I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 158

 

My anger flared, but my mind was clearer.

 

“Let me explain.”

 

I stepped closer to Sera, who was sprawled out on the floor.

 

“First, as a herbalist, I have learned alchemy to create a wider variety of medicines, but I am not skilled enough to create a new disease.”

 

It never occurred to me to create such a horrible bottle in the first place.

 

I’m a medicine maker, not someone who creates diseases.

 

“Secondly, mosquito repellent and mana relaxant are just two of the many medicines I’ve made.”

 

I admitted that I was lucky.

 

But I’ve been able to make more medicines than I could count, including the recipes I learned from my mom.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of them helped with the Monstera outbreak.

 

“Third, what I’m raising isn’t a demon; it’s a complete being, born from twisted mana but not corrupted.”

 

She flinches as she meets my unwavering dark eyes.

 

But then she shoots me a wicked look.

 

“Finally, I am also a victim of Monstera. My parents died because of it as well.”

 

When I was less than two feet away from Sera, I leaned over and whispered in her ear.

 

“You were at least prepared to get your head chopped off before you came here, weren’t you?”

 

Since you crossed me, you deserve it. I suppose you thought it was either my life or yours.

 

But she’s the only one who’s going to get her head cut off.

 

“Sera. Look who you’ve messed with.”

 

“You, you witch…!”

 

She raised her hand, glaring at me. It looked like she was going to claw at my face with her nails.

 

I watched as her hand moved.

 

It was a blink of an eye. Before I knew it, Carson had moved in front of Sera, grabbed her by the throat, and lifted her off her feet.

 

Her feet flopped in the air.

 

Gasp—!

 

Small screams came from all around as people were surprised by his sudden action.

 

The grip on her neck was so forceful that Sera didn’t even make a sound.

 

She just clutched her throat with both hands and struggled to breathe.

 

The banquet hall was abuzz with chatter. But at the center of the commotion, Carson’s face remained stoic.

 

Slowly, he turned to the Emperor and spoke.

 

“Your Majesty, do you know who this person is?”

 

As he spoke, a hush fell over the room, as if everyone were on edge.

 

“This is the same person who was banished from our empire of Lagras for wielding a dagger against me while I was a student at the Arena Academy.”

 

Sera’s body went limp as she struggled against the words. It was like she had fainted.

 

Carson didn’t even bother to look at her, just tossed her to the ground.

 

“Would you trust the word of a person like this, or the word of my fiancée, who stopped the spread of Monstera?”

 

His eyes were fierce enough to make it impossible to think he was facing the Emperor.

 

Not trying to convince him, but telling him that if he sided with him, he wouldn’t know what he was getting himself into…

 

It was a so-called threatening look.

 

The Emperor paused for a moment at the eerie realization, then narrowed his brow in displeasure.

 

“Your words and your eyes seem to be threatening me, the Emperor.”

 

Carson did not respond to the comment, merely silently curled the corners of his eyes.

 

The Emperor rubbed his forehead as though he had an impending headache. He was trying to calm his nerves.

 

His demeanor was made all the more unpleasant by the fact that the Lysianthus family had a long history of ill relations.

 

“…I will not answer the question of whose word I believe. We’ll find out whose right when we investigate.”

 

The Emperor’s fingertips turned to me.

 

“Please, take her into custody on suspicion of cultivating demons and spreading an infectious disease, and do not allow her to see anyone as the investigation continues.”

 

Then the Grand Duke made an urgent appeal to the Emperor.

 

“Your Majesty, this child is not a person who would commit such a scandalous act for the sake of falsely claiming honor or profit.”

 

“And how do you prove it?”

 

“I will vouch for it on my own name, Charidenes Potitua.”

 

The answer came without hesitation.

 

The Emperor’s brow narrows in disbelief.

 

“Grand Duke. You know what it means to put your name on the line, and if you fail to prove her innocence, you will be held severely accountable.”

 

“I am aware.”

 

The Emperor looked momentarily puzzled by the Grand Duke’s answer, then pursed his lips.

 

“I cannot allow you to be involved. I don’t mean to harm her, just detain her until the truth is known.”

 

“But that’s not…!”

 

“What are you all doing instead of taking her!”

 

Then the Grand Duke, who stood guard before me, drew a sword from his belt.

 

The well-honed tip of the blade gleamed sharply in the light.

 

“No one can take this child away arbitrarily. How can you persecute this child on the testimony of a maid when nothing is certain yet, Your Majesty!”

 

I stared blankly at the Grand Duke’s broad back as he stood in front of me.

 

No matter how much favor he claimed to have for me, this was beyond the scope of ordinary understanding.

 

To draw a sword against the Emperor’s orders.

 

At this point, I could no longer look the other way. I had intended to return to Lagras as it was, not dig deeper.

 

The Emperor frowned, disagreeing with the Grand Duke.

 

“… Persecute, you mean, it’s just a matter of cultivating demons, which is a high crime, just below treason!”

 

“Your Majesty, I say again, this child is innocent.”

 

“That’s something we’ll find out when we put her in custody and investigate.”

 

“Investigation, all very well, but didn’t you just make a judgment and issue an order based on personal feelings?”

 

“…Personal feelings?”

 

“It’s never too late to summon a child after you’ve fully investigated the circumstances.”

 

“It’s the Grand Duke who’s bringing up matters of personal opinion!”

 

There was nothing wrong with the Emperor’s words.

 

His current reaction was inexplicable from anyone else’s perspective.

 

Artificially cultivating demons was a serious offense.

 

Add to that the charge of spreading an infectious disease, and I was right to be detained until proven innocent.

 

That was, of course, assuming I was a commoner.

 

The current Emperor had been angered by Carson’s words, and was somewhat emotional.

 

So it was understandable that the Grand Duke would come out so strongly in my defense.

