141. Life of Those Left Behind
“I don’t know if there’s poison in that cup or not. That’s why I’ll drink it myself at the spot.”
“Your Highness!”
When Brunhilde first heard the Grand Duchess’s plan, she was shocked.
Though it was to strike at an enemy, it was too reckless.
Since they couldn’t identify what poison it was, she could even lose her life.
“So from now on, tell me about the types of poison.”
“What? What do you mean……”
“Whether it can be distinguished by eye, what reaction occurs when mixed with wine, if there’s a scent. Tell me everything you know.”
“Are you saying you’ll study about poisons?”
“Yes. I’ll take an antidote first and then drink it. If by chance it’s a completely new poison that the antidote doesn’t work against, I won’t drink it.”
“But Your Highness, the ingredients we can get right now for making an antidote are limited.”
There was a high possibility they couldn’t get it before the knighting ceremony.
Moreover, even Brunhilde, the Grand Duchess’s physician, had to sign the ledger at the palace pharmacy and receive medicine.
Since the Grand Duke was very interested in his wife’s health, everything would be reported and eventually reach Nikolai’s ears anyway.
It made no sense to proceed with the plan without her husband knowing.
“There is one way.”
“What?”
“Bianca has been taking medicine for a long time.”
It was medicine Katya had imported from the Eastern Continent for infertility treatment.
Since it was medicine used for her sister, she thoroughly investigated the ingredients by having all the ancient texts from Eastern countries translated and cross-referencing them one by one.
What she learned then was that one of the ingredients in the treatment was widely used as an antidote in that country.
“It seemed like it could treat most poisons. Bianca brought plenty of extra medicine when she came up north, so extracting from that should be enough.”
Brunhilde was surprised when she heard the name of that medicine.
It certainly had the same effects as the medicine she knew.
“And they won’t use poison that Western physicians know about for a sure assassination. Same goes for Arsetia.”
“There’s a high chance they brought poison from the Eastern Continent where the Hersen medical field lacks research materials.”
“Right. So first we’ll combine all the Western poisons you know with the translated ancient texts I have and prepare for everything we can.”
Katya wasn’t recklessly risking her life.
She wanted to live more than anyone.
She couldn’t leave this world leaving Nikolai behind.
In the East, they used silver spoons to distinguish poison.
It worked on the principle that sulfur-based poisons turned black when they touched silver.
When Katya took the cup switched with Klavdia, she secretly dipped and pulled out the silver ring she had been wearing on her finger.
After confirming the ring had discolored, Katya realized it was a poison that had appeared in the Eastern ancient texts she had been researching with Brunhilde.
After the Grand Duchess collapsed dropping the cup, when the Grand Duke’s physicians examined the carpet soaked with the poisoned wine to detect the poison components, Brunhilde confirmed the poison on Katya’s clothes.
Fortunately, it was a poison she could overcome with the antidote she had taken beforehand.
The time needed for the body to completely detoxify was three to four days.
Since the ancient text was written based on adult male standards, Katya was expected to take a little longer.
There was one more thing Katya had asked of Brunhilde.
“When I lose consciousness, things will get noisy inside and outside the palace. They’ll try to cut loose ends but won’t be able to avoid suspicion. Since it’s come to this, they might try to eliminate me too. If they say I couldn’t overcome the poison and died, that would be the end.”
“Then how……”
“From the third day, call Pavel and Boris to strengthen security. They’ll try to approach me when the Grand Duke leaves my bedroom. That’s when we need to strike.”
Katya’s prediction came true exactly.
The intruder waited for when Nikolai briefly left, and Katya had pulled out the knife Brunhilde had placed under the pillow for self-defense.
When Brunhilde witnessed someone entering the Grand Duchess’s bedroom, she called Pavel and Boris who were waiting nearby, and they burst in with the guards.
“Who goes there!”
They could see the silhouettes of people surrounding them from outside the bed curtain.
The intruder who had been instantly subdued by Katya was now completely surrounded.
But when she recognized the intruder’s face, she stopped Pavel who tried to approach the curtain.
“Wait. Stay there.”
“Your Highness, have you awakened?”
