"We just saw each other a mont ago."
"I still miss you."
Beramund chuckled and sipped his tea.
'Huh?'
Despite its sweet aroma, the taste was bitter. Thinking it might be a bitter tea, his tongue began to tingle.
"—!"
Beramund reached out and knocked the teacup from Sigrid's hand. The porcelain cup shattered with a loud crash.
"Beramund!"
The ground rushed up to et him as Beramund braced himself on the floor. He felt small but strong hands grasping him. He struggled to hold onto his fading consciousness. His stomach burned as if he'd swallowed a mountain. He tried to induce vomiting by sticking his fingers down his throat, but it didn't work well.
"Beramund!!"
Seeing Beramund curled up and shaking, Sigrid's mind went blank.
Poison.
How should she deal with poison?
She lifted the crouched Beramund into her arms. Hoisting him up, Sigrid burst out the door running.
"Arkana!"
Bang—!
Seeing Sigrid carrying Beramund and smashing through the door, Arkana had an irrelevant thought for a second, but quickly realized Beramund's condition was poor.
"Siri? What happened?"
"I don't know. Su-suddenly. It must be poison. He drank the tea."
"Together? What about you?"
Sigrid shook her head. Beramund gasped, his face pale white and body trembling.
"This isn't... how I wanted... to be held... by the woman I love."
"Beramund!"
"He's still conscious. Siri, put him down over there. Did he vomit what he ate?"
Arkana pointed to his bed and pulled the bell rope. Sigrid shook her head.
"No, he didn't vomit."
"Then he should try to vomit."
Sigrid quickly laid Beramund on the bed and ran back with a decorative vase.
"Beramund, vomit in here. No, should I help you vomit?"
As the rambling Sigrid looked ready to stick her hand down his throat, Beramund waved her off. At first, he was terribly shocked, but now, though painful, he felt considerably better.
In other words,
'It ans I'm immune to this poison.'
High-ranking nobles build immunity to poisons from a young age. It was never an easy process. They'd suffer for days, gasping and struggling, to build as much immunity as possible to as many poisons as possible. As a child, he hated taking the poisons they gave him, but now he was grateful.
Arkana brought a water bottle and said:
"Drink this and try to vomit everything."
Beramund emptied the entire bottle and vomited everything.
"Be-Beramund......"
"Sigrid, go get the tea leaves. We need to know what kind of poison it is."
Arkana commanded Sigrid, who looked ready to collapse in tears at any mont. Sigrid reacted chanically to the order and dashed out.
anwhile, a servant entered, and Arkana ordered them to call a doctor. The servant hurried out of the room with a pale face. Beramund grimaced from the abdominal pain. He was sweating and dizzy—
"Are you alright?"
Beramund answered Arkana's question with a groan.
"Here it is!"
Sigrid burst in carrying both the teapot and the tea box. It showed how flustered she was. Arkana opened the tea box and his eyes widened.
"Did you brew and drink Black Jester?"
"W-what's that? Is it serious?"
"It's a poison used to catch foxes or wolves in the countryside. It slls nice, but it's highly toxic....... It's a plant usually only found in the northern empire."
"Is there an antidote?"
"I don't know. The doctor might not know either. Why is this in a tea box?"
"His Highness Awen gave it to us."
Sigrid muttered as if in a trance. The doctor who arrived shortly after looked at the plant, examined Beramund's condition, and said:
"Fortunately, it seems you have so immunity, so this will be a battle of endurance."
"What about an antidote?"
"One hasn't been developed yet, but I'll prepare a dicine to neutralize the poison and boost your strength."
"I understand."
Arkana replied. Sigrid quickly approached the bedside and grasped Beramund's hand. His hand was extrely hot.
"Don't die. Okay? Beramund."
"I won't die......"
Beramund said softly. Sigrid buried her face in his hand and said:
"Let's get married. So—"
At those words, Beramund tried to laugh but failed.
"Ah....... Is this... why... marriage is... beneficial...? But, I... ugh....... ha....... didn't want it... like this......"
As he spoke between gasps, Sigrid shook her head vigorously.
"No, actually I ca to give you my answer earlier. So, okay?"
"......I'm fine, I tell you......"
Beramund smiled faintly and wiped the cheeks of the tearful Sigrid. He was glad she hadn't drunk it.
While he had immunity, what about Sigrid?
She obviously wouldn't have received such training, and would have died shortly after drinking the poison. Because of the tea he poured.
The thought alone made him shudder.
Beramund raised his eyes to look at Arkana. When their eyes t, Arkana nodded. He asked Sigrid:
"Sigrid, you said His Highness the Third Prince gave this, right?"
"Yes."
"And he specifically said to give it to ?"
"Yes, oh, surely......"
Sigrid looked up at Arkana. Her hand gripping Beramund's tightened.
"Did His Highness the Third Prince try to assassinate Beramund?"
"Or soone might have used him."
"Why Beramund specifically? I could understand if it were ."
"We'll have to assess the situation."
Arkana said in a low voice, looking at the luxurious tea box. Sigrid said:
"When Beramund gets better, then."
"Alright."
Arkana nodded and left them alone. Sigrid spent the entire night by the bedside. When his fever spiked in the middle of the night, she was tornted by the fear of 'What if Beramund really dies?'
'Now I understand why Beramund was so angry before.'
Sigrid reflected.
When she knew she was going to be poisoned, when she went to dangerous battlefields, did Beramund feel like this?
He felt like this but endured it and let her go. He indulged her stubbornness.
Sigrid sobbed quietly.
