The Poisonous Princess Who Successfully Infiltrated the Enemy as an Employee - Chapter 33

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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 33.

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When the banquet ended and I returned to my chambers with relief, I found a strange note lying alone on the side table.
“I will be waiting for you in the Sinetra Garden at Byeol Palace.”
There was no indication of who had sent it. At first, I thought the Guild was attempting contact.
But on reflection, it seemed unlikely that even those meticulous operatives from the Grand Duchy would approach so boldly in the Imperial Palace itself.
Then……
‘It must be the Crown Prince, after all.’
Throughout the banquet, he had watched me from behind the Emperor with turbulent eyes.
Even after the Emperor left, he had looked at me as though he had something to say, but I had deliberately avoided his gaze, unwilling to become entangled.
At least he seemed aware it was late, choosing to summon me to a garden rather than a secluded chamber—a small mercy, I supposed.
‘Though a garden at this hour does present its own complications.’
I considered ignoring it, but if the note truly came from Crown Prince Cain, I could not simply dismiss it.
‘There’s nothing to gain by antagonizing the male lead.’
Besides, I doubted that even a figure of his stature would resort to direct harm here in the heart of the Imperial Palace.
Still, I resolved to come prepared, taking what precautions I could.
I folded the note and tucked it into the side table drawer, then slipped from my chambers, carefully navigating the shadows and blind spots until I emerged from Byeol Palace.
The Sinetra Garden before Byeol Palace sprawled like an enormous maze.
The garden lay at the eastern edge of Byeol Palace. Low lamps lined the entrance, and beyond stretched dense rows of ornamental trees and hedges that towered above head height.
I paused at the entrance, glancing about warily.
‘Anyone would find this suspicious.’
I touched the small folded paper I had slipped into my sleeve. It was paper folded many times around a fine powder.
A sleeping draught I had prepared beforehand as a precaution—potent enough to render most adult men unconscious.
‘If things go wrong, I can simply hurl this in his face and flee.’
I stepped carefully into the garden.
As I walked between ornamental trees so tall that even moonlight barely penetrated, I found myself entertaining the perfectly reasonable suspicion that the twisted dispositions of the imperial family had somehow been translated directly into the garden’s layout.
‘But where exactly is he?’
As I picked my way deeper, alert and cautious, I rounded a corner and stumbled upon a small circular clearing bathed in clear moonlight.
In the center of that space, a gentle arc of water flowed from a small fountain.
And.
“Your Highness.”
“…….”
My eyes met those of a man with golden hair, waiting for me with a soft smile.
“I apologize for the discourtesy of my summons.”
“……As I suspected, you are the Crown Prince.”
“Did you foresee it would be me?”
“You watched me throughout the banquet, as though you had something to say.”
At my words, Cain’s eyes widened slightly before returning to normal.
He tilted his head and smiled, a gentle curve to his eyes.
“I had hoped you might not have noticed.”
“…….”
I could not discern what he meant, but I could see that he was, for some reason, tinged with bitterness.
Regardless.
I stood at a safe distance and asked, “Now then, tell me. What was your reason for calling me here at this hour?”
“…….”
Cain, who had seemed about to speak, fell silent.
He appeared to be carefully choosing his words.
A moment passed, and Cain lowered his gaze before speaking slowly.
“Your Highness possesses a talent for……making me ashamed.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
“Me?”
At that, Cain’s eyes rose to meet mine, softening with a gentle warmth.
“While I, who merely tend a garden and contemplate the Empire, you have shown true concern for the hearts of our people.”
The hearts of our people?
Ah—was he referring to what I had said about the Memorial Monument at the banquet?

