Chapter 21

—Splash!

Water spewed from Vivian's mouth, completely soaking my arm.

At this point, no more food was coming up—only water laden with charcoal powder flowed out.

In fact, perhaps due to her insufficient food intake, she began retching just water after the first few attempts.

This was already the twenty-second time we'd done this. Yet, it still didn't feel sufficient.

Watching Vivian vomit up the water, I reached out to the maids behind me.

With trembling hands, the maids handed me another glass of water mixed with charcoal.

Vivian was already at her limit.

Her weakened body had been leaning entirely on me for quite some time.

She even closed her eyes, perhaps unable to endure the dizziness.

Her breathing was easier than before, but it was still shallow and thin as if it might stop at any moment.

"Drink more."

I fed her more water, even as I watched her condition.

Exhausted, she seemed to drift in and out of consciousness, barely responding to my words anymore.

"…"

Seeing this, I laid Vivian down against my arm.

I slowly poured water into her mouth.

Naturally, she began swallowing the water little by little.

The floor of the hall was covered with rags soaked in black water.

The maids busily chased away onlookers, while some fetched new charcoal and ground it beside us.

Vivian had already consumed the charcoal I had prepared.

But now, there was plenty of water mixed with charcoal powder prepared so it wouldn't be lacking.

"Cough! Cough!"

Then Vivian started coughing, perhaps unable to swallow the water.

I propped her up and gently patted her back.

The glass of water I was about to feed her tipped over and spilled onto the floor.

"…"

After coughing, she slumped again.

Instinctively, I knew she was at her limit.

It seemed difficult to push her body any further.

I turned to the maids.

"Mix the charcoal thicker this time and prepare the last glass. She won't vomit this one."

Following my orders, they prepared water with twice the usual amount of charcoal and handed it to me.

I had to hope that this last glass would help her.

I shook Vivian to wake her.

"Rondor, stay with me."

Her eyelids fluttered open weakly. Beneath them, ruby-like red eyes looked at me.

"This is the last one. Drink all of it and then rest."

—Nod.

Vivian nodded again in agreement.

I brought the glass to her lips.

Perhaps finding the rough and gritty texture of the charcoal unpleasant, she slightly furrowed her brow.

But she drank every last drop of the glass I gave her.

After swallowing the final sip, she looked at me again.

It was a look that seemed to ask if it was really over now.

"…"

I nodded to her.

With that, the strength left her body.

She completely lost consciousness and went limp.

"…You did well."

I whispered softly to her.

Immediately, I slipped my arm under her back and lifted her up.

"Ugh…"

She was heavier than I thought.

No, actually, I was weaker than I thought.

I had been overconfident because of my somewhat tall build, but I guess I should start exercising diligently from now on.

"W-We can handle it."

The maids quickly approached and spoke to me.

Perhaps they didn't trust me, still small in stature.

But I shook my head.

To me, they were even less trustworthy.

They were the maids who had done nothing until the head of the house ingested poison. Even after she ate it, their response had been slow.

If I were the head, these maids wouldn't have avoided punishment.

...Besides, I thought that one of them might be a traitor.

I couldn't entrust Vivian to such maids.

The moment I decided to stand by Vivian's side, the scenery around me began to look different.

Was this the feeling Vivian had been experiencing all along?

Everyone seemed sinister. If they openly showed disgust as they did toward me, it might have been easier, but their feigned concern as they approached made it all the more unsettling.

As I said, the war had begun.

Even if I didn't know who was targeting Vivian, they wouldn't give up just because the poisoning failed.

Someone might try to pull something while she was unconscious.

Thus, I planned to stay by her side until she regained consciousness.

There might not be much I could do by being by her side, but still, it felt more reassuring to be there than not.

"Just clean up here."

So I gave orders to those untrustworthy maids and moved away.

A few maids hesitated and tried to follow me.

I didn't pay attention to them either.

Vivian's room was on the third floor.

I had quite a hard time moving her there. By the time I laid her on the bed, sweat was trickling down my forehead.

****

Vivian was running.

"Huff...! Huff...!"

She didn't know whom she was fleeing from.

But she instinctively knew that if she stopped, she would die.

She pushed through the bushes as she ran.

In the distance, she saw the backs of her father, mother, and older brother.

"Please, take me with you!!"

Vivian shouted to them.

But not one of them looked back at her.

"I'm here too!!"

Despite her utmost efforts, her family continued to move farther away.

Something seemed to be holding her back; her movements slowed. The frustration was indescribable.

—Thud!

At that moment, something chasing her grabbed her shoulder.

Frozen in fear, Vivian couldn't even scream.

When she turned around, Baelor stood there.

"It's better for Rondor if you're not around. You can never be my lord."

He spoke coldly.

—Swoosh!

