Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 11

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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 11
“Kyle! Kyle!”
In his panic, Edwin forgot even to ring the bell.
Fortunately, Kyle, who had been waiting outside, heard Edwin’s call and hurried in.
“What is it?”
Kyle had completely abandoned his usual placid demeanor.
When Edwin’s voice rose—a man who remained composed even before tens of thousands of enemies—Kyle knew something had gone terribly wrong.
Edwin confirmed Kyle had entered, then adjusted Carolina’s posture.
To rest comfortably against the sofa.
Then he gave his orders in a low voice.
“Miss Carolina Diaz drank alcohol laced with Truth Serum and has lost consciousness. Send for a physician at once.”
“What? All of a sudden—”
“Details can wait until Miss Diaz wakes. Hurry.”
“Understood.”
Kyle rushed off himself to fetch the physician stationed at the Guild.
Edwin held his fingers beneath Carolina’s nose.
Faint but steady breaths came against his fingertips, which was a relief.
As Edwin fumbled to find her pulse, the concealed door in the wall opened and the physician entered with Kyle.
Azela, who had apparently run from her laboratory, paused only briefly to catch her breath before heading toward the sofa where Carolina lay resting.
“She drank alcohol mixed with Truth Serum and suddenly lost consciousness.”
Edwin repeated the explanation he had given Kyle.
“What was the dosage?”
“An entire bottle of alcohol containing roughly half the standard dose.”
“This shouldn’t be a serious matter. The Truth Serum we use at the Guild is nearly non-toxic.”
Azela retrieved a Diagnostic Magical Tool and examined Carolina’s condition briefly before announcing her findings.
“It appears to be the Blue Dragonfly Wing Herb in the Truth Serum. This young woman’s constitution is incompatible with that herb, and when combined with the alcohol, her body simply couldn’t endure it.”
Azela noted this down in her ledger and added,
“She has a quite rare constitution, this one.”
Reassured by Azela’s unconcerned—indeed, almost curious—demeanor, both Kyle and Edwin gradually recovered their composure.
“What is the treatment?”
“Have her consume a bottle of Antidote and get thorough rest for three or four days. She should be fine.”
“Will there be any lingering effects?”
“Likely not.”
Struck by Edwin’s unusual care and attention, Azela’s gaze lifted from her ledger to regard him with interest.
“The fault lies with us, after all.”
Edwin found himself defending the position almost without thinking.
“We reduced our client to this state—we bear responsibility for it.”
Kyle, who had also come to regard Carolina favorably since she had finished his coffee, quietly added his agreement.
“That’s fair enough.”
Azela nodded, satisfied with the reasoning.
“As it happens, I had one bottle of Antidote already prepared. Making a fresh batch would have taken considerable time, so we were fortunate.”
Azela promptly returned from her laboratory with a single bottle of pale crimson liquid.
She repeated the process several times—pinching Carolina’s nose and spooning the medicine into her mouth, as one would do with a small child.
The small bottle, barely the size of two fingers, was soon drained.
Azela examined Carolina’s condition once more with the Diagnostic Magical Tool, then looked between Kyle and Edwin simultaneously.
“Once the medicine takes effect, she should wake in roughly thirty minutes. If anything goes wrong, call for me again—I’ve completely depleted my Antidote stock, so I’ll need to prepare more.”
Azela departed through the concealed door back to her laboratory.
Kyle and Edwin remained standing around the sofa where Carolina lay.
Thirty minutes seemed as though it would stretch considerably long.
* * *
Only after I’d drained the remaining bottle of alcohol in an attempt to buy time did I understand what was happening.
‘Is this poison?’
My vision blurred unnaturally, and my heart rhythm grew erratic—accelerating, then slowing, then accelerating again.
My body burned with heat as if fevered, while my fingertips went numb with cold, as though submerged in ice water.
But the awareness of my body’s distress lasted only moments.
Consciousness severed, and I collapsed.
I had no sense of how much time had passed.
I opened my eyes seized by violent chills, as though drenched in freezing water from head to toe.
And there, directly before me, stood Edwin and Kyle.
I was far too close to the two people I suspected of poisoning me.
“Help me.”
I thought I had screamed, but the voice that reached my own ears was small.
Like a plea.
Kyle and Edwin’s gazes met in the air as they saw my eyes open.
