“Who…”

“Since His Majesty can’t drink it… it has to be either me or the Count.”

As if it was only natural for him to drink it, the Count broke into a cold sweat at Lysith’s composed response. Looking at the Count’s face, Lysith inwardly offered condolences to the unfortunate man.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll drink it…’

The thought of having to volunteer to drink poison was exasperating.

Even with things reaching this point, the Emperor remained silent. Whatever he was thinking, he glanced at the Count before focusing solely on Lysith.

Having sorted her thoughts and feelings, Lysith spoke with a smile.

“If the Count is truly afraid, shall I drink it?”

“…Pardon?”

“Why react like that? You claim it’s not poisoned, Count, and I’m willing to believe you.”

The person who first raised suspicion was now backing down, leaving the Count feeling awkward. However, he lacked the courage to step forward and drink it himself.

Leaving the awkward Count behind, Lysith turned her gaze to the Emperor. Still deep in thought, the Emperor smiled lightly when their eyes met.

That smile left Lysith feeling awkward, much like the Count, but thanks to her passive, she managed to return the smile without showing it.

“Are you sure about this, lady? It might be better to have it inspected.”

“Well, I’m just choosing to trust Count Hanel.”

Despite Lysith’s calm response, the Emperor remained unmoved, only handing her the glass after a few seconds had passed.

As she gratefully accepted it, Lysith thought that she was thankful her passive was active. Her face almost contorted upon receiving it.

‘I don’t want to drink this…’

It would be amusing if it turned out not to be poisoned, but due to the Emperor’s lukewarm attitude, Lysith was certain. She didn’t understand why he was staying silent.

Knowing that the longer she delayed, the more she wouldn’t want to drink it, Lysith quickly downed the wine in her hand.

“……”

“See, she’s perfectly fine, isn’t she?”

For a moment after she drank the wine, there was no adverse reaction. As Count Hanel began to speak, relieved, Lysith’s brow furrowed.

“Ugh…”

The pain was worse than she had vaguely anticipated.

What entered her stomach quickly reversed course, and the sensation of molten lava boiling below her throat caused her trembling hand to drop the glass.

Crash! The sound of shattering glass echoed in her ears, and her vision spun dizzily.

Unable to hold back any longer, she vomited, and what spilled over her hand was a pool of blood. Slowly raising her gaze, she saw the panicked surroundings. Was this real? Her blurred vision made it hard to discern anything clearly.

The murmurs and screams around her were muffled and barely audible.

As her legs gave way and she thought she’d collapse to the ground, a strong grip caught her waist.

In her blurred vision was the Emperor’s face, looking uncharacteristically flustered. Could he really be surprised after poisoning it himself…? With that thought, Lysith’s vision went dark.

Just before losing consciousness, she thought she heard a ding from the system somewhere far away.

* * *

As Lysith had seen, Verheigen was indeed surprised.

Initially, he only watched her actions out of curiosity.

He knew the former Lysith Gronevelt. She was timid, reluctant to step forward, and a woman who claimed to love Grand Duke Clonair.

But the woman he encountered today was distinctly different from before.

Not only did she interrupt his conversation with the Count, but her ability to conceal her expressions was impressive. Most intriguing were her eyes, which seemed to be certain that he was the one who had poisoned the cup.

He hadn’t expected her to volunteer to drink it herself.

As she suspected, it was indeed he who had poisoned the cup.

But he hadn’t stopped her because it wasn’t a deadly poison to begin with.

It shouldn’t have caused her to cough up blood and collapse with a pale complexion, yet somehow she was in his arms, bleeding.

He decided to sort out the situation first and address the woman’s changed demeanor and reasons for intervening later.

Raising his gaze, he saw the Count, pale-faced and gasping for breath. Although someone else had consumed the poison, he looked like the one who had been poisoned.

“Count… Didn’t you claim there was nothing in it?”

“Isn’t the lady suspicious? Or perhaps…”

“Or perhaps? Are you suggesting I’m suspicious?”

At Verheigen’s low, calm question, the Count swallowed dryly. Truthfully, he was suspicious, but in his right mind, he couldn’t possibly say that to the Emperor.

And knowing this well, Verheigen had orchestrated this situation. The outcome differed slightly, but the situation unfolded as he intended, so he delivered his final verdict in a low voice.

“Attempting to poison again—isn’t that bold?”

The whispers of the nobles observing the situation reached the ears of the two men.

