The Poisonous Princess Who Successfully Infiltrated the Enemy as an Employee - Chapter 35

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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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Episode 35.

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In the end, I turned away without even catching a glimpse of Barkan’s face, and walked back down the corridor.
Roan watched me go with an expression of persistent unease, and I never did ask whether she’d really gone to see that woman.
Partly because the question felt foolish enough to voice aloud, and partly because I wasn’t sure I had the right to ask it.
But wait—what?
‘A whole week before he comes back?’
He was going to leave the Grand Duke’s Estate vacant for an entire week right after returning to the Territory?
The back of my skull throbbed.
‘No, no, no!’
I still had to talk about the Lacrion Mountain Range, which meant I’d have to explain that I wasn’t insane, convince him of it—
I was incredibly busy, for god’s sake.
He’d clearly forgotten every word I’d said about having something to discuss when we got back to the Estate.
Completely forgotten it, going off to see that woman.
‘Maybe he went to pacify her before the marriage vows, though.’
The image flickered through my mind—two silhouettes sharing tender moments together, a faceless woman—and faded.
‘…I really am a terrible person.’
To both of them.
I pouted and slouched my way down the corridor with a petulant gait.
‘I’m not thrilled about this marriage any more than the Duke is.’
I’d spoken about tastes and preferences in front of the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke, but I’d never actually wanted this marriage to happen.
I was living under a false identity anyway, and I’d have to leave the Grand Duke’s household eventually.
Yet even as I felt wronged, I found myself pitying Barkan all the same.
‘The Duke must feel the same way I do.’
He had to find this marriage just as dreadful as I did.
And when I thought of it that way, his occasional sullenness became easy enough to forgive.
‘Still, the Duke is a pitiable man.’
Perhaps even more pitiful than me.
Unlike me, who had no beloved to long for, Barkan had already given his heart to someone.
‘But once everything works out and I disappear from the Estate, he’ll bring that woman here and seat her as the Duchess.’
Right, that’s true.
‘By then, will he be in love with Floria like in the Original Work…?’
This was strange.
‘How can he love Floria when he already has a woman he’s so devoted to?’
Could love change so easily?
Or was it the power of the Original Work?
From my position, having strayed from the Original Story’s Trajectory, it was a part I simply couldn’t understand.
Then it occurred to me that just as new details kept appearing that I knew nothing about, perhaps Barkan’s turbulent romance harbored equally complex circumstances.
‘At this rate, even if Barkan’s illegitimate child suddenly appears, I’ll just accept—’
That was when.
I stopped mid-stride in the corridor and looked carefully around me.
‘…Was the Estate always this empty?’
Perhaps because I’d been away so long.
There were no servants moving through the halls.
Now that I thought about it, the number of servants I’d passed on my way to Barkan’s chambers had been remarkably few.
By contrast, the number of knights patrolling the Estate’s perimeter seemed roughly double the usual.
I tilted my head, puzzled by this disparity.
That was when the head maid Reina appeared around the corner, and our eyes met.
She paused for a moment, then walked toward me and bowed respectfully.
“What brings you to this part of the Estate at this hour, Your Highness?”
“Oh, I was trying to see the Grand Duke, but that went spectacularly wrong, so I’m heading back.”
“…I see. You shouldn’t wander the halls alone like this. Allow me to escort you back to your chambers.”
“The Estate’s interior—what danger could there possibly be?”
“…Nevertheless, I must insist.”
…
The head maid was remarkably stern and resolute.
Reina’s words were not without merit, so I nodded in agreement and walked along beside her.
“By the way, Reina.”
“Yes?”
“The Estate seems unusually quiet today. The servants I usually see around don’t appear to be here.”
At that, Reina’s shoulders tensed ever so slightly. But only for a moment—she answered with an unruffled expression.
“Some of the staff have taken leave and departed the Grand Duke’s Estate.”
“Leave?”
“Yes.”
“Even on the day the Grand Duke returns? And such a large group at once that I can feel the emptiness?”
……
