Father has found out.

She had thought it would be hard for a non-native of Thalia to find an apothecary without arousing suspicion. That was why she had asked the Grand Duchess for help. But should she have been more discreet? How did the Marquis find out about her search for an apothecary?

There was no way the Grand Duchess would have told him.

Suddenly, she remembered the maid who had gathered the broken teacup shards.

‘Don’t tell me… the person Father planted to watch me was that maid.’

When Selina realized that such a crucial secret had been exposed, her hands began to tremble. However, she could not allow the Marquis to see her fear. She forced her expression to remain steady and spoke.

“I—I needed sleeping medicine.”

“…Sleeping medicine?”

“Yes. Ever since I was abducted, I’ve had trouble sleeping at night.”

At that, the marquis pulled his lips into a wide, almost grotesque grin and let out an amused laugh.

“You have trouble sleeping? That’s odd, considering I hear you’re close enough with the Grand Duke now to be sharing his bed.”

He knew that, too.

She had expected him to have spies within the Grand Ducal Castle, but she had never imagined he would find out about something so recent so quickly.

‘Think. You need to think. You have to come up with a plausible excuse.’

Selina desperately searched for a convincing explanation that would satisfy the Marquis. But the encounter had been too sudden. Her tense mind refused to come up with a decent answer.

The Marquis stared at his daughter for a moment with his arms crossed, then suddenly put on a benevolent smile.

“Still, I suppose I can understand. You went through quite a traumatic ordeal after coming to Thalia. It wouldn’t be strange for your condition to be unstable.”

As he spoke, he reached out and gently stroked Selina’s hair.

“More than anything, I know better than anyone that you’re not the sort of person who would betray the Empire just because you’ve fallen for a man.”

Every hair on her body stood on end.

Had the Marquis said this because he had sensed something? Or did he genuinely believe that Selina lacked the courage to betray him?

“Exactly. It makes no sense at all. You wouldn’t secretly seek out an antidote just to preserve your insignificant life and try to hide it from me, too. You may be foolish, but I don’t believe you’re that foolish.”

In a moment like this—

‘What kind of reaction am I supposed to give?’

The marquis’s voice reached Selina’s ears, stiff and frozen in place.

“Then prove your sincerity with this.”

He placed a small packet in Selina’s hand. As she carefully felt the thin, paper-like envelope, she sensed a small, round object inside.

“T–this is… what exactly…?”

As Selina looked up at him with a fearful expression, the marquis smiled strangely.

***

That evening, at the dinner table.

Two additional guests sat at the long dining table, unlike usual.

“Hahaha. I’m honored by such hospitality, Grand Duke.”

It was the marquis—who had arrived without notice—and Waldemar.

“Since you’ll be making a long journey back soon, this much is only proper.”

Calix replied from across the table.

“Haha. Then, since I’ll be leaving soon, it wouldn’t be improper for me to pour my son-in-law a drink, would it?”

Seemingly unfazed by Calix’s tone, the Marquis handed him a strong whisky.

The sight of people who saw each other as rivals sharing a meal was enough to unsettle everyone present. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, the dinner continued without any overt conflict.

All except for one person.

Selina could barely bring herself to lift her fork, doing little more than picking at the food on her plate. Hidden within her sleeve was the pill the Marquis had given her.

“T–this is… what exactly…?”

When she had asked, the marquis had answered calmly.

“A pill infused with illusion magic.”

According to him, anyone who consumed it would soon start to experience mild hallucinations. Furthermore, a person under its influence would answer any question truthfully.

“Th–then… what am I supposed to ask…?”

Sensing something deeply wrong, Selina had asked anxiously.

The marquis answered as though it were obvious.

“Isn’t it obviously about Calix’s weakness?”

The hand concealing the pill began to tremble faintly. Selina had never been so naive as to believe that this moment would never come. It was not unexpected, merely postponed.

Her gaze drifted to the glass beside her, which belonged to Calix.

The Marquis had refilled it time and again, and Calix had easily drunk more than ten glasses by now. And yet, despite it all, he showed not the slightest sign of being affected by the alcohol.

The Marquis had instructed Selina to slip the pill into Calix’s drink when the opportunity arose.

But no such opportunity had arisen yet.

And so Selina continued to wait.

