Adenmir chuckled, touching his forehead with one hand. His head felt feverish. Whether it was due to the aftermath of the poison or the realization of emotions, he couldn’t tell. When did it start, exactly?

It dawned on him that all of the ridiculous things he’d done lately had been a process of affirmation. 

After breaking off the engagement, Elodie knew that it was considerate to avoid him first, but she deliberately approached him and said unnecessary things. And the way he’d spent all day reading articles about her, even though it was none of his business who she was seeing now.

Approaching her impurely under the guise of friendship. All of it. It was all intentional, deflecting attention by attaching different reasons. His focus had shifted at some point. He felt irritated, thinking of it as a nuisance at his fingertips, and neglected it until it tore open, and blood flowed.

 “What do I do?”

Adenmir knew his predicament. Wasn’t he more aware than anyone else that what’s done is done? During the not-so-short engagement period, he failed to provide trust as an engaged partner.

So, the breakup was inevitable. After all, he never intended to get married in the first place.

“If only I had prevented the breakup, could I have turned Elodie’s heart around?”

Adenmir’s hands, which used to fuss over trivial matters at home, fell heavily onto his thighs.

It was useless regret. Adenmir himself was holding onto the relationship with Elodie that he didn’t want to be involved in. Therefore, he couldn’t confess his feelings.

***

After using my power, the most important thing to do was to eat well and rest properly to recover. However, I couldn’t do that because of the terrifying humans in front of me.

 ‘…… Liar!’

I cried, glaring at Jansi, who, feeling the full force of my resentment, couldn’t help but smile. Is that all you do, smile pretty? 

‘You said you’d defend me when things got tough!’ 

I didn’t trust him at all. Still, even though I thought he would keep his word, Jansi shamelessly ignored my wishes. Of course, he attempted to defend me. 

“Father, please don’t be too hard on her.”

……. Needless to say, the words fell on deaf ears. The Perdians looked down on me as I lay sickly in bed, and the Duke of Perdia, in particular, made no secret of his displeasure, frowning openly. After sighing, the Duke crossed his arms and glared at me. 

 “You wanted to attend an outdoor event for some reason, so I gave you permission, and then you got into an accident.”

 “I didn’t cause the accident, it was the demonic…….”

Pfft. From behind, Jansi was clearly trying to hold back laughter. I couldn’t understand why he was here when he wasn’t going to intervene. Then, the usually quiet Greed offered me a piece of advice.

[Just admit you were wrong and apologize.]

‘As if it would be that easy to just let it go….’

 [Well, then…….]

Pride was something I had long discarded. If it was an issue that could be resolved by begging, I would’ve done it long ago. But look at that disdainful expression! Even if I admitted my mistake, he wouldn’t listen properly; his expression was stern and unforgiving.

“…Should I lift my arm?”

 ” What do you mean, a sick kid’s arm? Lie down and don’t move.”

Seemingly not considering any form of punishment, Duke Perdia covered me completely with the blanket, his face still fierce. The touch was as cold as his expression.

“Next time, don’t recklessly ingest poison, Elodie. Have you encountered beasts’ venom before? What if it couldn’t be detoxified?”

“I’ve never encountered a poison I couldn’t detoxify. I’ve even purified monster venom before, so it’s not the first time.”

I subtly glanced at the Duchess, who knew this fact better than anyone. I didn’t expect much, but she sided with me.

“Lili is right, Your Grace.”

“You’re good at backing each other up.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Nonsense.”

Duke Perdia furrowed his brows even more as if expressing his displeasure. However, I noticed that, contrary to his expression, his mood had slightly eased. It was important to drive the wedge in when moments like this arose. I argued that, despite the Duke not liking it, my actions weren’t entirely wrong.

“And besides, if I hadn’t been there, Carl might have been in danger.”

It was an undeniable fact. If it weren’t for my ability to purify all poisons, I couldn’t have guaranteed Carl’s life. Yet, the response came from a different direction.

“That’s also true.”

“Themis.”

Although Duke Perdia called his wife as if reprimanding her, she responded with an indifferent smile, not batting an eye.

“Lili did save Carl, didn’t she, Your Grace? Rather than criticizing, shouldn’t we be grateful?”

 ‘Duchess……!’

Once again, the Duchess came to my defense; indeed, she was the best! However, the joy of being moved didn’t last long.

 “Of course, you deserve to be scolded for revealing your powers to the world.”

With a smile, the duchess’s remark made me slump my shoulders. Okay, fine. Even while I was being scolded, Jansi, who had just watched from the sidelines while I was being scolded, asked her.

“Mother. How is Carl doing?”

“He hasn’t woken up yet. Seems like he’s sleeping soundly.”

 “Thank goodness. It would be nice if he learned something from this incident, but that might be asking too much, right?”

“Who could stop that lively child?”

In the friendly conversation between the two mother and son, Carlot’s existence was cut to pieces.

Within the family discussions, it was evident that Carlot’s presence was referred to as a ‘crazy foal.’ Feeling stifled under the uncomfortable blanket that reached up to my chin, I subtly joined the conversation.

