If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 157

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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 157
Elodie clutched the tea set box that Prince had given her tightly against her chest.
As if it were the key that would save House of Perington and herself from the brink of ruin in a single stroke.
‘Yes, I am everything to His Highness.’
When her father lost his title and the family fell into disgrace, Elodie thought the world was collapsing.
Even the maids of the Crown Princess Palace seemed to mock her, and she spent days weeping.
But last night, as she recalled Prince’s gentle smile while he held her hand and offered her tea, all her anxiety vanished like morning mist.
‘Miela Roderick, no matter how arrogantly you strut beside the Prince, it is I who will become Empress. When His Highness ascends to the throne, you will grovel beneath my feet.’
Elodie straightened her posture with dignity and entered the Empress Palace with an imperious stride.
Yet before the Empress herself, she arranged her expression into one of utmost pathos.
“Your Majesty the Empress, I pay my respects.”
“…Elodie, welcome. You look quite worn from all your troubles.”
The Empress’s voice in greeting remained warm and affectionate.
Though House of Perington had fallen, to the Empress, Elodie was the beloved companion of her son Prince—precious beyond measure.
Elodie felt her confidence surge at the Empress’s unexpectedly tender demeanor.
“Your Majesty, I heard you have been so troubled lately that sleep eludes you. So I took the liberty of procuring some of the finest premium tea leaves from the Eastern Continent, which are excellent for relieving fatigue.”
Following Prince’s instructions, Elodie produced the tea set box as if she had prepared it herself, adding with a melancholy smile.
“I have also prepared something for His Imperial Majesty, but… he would not accept anything from me, would he?”
The Empress, witnessing Elodie squeeze out tears as she thought of acquaintances who had turned their backs in an instant, grew flustered and hastened to console her.
“How could that be…?”
Her trailing words betrayed a lack of conviction, but Elodie, intoxicated by her own performance, paid it no mind.
“If you would only accept it, I would like to serve this tea to His Imperial Majesty myself. If we could share refreshments together as a family and ease the tension, might not His Majesty’s anger toward His Highness soften somewhat?”
The Empress pondered Elodie’s words for a moment, then gave a small nod.
The atmosphere within the Imperial Palace had become far too burdensome for the Empress as well.
The Empress did not harbor malice or hatred toward Leonhardt.
It was merely that, because of terrible memories from the past, she found that child frightening and feared him, instinctively wishing to avoid him.
To be more honest, she hoped he would soon become a Grand Duke and depart to his Estate.
Each encounter caused her heart to ache as if it were being squeezed, so she wished to avoid entanglement with him as much as possible.
Yet that very Leonhardt was now openly pursuing the imperial throne.
She had hoped he would simply live quietly without becoming involved with her son, and she found herself resenting that even this seemed impossible.
But until Prince was removed from the position of Crown Prince and Leonhardt was finally confirmed as the new Crown Prince, there was nothing the Empress could do.
The determination of the succession was the Emperor’s exclusive prerogative.
Yet she could not simply stand by and watch her beloved son Prince suffer under house arrest.
‘Yes, His Majesty is gentle and compassionate. If his future daughter-in-law offers tea gracefully and pleads with him, his heart may soften.’
Even if the Emperor’s mind did not change and Leonhardt ascended to the throne as things stood, Prince and the Empress had only the Emperor to rely upon.
The Empress, her resolve hardened, forced her lips upward and spoke.
“How thoughtful of you. Seeing you puts my mind at ease. I was just about to visit His Majesty myself—let us go together.”
“Thank you so much, Mother!”
Elodie’s face brightened with triumph.
And so the two women, carrying the tea box laced with deadly poison, made their way toward the Imperial Palace.

