Chapter 160
The First Prince’s eyes widened slightly.
“You want me to pretend I’m still unconscious?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
As Alice nodded, the First Prince studied her quietly for a moment before carefully asking, “Is the reason I need to pretend… because of the holy power the Duchess used to save me? Do people not know about this ability of yours?”
This time it was Alice’s eyes that widened slightly.
She’d heard he was clever, but she hadn’t expected him to be this perceptive.
Alice regarded the First Prince with an impressed look, amazed at how quickly he’d deduced the reason, then acknowledged it.
“Yes. My holy power is a secret to the public. More precisely, everyone knows I can use holy power, but they don’t know it’s this strong.”
Alice’s smile faded as she added seriously, “As Your Highness is surely aware… holy power capable of saving someone at death’s door is extremely rare.”
“Indeed. I’ve heard that even those of papal rank cannot save someone who is dying. Yet you saved me like this…”
The First Prince nodded slowly in agreement.
“If that power became known, you could be in danger, Duchess.”
“Yes. And I have absolutely no intention of becoming Pope. So I would be grateful if Your Highness could help me.”
“Of course I must help you. You saved my life. In fact, I’m embarrassed that such a small act of pretense is all I can offer in return.”
The First Prince, having understood everything, continued with a sheepish expression.
“To repay my debt to you, I would give everything I have, and it still wouldn’t be enough.”
Give everything.
For some reason, Alice suddenly recalled Kylus saying he would give his body if needed.
Alice hastily waved her hands.
“Oh, no. Please don’t say that. And absolutely never say that in front of the Duke. Understood?”
The First Prince looked at Alice with an expression that seemed to ask ‘why?’ but Alice knew better.
The moment the First Prince uttered such words, Kylus would burn with jealousy.
‘The First Prince seems like a much better person than I expected, but I can’t let him get on Kylus’s bad side.’
“The Duke… is rather… very protective of me. Haha.”
When Alice awkwardly laughed in embarrassment, the First Prince showed an uncomfortable smile, indicating he understood well enough.
“I understand. I’ll be careful not to cause any misunderstandings.”
“Thank you. And… you won’t need to pretend to be unconscious for too long. About five days should do it. Please pretend for that long, and then slowly start showing movement, as if you’re waking up.”
“I understand. By the way, how much time has passed since I collapsed?”
“Two years. Exactly two years have passed, Your Highness.”
The one who answered the First Prince’s question wasn’t Alice.
It was Count Latrang, who had approached Alice’s side without her noticing.
At the Count’s answer, the First Prince’s pupils trembled.
“I sensed that considerable time had passed, but to think I was unconscious for two whole years…”
“It was a long time. A truly long and painful wait. But everything is fine now. Because Your Highness has awakened.”
Count Latrang had instantly forgotten the two years of prolonged suffering the moment the First Prince opened his eyes.
And he made a vow.
This time, he would definitely protect his grandson. He would catch the true culprit who had tried to kill him.
The Count regulated his still overwhelming emotions with a deep breath and asked the First Prince.
“Your Highness, do you remember the day you collapsed?”
Two years had passed, and all the palace servants who had been in the prince’s palace at that time had been executed.
Therefore, the First Prince’s memory was crucial to catching the true culprit who had tried to kill him.
If he couldn’t remember that either… finding the true culprit would be difficult.
Of course, Alice already knew who had tried to kill the First Prince, but her intervention ended here.
Just by saving the First Prince, she had already changed a major branch of fate, so it wouldn’t be good for Alice to intervene further.
After all, when the First Prince poisoning incident occurred, Alice Fordley had been living in a rural area in the west, not in the capital.
It wouldn’t make sense for her to know the inside story or the true culprit.
As Alice quietly pressed her lips together, the First Prince slightly furrowed his brow and said,
“I remember. Everything that happened that day.”
The First Prince continued with a slightly unfocused gaze, as if picturing that day.
“That day… I finished my morning routine as usual and was taking a short break before my afternoon fencing lesson. I was eating grapes, my favorite, just as I always did.”
The First Prince lowered his gaze as he continued, as if the situation had suddenly come back to him.
“The tea was also my usual black tea, and the servant who prepared it was Alex, as always. Oh, is Alex… still alive?”
The First Prince asked the Count, whose face darkened at the question.
“No. After Your Highness collapsed… all the palace servants attending to you at that time were beheaded.”
As soon as the Count finished his heavy words, the First Prince’s face contorted in pain.
“Ah, no, why… They were absolutely not the kind of people who would do such a thing. Haah…”
“Your Highness, you mustn’t strain yourself. Control your emotions.”
Dr. Helkin hurriedly approached to calm the First Prince as his breathing became rough.
When the First Prince had calmed down somewhat, the Count continued.