“So, how is the investigation proceeding with this incident?”

In an ideal situation, I would have liked to return immediately to the site of the subjugation to investigate for any clues. However, with my still-recovering and feeble body, it was impossible. Therefore, I had to rely on Duke Perdia’s information network. As the Duke looked at me as if he hadn’t expected me to inquire, I actively emphasized the necessity.

 “With the sudden appearance of the strange beast and the attack on the First Prince and Carlot, there are too many unusual points. I’m curious if there might be someone behind this.”

Swoosh. A large hand approached, pulling the blanket up to cover half of my face.

 “I’ve heard that an investigator has been sent by the imperial family, but they haven’t found anything unusual.”

 “Really?”

 “Jansi said that since the First Prince was attacked, it may be that the Empress’s forces were involved.”

 “It’s just speculation, Father.”

Jansi chuckled and interjected. It seemed that neither of them anticipated the involvement of Gabe Genade. To claim that Gabe was suspicious in such a situation might make me appear suspicious myself.

‘I should contact Leon as soon as possible.’

Now that he’d seen Gabe’s face, we needed to discuss what to do next. As I made another furtive, uncomfortable pull down of the duvet, this time the Duchess pulled mine back up and asked. 

“But, Lili. Why did you publicly announce the existence of your ability like that?”

“It’s not like I’ve been hiding it.”

This was bound to happen once I decided to face my fate and not dodge it any longer. I might as well come clean. 

“Well, that’s good, because now there won’t be any fools claiming you don’t have powers.”

The Duchess seemed to be in a good mood. 

“But what if they decide to verify your ability at the imperial court?”

Jansi asked worriedly. The only reason I was afraid of that was because I didn’t want the Duke of Perdia to find out that I was the real daughter of Duke Severes. However, now that the truth was out, I had no reason to fear the imperial court’s verification of my abilities.

“It’s fine. I have Father by my side.”

To keep the fact that this ability was inherited from Severes from being exposed, it was crucial to have Duke Perdia’s support. In other words, if I wanted to stay in Perdia, it required active participation from Duke Perdia.

“My Father will take care of everything, right?” I added, expressing my confidence in him.

Since he had promised to make an effort for my sake, handling a situation like the imperial court’s verification should be a piece of cake. Perhaps fueled by a newfound determination, Duke Perdia flashed a smile that resembled Carlot’s.

“Well, then. Let Perdia decide how to handle it.”

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***

As soon as Carlot opened his eyes, he barged into my bedroom. Bang! The door swung open forcefully without even a knock.

 “Sister!!!”

 [Kyuu!]

Greed, who was curled up in a ball on my bedside table, jumped up in surprise. It muttered something in a low voice of dissatisfaction as he watched Carlot barge in.

[That red guy, isn’t he still a patient?]

Even if the poison had been purified, it shouldn’t be to the extent where he could run around like this. Whether it was because he was like this from a young age, or perhaps Carlot’s stamina was unusually good, regardless, it could be considered impressive. Strolling confidently, Carlot came over and plopped down beside the bed, resting his head against it with sparkling eyes.

“So, who won?”

“Huh?”

“I won, right? I killed the most!”

What is this guy talking about? I wondered if he might still be in pain, so I brought my hand to his forehead, but there was no fever. Maybe Carlot is talking about the “winning” in the context of the monster subjugation battle?

“Are you talking about the monster subjugation?”

“Of course. We were in the middle of a monster subjugation!”

This guy, is his brain filled only with thoughts of “destruction”? Whether dead or alive, he might be someone who thinks about victory or defeat as soon as he opens his eyes. Considering Carlot’s behavior, he might be the person who best matches Perdia’s temperament.

“The monster subjugation was stopped, so no one won, you fool. Go and take a rest.”

Waving my hand dismissively, I gave him a sarcastic comment, but Carlot instead clasped his hands together and made an ecstatic expression.

 “Sister…… are you worried about me?”

“You almost died, so I was worried.”

“Wow! Sister worried about me-!”

I stared at the shouting Carlot with an expression of disbelief. 

“Hmph, you idiot.”

Smack, smack! When I lightly hit his back, Carlot laughed heartily. There was no one quite like him.

“Do you know that it doesn’t hurt at all? Are you a foxtail?”

” F-foxtail….”

“No, if you would hit me with foxtail, it would hurt more than this.”

Treating a person like a foxtail. Carlot seemed pleased with the topic that emerged while messing around.

“Why are you so happy?”

 “Sister, you saved my life again.”

“Should I have let you die?”

Since I had already saved him once, there was no reason not to do it again. Carlot, cupping his face with both hands, looked at me with a burdened expression and asked.

“If I get poisoned again, will you save me?”

“Of course.”

“Hehehe.”

Looking at Carlot, who was grinning widely, I asked.

“What’s so funny?”

“It seems like it’s worth getting poisoned again.”

“Then should I eat poison too?”

Perhaps he hadn’t thought about that, as Carlot gasped and swallowed nervously. 

 “I’ll be careful!”

Seeing the foolish expression on Carlot’s face, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter. This was serious. It seemed like the power of foolishness was contagious.