If You Take the Enemy Prince as Your Knight Chapter 70

“Ah…” I remembered. “When I gave Regen the poison, I accidentally swallowed a little myself…”

 

“Have you been like this the whole time?”

 

“I think so.”

 

I only had one antidote with me. Of course, I gave it to Regen, so now I have none.

 

Regen seemed to realize this too as he didn’t ask about the antidote and instead immediately scooped me up into his arms. My feet dangled off the ground as I let my body completely lean on him. Startled, I lifted my head, only to find Regen’s face right in front of mine.

 

“Put your arms around my neck.”

 

It was something I often heard when we kissed, so for a moment, I almost got confused. It seemed like I was completely out of it from the fever.

 

“Regen…”

 

“Just hold on a little longer.”

 

Regen carried me swiftly across the garden. His embrace felt safe. With that certainty, I soon lost consciousness.

 

✦

When Regen returned to the Silver Bird room carrying Sasha, Hamel, who had already learned of the situation through the imperial palace’s intelligence network, had everything prepared in advance.

 

After giving Sasha the antidote and laying her on the bed, Regen’s role was finished. Undressing Sasha from her dress, changing her into comfortable clothes, and wiping her body with a damp towel to lower her fever were tasks beyond Regen’s scope.

 

Even after being detoxified, Sasha remained delirious and tormented by the fever throughout the night.

 

A knight with a robust body and a princess with average stamina, would, of course, respond differently to poison. From Regen’s perspective, Sasha was nothing short of fragile. He couldn’t shake off the anxiety of what might happen if she couldn’t endure. That’s why he volunteered to stay by her side all night instead of the maids.

 

Holding one of her hands to his forehead as if in prayer, Regen repeated the same words over and over. “You’ll be alright soon.” He said to her the words he most wanted to hear himself. Though each one gripping and twisting his heart, he endured every moment as faint groans occasionally escaped her lips.

 

Her breathing finally steadied in the dead of night, when the sky had turned pitch black. And it wasn’t until much later, when the faint light of dawn began to creep through the window, that Sasha opened her eyes.

 

“Uuh…”

 

“Sasha, are you awake?”

 

“Regen.” Her throat, hoarse from groaning all night, made her voice sound pitiful. Feeling self-conscious, Sasha quickly closed her mouth. As soon as she sat up, Regen brought a glass of water to her lips with his own hands.

 

“I feel like I can finally breathe again.”

 

Sasha, propped up against several layers of pillows, and Regen, seated on a stool, faced each other. She could feel his gaze carefully examining her, likely checking if there were any lingering signs of pain. Until the unease in those golden eyes subsided, Sasha waited patiently.

 

Regen let out a small sigh before speaking. “I was really worried.”

 

“So was I.”

 

“…I was talking about you being unwell, Sasha.”

 

“Can’t a sick person worry too?”

 

The concerns of someone who had nursed another all night and someone who had been unconscious all night were bound to differ. For Regen, whose top priority was Sasha’s well-being, her response was frustrating. After all, she had made him worry so much. But it was hard to argue with a patient.

 

“Alright. How could I possibly win an argument with Your Highness?”

 

“Seems like you already have. You’re making such a big deal out of just calling me by my name.”

 

Regen flinched at the sight of Sasha turning her head away as if sulking. It felt unfair. No matter how much he tried to make a show of his concern with a single call, it couldn’t compare to the way the princess could toy with someone’s heart with just a gesture. Of course, Sasha, noticing Regen’s lack of response, quickly tried to soothe him with her words.

 

“I’m fine. As you can see, I’m all better now.”

 

“Yes…”

 

“Were you very worried?”

 

“…” Regen took a moment to catch his breath. Could ‘very’ be enough to describe the weight of it?

 

He replayed the worries that had gnawed at him during the time the world seemed to darken. From the moment the possibility arose that the woman before him might come to harm, he had to scrape the bottom of his patience. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was enduring, but one thing was certain—if he didn’t hold on, he would lose himself.

 

As is often the case with those revisiting unpleasant memories, Regen’s gaze dimmed. His lowered eyes landed on Sasha’s hand, resting delicately atop the blanket. It was the same hand he had held tightly on his own throughout the night, refusing to let go.

 

“Regen?”

 

Without a word, he took her fingertips in his grasp. In Regen’s subconscious, Sasha’s hand was already half his. His thumb brushed over the delicate, prominent bones of her hand, tracing them one by one. Regen himself was the only one unaware of how much the motion resembled a caress.

 

“Please don’t get hurt.”

 

“…”

 

Sasha felt a bit embarrassed by the straightforward comment and averted her gaze slightly. “I’m always trying. Taking care of one’s health is important, after all.”

 

“Try harder. For my sake.”

 

“Alright.”

 

As Sasha nodded in the entrance, Regen smiled. Every time he got a satisfying answer from her, he smiled in the most charming way.

 

“You must be hungry.”

 

A food tray that had been prepared in advance was moved to the side table. As expected, Regen didn’t hand Sasha a spoon. Lately, he had refrained from feeding her directly because of Demia’s watchful eyes, but now that she had just recovered from being ill, he didn’t care about imitating an overbearing older brother.

 

While Sasha ate, they talked about what had happened today.

 

“I heard from Princess Golden Deer. She said that while I became a racehorse, Sasha became a high roller at the gambling den.”

 

“That was thanks to you, Regen.”

 

“2, 6, 5, 1, 3, 7, 4. Memorize it.”

 

Before the competition began, Sasha had slipped poison into Regen’s mouth, and Regen had whispered a code into her ear. The listed numbers were the ones drawn by the personal knights through a lottery. The sequence of the numbers, quite intuitively, started with the first princess and ended with the youngest princess.

 

“How did you know memorizing the numbers would come in handy?”

 

“I didn’t think Marquis Osbond would have them draw lots without a reason. Separating the personal knights from the princesses also seemed deliberate. I’m glad you figured out the meaning and used it well, Sasha.”

 

“Thanks to you, Regen.”

 

Regen wasn’t just being polite when he gave Sasha the credit. In truth, he had overheard Bellinger giving Vivian the same code before the match started. However, Vivian had dismissed it without much thought. Moreover, winning a gambling game and pressuring Gwendellin to reveal the antidote were entirely separate matters. His survival was solely thanks to the fact that his princess was Sasha.

 

“Sasha saved me, so I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

 

“There’s no need for repayment.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Well, obviously…”

 

“Because I belong to you?”

 

“…”

 

Regen decided to bring up the bold declaration she had made right after their kiss. For some reason, Sasha, who had been so confident back then, now blushed deeply and couldn’t say a word. And Regen, strangely enough, felt his heart pounding. When he had only heard it, it left him slightly dazed and made his heart beat a little faster. But now that he had said it himself, his chest felt like it was about to burst, and his mind was spinning.

 

The air in the bedroom seemed to carry a subtle heat. During the peculiar silence that followed, Sasha and Regen were busy gauging each other’s expressions. After a silent tug-of-war over who would speak first, Regen lost.

 

“Since it seems you’ve finished eating…”

 

“…” Sasha lifted her flushed face and looked up at Regen, her eyes filled with anticipation.

 

“Get some rest.”

 

As Regen turned to leave, Sasha was startled. Her hand moved faster than her words, grabbing the hem of Regen’s clothes. “Today.”

 

“…”

 

“Are we skipping it?”