Chapter 32
Messy hair and a swollen face that looked like it had taken a solid hit.
If one were to be extremely generous, it might elicit a tiny bit of sympathy. However, no matter how you looked at him, there was nothing special about him aside from his pitifulness.
Why on earth would she care about this toad-like man?
And isn’t he quite old too?
Given how often she had called him handsome, it wasn’t as if Alice’s aesthetic sense was flawed.
For her concern and worry to be directed at someone like that…
It was unpleasant no matter how he thought about it.
Should I just kill him?
Just as Kylus’s gaze flashed dangerously while looking at Helkin, Helkin waved both hands and said:
“Close with the Young Mistress!? Absolutely not. I’m not close to the Young Mistress at all, not even a little bit. Don’t you know, Your Grace? The Young Mistress is the one who threatened me with my weakness.”
She’s as frightening to me as Lady Quillian, Helkin added with a shudder.
Kylus’s narrowing gaze softened considerably.
He recalled the fact he had momentarily forgotten – that Alice had threatened Helkin to change the medicine.
“…That’s right.”
“It seemed the Young Mistress came to ask about your condition, Your Grace. She asked me if there was really no chance of you collapsing again.”
Helkin told Kylus as if he had just remembered.
Kylus’s absurd misunderstanding that Alice was interested in Helkin was cleared up.
Kylus frowned, disgusted by the fact that he had, even for a brief moment, compared himself to Helkin.
“Why didn’t you say that first? That should have been the first thing you said.”
“Pardon?”
To the bewildered Helkin, Kylus waved his hand as if annoyed and spoke:
“Never mind. More importantly, the reason I called you is because the time has come for you to prove your usefulness.”
“…What would you have me do, Your Grace?”
“In a week, we’ll go to the Imperial Palace. There, you’ll need to examine a patient who has been poisoned.”
A collapsed patient in the Imperial Palace.
Although Kylus didn’t say who the patient was, Helkin immediately realized.
Currently, there was only one person in the Imperial Palace who had collapsed from poison.
It could only be the First Prince of the Empire.
The fact that the First Prince had collapsed and hadn’t woken up for years was already well-known throughout the Empire.
Numerous doctors had been called to the Imperial Palace to identify the poison the First Prince had ingested, but in the end, no one had been able to figure it out.
If he could identify the poison the First Prince had taken, if he could even make an antidote…
The Duke would spare his life.
Confident in his knowledge of poisons more than anyone else, Helkin answered seriously:
“Yes. I understand, Your Grace.”
“And one more thing. You need to gather evidence that can be used to deal with Lady Quillian.”
“Me…?”
“Yes. Just because I’ve regained consciousness doesn’t mean she’ll give up everything willingly. She’ll probably try to kill me again soon. And she’ll likely try to use you in that plan.”
Lady Quillian had no idea that Helkin had become his man.
Moreover, it had become difficult to bring in new people from outside the duchy now, so she would use Helkin who was already inside the duchy.
Even if she had to threaten him.
Kylus raised the end of his eyebrow as he imagined Lady Quillian’s future moves in his mind.
And soon he continued:
“When that time comes, pretend to follow Mother’s orders and record all her words on this magic device. Then, on the day of the operation, bring me the evidence with all her words recorded.”
As Kylus finished speaking, the butler who had been standing quietly approached Helkin and handed him a magic device.
The triangular magic device was specially made by Lady Meltain to record conversations.
“Don’t worry. I will certainly do well.”
Helkin pocketed the magic device with a determined look in his eyes.
“Good, then you may go now.”
But contrary to Helkin’s determination, Kylus dismissed him in an indifferent voice.
Helkin rolled his eyes in embarrassment, but Kylus was no longer looking at him.
“Ah… yes. Then I’ll take my leave.”
Helkin left with an awkward smile, and the butler approached Kylus.
“Your Grace, but… is it alright to trust the doctor like this? Wasn’t he Lady Quillian’s man initially?”
Adolf seemed uncomfortable, apparently still suspicious of Helkin.
“I already have Helkin’s family in my grip. Plus, that fellow, although he looks naive, is quick-witted. He’ll know well which side he needs to stick to in order to survive. If he seems completely useless, we can just kill him halfway through, so don’t worry about it.”
“I understand. Your Grace, you must be tired, please rest now.”
“Adolf.”
Just as the butler was about to turn away, Kylus called out.
“Yes?”