“Your Grace. Sir Rocheste has arrived. He says he has something to discuss regarding the upcoming expedition.”

As if on cue, Lady Lily approached and called Calix away.

‘If it’s about the expedition, that must mean the Day of the North Wind.’

Selina swallowed dryly.

Suddenly, the exact words the marquis had spoken came back to her.

“There is only one thing you need to ask. Find out precisely where Calix intends to go on the Day of the North Wind.”

Initially, she could not fathom why her father wanted to know such a thing. But after thinking about it repeatedly, the answer slowly became clear.

The Day of the North Wind was connected to Calix’s weakness, either directly or indirectly.

If that was true, then his claim that he was merely inspecting the borders must have been false. The truth lay within the information he was deliberately concealing, which was tied to that weakness.

“If you succeed, I’ll make your body one that can live without the antidote.”

A body that could survive without the antidote.

Freedom from the Marquis’s grasp.

Her heart pounded at the thought of a future she had never dared to imagine becoming a reality.

“I’ll excuse myself for a moment.”

Calix said, rising from his seat. The moment he stood up, the Marquis shot Selina a meaningful glance.

Once the Grand Duke had disappeared from view, she pretended to tidy the table and carefully dropped a pill into Calix’s glass.

The small tablet dissolved almost instantly upon touching the strong whisky, melting away until not even its shape remained.

The Marquis watched and smiled in satisfaction.

Not long after, Calix returned.

“I’ve been called away to deal with something that requires my attention. It’s unfortunate, but we’ll have to end the dinner here.”

Judging by the dark look on his face, it seemed that a far more serious problem had arisen than expected. As everyone hurried to finish their meal, the Marquis quickly stood up and raised his glass.

“Then let us share one final toast – to one another.”

He lifted a glass of wine, and Waldemar raised his glass of whisky in response. Selina, who did not drink, stood with a glass of water in hand.

“Very well.”

Calix clinked his glass against theirs.

After a brief toast, they all raised their glasses to their lips. The Marquis struggled to conceal the look of exultation spreading across his face as he watched.

“W–wait. Just a moment.”

Suddenly, Selina reached out and took Calix’s glass.

Before anyone could stop her, she drained the whiskey in a single gulp.

Cough—cough—cough!

The moment the bitter liquid flooded her mouth, her throat began to burn. It tasted so awful that she wondered if the pill had made it so strong.

“Selina?”

Startled by her sudden action, Calix hurried to support her. As she coughed violently in his arms, Selina caught sight of the Marquis’s face, which was contorted and twisted as though he might tear her apart at any moment.

‘…It’s over.’

Selina was now certain that everything had been revealed.

There was no way the Marquis would ever give her the antidote again. From this point on, she would live a life destined to end in death, waiting for the inevitable.

‘Even knowing that…’

Selina understood better than anyone that defying the Marquis would mean certain death.

However, she realized that she loved Calix more than her own life. What would be the point of surviving alone after putting the person she loved in danger?

“I–I just wanted to try drinking, that’s all.”

She forced an awkward smile at Calix, who was looking at her with obvious concern.

Soon afterwards, the servants helped her back to her room.

At least one small mercy was that she did not have to face the Marquis again under the pretense of drunkenness. If she had been left alone with him after Calix left to attend to his duties, she shuddered at the thought of what might have happened.

“…I feel dizzy.”

Left alone, Selina lay back on the bed, clutching the blanket tightly to her chest.

Could a single glass of strong alcohol really make her whole body burn like this? Her head spun and her vision wavered — the effects were unmistakably similar to those of a hallucinogen.

Deciding it would be better to fall asleep quickly, she tried to force herself to rest. However, the heat coursing through her body made that impossible. In the end, she tossed the blanket aside, got up and moved towards the window. She hoped that breathing in the cool night air would help her sleep.

‘Selina.’

A low, cold voice coiled around the nape of her neck.

‘You deceived me.’

A thick, heavy voice, laden with the heat of midsummer, slid down her spine, tracing her skin and slowly tightening around her slender throat.

‘Did you intend to kill me?’

Like a massive serpent coiling around its prey to suffocate it, an overwhelming sense of pressure surrounded her entire body, stealing her breath.

“C–Calix?”

Clutching her throat, Selina spun around in panic.