Caught off guard by the sudden compliment, I felt my cheeks warm and scratched at them sheepishly.
“Well, it’s nothing, really…….”
I cleared my throat and offered him a gentle smile.
“You see, people like His Majesty or the Crown Prince—those who take in the grand vista—often overlook a single small flower beneath a great tree.”
I’d pressed gently into my ribs with a light jab when Cain looked down at me for a moment, then stepped closer and spoke.
“That’s precisely why I need it.”
“……Need what?”
As I retreated a step for each step he advanced, he paused and continued.
“Someone at my side who can see the single flower I cannot.”
“…….”
At my side?
I caught an odd, ominous undertone in Cain’s words and my brow furrowed slightly.
His voice grew softer still.
“You heard it from Eleanore, didn’t you?”
A pang of guilt made me ask back.
“Heard what?”
As if there was only one thing to know.
Cain hesitated briefly, then smiled with eyes that crinkled at the corners.
“That the princess and I were once……meant to be married.”
Ah, that. I nodded inwardly with quiet relief.
“Yes, I heard. But that’s all in the past now. I don’t dwell on it. So please, don’t worry. I’m not the type to cling to things like that.”
Cain’s eyes flickered, and he spoke at once.
“I find myself unable to ignore it.”
“…….”
“You, Princess Evelina. It’s you.”
Spoken almost like a confession, his words hung in the garden’s sudden silence.
I looked at him with something like disbelief.
“So what—are you asking me to commit adultery?”
My bluntness made Cain’s brows twitch slightly.
“Adultery? We haven’t held a wedding or a Marriage Vow Ceremony with the Grand Duke, have we?”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I’m to marry the Grand Duke. Everyone in the Empire knows it.”
“It can be changed.”
His voice was resolute.
“If you wish it, I can make it so. You need not go to that barren land or remain with that cold Grand Duke. You are far too precious a person for them.”
“Too precious? Everyone else says the Grand Duke is to be pitied, having to take a mad woman for his wife.”
“Those are the words of fools who don’t understand your worth. I know your true value. So take my hand, Princess.”
Cain extended his hand toward me slowly. In the moonlight, his pale palm gleamed.
“I will make you Crown Princess of this Empire. And beyond that, Empress herself.”
“…….”
“At my side, help me build my empire and my cause.”
I simply gazed at that hand.
I’d thought him the gentle male lead of the original story, but he had quite the forceful, headstrong streak.
Eleanore’s words flashed through my mind then.
That Crown Prince Cain was the child who resembled the current Emperor most closely.
I lifted my head and looked into his eyes, tilting my head slightly to one side.
“You’re simply not my type, Your Highness.”
“…….”
Cain’s eyes widened as though he’d never heard such a thing in his life.
“Your……type?”
He tilted his head in bewilderment.
“Is that……truly important?”
“It’s the most vital standard of my entire life.”
Cain’s brow creased. After a moment of thought, he looked at me again and asked with utmost seriousness.
“Then is the Grand Duke……your type?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“Is he my type? Absolutely and utterly so!”
“…….”
My unhesitating answer made Cain’s face harden, but he quickly composed himself and spoke.
“It’s regrettable that I’m not your type, but surely such a trivial reason…….”
“Trivial? He’s the husband I’ll be looking at for the rest of my life—of course he must suit my taste!”
“Your Highness. How can you dismiss the peace between two nations for mere personal preference?”
Cain stepped forward with an air of reproof, but I lifted my shoulders in an easy shrug and blinked rapidly.
“That may be the Empire’s cause, but it isn’t mine.”
……
“My cause is nothing but my own welfare and happiness. And my happiness lies not in remaining in this capital, but in returning to the Grand Duchy as soon as possible.”
A brief silence descended over the garden once more. I sighed inwardly.
“If that’s all you have to say, I’ll take my leave. Honestly, if I’d known this was what I’d hear, I wouldn’t have come at all.”
The moment I turned to go without hesitation, Cain reached out toward me urgently.
“Your Highness Evelina! You mustn’t make such a light decision about this—!”
Then it happened.
A dark shadow slipped swiftly between Cain and me.
A broad back filled my entire field of vision.
The moment I recognized the owner of that back, my eyes widened.
‘The G-Grand Duke?!’

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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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