The Poisonous Princess Who Successfully Infiltrated the Enemy as an Employee - Chapter 60

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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 60.

***

The Marriage Vow Ceremony had concluded without incident.
And we decided to stay at the Imperial Palace one more day.
More House of Escar retainers had arrived than expected.
Varcan couldn’t turn away those who had come all the way from the Northern Region to the Capital, and I seized the opportunity to slip away to the Princess Palace to see Eleonore.
“Congratulations.”
Eleonore smiled brightly and handed me a cup of tea.
“I suppose I should be calling you Duchess Consort now?”
“Please, just call me as you always have.”
I fidgeted with the tea cup, my voice a little sheepish, and Eleonore fixed me with a playful gaze.
“Even so, how can you be so composed?”
She brought the cup to her lips as she continued.
“You’re the only Duchess Consort in the entire empire, after all.”
At that, I twisted in my seat and replied.
“That title somehow makes my spine itch.”
At my words, Eleonore burst into delighted laughter.
Her laughter scattered across the Garden.
One side of the table overflowed with gift boxes Eleonore had prepared to celebrate my marriage—precious things stacked high.
From the finest fur coats to weather the Northern Region’s cold, to rare tea leaves with beautiful fragrance, to small pieces of jewelry that were fashionable in the Capital.
I thanked her many times over. We shared our gratitude warmly and enjoyed a pleasant teatime together.
The tea was warm, and the sunlight was gentle.
Then, quite suddenly, the conversation turned to the Crown Prince Cain.
How much the Crown Prince loved the empire, how hard he worked for it.
That was the general tenor of it.
As the conversation naturally shifted to Cain, I toyed with the rim of my tea cup and opened my mouth.
“I wonder why, but I’ve actually found the Crown Prince rather… uncomfortable.”
The hand holding Eleonore’s tea cup stopped.
“…Cain?”
“Yes.”
Eleonore’s expression grew quiet and still.
I carefully laid out the things Cain had said to me over time.
How he’d urged me to join hands for the greater good.
How he’d poured curses upon me, saying I would be lonely in House of Escar.
As I spoke, warmth drained from Eleonore’s face in real time.
“So…”
She asked quietly.
“Your brother asked you to hold his hand for the greater good, is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes.”
………
Eleonore fell silent for a long moment. She simply stared intently into her tea cup, where the crimson liquid swirled, her deep red eyes fixing upon it with a look of dark concentration.
After a pause, she lifted her head slowly and looked directly at me.
“…Evelina.”
“Yes?”
“You said you’re returning to the Dukedom tomorrow morning?”
“Yes. Why?”
At my question, Eleonore placed her hand over mine. A chill touched my skin.
“Don’t be alone until then. Not for a moment.”
Her voice was unusually grave.
“…Why? You’re frightening me.”
Uneasy now, I pressed her. Eleonore’s brows drew together as she continued quietly.
“The Cain I know has never shown personal interest in anyone until now.”
………
“His mind held only the empire.”
Her deep sigh fell across the rim of the tea cup.
“Perhaps it was because he was raised studying Royal Education from childhood.”
Eleonore’s voice was low and cautious.
“In a strange way, he had a powerful love for the Empire.”
“Strange, you say?”
“That affection of his… how do I put it.”
Eleonore paused briefly, then continued with a frown creasing her brow.
“It felt less like love and more like compassion.”
“Compassion?”
“Yes. It seemed my brother always pitied the Empire.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Not bad, no. As I said before, I meant it was strange.”
Eleonore went on to say that Cain sought out the wounds of the Empire’s people, embraced them, and tried to heal them.
That seemed to deviate from what was ordinary—as though he were obsessed with it.
“It’s excessive, perhaps, but it’s better than indifference and neglect. Though that said…….”
Eleonore paused to find the right words before continuing.
“Sometimes it feels like that’s all there is to him.”
……
A brief silence fell, and Eleonore laughed with a bitter tint.
“My words were a bit odd, weren’t they?”
Eleonore relaxed her shoulders with a light shrug.
“Now that I think about it, my brother does seem like a strange person.”
She smiled at me with self-deprecating humor.
“But my brother truly cherishes the Empire. He worries over it more than anyone else.”
“Then why did you tell me not to be alone?”
I asked as though Cain’s obsession had nothing to do with me.
“What connection is there between the Crown Prince’s fixation on the Empire’s wounds and me?”
……
A heavy silence descended over the garden.
Eleonore did not answer for a long while.
Then she spoke very softly.
“That obsession.”
……
“It seems to have changed direction.”

***

The next morning.
I was spending my first official morning as Duchess Consort at the Imperial Palace.
Stretch!
‘Stiff all over!’
I rolled across the bed and stretched.
Whether it was because of Eleonore’s words yesterday, I’d been chased by something even in my dreams.
So despite sleeping quite a long time, I didn’t feel rested.
“Good morning! Your Highness!”
At Celin’s loud voice—loud enough to make my ears ring—my drowsy eyes snapped open.
“Good morning, Your Highness.”
Ena, approaching beside the bed, bowed her head composedly and helped me up.
It was a morning no different from any other, except for one thing.
The title by which they addressed me had changed.
‘Your Highness…’
The weight of that unfamiliar name drove away what remained of my morning drowsiness entirely.
Toward me as I rose with an unkempt face, Celin and Ena began their skillful preparations.
Before long the preparations were complete, and I was ready to board the carriage.
Now all that remained was a brief farewell to the Emperor, and the preparations to depart for House of Escar would be finished.
But then.
There came a commotion outside the door.
The sound of metal striking metal rang out, and the thick voices of men tangled together as well.
I turned my gaze toward the bedroom door and asked.
“Ena, it sounds like something’s stirring outside.”
“I’ll go check, Your Highness.”
“I’m counting on you.”
“Of course.”
Ena rushed toward the door to see what was happening.
Moments later, there came a tremendous crash—!
With the sound, Ena cried out.
“How dare you conduct yourselves with such insolence!”
It sounded like the door was being torn apart.
Something felt terribly wrong—I could sense it instinctively.
To be safe, I left Celin in the bedroom and stepped into the anteroom.
The bedroom door stood wide open without my permission.
And beyond it, armed knights from the Imperial Palace surged into the chamber.
Ena threw her small frame forward to block them, but it was futile.
Yet she did not retreat. Even as she was pushed backward, Ena shouted to the end.
“Sheathe your blades at once and withdraw! Do you not know whom you face? This is the Duchess Consort of House of Escar, Your Highness!”
Leave this instant!
But the knights paid no heed to Ena’s voice, indifferent, and formed their ranks without pause.
Then, from among the knights, one bearing a crimson cloak stepped forward with a heavy tread and stood before me.
The gray-haired knight held a letter bearing the unmistakable seal of the Imperial House.
He unfolded the letter before me and issued his command in an icy voice.
“By order of the Imperial House: Evelina, Duchess Consort of House of Escar, is to be taken into custody at once on suspicion of attempting to poison Her Highness Princess Eleonore!”

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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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