She had been loved so much, but hadn't realized it.
Several tis, Beramund comforted Sigrid in a low, mumbling voice, saying "Don't cry." She wanted to shout, "Don't worry about , think about yourself!" but suppressed the urge.
From dawn, his fever began to drop, and the pain subsided.
By morning, Beramund had fully recovered.
The doctor's face clearly showed his unspoken thought: 'What monstrous recovery ability.'
Boasting his returned vigorous appetite, Beramund said:
"It's quite common in the northern empire, and there's no antidote. It was one of the poisons we built immunity to from childhood. That's fortunate, at least."
"I think the noble culture of poisoning children is terrible, but in this case, it's fortunate indeed."
At Arkana's words, Beramund chuckled.
"It's fortunate I drank it first, not Sigrid. Plus, I didn't consu much. If it had been in food, I might have eaten more without realizing. Because it was tea, I noticed right away. My tongue tingled."
"That's true."
Arkana nodded. If they really intended to kill, it would have been better to use a thod other than drinking. Sigrid said with a grim face:
"So, did His Highness Awen really...?"
"That's the biggest question. There's no motive, is there?"
Beramund said, tilting his head. Arkana thought for a mont and said:
"Maybe you've beco a rival, Beramund?"
"?"
"Beramund?"
"You said you revealed to His Highness the Third Prince that Beramund is your lover. And you were supposed to go down to the territory to live with him. So, he beca jealous of Beramund."
"And that made him try to kill?"
Sigrid exclaid in disbelief. Arkana smiled with one corner of his mouth and said:
"Isn't that the kind of environnt he grew up in? Kill or be killed?"
"Even so—"
Sigrid started to say more but then lowered her head. Beramund stuffed the remaining bagel sandwich into his mouth and said:
"The thod is amateurish, but we don't know for sure, so we should check."
"Check?"
Sigrid looked at Beramund, asking "How?" A faint shadow had ford under Sigrid's eyes from staying up all night.
"Let's get so sleep first, then talk about it."
Sigrid nodded. She said softly:
"Let's sleep together."
"Pfft—! cough cough cough."
"How disgusting."
Arkana said disdainfully from the side, and Sigrid quickly handed Beramund so water.
"Are you okay? You're not hurting anywhere, are you?"
After gulping down the water, Beramund replied:
"No, I just choked. Sleep together, you say?"
"I don't think I can sleep because I'm anxious....... I can just sleep on this sofa. As long as I can confirm you're safe, that's enough."
"No, no. I can't let you sleep on the sofa."
"Then can I sleep beside you?"
Sigrid asked with subtly expectant eyes. Arkana smiled brightly and asked:
"May she?"
Beramund looked back and forth between them and said:
"Um, well, just, um."
When he couldn't give a clear answer, Sigrid let out a light sigh and stood up.
"I understand."
She reached out to touch Beramund's shoulder and leaned in to give him a light kiss on the lips.
"Then rest well."
"What about you, Siri?"
"I'll just handle a bit of work. You rest."
Beramund nodded, feeling a mix of disappointnt and relief that he couldn't quite place.
"Alright. Don't overdo it."
"I won't."
As Sigrid left the room, Arkana followed a beat later, saying:
"I'm glad you survived."
"It felt like I just overca another brush with death."
Arkana chuckled at Beramund's joke and left the room. Once they were both gone, Beramund rubbed his eyes. He had pretended to be fine, but he still had a bit of a headache.
'I should rest and then take a nap.'
More importantly, wasn't Sigrid too unguarded around him?
'Co to think of it, should I consider this an answer to my proposal, or not?'
It wasn't the right situation to say he'd received an answer, but it was ambiguous to say he hadn't. And if he were to confirm, he was afraid of a possible rejection.
Beramund got up and did so light stretching. Having suffered all night, his joints and muscles ached.
'It's been a really long ti since I felt like this.'
Especially his joints—it felt like the first ti they'd hurt since growing pains.
After loosening up a bit, Beramund got back into bed. He must have been much more tired than he thought, as he fell asleep instantly.
That is, until he woke up to a presence in the middle of the night.
Feeling soone sneaking into the bed, Beramund grabbed the intruder, pinned them to the bed, and grasped their neck before his eyes widened in surprise.
"Siri?"
"I, I just wanted to check if you were sleeping well......"
"What ti is it? Ah, it's completely dark."
"It's the middle of the night. I'm sorry for waking you."
As she spoke, Sigrid slowly raised her arms to wrap them around Beramund's neck. Beramund chuckled and leaned down to kiss her.
"I'm happy if you're coming into my bed."
"Then can we sleep together......?"
Sigrid asked, sliding her hands from his neck to his shoulders. Beramund groaned and flopped down beside her.
"Yes, yes."
"I ca without Arkana knowing."
She winked as if to say she had that much sense, and Beramund felt even more drained.
"Oh, I see."
Sigrid giggled and snuggled up close to Beramund. His warm body temperature imdiately reassured her.
"Good night, Beramund."
"Good night."
As he replied, Beramund thought he would absolutely not be able to sleep.
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
When told that Sigrid had arrived, Awen ca running out.
"Sigrid!"
"Have you been well, Your Highness?"
"Yes. Did you finish your work?"
"Yes."
As Sigrid nodded, Awen hesitated as if wanting to ask or say sothing, then tugged on her cloak and asked:
"You're dressed up nicely today."
With her hair tied up, wearing her formal uniform, and a cloak draped over her right shoulder, Sigrid looked as if she was about to attend a military review or receive a dal.
Reviews
All reviews (0)