There was a time when that was true. Arne did share some similarities with Amelia.

Such as being prone to mistakes or being tearful.

But the mistakes that were permissible for Amelia were not allowed for Arne.

The cost of her mistakes were high, and she had no time to cry. Caring for one’s own feelings was a luxury.

They might have envied Amelia’s lush blonde hair, blue eyes, and how affectionately the Marquis of Leverun looked at her.

But if you ask her whether she would swap lives with Amelia now, she would refuse.

‘There’s nothing more lovely in this world than the lovely Vivian.’

So, regardless of what Kale or Amelia said, she wasn’t annoyed or envious.

They just wanted to see Vivian again soon.

Arne turned lightly. Cedric was standing there. When he approached, he frowned as he examined her mana core.

“The lady’s mana fluctuates too much…”

“Cedric! You were here! My father had a good conversation with the grand duke. He said he would do anything for me. Isn’t that great?”

Amelia blocked Arne’s path as she approached.

And Bianca, who had disappeared to see Cedric, also appeared, glaring at Arne as if things hadn’t gone her way.

“Father said to drink some water. It’s undignified for you to be drunk.”

Bianca unusually handed Arne a glass of water brought by a servant.

“Drinking too much can lead to disgraceful behavior.”

Bianca’s sly remark was typical of her.

Arne was already too tired to argue with Bianca anymore.

She just wanted to quench her thirst and leave as soon as the carriage was ready.

But the moment Arne drank the water Bianca gave her, she saw Bianca’s lips curl up slightly.

Soon after, she felt a burning sensation in her veins, as if her blood were evaporating, along with intense pain.

‘Could it be mana perfume. Bianca!’

How much she had put in it, Arne couldn’t tell, but a strong scent of lilacs wafted up to her.

Arne clutched her throat. Normally, it would be painful, but this time her mana core had severe cracks in it.

‘Should I try to vomit now?’

Vomiting wouldn’t suffice. She needed to induce full vomiting to clear her throat completely.

Her hands and feet were already shaking.

It was a moment of choice. Arne instinctively realized that the choice she makes here could weigh on her life,

Bianca crossed her arms and waited satisfactorily for Arne to make a disgraceful scene.

From behind Amelia came a coquettish voice,

“The grand duke said he hopes I get closer to you, Lord Cedric.”

Arne’s eyes, reddened, looked past Amelia towards Cedric.

“If it’s okay with you, how about we visit the Ipellita Garden this weekend? It’s really beautiful!”

“Ugh.”

Amelia turned her body at the sound of Arne’s pained voice.

Amelia’s face, which was blooming with a bright smile, was now colored with horror. Soon after Amelia’s scream, everyone in the banquet hall looked at Arne.

Even the Second Prince, who had been conversing with the duke on the second floor.

Arne, who had been pondering, firmly grasped the hem of her skirt. Blood flowed to her mouth.

She had to vomit everything out now. She had to vomit it out but…

‘Seeing my husband meeting his ex-fiancée with my own two eyes.’

It was unbearably hateful. But at least he didn’t have to answer Amelia right this moment.

The glass Arne was holding fell. The shards scratched her body.

“Bian…ugh.”

Arne swallowed the sound that couldn’t come out from the pain and glared at Bianca. Her memories flashed by like a zoetrope¹a 19th-century optical toy consisting of a cylinder with a series of pictures on the inner surface that, when viewed through slits with the cylinder rotating, gave the impression of continuous motion.

‘My baby, Vivian.’

Tears formed in her eyes. She resented everyone. Bianca, the duke, the second prince, Kale, all of them.

Even then, Kale, who was looking at her with a disdainful gaze, caught her eye. A sneer spread across his lips as he looked down at her.

Maybe until this moment. Really. Was I hated so much.

“Kale you bastard, did you hate me enough to ask me to die!”

Arne collapsed with a cold cry.

Through her blurring vision, she saw Cedric pushing Amelia away and embracing Arne.

* * *

The gaze of the people turned towards Arne and Kale, who had collapsed.

Arne’s appearance, as she vomited blood and collapsed, resembled the symptoms of poisoning.

“Could it be poisoning? People are saying…”

“I also heard Kale say that Lady Ronia should be killed.”

“What’s going on?”

The Second Prince’s gaze turned towards Kale. He put down his wine glass and looked down at Arne, who was still vomiting blood.

People were flustered and murmured, but no one approached Arne.

Cedric pushed Amelia, who was blocking her view, aside and picked up the collapsing Arne.

“My lady.”

Arne’s eyelids struggled to open and then slowly closed.

The tremor that started from her hand gradually spread throughout her body, and her throat felt as if it were burning up.

The pain that hit her entire body was incomparable to when Bianca had put on mana perfume as a joke.

