The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 24

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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 24
This crazy bastard.
Goosebumps erupted across my entire body. Maximilian lifted his waist as though nothing had happened.
“I’ve confirmed your condition with my own eyes. That’s enough. Leave.”
Without hesitation, he rose from the bed chamber, and I wanted nothing more than to bury an axe into the back of that infuriatingly composed head.
In the midst of the unsettled atmosphere, Konrad approached and whispered into my ear.
“A reply has arrived from the Staufen Margrave. He says he will return as quickly as possible.”
It was fortunate news in an unfortunate situation.
I started to nod, then stopped. A massive needle seemed to pierce through the crown of my head, splitting it in two.
Konrad’s eyebrows drooped with concern as he watched me. He parted his lips briefly before whispering.
“I am ashamed. I feel as though I have sacrificed Your Highness’s life as an offering.”
“….”
Konrad did not know.
If this could have ended by merely sacrificing a single life, there would be no reason for me to be doing this in this lifetime.
I maintained my silence and closed my eyes.
***
“Hello, Elise.”
Ah, again.
The forest in the dim light of dawn.
A lush and verdant fantastical space.
If there was a difference from last time, it was the field of vision. Lying on the dirt ground with my eyes open, I lifted my head at the weight I felt pressing down on my chest. And I saw it.
“…That cat from back then, is it?”
A white-chested tuxedo cat.
But something felt strange.
‘Last time it was only the size of a baby’s fist.’
Why had it grown so large? And why was it so heavy, like a stone?
Then again, it was rather amusing to nitpick about realism even within a dream.
I extended my arm toward the cat and offered a greeting.
“Hello, you adorable thing.”
I tried to embrace it, but the creature’s technique of slipping away by undulating like slime was masterful.
It narrowed its yellow eyes and sprang upward. Landing directly on the dirt ground, it groomed its flank while speaking.
“I can’t bear to watch. Elise, is this truly your best effort?”
“….”
They say dreams reflect the unconscious. Was I truly viewing myself so pathetically?
“I told you before. Your intelligence seems rather lacking. How could you even conceive of poisoning a perfectly sound body?”
…So this is my own thought as well?
While I was doubting myself, the cat drew slightly closer.
Then it licked my right index finger and continued speaking.
“Come to your senses, Elise. You are not prey.”
Vertically elongated pupils fixed upon my face. The yellow irises gleamed with sudden brilliance.
A child’s voice soon filled my mind completely.
“Never forget. A composed and cold-blooded hunter—that is your true nature.”
***
“…Gasp!”
As my vision brightened, the breath I’d been holding burst forth.
Skin damp with cold sweat. Blurred vision and a hazy mind.
This was no dream—it was reality. My body, barely able to move a single finger, proved it.
And.
“Ah, you’ve awakened.”
“…?”
A relieved voice reached me from nearby.
It was a voice I’d heard before somewhere. Who was it? Who could it be?
Before my brief contemplation could end, the owner of that voice appeared in my field of vision.
The moment I saw her face, the blood in my entire body ran cold.
‘Martha.’
The maidservant who clung to Maximilian’s side through every lifetime, never dying.
The woman who had pitied me for living a hellish existence and given me poison.
Yes, poison of all things. The eerie coincidence sent chills down my spine.
Martha was looking down at me with a tense expression. Now that I thought about it, this was our first meeting in this lifetime.
Should I greet her warmly then?
‘No.’
It was a perfect red flag. Maximilian’s maidservant being in my bedroom.
Where had Graupels’ maidservants gone? What of the soldiers who should have been guarding my bedroom door?
As confusion washed over me, Martha opened her mouth.
“You’ve been unconscious for several days, hovering between life and death. You only opened your eyes on the fourth day.”
“….”
Four days?
So much time had passed.
I’d only had a brief dream. I’d thought at most a single day had elapsed.
Could Martha be lying?
No, there was no real benefit to it. If she wanted to confuse me, she would have claimed a larger number.
Maximilian’s arrival. And Martha stepping into my bed.
Something had certainly happened during those four days while I was unconscious. Likely in a direction far from favorable.
‘…What of the Archbishop? Did he at least send the carrier pigeon?’
I moistened my dry lips with my tongue. I was about to force my voice through my swollen throat to call out to Martha.
Knock, knock.
A light knock. The door opened, and someone walked in.
Martha turned her head to confirm the visitor, and her expression grew even more rigid. She bowed slightly to me before disappearing from my sight.
‘A person worthy of such a reaction from Martha.’
Before my sluggish mind could reach a conclusion,
“….”
A scent drifted through the air—sweet yet bitter bergamot.
“At last, we’re alone, Elise.”
I recognized the owner of that fragrance.
‘Maximilian.’
He had come to my side. I heard the scrape of a chair being dragged across the floor as he sat down beside me.
I deliberately did not turn my head toward him. Stubbornly, I kept my gaze fixed on empty space, my mind churning with thoughts.
‘This cannot be happening.’
It had been strange from the start—Martha, Maximilian’s maidservant, entering my bedroom alone. There were lines even a prince should not cross.
The First Prince, slipping into the bedroom of the dying Second Princess by himself. Where had the guards stationed outside my door gone?
More than that—where was Konrad, who had been watching Maximilian more vigilantly than anyone?
“Elise.”
Ah.
His soft voice sent chills racing across my skin.
The agony crushing my entire body was terrible, but Maximilian’s call was far more dreadful.
‘This is the worst.’
Cool fingers suddenly wrapped around my chin, pulling downward with brutal force, and my mouth fell open.
“…!”
I tried to struggle, but my body refused to obey. All I could see was Maximilian’s radiant, fresh face inches from mine.
Butterfly-like lashes fluttering. Eyes of such piercing blue they stole my breath.
Despicable creature. Revulsion surged up unbidden.
I gathered what little strength I had to shake my head, but something cold flowed into my open mouth—a liquid, icy and strange.
Maximilian whispered, still gripping my chin.
“Swallow. Unless you want to watch someone else die.”
“….”
I immediately opened my throat and swallowed the pooled liquid.
Only when Maximilian felt my throat convulse did he smile. His hand released my chin and moved toward my moistened lips.
“Beautiful.”
He pressed and rubbed as though playing with a toy, but only for a moment. Then a finger forced its way past my lips into my mouth.
When he pressed down hard on the inside of my tongue, a reflexive gag rose in my throat, and an involuntary sound escaped me.
“Haha.”
Maximilian withdrew his finger with a laugh, as though he had done nothing at all.
Tears born of reflex traced down my temples, but I did not wipe them away.
Instead.
“Wh… wha….”
Damn it. I wanted to ask what he had done, but the words would not form properly.
Maximilian opened his mouth with a benevolent expression, as though he knew everything.
“You’ll feel better soon. What I just made you drink was the second antidote.”
“…!”
“Watching you thrash about is amusing, but you’ve been asleep far too long. How fortunate it was that I gave you the first antidote before you died.”
He obtained an antidote.
In this castle, Konrad was the only one who possessed an antidote to the poison.
“Isn’t this a form of ostracism? To have a perfectly good antidote and yet refuse to give it to the Crown Princess who suffers so. Why would Elise bind herself to such a contemptible family? Hmm?”
“….”
“Well, once your body recovers, we can have a long conversation. One way or another. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Let me think about this.
Maximilian obtained the antidote and made me consume it. If he had stolen it from Konrad…
‘What state is Konrad in right now?’

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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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