Hiding My Identity From My Husband - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 25

Many people had drunk the Wine.
None of them had consumed poison.
Yet the Countess’s wine glass contained poison.
Then this was an attack aimed at the Countess.
And only one person could have done it…….
‘The Sommelier.’
Once my thoughts had settled, I scanned the surrounding area urgently.
The Sommelier, who had been pouring Wine from the central dais just moments before, had vanished without a trace.
Where on earth…….
Then, at the edge of my vision, a flash of bright blonde hair caught my eye. It was Everleen.
Everleen was running toward something—most likely pursuing the Sommelier with the same conclusion I’d reached.
That thought gave me some relief.
With Everleen on the case, the culprit would surely be caught.
Which meant…….
“P-poison? How could such a thing……!”
I needed to calm the Countess first, before she lost consciousness entirely.
“Mother!”
The Countess appeared seized by terror at the realization that she might have died, and was showing signs of a panic attack.
Her daughter Agatha tried to support her, but seemed uncertain how to help, not fully understanding what a panic attack was.
“Madam, Madam! Look here. Look at me.”
I wrapped my arms around the Countess’s back.
I had suffered from panic attacks frequently once.
During my training in Katakle, exhausted by the grueling regimen and the scorn of others, my mind had simply broken.
I’d had panic attacks several times, and while the first few were excruciating, after experiencing them repeatedly, I learned the technique—I developed ways to manage them.
In other words, I knew exactly how to behave in a situation like this.
“Breathe. Slowly in, slowly out.”
“Huu, huu…….”
The Countess followed my instructions, breathing slowly.
“Yes. You’re doing wonderfully. Everleen! Would you fetch a Paper Bag from over there?”
“Ah, yes!”
I felt some hesitation about asking Everleen to do this, but the situation was urgent enough that I had no choice.
Before long, Everleen returned with the bag, and I held it to the Countess’s mouth.
“Breathe into this. Just as before—slowly in, slowly out.”
True to form, the Countess followed my words obediently, her breathing slow and steady.
Placing my hand on her back, I felt her pulse gradually beginning to slow.
Phew, thank goodness.
I released a relieved breath and seated the Countess in a chair.
“Countess. Look at me. Yes, that’s good.”
Then I knelt before her and met her eyes.
“Someone did target you, that’s true—but right now, you’re safe. Nothing is going to happen.”
The Countess’s eyes trembled slightly.
It seemed her anxiety hadn’t yet faded.
I kept my hand on her thigh as I continued.
“The culprit will be caught soon, and you’ll be safe. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The Countess, gripping the bag, nodded slowly.
“Yes. So do as I say: repeat that it’s okay, that it’s okay.”
I could see the bag rustling as she murmured the words I’d suggested.
“You truly are getting better, so don’t be afraid. No one can harm you, Countess.”
I saw tears beginning to gather at the corners of the Countess’s eyes.
So I turned my head away, pretending not to notice.
Then I fell into thought.
Or rather, once the immediate situation had settled, doubt crept in.
‘Why?’
Why had the Sommelier tried to assassinate the Countess in the first place?
‘What was happening between the Duchy and the Rockwood County?’
No. Sommelier is already in exile in the Empire.
His attempt to assassinate the Countess couldn’t have been the Duchy’s will.
‘Then what on earth——’
I was following that thread when it happened.
Something was wrong.
A premonition I couldn’t quite name—unsettling, bone-deep.
Instinctively, I turned my head.
I didn’t know from where, but someone was watching me.
At the edge of my vision, I felt a presence trying hard to erase itself—a very subtle, deliberate obscuring.
The direction of the gaze wasn’t steady. They were muddying it on purpose. But——
‘They’re definitely looking at me.’
I swallowed hard and picked at my dress with trembling fingertips, checking the position of the Short Dagger strapped to my thigh.
‘Who could it be.’
Sommelier’s associate?
Or——

—Don’t interfere with our business.

Why did Adrian’s words suddenly surface in my mind?
Was it because I was beginning to suspect that Katakle might be involved in this?
I clenched my teeth—click—and tried to suppress the chill running down my spine.
Then, in that very moment.
Whoosh—
The sensation vanished.
Like mist scattering, the presence dissolved into the air without a trace, in an instant.
I lifted my rigid head and looked around.
The terrible presence I’d felt moments before seemed to have been nothing but an illusion; I felt nothing more.
It was one of two things.
Either they’d intentionally hidden their gaze, or they’d left the room.
‘It’s the former.’
But that didn’t mean I could move to find them.
Abandoning the Countess to rush off somewhere would look far too suspicious.
“Madam, are you feeling better now?”
I forced a smile and looked over the Countess.
Only then did she slowly lower her chin, finally removing the Paper Bag from her mouth.
“……Thanks to you, I’m all right.”
Her voice was much steadier than before. I smiled with relief.
“Charle.”
That’s when Everleen, standing beside me, addressed me.
“Didn’t you drink the Wine earlier?”
Ah—Everleen must have seen me holding the Countess’s glass.
Of course, there was nothing odd about asking such a question.
“I’m sorry?”
“What did you say?”
The strange part was that everyone gasped and cried out in shock.
“You drank poisoned Wine, Charle?”
“Is this true?”
I blinked rapidly.
Hmm.
I didn’t want all this attention on me.
So I laughed it off casually and answered.
“No! I didn’t drink any! It just touched my lips!”
And I quickly added,
“It touched my lips and stung a little, so I was just spitting it out to be safe. I was actually thinking how lucky I was—but why are you all making those faces……?”
I looked at the Countess, Everleen, Agatha, and the others, all wearing expressions of shock and horror.
“So you almost swallowed poison just now!”
“But why are you standing here fine!”
They all cried out at once.
And the Countess—as if she hadn’t been suffering a panic attack moments ago—pulled me down into a chair with surprising strength.
“Sit down now! And fetch a physician, fetch one right away!”
The murmuring swelled into a roar.
Why? The Countess consumed poison?
That doesn’t seem right—why call for a physician so suddenly?
Did the shock startle her?
While everyone floundered at the bewildering command, Everleen’s voice cut through the confusion, loud and clear.
“Charle saved the Countess by consuming the poison herself!”
Oh, no.
“The Countess lives because of Charle’s sacrifice!”
Please, no…
“Charle! Open your eyes! You can’t pass out now!”
It wasn’t unconsciousness—it was despair that had sealed my eyes shut.
Perhaps I truly have no talent for creating chaos…?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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