It felt as if all the blood in her body was burning up and disappearing. A bitter taste of blood lingered in her mouth.

“My lady!”

Cedric’s voice and his firm grip were felt, but she couldn’t respond.

Cedric felt a chill down his spine as he saw Arne’s mana core quickly losing its color and becoming transparent.

This was exactly how mages looked just before they died after exhausting all their mana core’s power on the northern battlefield.

Cedric immediately picked up Arne and started moving.

Warren, who followed closely, called out to Cedric.

“Lord Cedric!”

“Contact a mage. Tell them if they don’t come right now, I’ll cut their throats!”

Warren flinched back at the threatening voice, filled with murderous intent.

“Prepare the carriage!”

“Yes.”

Warren hurriedly left the banquet hall late.

The commander of the knights, Lux, glanced at the trail of blood following Cedric’s footsteps.

Arne’s black dress resembled a funeral shroud, which made him clench his fist.

He didn’t know if she would survive the night.

His intuition, which was honed on the battlefield after sending off numerous comrades, told him so.

As Cedric and the knights exited the hall, the people finally realized the seriousness of the situation.

Bianca, pale-faced, clasped her trembling hands behind her back.

‘I just wanted to scare her a bit because she was annoying me. So she would make a fool of herself in front of Lord Cedric, disgracing our family.’

She didn’t intend to kill her, she just wanted to cause unbearable pain.

Bianca bit her trembling lips hard and turned around.

The Duke of Ronia stood before her.

Bianca hiccupped in surprise.

The duke had always turned a blind eye to Bianca tormenting Arne, but this was a different matter.

Arne, who elevated the Ronia Marquisate to the Ronia Ducal family, was still an indispensable presence.

“Ah, Father…”

“The Second Prince has urgently left the banquet hall. The private meeting is off now. Tsk.”

Fortunately, it seemed that the Duke of Ronia hadn’t noticed Bianca’s doings yet.

“Be careful today. The Second Prince has left the imperial guards behind to investigate the poisoning. An order has been given for no one to leave this hall.”

“To investigate the poisoning?”

Bianca’s face turned pale. Although mana perfume wasn’t poison, so there was nothing she would be caught for, but her heart raced for no reason.

The water glass she kept gripping slipped from her sweaty hand.

* * *

Cedric pondered over the poison that might be causing Arne’s symptoms, but he couldn’t come to a conclusion.

The worse the physical condition, the faster the mana consumption, but this was beyond fast — it was almost evaporating.

And the speed was accelerating.

Even the speed at which the mana from spirits filled Arne’s core was slower than the rate at which it was being consumed.

‘If this goes on…….’

The sound of teeth grinding echoed.

As if her hazy consciousness returned for a moment, Arne gasped for breath with a start.

“My lady, are you conscious?”

Cedric’s voice inside the carriage, holding Arne, sounded anxious.

Arne tried to speak but retched instead.

Once conscious, she felt a burning sensation all over her body, as if she were in a furnace.

It seemed Bianca had added more than just a drop or two. If the mana perfume spread throughout her body, she might truly die.

“Put me down.”

“My lady!”

“I feel like I’m going to vomit. I need to vomit. Put me down.”

“I still don’t know what poison it is. Depending on the toxicity, vomiting could further damage your esophagus or airway.”

“It’s not poison, it’s mana perfume. I can’t handle it if it spreads throughout my body.”

Cedric’s pupils gradually widened. His confused mind cleared up.

If it was mana perfume, the rapid disappearance of her mana and the strong lilac scent filling the carriage made sense.

“Stop the carriage.”

At Cedric’s command, Warren quickly stopped the carriage.

Arne, who immediately opened the carriage door and jumped out, grabbed a nearby tree post and retched.

“Don’t follow me.”

She didn’t want to show this side of herself. Perhaps it was fortunate that she had only drunk Reta liquor.

Arne’s body continued to retch, as though she was fighting for her life.

But Arne overlooked the fact that her body did not have the strength due to her almost evaporated mana.

Her hand slipped down the tree post, driving splinters under her fingernails, but she couldn’t feel even that.

Even her sense of pain was numbed.

“My lady, excuse me.”

A thick knuckle entered her mouth. Following the stimulation, a big retch came immediately, and the burning sensation around her body subsided.

Perhaps due to the relief, fatigue set in and her legs gave way.

Thanks to Cedric’s arms firmly supporting Arne, she did not stagger.

“Now I’m a bit more conscious. So now I want to die of shame. What a disgrace.”

“If this is a disgrace, then all the knights of the North might as well not be of this world.”

Cedric turned Arne around, holding the hand that was covering her face and meeting her eyes.

“I’ve even saved a foolish guy who almost died eating poisonous mushrooms with my own hands, so you don’t have to worry about my skills.”