Chapter 47: Unknown Facts

It seemed she had dozed off briefly. The sound of rustling clothes woke her up but quickly disappeared into the gentle breeze. Instead, a deep, heavy rose fragrance spread. That rose scent approached silently, captivating Bliss’s sense of smell before suddenly fading away.

Bliss slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. A single candle was woefully insufficient to illuminate the spacious room. So she could barely make out silhouettes. Caelan’s silhouette flickered not far away.

Bliss was about to call out to him with a smile. Just as she was about to ask if he had finished bathing, Caelan didn’t approach. As she thought it strange that he was standing still, suddenly he showed an odd reaction.

“Ugh.”

At the sound that seemed painful as if something was blocking inside, Bliss instinctively raised her upper body.

“Caelan?”

Though she wanted to ask what was wrong, Caelan continued to clutch his head and mutter to himself as if he hadn’t heard her call. The sound was too faint to make out what he was saying, but it didn’t seem like anything good.

Could it be because of earlier?

Thinking that the shock from seeing someone killed by poison was still affecting him, Bliss got up hurriedly. The noise she made was incomparably louder than when Caelan moved. She called out to him while approaching closer, called him when standing right in front of him, and called him again when she touched his face.

“Caelan.”

As if by magic, Caelan, who had calmed down, blinked his eyes. Watching the light gradually return to his clouded eyes, Bliss let out a relieved sigh as she felt his breathing stabilize.

This was the second time today. That usually solid person acted so precariously that it wouldn’t have been strange if he collapsed right away from shock. Finding it pitiful, Bliss kept her hand on Caelan’s face and moved her thumb.

She caressed his sweat-dampened skin with her thumb while wiping away his cold sweat with her other hand.

“Calm down. I don’t know why, but try taking slow breaths.”

Bliss made eye contact with Caelan and checked his condition. His face, which had turned pale enough to be visible even in the weak light, was gradually regaining its color. Just as she thought he might be okay now, Bliss’s gaze stopped at Caelan’s lips as she removed her hand from his face and stepped back.

A drop of blood had risen over where his lip was torn from how much he had tormented it. Bliss stifled a groan when she felt for her clothes and realized she was in her nightgown. No handkerchief. She wondered if she could go get a handkerchief and leave him. He looked so unstable that she worried about moving away even for a moment.

After contemplating what to do, she hesitantly brought her hand close to his lips. Specifically, she caught the edge of her nightgown with her fingertips and wiped away the blood drop. Until then, Caelan remained still. He neither pushed Bliss away nor pulled her closer. He just looked at her, that was all.

“Why… did that happen?”

Though Bliss lowered her hand knowing no more blood drops would form, she didn’t move away from Caelan. Instead, she asked while tracing the teeth marks on his lips with her eyes.

“Did you remember what happened earlier?”

He pulled his lower lip in and bit it with his teeth. Not satisfied with just that, he kept gnawing at it, so naturally his lip was torn. What could have troubled him so much that he would torment his lips like this?

“…I hate poison.”

Bliss was taken aback by the answer that was so brief it felt childlike, but she continued the conversation anyway.

“Yes. I remember you saying you hate it.”

There was no need to forcefully search her mind to recall. Just hours ago, she had heard how he felt about poison.

“I hate it so much it makes my teeth clench.”

“I know.”

“I don’t want to touch it, and I especially hate having it in my house.”

“That’s right.”

“Then why is there poison here?”

“What?”

Bliss met Caelan’s eyes. His eyes, which until just now had been shaking while covered in cold sweat, had not only calmed but turned cold.

“I’m asking why this is in this room.”

Caelan thrust a small pouch in front of Bliss’s eyes. Bliss, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Caelan’s, belatedly turned to look at the pouch.

“What is this?”

“It was lying on the floor.”

“The floor… this room?”

“Yes. Right here.”

Caelan’s eyebrow tips rose. He looked extremely sharp, as if asking why there was a pouch containing poison lying in the room. Still, this was better than when he was precariously shaking from shock earlier.