* * *
“Miela!”
The door burst open, and Merlin rushed in with urgent haste.
She had run so desperately that the moment she entered, she couldn’t even straighten her posture properly, gasping for breath.
“What’s happened, Merlin?”
I rose from my seat in alarm, and Leonhardt, who had been sitting beside me, was equally startled, though his eyes quickly grew cold as he assessed the situation.
Merlin spoke rapidly between labored breaths.
“The spirits I stationed around His Majesty the Emperor just sent an urgent warning! The Empress and the Crown Princess are heading toward His Majesty’s Inner Chambers right now….”
Merlin’s confident words grew hesitant as she continued.
She was subtly gauging my reaction—though I had asked her to alert me if anything unusual occurred around the Emperor, she seemed uncertain whether this visit from these two was the ‘danger’ I had been seeking.
But the news Merlin brought was exactly what we had requested.
The moment I heard her words, the scattered puzzle pieces in my mind clicked together with chilling precision.
I had already anticipated that Prince, cornered as he was, would attempt to poison the Emperor.
However, I couldn’t be certain of when, through whom, or by what method he would deliver the poison, so I had asked Merlin to monitor the Emperor’s surroundings with spirits as thoroughly as a fortress.
All I needed to do was watch the Emperor, the final target, regardless of who approached.
And finally, our prediction had come true.
In a deeply unsettling way.
‘The Empress and Elodie?’
Could Prince really be using his own mother and wife as poison couriers? I couldn’t close my mouth in shock.
If the plan succeeded and the Emperor drank the poisoned tea and collapsed, Elodie, who brought the tea, and the Empress, who accompanied her, would inevitably become the primary suspects.
Moreover, anyone who poisoned the Emperor—whether Imperial Family or not—would face execution without mercy.
Prince himself wouldn’t be at the scene, so he would use that as an alibi to escape somehow….
He had pushed his own family into a death trap as sacrificial scapegoats to avoid suspicion.
It was truly monstrous betrayal and a chilling display of severing ties.
But my shock was brief. I soon pressed my forehead and let out a hollow laugh.
‘Of course, that madman would be more than capable of this.’
For his own safety, Prince’s nature was to thoroughly use even blood relatives as tools and discard them.
The fact that this cruel method was so characteristic of him made me nod involuntarily.
“Prince has made his move.”
Leonhardt’s voice, having grasped the situation, froze with icy coldness.
His crimson eyes, burning with fury, flashed sharply, and he rose abruptly from his seat, heading straight for the door.
“I need to go to the Imperial Palace.”
“Wait!”
I stopped Leonhardt from dashing out and immediately produced a small glass vial from my bosom that glowed with a soft luminescence, shaking it before him.
“Did you forget?”
It was the highest-grade holy water specially procured from the Temple, capable of purifying any deadly poison in the world without a trace.
It was the secret weapon I had secured as the top priority to prevent the Emperor’s poisoning, uncertain what extraordinary toxin Prince might use.
“With this, even if His Majesty drinks the poisoned tea straight from the teapot, I can save him. And more than that….”
I met Leonhardt’s gaze and spoke with confidence.
“You think you’re the only one who gets to witness Prince’s final moments? I hate him just as much as you do.”
At my words, Leonhardt’s crimson eyes trembled faintly, and soon a soft smile bloomed across his face along with a gentle sigh.
Leonhardt grasped my hand firmly, interlacing our fingers.
“That’s not it… But promise me, you’ll never leave my side.”
“Of course not!”
Having reached a smooth agreement, we bolted toward the Imperial Palace without delay.
It was thanks to Leonhardt—soon to become Crown Prince—wielding his power as a weapon, allowing us to drive our horses right up to the very gates of the Imperial Palace.
My heart pounded relentlessly as we raced down the corridor.
‘We have to arrive before Elodie pours the tea.’
Breathing heavily, we reached the entrance to the Inner Chambers.
Beyond the heavy doors, the faint sound of silver trays and tea service clinking together seeped through.
“Your Majesty, this tea is excellent for fatigue, so please, accept it as a token of my devotion…”
I heard Elodie’s plaintive voice offering the poisoned tea.
There was no time.
Leonhardt and I nodded simultaneously, as if we had made a pact.

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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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