.jpg)
“Since when have you been sick?”
“What?”
“Before you doubt my words, think carefully about when you started getting sick.”
Peony glared at Ayla with fierce eyes.
But Ayla already knew.
That Peony's pupils were shaking uncontrollably.
‘There must be something bothering her.’
Peony will definitely take the Antidote to confirm the truth.
If that happens, she will have no choice but to believe her words.
Peony stared at Ayla for a long time with a grim expression.
But in the end, she couldn't refute anything, grabbed the vial, and had to turn away.
After Peony had completely disappeared, Felix asked with a worried voice.
“What if the princess doesn’t get better even after taking that medicine?”
Ayla gave a bitter smile at Felix’s question.
Perhaps that would be a better ending for Peony.
As Peony had said, the maid Lona had been taking care of her since she was young.
‘But what she had been feeding her, disguised as a Cure, was poison.’
Peony realized this only at the moment when death was imminent.
Only then did she realize that what she had been taking was not a Cure but poison.
When she found out that the person who had poisoned her was the maid she trusted more than anyone else, the betrayal Peony felt must have been indescribable.
In the original story, Peony had died feeling deep despair.
‘That maid was probably sent by someone who wanted to keep Peony in check.’
Ayla shook her head firmly.
“That won’t happen.”
At her answer, Felix looked in the direction Peony had disappeared with pitiful eyes.
Returning to her room, Peony shook her head in confusion.
‘This is ridiculous.’
Peony didn't really believe Ayla's words.
No, she didn't want to believe them.
‘How much will change just by taking this?’
But the nagging doubt continued to torment her. Even until the moment she tossed and turned all night and fell into a light sleep.
The next morning, Lona, who brought breakfast, asked Peony with a puzzled face.
“Did something happen last night, Princess?”
“Why?”
“Just because. You don’t look well today. I should have had you get more treatment from the doctor.”
“I just didn’t sleep well yesterday.”
“That also means you’re not feeling well, Princess.”
Concern clouded Lona's face.
She carefully wiped the cold sweat on Peony's forehead with a wet towel, then held out a Cure in a bottle.
“This is the medicine you need to take today. Make sure to eat it after your meal.”
Peony accepted the Cure that Lona handed her without complaint.
And, that evening.
Peony, who had finished organizing her thoughts to some extent, placed the Antidote that Ayla had given her and the Cure that Lona had given her side by side on her desk.
Normally, Peony had to report everything she ate to Lona.
In addition, she had to tell her the fact that she had secretly left the dormitory and met Ayla.
But Ayla's words floated around in her head, repeatedly blocking her actions.
“Think carefully about when you started getting sick.”
Lona was a maid who had been brought in because Peony's body was weak from the start.
But Peony's illness also worsened exactly from when Lona came in.
The intermittent seizures and pain started with Lona's presence.
Peony stared intently at the Antidote Ayla had given her.
The liquid in the crystal bottle had a beautiful blue color.
Peony bit her lip for a long time and pondered before finally making a decision.
‘I’ve already confirmed that it’s not poison anyway.’
Ayla had even taken a sip of this Antidote in front of her to give her faith.
In other words, taking this wouldn't cause her any great harm.
‘It’s not that difficult.’
But what made her hesitate was whether the Cure she had been taking was really poison.
Whether Lona had truly betrayed her.
No, maybe even her father, who had assigned Lona as her maid, actually wanted her death.
The Emperor's kind face, who always worried about her health and spared no care, came to her mind.
In an instant, Peony's eyes turned red, and tears welled up precariously.
But.
‘I have to check the results.’
If the Antidote doesn't work, it proves that Lona is innocent.
She had to take this Antidote in order to fully trust her.
Peony grabbed Ayla's Antidote in her hand. Then, without hesitation, she drank it.
She waited for a while in that state, but nothing special happened.
‘Does it not take effect immediately? When I heard Ayla's words, it sounded like a great medicine.’
Peony thought so and lay down on the bed. Soon after, she closed her eyes.
Perhaps because the day had been long, fatigue washed over her like a strong wave.
But she knew.
That even on tired days, she couldn't sleep comfortably.
There were many days when she tossed and turned in pain all night and only fell asleep for a while around sunrise.
And after waking up, she would suffer from terrible pain again.
‘The night is too long.’
For those who can't sleep, the night was a very painful time.
That's why Peony hated the darkness that came every day.
But this time, without her even knowing it, weariness slowly enveloped her body.
Peony gradually fell into a sleep where she didn't feel any pain or have any nightmares for the first time in a long time.
She was completely unaware that she was sleeping more deeply than ever before.
After being recognized as a disciple of Duke Argenta, Felix's life completely changed.
He was allowed to enter and exit the Duke's townhouse in the capital, and he was even issued a special outing pass just for him.
The headmaster glared at him with a displeased face and expressed his blatant dissatisfaction, but in the end, he couldn't say anything.
“If you want to go out… you have to. Cough, cough.”
Thanks to this, unlike other dormitory students, Felix enjoyed the freedom to leave the academy at any time.
But this was only a small part of the changes he experienced.
The most noticeable change was the changed gazes of people.
Even when he won the duel against Kadin, people were amazed, but there was no such favor in it as there was now.
But now, just walking down the hallway, countless gazes followed him.
“I heard that kid became the Duke's disciple?”
“He beat Kadin a while ago, so he must be really talented.”
During class, there were people who subtly imitated his posture or observed his movements while pretending to practice.
Felix pretended to be calm, but inside, he felt strange.
‘These are people who didn’t even look at me before.’
Those who had ignored him like he was a bug were now staring at him as if he were something very interesting.
Some people were even jealous.
Even the female students who had treated him coldly in the past now approached him and talked to him without hesitation.
“Your swordsmanship demonstration today was amazing. How can you move like that?”
“Since you’ve become the Duke’s disciple, will you now receive support from the Noble house?”
Felix couldn't help but chuckle whenever he received such questions.
It was ridiculous that those who hadn't even glanced at him when he was at the bottom were suddenly approaching him pretending to be friendly.
‘Now they’re coming to talk to me as if nothing happened.’
But he didn't show his displeasure.
He just ignored it and moved on.
.jpg)