The Poisonous Princess Who Successfully Infiltrated the Enemy as an Employee - Chapter 44

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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 44.

Barkan pressed the question again before I could gather my thoughts.
“To prove, as the Princess said, that you’re simply not mad?”
……
“But why? Why go to such lengths to prove it?”
His gaze deepened with an intensity that was almost frightening.
“Wouldn’t it be far safer to remain a mad Princess for the rest of your life? Or is there perhaps some hidden purpose—one that demands you win my trust at any cost?”
My breath caught.
‘He’s treating me like a spy outright.’
There it was—the suffocating weight I’d felt. The interrogation was one-sided, relentless, like questioning a criminal.
Of course, I couldn’t claim to have no purpose at all.
But lately, I’d spent whole days forgetting both the Guild’s orders and even the Helbain coiled inside me.
I’d only remember—’Oh, right. That thing in me’—when I took the Sedative from my drawer each morning.
It meant that life here at the Grand Duke’s Estate had consumed me entirely, and that my days had become deeply intertwined with the people of the Grand Duke’s House.
I was only now realizing this truth myself.
The struggles I’d endured to survive had benefited the Grand Duke’s House enough to arouse Barkan’s suspicion.
And that fact filled me with a strange pride.
But the moment I recognized it, I felt a prick of unfairness.
Or perhaps—loneliness.
I looked at Barkan quietly and opened my mouth.
“What kind of people have you been dealing with that made you so twisted?”
“Princess.”
Barkan furrowed his brow and called me, but I opened my mouth again before he could add anything more.
“Can’t you just accept kindness as kindness?”
“……Kindness?”
“Yes. Kindness.”
I met his gaze directly.
“I know the situation isn’t good. The Imperial Palace’s interference, the Demonic Beasts in the Northern Region, the Grand Duke’s House finances—it’s all complicated. And yes, our first impression was terrible.”
……
“But still. In the end, this world is a place where people live.”
At my words, Barkan’s eyes flickered slightly.
“Nobility, Grand Duke, Commoner—put all those titles aside, and what’s left? Just people.”
No matter how fearsome or exalted the Imperial Family is, they are ultimately human.
The Grand Duke before me, too—strong enough to bleed freely and yet march straight to the training grounds—was still just a person.
One who could be wounded or die if cut or pierced.
A little more noble, perhaps. A little stronger. But in the end, no different from me. Just a person.
“People can help each other. Do you always have to suspect there’s a hidden purpose?”
Of course, I knew that some vigilance was necessary.
People lashed out and fought over nothing; they betrayed for senseless reasons.
I nodded slowly.
“Fine. Say I was trying to win your trust and the trust of your House, as you say. What’s wrong with that?”
I leaned forward toward Barkan and spoke with careful precision.
“Is it wrong to want to get along with someone? A purpose? Yes, I tried to get along with the household staff to make life at the Grand Duke’s Estate easier, I tried to get along with the Grand Duke I’m to live with as a wife—maybe that is a purpose! But what’s the crime in that?”
……
Celine, who wakes me each morning with a smile and spends the whole day looking after me without a trace of weariness. Ena, still awkward but slowly opening her heart.
The Grand Duke’s knights and household staff who, though still taciturn, make an effort to treat me, an enemy princess, with respect.
I don’t want them to be made unhappy because of me.
Whether because I’m an enemy princess or because I’m a false one masquerading as one.
During my time at the Grand Duke’s Estate, and after I leave.
And.
‘That includes you, Grand Duke.’
I let out a small sigh and laid my heart bare.
“I’d like the Grand Duke’s House to prosper.”
My resolve not to sacrifice myself for others any longer remained firm.
But using knowledge from the original story to help the Grand Duke’s House a little—surely that wasn’t too much.
It was a hill I’d need to navigate for some time anyway.
“Rather than hearing that the Grand Duke’s House fell into ruin after a hostile princess arrived, I’d rather hear that the House grew more prosperous and stronger after she came.”
Barkan said nothing and simply stared at me until I finished speaking.
I held his gaze without flinching as I asked my question.
“Given everything I’ve done so far to earn your trust, don’t you think this should be sufficient?”
……
Barkan’s silence stretched longer.
Whether he was weighing the truth of my words or merely assessing me, those black eyes of his remained as impenetrable as ever.
‘Is even this not enough?’
He was the sort of man who wouldn’t believe me even if I swore on my sanity.
How could he possibly trust that an enemy princess wanted to get along with his household, that she hoped to see the Grand Duke’s House grow stronger?
I was halfway to surrendering my efforts at persuasion when he moved.
Barkan gathered the blueprint from the table and rose slowly from the sofa.
“Regardless, I cannot administer the potions written here directly to the knights just yet.”
“Ah, I feel the same wa—”
“That’s why I intend to test it myself first.”
“I’m sorry?”
Barkan glanced down at the blueprint, then looked back at me.
“In two days’ time, I plan to take the Poison Resistance Potion you’ve given me and venture alone into the Lachrion Mountain Range.”
“What?!”
I sprang from my seat instinctively.
“No, that won’t do!”
Giving him the Poison Resistance Potion wasn’t difficult in itself.
But what if side effects emerged, or if the potion failed and Barkan absorbed the miasma’s toxins unfiltered?!
‘If Barkan gets hurt or dies because of a potion I made, I might as well be dead too!’
I couldn’t let him go alone.
I had to be there to handle any complications that arose.
Whether or not he understood what I was feeling,
Barkan’s brow furrowed.
“……I didn’t ask the Princess for permission.”
“Then let’s go together!”
……
“Just you and me—the two of us!”

