the Viscount, who was knowledgeable about medicinal herbs and poisons, was fooled.
Later, when she reached adulthood, she realized who killed her parents. The Viscount's younger brother, in whom he placed the greatest trust.
No one in the world can be trusted. How could you betray your faith in this way? As a result, Saiki decided not to trust anyone.
Believe it or not, this will only make them stab you with a knife behind your back.
Let's think about it. Maybe the Duke was so kind that she trusted him all along.
“Well, I can't make the same mistake again...”
She had a firm belief in her heart that if she trusted anyone, she would always betray them again. A series of events made it more stable.
She shook her head to purify her parents' image of the fallen Crown Prince. Psyche spoke to the maid again, who was still surprised despite hearing her order.
“What are you doing? Hurry, get him.”
The maid quickly carried out her orders, so Saeki hurriedly checked his pulse between his ear and neck, and checked whether he could breathe on his own.
His breathing was weak, but it seemed that the poison had not spread through his body. When she went to check on the Crown Prince's condition, she saw his maid who seemed to be in a hurry and shouted in surprise.
“Don't touch it without thinking!”
When the servant tried to advance, Clint stopped him unexpectedly this time. He looked at Saiki with a strange face.
“Don't be rude to the Duchess.”
His face was so cold that the servant could not move forward. He was unable to do anything between his responsibility of protecting the Crown Prince and threatening the Duke.
"but!"
The Crown Prince's attendants were extremely puzzled. But Psyche didn't care and put her face close to the Crown Prince's lips. Her nostrils were filled with the strong scent of wine. The servant looked teary-eyed when he saw this.
“It is not a poison, and it does not react with silver.”
At this point, Saiki stood up.
"It's not poison if you just eat it. Did you bring ice?"
Then the maid who took the order delivered ice in a cup. When she tried to put the ice in the Crown Prince's mouth, the Duke came forward and snatched the ice.
“I will do it, wife.”
Eventually, as time passed, the Crown Prince's complexion returned to normal, and Saiki stood with a sigh of relief.
She stumbled because she was concentrating too hard, but Alexa next to her caught her so she wouldn't fall.
Thanks to Saiki's quick response, the Crown Prince, who was having difficulty breathing, was able to gradually regain his stability.
Fortunately, knowing how to deal with these difficulties was very useful, because she had been familiar with them when she was in Visconti.
“He will wake up soon.”
As soon as Saiki finished speaking, the Crown Prince coughed and came back to his senses.
"cough."
“Oh, Your Royal Highness!”
The disturbed servant embraced the Crown Prince as if he had only lived for that moment.
“Oh…”
"Oh my God! Your Royal Highness!"
The servant helped the Crown Prince get up with his careful hand.
“Oh…”
Psyche saw him awake and added simply.
“The tender leaves of the Zafia tree are expensive teas, but are toxic when consumed with alcohol, such as wine.”
Her words shook everything around him.
Everyone was curious because it was her first time participating after her quiet participation in all the gatherings and banquets and then her disappearance.
Saiki focused on explaining the matter to the employee, not realizing that she was drawing attention to herself.
“No matter how expensive or good it is, if you don’t know how to eat it properly, it can turn into poison.”
She smiled bitterly.
No matter how beautiful the outside looked, she felt that the words were directed at her and the Duke, so she felt annoyed.
It wasn't a toxic relationship, it is now. When she explained it, the servant shouted.
"Yes!"
The nobles were aware of the fact that the Duchess had an unexpected talent.
Those who assumed that the Duke would protect the deceased aristocrat on the outskirts of the city, who knew nothing, were astonished.
Everyone was grumbling and staring at Saiki.
The Duke's power, which was still strong, could not be strengthened any further. You saved the next emperor's life. When the servant heard her words, he asked her with a curious expression.
“How did you know it was Zhavia’s paper?”
As if everyone was waiting for Saiki to answer this question, he turned their attention to her.