Writing
I became acutely aware of how closely our bodies were pressed together.
‘So this is what it feels like when someone trains their body to this extent….’
The moment I became conscious of it, every one of my senses seemed to grow painfully acute.
And on top of that…
My eyes, having adjusted to the darkness, began to notice things I hadn’t realized before.
For instance, exactly where my thigh was touching his body, and where I had been patting him to help him relax.
When I tried to move my hand away, he flinched.
It seemed I had better just stay still.
As for my legs… I couldn’t even bring myself to move them.
“Sorry…”
I whispered softly, and Elhardt lowered his head.
His cheek, brushing against my face, was hot.
It seemed he had been so tense all this time not because of the Crown Prince, but because of me.
‘What if he thinks I was deliberately groping him?’
It was true that I had felt a certain impulse when I looked at his lips, but until then, I had been completely innocent.
‘Why does this man have to look like this?’
Even knowing I had made a mistake, my gaze kept drifting back to him before I could stop myself.
“Could the matter of closing off the western corridor…”
Meanwhile, the conversation outside was nearing its end.
“Others will take care of that, so just focus on your assigned task.”
The Crown Prince cut the mage off coldly and left the room first.
The mage followed him shortly afterward, and before long, both of their presences had completely disappeared.
Even then, Elhardt made no move to leave, so I spoke first.
“Shall we go now?”
“…Yes.”
We opened the cabinet door and slipped outside without making a sound.
When he carefully lowered me to the floor, a pang of disappointment completely at odds with the situation suddenly welled up inside me.
‘Please, get a hold of yourself.’
I rubbed my face to cool my burning cheeks, then glanced at Elhardt. The back of his neck, as he stood with his back to me, was just as bright red.
Ahem. I cleared my throat softly and spoke as though nothing had happened.
“I’ll check the Foreign Affairs office.”
I gave Elhardt some space, since he didn’t seem quite ready to move just yet.
‘There must be a reason the Crown Prince came all the way here with a mage.’
They must have visited this place at an hour when no one was around to retrieve something essential to their plan.
‘Judging by where their voices came from, it should be somewhere around here.’
I carefully examined the display cabinet that filled one wall.
‘Kivnil from Emerun, Benirop from Rakfer…’
Glass bottles of various shapes, each labeled with its place of origin and name, filled the cabinet.
‘Hmm… I can’t really tell just by looking.’
I recognized some of the place names, but most were unfamiliar.
‘Well, back then, there wasn’t much land where people could live safely.’
Wasn’t that the very reason Mikhail had founded a kingdom in the first place? To create a sturdy barrier where people could live in safety?
‘Even the territory that now belongs to Cradion had long been corrupted by demonic energy, and purification efforts were still underway.’
With my knowledge frozen in the past, it was difficult to deduce what these things were or what they were being stored for.
‘Medicinal herbs? Or spices?’
Perhaps they were trying to monopolize the trade of valuable goods?
“Those are ingredients for compound poisons.”
Elhardt approached me as I tilted my head in puzzlement. After briefly surveying the contents of the cabinet, he explained.
“For example, the substance in that white bottle causes paralysis just by touching the skin, while the red powder over there induces hallucinations over a wide area when burned.”
I looked at him in surprise.
“All of these things cause harmful effects?”
“Yes. Cradion sometimes uses the compound poisons it creates in experiments on the battlefield. Sometimes their effects are negligible, but other times, they can drive an entire village to its death.”
“How could they…?”
It was hard to believe.
Of course, war was inherently cruel and horrific, but wasn’t this an atrocity that crossed the line of what was acceptable for human beings?
“Is the Crown Prince planning to use one of these tomorrow?”
“Probably.”
I nodded at Elhardt’s answer.
“Don’t worry. I should be able to find it.”
Using magic in what was practically enemy territory was dangerous, but I had no choice.
Judging by their conversation, they had clearly laid a trap that would be difficult to avoid, even if it wasn’t a large-scale massacre.
‘Perhaps they’re targeting Elhardt.’
Considering they had mentioned someone’s appearance, it was likely the target was an outsider rather than a Cradion noble.
Had I been wrong to assume they wouldn’t harm Elhardt?
The circumstances certainly suggested as much.
‘That sudden order for us to attend the banquet was suspicious enough already.’
I had Elhardt step back while I drew a magic circle on the floor.
‘If I incorporate an equation that restores the original quantity of matter in space…’
A short while later, I carefully channeled mana into the completed magic circle, and tiny particles began to drift toward something.