“At that time… there was no way to prevent it. Your Highness had collapsed from poison, and no culprit emerged despite thorough interrogation of all the palace servants.”
Count Latrang’s voice was terribly low.
“Moreover, no poison was detected in the grapes, tea, or any of the tableware Your Highness used at the time. So in the end, His Majesty, in his wrath, punished all the palace servants.”
The Count also seemed to think that what had happened then wasn’t right. His eyes reflected guilt.
The Count raised his lowered gaze and asked again.
“Your Highness, was everything truly the same as usual that day? Nothing different at all?”
“Different…”
“Perhaps you consumed something else before resting… or saw an unfamiliar servant. Please tell us if there was anything strange, no matter how small.”
The First Prince lowered his gaze and tensed the muscles around his eyes as if in deep contemplation.
After about two or three minutes had passed, the First Prince shook his head.
“…No matter how much I think about it, there was nothing strange that day. Everything was the same. I just read a book and ate grapes as usual.”
“Could it be.”
Suddenly, Helkin uttered a meaningful word. Both the Count and the Prince turned their attention to him.
“Why do you say that?”
The Count asked Helkin.
“Well… there’s one thing I find suspicious…”
“Suspicious?”
“But this is just my assumption, so I’m not sure if I should dare to mention it…”
Helkin let his words trail off as he looked at the Count. He had been momentarily intimidated by the Count’s unusual aura.
And for good reason—the Count was staring intently at Helkin.
Seeing this, Alice stepped in.
“Count. I understand your feelings, but I would appreciate it if you could show a little consideration for the doctor. It’s obviously not an easy matter for him to speak about.”
“Ah, I was too aggressive. I apologize, my mind is impatient… Please, tell us anything suspicious you’ve noticed.”
As Count Latrang spoke softly, relaxing the intensity in his eyes, Helkin loosened his hunched shoulders.
Then he slowly shared his thoughts.
“The poison Your Highness ingested was a neurotoxin extracted from a plant called lolopora, which grows only in the desert kingdom of the Western Continent.”
“What? How did you… No physician until now has been able to identify it.”
When Count Latrang couldn’t hide his surprise, Helkin scratched his cheek in embarrassment and said,
“I have a particular interest in poisons… When I previously accompanied the Duke to visit His Highness, I identified the poison that had been administered.”
“You couldn’t possibly identify it at a glance just from having an interest in poisons.”
As Count Latrang let his words trail off incredulously, Helkin quickly responded, insisting it wasn’t a lie.
“Well, ordinary physicians, especially those in the Empire, might have known about the lolopora poison, but since it’s not a common poison available in the Empire, they wouldn’t have researched it deeply. But I, being interested in all the poisons of the world… studied lolopora quite thoroughly.”
Helkin exhaled briefly and continued.
“That’s how I was able to tell. Through my research, I found one consistent characteristic in patients who had ingested lolopora.”
“Characteristic?”
“Yes. The paralysis of facial muscles—a side effect of the neurotoxin. I noticed it was lolopora poison when I saw the stiffness in His Highness’s eyelids, cheekbones, and cheeks.”
Having finished his lengthy explanation, Helkin quietly waited for Count Latrang’s reaction.
The Count stared at Helkin for a moment before completely erasing any trace of suspicion from his face and saying,
“To catch even the minute details that others dismissed… No wonder the Duke said you were trustworthy.”
Kylus had praised Helkin?
Alice’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the Count’s words. Helkin also seemed taken aback, wearing a dazed expression before swallowing dryly and returning to the main topic.
“In any case, Count and Your Highness, this lolopora poison has a peculiarity that sets it apart from other poisons.”
“What is it?”
“Although it’s colorless and odorless, it has a strong adhesive property on human skin, causing poisoning just by touch. So it doesn’t necessarily need to be directly mixed into food.”
After hearing Helkin’s explanation, the Count let out a low groan.
“But as I mentioned earlier, we examined everything—teacups, tableware, the table—and found no trace of poison.”
The Count shook his head and continued.
“If the poison had been applied to something His Highness ate or drank, it would certainly have been detected on the tableware. His Highness collapsed after eating just a few grapes. The possibility of the poison being on something else is extremely low.”
Helkin raised one index finger, his eyes glinting.
“There is one thing we’ve overlooked.”
One thing overlooked?
Alice, who had been quietly listening to the conversation all this time, tilted her head slightly.
What could have been overlooked?
The Count had clearly said they’d examined the grapes, tableware, and everything on the table… Unless.
Suddenly, something flashed through Alice’s mind.
One object that wasn’t on the table but was present in that situation.
“…The book Your Highness was reading.”
The moment Alice’s soft words echoed, Helkin nodded as if she had given the correct answer.
“Exactly! My lady. There was indeed a book there.”