“Make sure the preparations are perfect so that no one finds out Helkin is going to the Imperial Palace.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
After even the butler left, Kylus was left alone in the room.
Leaning his head against the bed’s headboard, Kylus looked at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh.
Yesterday had been a truly long day.
From the uncharacteristically bland acting to the first face-to-face conversation with Alice.
Was it because he had been trapped in a dream for over six months?
Sometimes this reality he was experiencing with open eyes still felt like a dream.
Especially the conversation he had with Alice felt even more dreamlike.
When he and she were together, either he always had his eyes closed, or she had her eyes closed, one of the two.
But not anymore.
Kylus recalled Alice’s golden eyes, which sparkled with wariness yet curiosity towards him.
Thinking of those bright eyes that matched her rabbit-like face so well, a smile spread across his lips without him realizing it.
“…She must be racking that little brain of hers hard.”
Trying to figure out how to escape the duchy, that is.
But unfortunately, he had no intention of letting Alice go easily.
He absolutely didn’t want to lose her, the one who had breathed new life into him.
Kylus slowly closed his night-sky-like eyes, imagining a trap to catch a small herbivore in his mind.
* * *
The spring breeze blows gently.
A pink rabbit, happily hopping around with its bottom wriggling in the spring breeze, suddenly lifted its head.
A sweet smell coming from somewhere.
The pink rabbit sniffed with its small nose.
And soon, the rabbit’s golden eyes widened brightly.
This is the smell of my favorite steak!
The rabbit ran following the sweet smell.
And finally, it discovered a juicy steak right before its eyes.
As the pink rabbit with sparkling golden eyes lunged towards the steak, a large hand grabbed the rabbit’s body.
“Caught you.”
A pleasant low voice that made its body tingle.
But the hand that held the rabbit’s body was firm, as if it would never let go.
The rabbit raised its head towards the man who had caught it, wiggling its small feet.
And upon seeing the man’s handsome face, the rabbit’s mouth fell open.
“You can’t run away anymore, Alice.”
The moment Kylus’s red lips curved into a smile, Alice gasped and opened her eyes wide.
“Ha, what kind of weird dream was that…?”
Alice slowly sat up, stroking her chest where her heart was still pounding.
A dream where she became a rabbit and was caught by Kylus.
Ah. Could the steak in front of me have been my future?
That I would become a piece of meat?!
“Ack! I shouldn’t even think about such unlucky thoughts for a moment.”
Alice shook her head, trying to shake off the chilling imagination.
“Sigh… I must be under a lot of stress.”
Alice exhaled slowly.
As her pounding heart calmed down, the sensations that had felt as vivid as reality, even though it was a dream, began to blur.
“Being caught not even as a human, but as a rabbit.”
It was truly a strange and unsettling dream.
Alice got out of bed, shaking off the thoughts.
When she pulled back the curtains, bright sunlight shone through the window into the room.
The sky without a single cloud was so clear, unlike her complicated inner feelings.
The time Kylus had given her was two weeks.
With one day passed, does that mean 14 days are left now?
Alice let out a heavy sigh as she looked at the clear sky.
“Damn Helios.”
No matter how she thought about it, the biggest culprit in this mess was the sun god Helios.
After all, holy power was the power of the patron deity.
If you’re going to give it, you should give it in moderation. What were you thinking giving me holy power I can’t handle?
Besides, I prayed that Kylus wouldn’t suffer anymore, not to save him!
Hasn’t the content of the prayer I made when using holy power been too distorted?
Yes, it’s your fault, Helios.
Alice felt like grabbing Helios by the collar and shaking him thoroughly if he were in front of her.
But of course, as always, Helios did not answer her.
Even when she had diligently frequented the temple, she had never heard Helios’s voice.
They say the deeper the god’s love for a priest, the stronger their holy power.
“For loving me this much, you never appear even in my dreams.”
Is it because you know I’ll grab you by the collar?
As she was having these irreverent thoughts, there was a knock at the door.
Alice flinched.
The only person who knocked on her door in the morning was Maris.
And Maris had been taken away by Lady Quillian yesterday.
Who could it be?
Could it be Lady Quillian?
The image of Helkin, mauled and in a mess from Lady Quillian, flashed through her mind.
Just as Alice swallowed hard, an unfamiliar young voice sounded from outside the door.
“Young Mistress, are you awake?”
It was neither Maris nor Lady Quillian.
“…I’m up. Come in.”
As Alice gave permission, the door opened.