“That one…!”
Elhardt checked the glass bottle I was pointing at, then turned to me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Do you know what it is?”
Elhardt nodded with a frown.
“It’s a powder extracted from a plant called cucury…”
He hesitated, looking somewhat uncomfortable, before continuing.
“It’s an ingredient in a compound poison commonly known as a ‘love potion.’”
Oh… A love potion.
“I think I have a rough idea of what it does.”
There had been a brief craze for a substance with the same name in the past.
In reality, it was nothing more than a one-time charm spell contained in a potion.
It didn’t even work particularly well on mana users with magical resistance.
But the compound poison developed by Cradion must work differently.
“Do you know anything about its exact effects?”
He shook his head at my question.
“It seems to erase roughly half a day’s worth of memories after the victim is poisoned. That’s all that’s known.”
In that case, the victim wouldn’t even be able to trace what they had drunk or inhaled.
‘And they’re planning to use something with such a suspicious name.’
It bothered me immensely.
“We’ve found out most of what we can. Shall we head back?”
“Let’s.”
After carefully erasing every trace of the magic circle, we left the Central Palace.
Fortunately, apart from the unexpected appearance of the Crown Prince, nothing else went wrong, and we made it safely back to the detached palace.
As I prepared for bed, I glanced at Elhardt.
His expression had been gloomy ever since we left the Central Palace.
He probably had an idea of what was going on.
‘Is the Crown Prince really targeting Elhardt?’
Perhaps, believing Bardia’s subjugation was imminent, he was already putting a plan into motion to bring Elhardt over to Cradion’s side.
‘Using someone’s romantic feelings is one of the oldest tricks in the book.’
It must be a method they kept using because it worked so well.
‘Come to think of it, Elhardt seems a little vulnerable when it comes to women…’
Even when he mistakenly thought I was trying to make a move on him, he hadn’t pushed me away. Instead, he had hidden me so I wouldn’t be discovered.
‘He might end up falling for it even if he knows what’s happening.’
“Elhardt.”
Elhardt was sitting on the bed, fastening the chain of his restraints, when he looked up at the sound of my voice.
“What is it?”
“Um, there’s something I want to ask…”
I swallowed as I watched his damp eyelashes slowly lift. He had just finished washing up, and his lashes were still wet.
Were those golden eyes a hereditary trait of Bardia’s current royal family?
They said gold could captivate people, and the color was so mesmerizing that it was almost unbelievable.
“Um, hypothetically… if you spent the night in bed with a woman…”
The simple question came out awkwardly, and I found myself stumbling over my words.
“Would you think you had to take responsibility for her for the rest of your life?”
“……?”
“Even if you weren’t in love, you could make a mistake, right? You might suddenly feel an overwhelming impulse.”
I would do my best to protect Elhardt, but given that I had to attend the Imperial Palace banquet as his maid, there was no telling how things might go awry.
If I took my eyes off him for even a moment and it was already too late, I thought it would be better to find out in advance how he would handle the aftermath.
Elhardt gazed at me for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“I would have to take responsibility.”
“Y-You would?”
“Do you think differently?”
Elhardt asked in return, looking straight into my eyes.
‘Hmm, what should I do?’
If I said something like, ‘Two consenting adults can spend a night together for fun,’ I would probably be branded an immoral person.
Especially after I had unintentionally groped him earlier.
“I… think more or less the same way.”
Without having time to think it through, I ended up agreeing with him.
“I see.”
What was that smile for?
Before I could start feeling strange again, I got to my feet.
“It’s late. You should go to sleep.”
I felt as though I had hurried away like I was running from something, but surely he hadn’t noticed?
‘Good grief.’
I slipped into my familiar, cozy sleeping bag and let out a quiet sigh.
‘I can’t take my eyes off him for even a moment.’
If Elhardt got involved with some strange woman, my plans would be ruined too.
‘Elhardt will have to get married someday, but it can’t be just anyone.’
His wife would become Bardia’s queen, after all.
I tossed and turned, lost in one thought after another, and only managed to fall asleep around dawn.
And when morning came…
“Ser.”
At the voice coming from right beside me, I jolted awake.
It was startling enough that I had slept so deeply I hadn’t even sensed his presence. But what shocked me even more was…
“……?!”
At some point, my sleeping bag had been moved onto the bed.
“Did you sleep well?”
His smile as he looked at me was so astonishingly beautiful that, even then, I couldn’t find the words to speak for quite some time.
Comments (0)