To my follow-up question, Reina closed her mouth without answering at once.
‘She’s hiding something.’
True enough—they would hardly share such matters with a princess of an enemy nation who had not yet formally become the Grand Duke’s consort.
Caution was only natural.
All I knew for certain was that the atmosphere of this Estate felt more subdued than usual.
I returned to my bedchamber under Reina’s guidance.
There, Celine—having finished unpacking—sat dozing on the sofa, waiting for my return.
A soft sound escaped her as she rubbed her eyes and rose from the sofa.
“You’re back, Your Highness!”
“Sorry I’m late, Celine. You must be exhausted.”
“Not at all. I’m fine.”
“Fine, is it? If you want to grow tall and strong, you need to sleep early and wake early.”
“Only today is different. Usually I do sleep early and wake early.”
“That’s commendable.”
I gently patted Celine’s small head in praise, and she let out a shy little laugh.
Then Celine glanced at the table and asked.
“But Your Highness, what is all this? Are you planning to play house? You asked me to arrange these things on the table, but……”
Celine had laid out on the table the items I had specifically requested from among what she’d unpacked from the luggage.
A teapot and teacups, a few small ceramic bowls, a small mortar used for grinding salt and pepper, a small furnace, and clean linen cloth.
“Playing house, you say……”
Yes, to an innocent child’s eyes, it would surely look that way.
I smiled softly at that guileless question.
“These are gifts I begged from the First Imperial Princess. As you said, I do mean to play house with them—brewing tea, roasting, steaming, grinding.”
……
“Isn’t it far better for me to stay in my room playing house than to go wandering about and causing trouble?”
“……I suppose that’s true.”
Celine looked at me again with worried eyes.
I reassured her not to worry and sent her off to her quarters.
If my sleep deprivation were to stunt her growth, that would be rather inconvenient.
After sending Celine away, I locked the bedroom door firmly.
Then I retrieved the Herbal Storage Box that I had hidden deep beneath my bed.
‘It’s safe.’
Thanks to careful drying and proper preservation, the herbs inside the box remained in good condition.
I took out a small pouch from one corner of the box.
It was the Luminescent Moss I had scraped from the caves of the Pedrica Mountain Range, now dried.
‘I need to steam this five times, then roast it five times.’
Once dried thoroughly and ground into powder, then mixed with the sap of a specific flower, it would yield a natural Glow-in-the-dark Dye.
Without hesitation, I began making the dye using the simple tools on the table.
They were not professional instruments, but necessity breeds invention.
As a gifted herbalist, such meager circumstances posed no obstacle to me.
Two hours passed, and at last I completed one batch of dye.
It was deep in the night, but since I remained awake, no one came to bring the Helbain Sedative.
‘They only come when I’m asleep.’
I had once considered staying awake to wait and watch, but I abandoned that plan—if they truly failed to bring the medicine, I would be the one in trouble.
I tidied up the table roughly and prepared for bed.
I quickly changed into my nightclothes and lightly applied the finished dye to the back of the handle in the drawer of the small table beside my bed.
After confirming it would dry clear and odorless, I lay down to sleep.
Perhaps because I had exerted such focused attention without rest since returning from the Imperial Palace, I fell into a deep sleep without counting a single sheep.
And then came morning.
It felt like I had closed my eyes for just a moment, yet dawn had already arrived.
“Good morning, Your Highness! Wake up now! I’ve brought breakfast!”
Celine’s cheerful greeting rang out like a rooster announcing the dawn.
“……Good morning, Your Highness.”
Ena offered her own salutation, which was unusual for her.
“Good morning to you both. You’re certainly diligent today…….”
I rubbed my eyes and rose, and while my attention was occupied arranging the breakfast they’d brought, I checked the inside of the nightstand’s handle.
‘Perfect!’
The Glow-in-the-dark Dye I’d applied inside was completely wiped away.
I quickly opened the drawer.
A fresh vial of Helbain Sedative lay inside.
This meant it wasn’t Celine or Ena who’d accidentally brushed it off.
Heh.
Heheheh.
I couldn’t help but let out a breathless laugh.
‘So someone took the bait. Took it beautifully.’

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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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