Someone else appeared beside her.

It was her uncle, Robert Rondor.

"Vivian. Hand over your position to me. Rondor is mine."

—Swoosh!

Treasurer Brynden joined in, clicking his tongue with a stubborn smile.

"Lady Vivian, an incompetent lord is unnecessary in Roctana. If you give up your position... Count Corrod promises to shower me with gold coins. I trust you understand my choice."

Next was her mentor, Madam Linne.

"Lady Vivian, please grow to suit my tastes. I will use you as my puppet."

Next appeared intelligence officer Nestor.

"Please continue to be incompetent. There's so much I can siphon off from behind the scenes."

Then Maid Sena.

"Have some more, Lady Vivian. It's filled with poison."

Surrounded by them, Vivian's heart pounded.

"No... No..."

She wanted to escape their cruel words, but her body was frozen and wouldn't move.

The verbal abuse from her retainers intensified. They poured out even more merciless and horrifying words that stole her hope.

She tried covering her ears, but it was no use.

Their voices grotesquely intertwined, piercing into her mind.

"Who would swear loyalty to a stuttering fool?"

"We can't stand seeing someone like you above us."

"You were just born lucky; you've achieved nothing."

"Please disappear on your own. It's what's best for everyone."

She resented her family for leaving her among such people.

‘Someone, please save me.’

She pleaded.

To push away the dreadful voices echoing in her head, she begged by repeating her deepest thoughts hundreds of times.

‘Someone... Please... Anyone.’

—Flash!

At that moment, someone grabbed her arm.

Suppressing the urge to scream, Vivian tightly closed her eyes.

But nothing happened.

Rather, an inexplicable tranquility suddenly enveloped her surroundings.

Baelor's voice, Brynden, Madam Linne, Nestor, her uncle, maids, servants, soldiers, knights... all were gone as if they had never existed.

In that silence, Vivian looked at her wrist.

Someone was still holding onto her.

Following that hand, Vivian lifted her gaze.

The one holding her was supposed to be her enemy, Kylo Allen.

"…"

He said nothing.

He just stood there.

At that moment, feeling an odd sense of peace, Vivian's racing heart began to calm.

"......Ah."

It was also then that her brain realized it was all a dream.

Her body felt heavily pressed down as she returned to reality.

She felt her body drenched in cold sweat. Every part ached as if someone had crushed her.

As she recalled what had happened, the reality that someone had tried to poison her filled her mind with horror.

Vivian lifted her eyelids, which felt unbearably heavy.

She saw moonlight streaming in from the dark window.

It seemed she had been unconscious all day. She stared blankly for a long time, trying to adjust to the lost time.

Then, she heard someone lightly snoring.

Her heart was startled, but her body lacked the strength to react.

She slowly turned her head to see who was with her.

It was Kylo Allen.

He was sleeping peacefully, resting his head on her wrist.

"…"

His black hair tickled the back of her hand. Vivian wanted to withdraw her hand, but she didn't have the strength, so she remained still.

...No, she wasn't even sure if she wanted to pull it away. At this moment, he didn't feel so unpleasant to her.

It was ironic.

Just earlier that day, she had been at death's door.

She had been so dizzy she couldn't focus her vision, and her stomach churned endlessly. Her hands and feet grew cold, and her body curled up against her will.

It was a miracle that she could open her eyes again like this.

She was terrified of who could have done such a thing. Suspicion and fear tormented her.

Someone among the retainers and maids who had been by her side, or perhaps a third party, had tried to kill her.

Vivian realized that the hidden monster had revealed itself.

But amusingly, there was one person excluded from her suspicions.

The very person she hated the most—the eldest son of the Allen family, Kylo Allen.

They had antagonized each other, provoked and tormented one another, but Vivian knew that Kylo Allen was the only one who hadn't tried to poison her.

'If you die here... that would be too boring.'

It was a vicious remark.

Was he saying he wanted to see her struggle in pain a bit longer?

She was grateful for his help, but an enemy was still an enemy.

But how could such a thing happen?

The person she hated the most was the one she didn't suspect.

The paradoxical trust that bloomed within this hostility was so strange.

Rather than someone else's hypocritical smile, the openly displayed hatred felt safer.

At least Kylo Allen didn't wear a mask.

She couldn't trust those she should trust, and she trusted the one she should hate.

If she had a bit more strength, Vivian would have laughed bitterly at herself.

But it was true that, at this moment, she felt safe with Kylo by her side.

Was this why her mother had tried to keep him as her guard?

Vivian did not know.

Soon, sleep overtook her.

Normally, she always struggled to fall asleep, feeling lonely and somewhat afraid.

But at least for tonight, she could comfortably close her eyes under the illusion that she was safe.

In the sleep that followed, she did not have any nightmares.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

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