***

In the end, the two of us decided to go to the Lachrion Mountain Range together.
“I absolutely cannot send you alone! Frankly, what if the potion doesn’t work as intended?!”
“I was planning for Silier to accompany us as well. He too is quite knowledgeable about poisons.”
“No matter if the Grand Duke’s House physician comes along, he can’t handle things properly the way I can! Take me with you! Otherwise, you’re not getting the potion!”
……
Barkan, who had opposed my going with him, ultimately relented to my calm insistence that only I could respond appropriately if something unforeseen happened with a potion of my own making.
Two days later, the carriage carrying Barkan and me, which had departed from the Grand Duke’s Estate, came to a halt at Desitod Village, situated in the western reaches of the Grand Duke’s Territory.
We’d left the Estate just after midnight, and by the time we arrived at Desitod Village, dawn was breaking.
As we descended from the carriage, Roan climbed down from the driver’s seat, accompanied by a single knight.
It was the knight who had first discovered me on that day two days ago, when I climbed through the window.
‘His name was Alexis, wasn’t it.’
A knight who bore a striking resemblance to his master—taciturn and with scarcely a flicker of expression.
At Roan’s gesture, Alexis turned and headed toward a nearby building.
Roan spoke to Barkan.
“This is as far as the carriage can take us, Your Highness. From this village onward to the Lachrion Mountain Range, travel by carriage is impossible.”
Desitod Village sat at the westernmost edge of the Grand Duke’s Territory, the last settlement one could reach on the road to the Lachrion Mountain Range.
“Are you certain the two of you will be all right on your own?”
Roan asked with evident concern.
Barkan nodded in response.
“If you’re curious about the taste of poison fog in the Lachrion Mountain Range, you’re welcome to follow.”
Roan faltered for a moment, then laughed warmly and replied.
“I shall obey your orders and wait patiently here, Your Highness. I am, after all, a loyal servant whose first priority is always your command.”
At Roan’s swift change of tone, Barkan let out a soft, quiet laugh.
Just then, Alexis, who had descended from the carriage and briefly disappeared, returned leading a horse.
Even at first glance, its size and appearance differed markedly from an ordinary mount.
Alexis handed the horse’s reins to Barkan.
Barkan ran a practiced hand over the horse’s coat and turned to me.
“This is the warhorse I mentioned in the carriage. His name is Nox.”
Wow.
I gasped softly.
It was my first time seeing a warhorse up close.
A mane black as pitch, and a massive, muscular body gleaming with a smooth sheen.
Beneath his long lashes, his eyes were deep and tranquil as obsidian—particularly striking.
‘How can a horse be so beautiful?’
I turned to Barkan and asked.
“May I touch him?”
As I cautiously extended my hand toward Nox, Roan started and held me back.
“Ah, Your Highness! Nox has a most fierce and temperamental nature! He refuses all but his master’s touch, so it would be best if you observed from a distance—.”
But then.
Whinnying softly—!
Before Roan could finish, Nox gave a low whinny and thrust his muzzle directly beneath my hand, which I had only half-raised.
“Huh?”
“What…?”
“…….”
Warmth and softness met my palm.
Nox exhaled a long breath and began enthusiastically rubbing his head against my hand.
His behavior was almost puppyish, so I found myself delighted, stroking his muzzle and cheek in return.
“What do you mean fierce? Look how gentle he is. You were too harsh, Roan.”
“…….”
“…….”
As I giggled and continued to pet Nox, an odd silence fell between the three men.
“So that’s it, isn’t it? These stoic men have never touched you like this before?”
Nox whinnied again—!
As if answering me.
“Hah!”
Roan let out an incredulous laugh.
“I have never seen Nox behave this way, Your Highness. The knights who’ve been struck by his front hooves and kicked by his hind legs would clutch the back of their heads at such a sight.”
“…….”
Despite Roan’s words, Barkan watched Nox and me in silence.
Instead, Alexis, who had been quiet until now, offered a comment.
“I believe I’ve brought the wrong horse.”
Roan nodded in agreement.
“Yes, it certainly seems that way, Alexis. That’s definitely not Nox. It’s not.”
It must be possessed by a demon!
Oblivious to the two men’s jest, I smiled softly while stroking Nox’s neck.
“I’ve never ridden before, so I might make things difficult for you. Still, I’m counting on you, Nox. I trust only you.”
Nox nickered cheerfully and nodded his head as if he understood me, pawing lightly at the ground.
Then Barkan finally released a long sigh and approached me.
“Let us depart.”
With that, he grasped my waist with both hands.
“Oh!”
My view shot upward.
In a blink, I was seated upon Nox’s back.
Moments later, Barkan lightly mounted behind me.
As he took the reins, I found myself suddenly enfolded once more in his arms.
I felt the solid warmth of his frame pressed against my back.
Once Barkan was ready, Roan and Alexis bowed their heads.
“We shall await your return here. Please return safely.”
Barkan gave a brief nod in response.
And immediately, Nox pushed off from the frozen ground and surged forward.
The morning village, bathed in the light of the rising sun, receded behind us.

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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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