 

Being imprisoned on charges of cultivating demons and spreading the plague would have been a devastating blow to me.

 

I was a soon-to-be high noble in Lagras, married to Carson.

 

Therefore, to be imprisoned in Abascanthus would be a great dishonor.

 

In truth, as a noble, my honor was irrelevant.

 

Though I was sorry for the inconvenience to Lysianthus.

 

The real problem was that if I were detained here, this offense, which was only an ‘alleged’ crime, could be seen by the public as a legitimate offense.

 

Why, it doesn’t matter. By the time, the public realizes that the person they thought was evil turns out to be innocent.

 

No one would care that I wasn’t actually the culprit.

 

It’s just that the arrow that was pointed at me has been shifted to the actual culprit. I would be branded as the one who spread the plague.

 

“Even if you had a personal connection to the Grand Duke, is that more important than Abascanthus, to whom you have given your life’s loyalty?”

 

The Emperor shook his head as if he didn’t understand the situation.

 

“It is unbecoming of the Grand Duke to be so emotional.”

 

“…All my life!”

 

The Grand Duke’s face contorted into a miserable grimace.

 

“I have devoted my entire life to it, I have given it everything I have, so you should be able to believe me…?”

 

His eyes glistened with blood, and his neck and hands stood out.

Alas.

 

Silently, I lowered my gaze. I couldn’t bring myself to look into the Grand Duke’s dark eyes.

 

It reminded me of my late father. But closing my eyes couldn’t stop the voices.

 

The Emperor’s angry voice pierced my eardrums.

 

“Caridenes, how dare you speak, come to your senses. She is but a commoner of Lagras. Not a person whom you can circle around!”

 

Then Carson’s voice joined in.

 

“A mere commoner, Your Majesty, you seem to have forgotten my introduction, the woman who will one day be the Duchess of Lysianthus.”

 

I lift my eyelids and see a look in Carson’s eyes that I’ve never seen before.

 

“You may be the Emperor of Abascanthus, but you have no authority over the nobility of Lagras.”

 

It was a strange look. But to my eyes, even he was endearing.

 

When the world turns its back on me, even if everyone forsakes me, he would never abandon me.

 

On the contrary, he would love me as only he could love me.

 

My lover was a jealous man.

 

The situation was grave, but I was relieved to have two absolute allies on my side.

 

So, I could stand tall before the Emperor of the Empire.

 

“You heard that? If you want to take me into custody, you’ll have to bring a little more solid evidence.”

 

🍃

 

While the Emperor was distracted, using Carson’s magic, I traveled straight to the Grand Duke’s mansion.

 

Along with the Grand Duke, who was forced to draw his sword in front of the Emperor.

 

Our disappearance from the banquet hall was obvious. Pandemonium must have ensued. The next day.

 

The Grand Duke was summoned to the Emperor at dawn and did not join us for breakfast.

 

It was noisy outside. The situation was even worse than I had expected.

 

I had managed to avoid being detained by the imperial court, but my actions seemed to indicate that I was a culprit in the eyes of the people.

 

People who knew I was staying as a guest in the Grand Duke’s house were barricaded in front of the mansion.

 

They demanded that the witch be burned at the stake.

 

That the Grand Duke must be possessed by the witch.

 

Some were shouting unspeakable insults.

 

Most of them had been victims of Monstera.

 

Carson quietly closed the curtains to cover the window.

 

Suddenly, there was no sound of voices. It seemed to be Carson’s way of showing respect. He stared at me.

 

Emotions surging. His eyes held a fury I couldn’t fathom.

 

I buried my face in Carson’s chest.

 

“I never wanted to be called a saint.”

 

I just did my job as a herbalist.

 

Just like my mother did. Funnily enough, though, it was only a matter of time before even being called a saint became a witch.

 

The public’s ears are thin, and they don’t bother to dig into the truth for themselves.

 

They see only fragments and accept them as truth. I wasn’t afraid. My innocence would be revealed one day.

 

My people in Lagras would not stand idly by.

 

But that’s what it was, and the injustice I felt hurt.

 

“This sucks. Why do I have to take the blame?”

 

“…Leen.”

 

He couldn’t wait to get back to his native Lagras. But I couldn’t leave the land while the charges were still pending.

 

And another thing.

 

I took Carson’s hand in mine, and we walked down to the mansion’s central foyer.

 

A huge picture frame covered with a white cloth.

 

I remembered how, a few days earlier, I had stopped one of the servants of the Potitua mansion and asked.

 

When I asked about the Grand Duke’s family, I was told that they had all died in the war.

 

The only surviving son, he said, had left the manor because the Grand Duke opposed his marriage.

 

His opposition was so fierce that it was hard to breathe in the mansion, which was filled with laughter and life.

 

His son’s name was…

 

“Yveruanhard.”

 

During my stay in the Grand Duke’s mansion, it was impossible for me not to feel anything.

 

Instead, I turned away.

 

I was frightened. The name of my family weighed so heavily on me.

 

Sometimes they were my strength, sometimes they were my shackles.

 

My life was changed by them, and I was betrayed by them.

 

Would I ever be able to accept a new family? Would it be better to pretend I didn’t know them?

 

I thought about that.

 

The words my father had left me also lingered in the back of my mind.

 

But yesterday’s behavior of the Grand Duke changed my mind.

 

How could I turn my back on the man who had drawn his sword to protect me in front of the Emperor?

 

I reached out and pulled back the white cloth covering the frame.

 

The cloth slides away, revealing a portrait of someone called ‘The Grand Duke’s Family’.

 

A face that looks much younger than I remember.

 

But the mischievous grin was all too familiar.

 

The corners of my mouth twitched upward forcefully. I only wanted to show that I was doing well.

 

‘Hi…’

 

“Dad.”