As Bliss reached for the pouch, Caelan caught her hand.

“Don’t touch it.”

Caelan let go of Bliss’s hand and turned around. He went to the side table in the corner and placed the pouch on it. Not satisfied with just that, he wiped the hand that had held the pouch on a cloth. Though it wasn’t dangerous since his mouth was tightly closed, his frowning face wouldn’t relax, as if the very existence of the pouch bothered him.

As she became separated from Caelan, Bliss tried to piece together what was happening. Caelan said there had been a poison pouch in this room.

“I didn’t put this here.”

A poison pouch in a room only the married couple enters – it was perfect for being framed.

“I just came here, waited for you, and fell asleep.”

Just as Bliss was approaching Caelan to emphasize that it absolutely wasn’t hers. Though she was clearly looking at Caelan and knew he was far away…

“Huh?”

In an instant, he not only came right in front of her but pulled her waist close, pressing their bodies together. Bliss unconsciously put both hands on his chest and leaned her upper body back.

“Why are you…”

“Lower your voice.”

At Caelan’s notably quieter voice, Bliss tensed and drew in a breath.

“I’d like you to whisper in my ear.”

As if to demonstrate himself, Caelan bent his head toward Bliss. Bliss, who had been flustered as it felt like he was just embracing her, closed her eyes completely to hide her dizzy gaze.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I want to hear up close. Who came into this room today?”

“Are you suspecting someone other than me?”

“There’s no way it could be you.”

Feeling Caelan’s hand touch her hair, Bliss held her breath before swallowing. The tension in her body wouldn’t release, uncomfortable with Caelan’s touch. Though Bliss, whose breathing was becoming rapid, wanted to move away from Caelan, it wasn’t easy. She felt she wouldn’t be able to hear his quieted voice.

“Would you bring something right after hearing how much I hate it today?”

‘So that’s why he doesn’t suspect me.’

The reason was so simple. Unless one was stupid, they wouldn’t use poison right after learning how Caelan felt about it. So as Caelan said, they needed to think about who might have entered the room…

“Many servants come in at dawn so it’s hard to pinpoint exactly who. And as you can see, at night I was alone…”

Just as she was about to tell Caelan she wasn’t sure, she remembered someone. Bliss, who had lowered her gaze, didn’t see Caelan’s eyes narrow.

‘Jackie came in.’

She hadn’t seen anyone else come and go. The maids who had attended to her while she bathed might have stopped by the room beforehand. However, she couldn’t verify anything, making it difficult to speak carelessly.

‘If I mention Jackie, they’ll suspect her.’

Bliss recalled Jackie whom she had met when entering the room.

‘But what was Jackie doing?’

Bliss’s gaze turned to where Jackie had been standing. It wasn’t where the curtains were, nor where the bed was. At most, there was only the box that had held the sword.

“Where was the pouch?”

“There.”

The place Caelan pointed to was where Jackie had been standing. It matched too perfectly, making it impossible not to suspect Jackie, which made things even more complicated. After contemplating what to do, Bliss shook her head.

“I was outside for too long. So I can’t think of anyone.”

Having finished speaking, Bliss gave Caelan a look asking him to let her go. It meant she had no one to name, silently begging him to release her.

Feeling the strength leave Caelan’s hands, Bliss hesitantly created some distance bit by bit. Even though his reason was wanting to hear up close, being embraced by him made her fingertips curl in embarrassment. When Bliss briefly turned her head away due to awkwardness and tried to speak to Caelan, she discovered his gaze was directed at the door.

‘Could someone be listening?’

Someone had tried to use poison and not only failed but dropped the pouch and disappeared. First they needed to find who had tried to use the poison, and she needed to pay attention to Caelan just as much.

“Caelan.”

Bliss grabbed his wrist while moving away from him.

“Let’s sleep for now. And have meals together tomorrow.”

Since many things had happened today, they needed time to sort through everything one by one. She would need to stay at the Marquis’s mansion for at least another day.