No one believed the Count’s claim that the lady was suspicious. Naturally, if she had poisoned it, she wouldn’t have volunteered to drink it herself, and more importantly, she had no reason to poison the Emperor’s cup.

…But this was only true within the confines of this banquet hall.

The astute nobles had long realized that the Emperor was the one who had poisoned the cup and were holding their breath. Whether he intended to involve the lady–they weren’t sure, but he certainly succeeded in removing Count Hanel, whom he found troublesome.

The Count insisted there was no poison, but Lysith, who drank it, coughed up blood and collapsed.

From this situation alone, it was clear that the Count was the culprit.

For Count Hanel, it was a maddening predicament.

“Your Majesty, why would I poison it? It’s no different from confessing to the crime!”

“How would I know? An investigation will reveal the truth.”

With the Emperor’s indifferent tone, the Count was helplessly dragged away by several knights. After Count Hanel disappeared, Verheigen gave a cold smile to the restless nobles.

“It seems life has its surprises.”

“……”

“Don’t be so stiff. Since things have turned out this way, I’ll retire for now. Feel free to enjoy yourselves.”

The nobles sighed in relief with the Emperor’s permission. With the Empress’s seat vacant and the Emperor not being fond of banquets, the number of banquets held at the imperial palace was not many.

They almost wasted one of those rare opportunities. Since the birthday celebrant himself encouraged them to enjoy, the nobles had no more reservations, and soon the banquet hall regained its original lively atmosphere.

Of course, most of what they excitedly discussed was the incident that had just occurred.

After surveying the nobles, Verheigen lowered his gaze.

He briefly looked down at Lysith, who had collapsed and was quietly nestled in his arms, then brushed off the approaching knight and picked her up himself.

At that moment, he felt a sharp, piercing gaze.

When he turned his head in that direction, it was none other than the blue-eyed man standing there. He was looking at him with an indescribable expression.

At first, the gaze fixed on Verheigen slowly moved down to stare intently at the woman in his arms.

“……Ha.”

It was an expression he had seen before.

No, it looked even more miserable now than it did then.

Verheigen smiled, unnecessarily lifting Lysith up once. With the exact same face when he had broken something precious to him in their youth.

The moment their eyes met with that expression, Dietrich’s face contorted uncontrollably.

Leaving behind Dietrich, who looked like he might approach at any moment, Verheigen moved his steps. It was the same door that only the imperial family could use, through which they had entered.

Glancing slightly at another entrance, he saw two eyes of different colors glaring at him from there.

It was a laughable situation. Of course, he knew about this ridiculous love triangle, but witnessing it firsthand was utterly absurd. How could there be so many men causing such a fuss?

“You’re quite popular, my lady.”

If Lysith had heard his mocking words, she would have grabbed his hair, saying it was unwanted attention.

The protagonist of that popularity had collapsed after being poisoned, so the Emperor ignored the Tower Master, who looked ready to rush over just like Dietrich, and moved on.

* * *

When Ash*tes entered the banquet hall, the situation had already progressed to some extent.

That is to say, it was after Lysith had been poisoned.

His mood, which had been elated at the thought of meeting Lysith after a long time, instantly sank due to the chaotic atmosphere in the banquet hall. Only words like poison, blood, and Lady Gronevelt echoed in his mind.

Hurriedly moving his gaze, he saw a woman slumped in the Emperor’s arms. Her complexion, briefly visible, was markedly different from usual.

Who the hell did this.

He gritted his teeth. When he tried to approach with quick steps, he was blocked by the crowd and couldn’t move much. There were even more people than expected, as is often the case with banquets held in the imperial palace. Meanwhile, he could only watch as the Emperor picked her up and carried her away.

For a moment, anger surged to the top of his head, and he almost lashed out at the nobles blocking his way. But he held back, thinking it would be troublesome if they somehow said bad things about him to her.

Ashites, his face becoming frighteningly expressionless, left the banquet hall again. He had to find out how and why she had been poisoned.

He intended to stay in the imperial palace until he learned the truth and was assured of her safety.

* * *

His vision was blurry. The woman was the one who had been poisoned, but the sensation he felt now was as if he himself had swallowed poison.

“Your Grace the Grand Duke… your complexion doesn’t look good……”

He couldn’t see or feel the people around him who were looking at him with curious and worried eyes, wondering why he had frozen like a stone on the spot.

Faced with this familiarly terrible sensation, Dietrich stood frozen, unable to do anything.

It was the second time he had seen something precious being broken by someone.