I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 90

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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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After Regression, I Proposed to My Childhood Friend
Episode 90
He closed his eyes not merely because the sight of her caused him pain.
He closed his eyes because the Elodie before him was exactly as he had always known her to be.
Whatever the reason, her pallid complexion born of suffering troubled him, as did the frame that had grown thin in such a short time, and yet…….
He knew that the symptoms of illness Elodie displayed now stemmed not from fear, but from poison she had ingested of her own volition.
‘Surely this much is necessary to keep his heart from wavering further? His vigilance toward you as well. And wouldn’t it be acceptable to inflict small wounds, if it meant…….’
Recalling words he had heard in the Abandoned Hut, Caelon called to her in a voice locked low and quiet.
“Elodie.”
“Mm?”
“……Your body — you’re truly well, aren’t you? You’re really just in pain from the shock?”
“My, Caelon. Had I known you’d worry this much, I should have simply embellished my lie a little more and said we’d meet a few days from now.”
“…….”
“Don’t worry. It’s really just that my body is strained. In a few days, I might even be able to join you for morning exercise.”
Elodie’s soft hands cradled both his cheeks in a gesture of reassurance.
Feeling the soothing tone of her voice and the tenderness of her touch, Caelon finally acknowledged the truth he had sought to deny all along.
Even in this very moment, he was being deceived by her.
‘Winterbell.’
This small white flower, shaped like a delicate bell, was a poisonous herb found in cold regions.
While it did not inflict fatal wounds, it could sicken a person for one to three days.
This toxic herb, which induced symptoms nearly identical to a common cold, was something that those requiring infiltration or scouts carried with them.
As it was an extremely mild poison requiring no particular antidote, ordinary physicians either failed to distinguish it or saw no reason to investigate further.
The only method to distinguish this poison from a genuine cold was the herb’s distinctive scent.
‘A person who has consumed this poisonous herb emits a faint almond blossom fragrance.’
Much like the scent rising from Elodie’s wrist as she stroked his cheek.
Caelon’s eyes rolled slowly as he surveyed the princess’s bedchamber.
Whether prepared against the possibility that he might harbor suspicion, almond blossoms were scattered throughout the Princess Elodie’s room as decoration.
‘Yet that very detail transformed my doubt into certainty.’
Pretending ignorance, he placed his palm over the back of her hand and drew Elodie into his arms as he always did.
“……Still, it’s a relief you’re unharmed.”
“Caelon.”
These were words he had sincerely wished to convey to the person who had once been his beloved.
He was murmuring his true feelings in a low voice and brushing her hair aside, preparing to let go of the past, when——
Hurried footsteps came pattering, and without a knock, the door burst open with a bang.
“Who in the world——”
“Your Highness Elodie!”
A lady’s maid who had come rushing in heedless of all propriety gasped for breath as she called to her.
“Your Highness Elodie, something terrible has happened.”
“Something terrible?”
“I don’t yet know the circumstances, but last night’s incident…… it’s been printed in the News Gazette!”
Elodie accepted the gazette the maid offered and read through its contents with a hardened expression, her composure unbroken.
Her complexion blanched, then grew grave again, a cycle she repeated before finally closing her eyes tight and releasing a long breath.
“Caelon.”
“……Elodie?”
“Someone…… appears to have spread word of yesterday. I imposed strict silence to prevent the public from learning of it and derailing our wedding, yet…….”
Caelon’s gaze turned toward the gazette she held.
[The Empire’s First Princess on the Eve of Marriage — Kidnapped Just Before the Ceremony?]
[A Terrible Misfortune Befalls the First Princess — There Were Signs…… Being Followed for Days Beforehand]
Beneath the boldly emphasized headlines lay sensational speculations densely packed in print.
Caelon read through the gazette in silence, several times over, carefully.
The hand holding the paper tightened unconsciously.
Yesterday, he had ultimately failed to appear at the location where the princess had been held.
‘Borrowing Clyde’s phrasing, it was as though a crucial actor meant to complete an essential scene of the drama had failed to appear without warning.’
Beatrice was meaningless as a ‘sacrifice’ to be offered at the wedding, and the guards alone were far too weak.
‘So, before filming the next highlight scene, there was nothing for it but to fill in the missing actor’s emotional beats.’
Rather than the princess seeking him out directly last night, the reason she had returned to the Imperial Palace under the pretext of not wishing to show herself in such a state was precisely this.
To make him sense the gravity of the situation through her bedridden appearance and inflammatory rumors, even if he did not witness her kidnapping with his own eyes.
Caelon’s heart throbbed deeply once more, as though pierced by a blade.
Yet he committed this anguish to memory, making it a landmark by which to anchor his reason.
For the lover he had once fallen for no longer existed.
Quietly gathering his anger and anguish, Caelon laid Elodie on the bed and spoke with measured calm.
“Elodie, your health is poor — don’t trouble yourself with such news.”
“But…….”
“House Dalton is not so easily shaken by a handful of scandal and rumor. Our wedding is no exception.”
“…….”
“So focus on your recovery for now. Understood?”
“……Yes. Thank you, Caelon.”
“You’re welcome.”
With a light kiss to her forehead, Caelon left Elodie’s bedchamber.
A light kiss to her forehead marked the end, and he departed the bedchamber.
As he emerged from the Princess’s Residence with a hardened expression, a figure of striking appearance came into view.
His younger brother, Clyde — someone he had always been proud to call family.
“……Clyde?”
“Oh, brother.”
“What are you doing here? You said you had no business at the Imperial Palace today, didn’t you?”
“Just, on the way. I thought I’d pick up Beatrice, but it seems she’ll be late.”
“…….”
It was a transparent lie.
After all, Beatrice had already informed him precisely when her schedule would conclude this morning.
Which meant Clyde’s presence here could only be explained by his concern for him.
Though it was an equally false excuse, unlike Elodie’s deception, this one warmed his heart — and Caelon quietly tightened his grip.
Clyde’s gaze shifted to the gazette in his hand.
Without a word spoken, he seemed to grasp everything.
“…….”
“…….”
In the silence that followed, Clyde regarded the gazette for a moment, then lifted his eyes once more to meet Caelon’s. Then, with perfect composure, he asked only one thing.
“Brother, how are you holding up?”
“……I can’t say it’s good. But new skin grows over a wound that has been carved away. I choose to believe that.”
Upon hearing his words, Clyde’s handsome face slowly came to accord with them.
And then, taking the gazette from his hand, he smiled faintly at the corners of his mouth.
“Then we may as well make this matter larger.”
Since the initial move has been made, he can bear that much responsibility — or even more.
* * *
The imperial social circles were in constant upheaval over a major incident.
Word of the First Princess Elodie’s kidnapping and the various rumors arising from it had spread through the city on everyone’s lips.
And while people feigned indifference, focusing all their attention on the sensational matter…….
“Seriously, so you’re saying this whole kidnapping thing was a fabrication by the princess herself?”
“Yes. I hear she even ingested poison and feigned illness from the shock.”
“Wow, wow…… is that true? Her acting really…… I mean, not everyone can be so brazen about it, you know…….”
Beatrice was conducting a secret meeting with Valois at the Old Bookstore, as promised.
She was devising a plan at last to strike a blow against Elodie, leveraging the rumors Clyde had amplified severalfold and Caelon’s participation.

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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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