Kyle, the gentler of the two in temperament, approached with a smile, attempting to reassure me.
“Compose yourself, Miss Diaz. You’ve simply suffered an unfortunate accident.”
‘An unfortunate accident? You mean when you failed to kill me?’
“An unfortunate accident? You mean when you failed to kill me?”
My thought had escaped as speech.
“No—I shouldn’t be saying this in front of people who might be my would-be murderers. This can’t be happening—”
Words were pouring from my mouth without passing through my mind.
I clamped both hands over my lips.
“Dear me, it seems the Antidote hasn’t completely taken effect yet.”
Kyle regarded me with concern.
“You’ll be fine soon enough.”
“What did you give me?”
Though my hands muffled my voice somewhat, it remained loud enough for the two standing nearby to hear clearly.
“Truth Serum.”
The answer came from Edwin, who until then had remained silent.
“Your means of contacting the Guild remained suspicious. We needed to clear away that doubt.”
“Truth Serum? Are you insane? I thought I was dying!”
Mercifully, the two men pretended not to have heard my critique of the Truth Serum experience.
“But no Guild member had any record of contact with you. To build a relationship of trust, one must first cast aside suspicion.”
“That’s obvious.”
I bit my tongue hard before I could tell them that I had been reincarnated into this book’s world.
Eating difficulties for a few days was preferable to being labeled insane.
“Further questioning now would be improper, so we’ll leave it at that. Rest once you’ve settled yourself, and I’ll see you to your quarters.”
It was a rather kind consideration for someone like me, still biting my tongue to prevent further nonsense.
With Edwin leading Kyle out, I found myself alone in the hidden room.
“I nearly bit my tongue clean off. Truth Serum, really—so this is genuinely an intelligence guild.”
I felt as though I had stepped one foot into a harsh, unforgiving reality.
“But they said they gave me the Antidote, so…”
Perhaps it was working—about every other time, I managed to refrain from speaking my thoughts aloud.
In that way, I endured the lingering aftereffects, waiting for time to pass.
Knock, knock.
A knock came from the door connecting to the café.
I answered quietly, afraid of more nonsense spilling out, and the door opened—Edwin entered.
“Are you better?”
“The medicine’s working—”
I shut my mouth in haste, but the important part had already escaped.
Edwin chuckled softly.
“You’ll be completely recovered soon.”
Edwin approached and extended his hand to me.
“Night has grown late—it’s nearly Curfew Time. I could have you rest here, but I suspect that’s not what you’d prefer.”
‘No, it’s not.’
I wanted nothing more than to collapse into my own bed.
“Thank you, Lord Lohas.”
I placed my hand atop the one he’d offered without delay.
Edwin was guiding me with considerable formality when he suddenly came to a stop.
“Did you just call me Lohas?”
The question carried an unmistakable note of puzzlement.
“Wasn’t that correct?”
When I asked in return, Edwin chuckled.
“I can gather roughly how that happened. It hardly matters, though.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“On second thought, call me Lord Lohas.”
A peculiar man indeed.
“Yes, of course—Lord Lohas.”
We emerged from the brightly lit café into streets cast in utter darkness just before Curfew Time.
Though I walked these streets often, the lack of people made them feel strange and unfamiliar.
I glanced toward Edwin without obvious intent, moving at an unhurried pace.
With little of consequence to discuss, our conversation flagged.
Edwin answered questions earnestly enough, but he carried an air of quiet reserve.
After we exchanged a few remarks about how Coni was faring and when he might be released, even that thread of conversation withered, and silence settled between us.
It was genuinely awkward.
‘There it is—Grizel Park.’
Mercifully, not long after, the sign for Grizel Park came into view.
I was nearly home.
Noticing that my expression, which had been tense and uncomfortable, had brightened somewhat, Edwin smiled faintly.
“Why are you smiling?”
“You seem quite afraid of dark streets, yet Grizel Park doesn’t frighten you. I found that curious.”
“If Grizel Park frightened me, I wouldn’t live here.”
“So there’s no specter from your past who might visit you in your dreams.”
Edwin’s intent had surely been light, joking banter.
Yet weight had gradually settled upon the casual words.
Realizing belatedly what he’d said, Edwin’s expression grew slightly rigid.

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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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