“I’ll go bring His Highness the Grand Duke!”
Unlike Pavel who asked calmly, Boris shouted, unable to hide his joy.
“I’m fine so withdraw now.”
“Your Highness, are you perhaps being threatened to say this? I’ll withdraw after confirming you’re safe myself.”
As Pavel was about to open the curtain, Katya bound the intruder’s hands and opened the curtain slightly.
“I’m safe. The intruder heard you running and escaped by jumping from the balcony. However, I’m in my nightgown so it’s a bit awkward to be seen by men outside the family.”
At those words, Pavel and Boris’s faces turned red simultaneously.
Feeling embarrassed, the two couldn’t face the Grand Duchess and immediately turned their heads sideways.
Though they couldn’t see her nightgown since Katya only showed her face through the slightly opened curtain, the bedroom was still strictly a private space.
If Nikolai found out, there could be an uproar.
Brunhilde barely held back her laughter as she lowered her head watching the flustered guards.
“I look terrible so I need to change clothes and fix my hair, so everyone leave, except Brunhilde.”
“Then about His Highness the Grand Duke……”
“I’m changing because of the Grand Duke. I want to maintain some dignity too. Just let him know I’ve woken up a little later. I’ll tell him about the intruder myself.”
“Understood. Just in case, we’ll properly lock the balcony window and wait in the corridor.”
“Yes. Do that.”
After they left, Katya looked straight at the intruder and spoke.
“The Grand Duke will be here soon so you’d better tell me the truth before then.”
“……”
“Why are you here? And what is this?”
When the strange visitor approached the Grand Duchess, they were holding a small vial in their hand.
“Did you come to eliminate me for certain?”
***
When Nikolai heard his wife had awakened, he jumped up from his seat and ran frantically.
When he arrived at Katya’s bedroom, only his wife and Brunhilde remained inside.
Brunhilde greeted the Grand Duke and excused herself.
As soon as she left the bedroom, Nikolai embraced Katya on the bed silently with wet eyes.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you beforehand. I took an antidote before drinking the poisoned wine.”
“You knew there was poison inside and drank it?”
He spoke with a shocked face after separating their touching bodies.
Katya confessed everything.
That this method was the best way to prevent Oksana from harming her stepchildren.
“Was I…… such an untrustworthy husband to you?”
“That’s not it. If you knew my plan, you would have stopped me.”
“Did you not think about why I would stop you? I am your protector. Your safety is more important than anything!”
“I am your protector too. You said spouses are equals. I wanted to protect you too. I hate you getting hurt, dying, being in danger too!”
“Even if I die, you must not die!”
“How can you say that? You want to equally share only the good things and shoulder all the bad things alone?”
“That’s fine for me. Because I am stronger than you.”
Nikolai saying such things looked more fragile and gaunt than ever before.
Afraid of losing his wife, afraid she might breathe her last when he wasn’t there, he didn’t leave her side.
He couldn’t sleep properly, couldn’t eat.
Nothing remained in his life if you took away his wife.
Life without Katya held no meaning for Nikolai.
“You know how hard the life of those left behind is.”
“……”
“If our positions were reversed and you chose death in my place, I would be left alone. Then could I be happy about surviving and find happiness someday?”
“……”
“No. I would have suffered like you these past few days. Like you said, I am weak. So weak that I cannot endure the life of one left behind. If you died saving me, I would have followed you.”
“Tia……”
“When I drank the poison, my mind was filled only with worry for you. What if something happens to me, what would happen to you? Can you leave me alone in this harsh world?”
Though Katya spoke calmly, she was crying.
Seeing the tears flowing down both his wife’s cheeks made Nikolai’s heart break.
The few days she was unconscious felt like 10 years.
Even he who thought himself strong could barely endure those days.
Could his wife, whom he had always been careful with like a glass figurine that might break, overcome such days for a lifetime?
He had never even thought about that.
He just focused on keeping her from getting hurt.
He was only determined to risk his life to protect her.
“I heard you were originally planning to divorce me and die.”
His heart sank at those words from his wife’s lips.
It was a past resolution that Nikolai had wanted to keep from Katya until the end.