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'Lona has been by my side all this time to kill me.'
In the meantime, Lona had always said this to Princess Peony.
"I'm always on your side, Princess. Someday, I will do my best to help you overcome your illness. You are my everything, Princess."
Sweet encouragements that she always whispered in her ear.
When she heard those words, Peony vaguely hoped that she might really be able to escape this terrible pain.
But the truth she realized now was that Lona's words were all lies.
'Actually, no one was on my side.'
Falling into a deep sleep without feeling any pain was a blessing she had enjoyed for the first time in a long time.
But during that time, Peony's heart was crumbling to black.
The fact that she had to be helpless, not knowing whose hand held the blade pointed at her, chilled Peony.
Eventually, Peony couldn't hide her miserable feelings and went to see Ayla.
She looked at Ayla and said firmly.
"You were right."
Ayla quietly stared at her.
"After taking the Antidote you gave me, I slept deeply for the first time in a long time. I didn't hurt for days and slept well."
"I see."
"And after confirming that your Antidote works... I also took the Cure that Lona gave me."
Hearing that, Ayla couldn't continue speaking with her eyes wide open.
To deliberately take the medicine given by the maid to confirm that the maid had used poison.
As expected of royalty, her courage was extraordinary.
An ordinary person would not have made such a dangerous choice knowing it was poison.
"The next day, I started to feel terrible pain again. I couldn't sleep, and I collapsed often. It was no different from usual."
Peony continued with a bitter face.
"So now I can be sure. That Lona poisoned me, just like you said."
After pausing for a moment, Peony tilted her head slightly and looked at Ayla.
"Even I, who have known Lona for so long, didn't notice. How did you know that?"
Ayla answered without hesitation.
"I found out you were sick through Duke Blanche. I once overheard him talking about your symptoms with other people."
"……."
"But no matter how I thought about it, your symptoms were the same as those of someone who had ingested a specific poison. So I thought someone had been poisoning you over a long period of time. And……."
"You deduced that the person who could do that was the one who always gave me the Cure."
Peony nodded and lowered her gaze as if she understood.
Looking at her, Ayla felt a slight pang of conscience.
Of course, everything she had just said was a lie.
But she couldn't reveal even the important secrets of the original story just to explain how she found out.
Ayla quickly changed the subject to something that would attract her attention.
"When I heard your symptoms, the first thing that came to my mind was the poison made from Sunrise Herb. This poison matches the symptoms you mentioned. It only works if you take it every day."
"……."
"So I couldn't help but suspect the maid who gives you the Cure every day. Of course, I wasn't completely sure. This was a gamble for me, too."
Peony pursed her lips tightly. Soon after, she asked carefully.
"Is that poison so rare that even the doctors don't know about it? How could so many people examine me and not realize I was poisoned?"
"Well, it's definitely not a common poison. Only a very small number of people can make poison from Sunrise Herb. But the imperial doctors are very skilled."
Peony's lips tightened.
That meant that the majority of the doctors in the imperial palace had been bribed.
'Someone with more power than me manipulated them.'
Peony coldly re-examined her position.
Although the Emperor favored her, her position was very ambiguous.
Not born of the current Empress, she was seen as a potential threat and a political obstacle.
'So I knew that, and I was going to give up the Crown Prince position to my older brother Darian without any regrets…….'
It seemed that her judgment was wrong.
No matter what she felt, it didn't seem like the enemy had any intention of leaving her alone.
'And recently, the power of the Second Prince, Adolf, has also become increasingly threatening.'
Although the Second Prince was much younger than her, his mother, Empress Christina, had strong relatives.
Thanks to this, voices supporting her were growing louder in the imperial family day by day.
'Who is it, the person aiming for me? Is it my older brother Darian, or is it Adolf……? Maybe it's both of them.'
Everyone was fighting for the throne, so it was impossible to know for sure who the real enemy was.
'One thing is for sure, my existence is a threat to everyone.'
Peony smiled bitterly.
Even those she believed to be family wanted her death.
She was scared and afraid, but she couldn't back down.
'I can't just die like that.'
Peony asked Ayla directly.
"There must be a reason why you gave me the Antidote. What do you want?"
Ayla paused for a moment before opening her mouth.
"Be my friend."
At the unexpected words, Peony hardened her expression.
"What?"
"Be my friend."
"……friend?"
"Yeah. As you know, the kids at the academy aren't friendly to me. If you become my friend, they won't be able to treat me carelessly. That's all I want right now."
After speaking, Ayla looked at Peony's face and tilted her head.
This was because Peony's face was flushed red at an inappropriate time.
"Friend, you say……."
"……."
"That can't be all you want."
"Yeah, there will be a lot of things I need help with in the future."
Peony quickly straightened her posture and said.
"Hmm, it's not a difficult request. If I become your friend, no one will dare to touch you."
"……."
"Okay. We're friends from today. You saved my life, so I can do that much."
"……."
"It's not like I'm becoming friends with you because I like you. I'm just trying to repay the favor."
"I understand."
"Well, it's not like I don't want to be friends with you."
The tips of Peony's ears turned red.
In fact, she had never made a proper friend.
Because she had been sickly since she was a child, she had no chance to become close with her peers.
Peony tried to hide the corners of her mouth from creeping up and composed herself.
Then, she reached out her hand to Ayla.
Ayla took her hand without hesitation and asked Peony.
"So, what are you going to do with that maid now?"
"I'm going to pretend to keep taking the medicine."
"You're not going to kick her out?"
"Yeah. That way, the people who sent her will be off guard."
Ayla clicked her tongue inwardly.
To keep the person who tried to kill her by her side and plan to use her in reverse.
Unlike her timid appearance, Peony was surprisingly cold-blooded like royalty.
Rosia had been extremely anxious and dissatisfied lately.
The biggest reason was the fact that Princess Peony and Ayla had suddenly become close friends.
'When did they get so close? I can't understand it.'
Rosia had set up several plans to corner Ayla.
To drive her emotionally and completely ruin her reputation.
However, as Ayla began to stick with Princess Peony all the time, Rosia's plans all fell through.
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