Chapter 14: When You Are Hurt

As if I were spitting out a breath that I had compressed, I regained consciousness. 

‘Ah, I feel like I’ve immediately come to my senses because of the smell of alcohol which stings the nose.’

As soon as I opened my heavy eyelids the bright dazzling light of the chandelier hit me. At the bright light piercing my eyes I scrunched my forehead unconsciously. 

After I raised my hand and blocked the light I looked around. 

‘It’s the bedroom.’

What happened last?

I remember eating the delicious lobster that Sercia had gifted and then feeling my tongue tip tingle and my throat became dry, and I lost consciousness along with pain.

‘Did I eat someone’s blood out of the two again?’

Seeing how I’m lying in a bed I haven’t died yet. 

As soon as I rolled my tongue around back and forth making sure that it was moving properly I heard an unfamiliar voice.

“You’ve awoken.”

Startled by the unfamiliar low voice I turned my head and there was a man i had met for the first time smiling brightly at me. 

‘Who is it?’

No matter how much I stared at him he was not someone that I had seen even in the past. And there would be no way that Theodore or Selphius would let a suspicious person into the estate. 

“I’ll introduce myself later. …How is your state? Can you talk?”

Talk?

“Yes.”

“Can you try and follow my finger with your eyes?”

While smiling he raised his long ginger and moved it right and left. Without knowing the reason I moved my eyes back and forth following his finger. 

“Good. Can you clench and unclench your fist? And move your toes.”

“I think everything is good.”

Only after carefully checking that even my toes can move he nodded his head. 

“Luckily it seems the detoxification went well. And it looks like you don’t have paralysis, it’s good.”

Detoxification? I tilted my head.

“Do I need detoxification?”

Even though I’ll probably wake up on my own after eating blood after soe time? At my question the man smiled. 

“Were you not going to detox after eating poison?”

“Poison?”

Did I not eat the two people’s blood? I continuously blinked my eye with a confused expression.

Come to think of it, why did they call a doctor if I fainted after I ate blood?

“…since you’ve been forcibly woken up your throat will be swollen and your stomach will have a lot of pressure on it. I’ll prescribe medicine so please take it twice a day. I’ll leave medicine with the butler.”

“…Yes.”

I think he may be a doctor but… his face looks similar to Theodore. 

“And in order to collect some blood there is a wound on your index finger. I had to check that the antidote was correct before I fed you it through your blood.”

Now that he mentions it there is a bandage on my finger… So that’s why.

I had thought that I had hurt it when I had fainted.

“Thanks to your help…”

“No. Out of the antidotes that I had there was not one that would completely treat you. In truth, it was not possible to figure out even what poison you ate. It’s almost like the curse put on the family.”

Curse on the family?

“I used medicine that can neutralize the poison as best as I can. It’s really a relief that you’ve woken up. …put medicine on your finger in the morning and evenings and in order for it to not get worse, please change the bandage. I apologize for injuring you without your permission.”

“Ah, no. It’s okay.”

“It’ll be difficult to do alone so request Theo to help you.”

Theo? Did he just call Theodore Theo?

Talking about the family curse, and calling Theodore ‘Theo’.

I stared at the man with narrowed eyes. The black hair and red eyes look very familiar. 

“…Are you related to Theodore? Are you of the Lapileon family…”

“That’s correct. My introduction is late. I am Finneas Gun Lapileon. Please just comfortably call me ‘Finn’.

Gasp, as expected he was a person of the Lapileon family!

As soon as I tried to sit up in surprise, Finneas while smiling kindly lightly pressed my shoulder down. 

“Don’t get up. Since your body hasn’t recovered.”

“Ah… I’m Pershati Lapileon,”

“I know, I heard from Theo, and I heard from Selphi, and I heard about you often from Seci. Especially Seci, she sends letters about you to the point that it’s annoying.”

Ah, sister Seci…

Embarrassed, I covered my eyes with my hands. I heard Finneas laughing gently from close by.

“There is nothing to be embarrassed about. Seci who doesn’t smile, Selphi who was always prickly, and Theo who never let people close to him. You’re a good change.

“I-It just somehow came to be like that.”

“That;s right. Even though it ‘somehow came to be’ it’ll have big meaning to the people who are accepting it. You don’t know how surprised I was that Theo and Selphi, who especially don’t move for other people, were going around looking for me.”

Theodore and Selphi did? They were looking for him for me? They didn’t look like people who would ever do that.

“Theo putting on that surprised of an expression, really…

“Really…?”

“I saw it for the first time.”

What? The first time ever? 

“It doesn’t seem as if you believe me.”

“N-No…”

If you’re born in the Lapileon family are they born with the skill of being quick witted? Why do they catch on so quickly.

“But it’s true. Theo isn’t a kid that worries that much about others or himself.”

I can really understand him not worrying about himself. Because no matter what happens he is stoic and acts like it’s nothing!

“Especially Theo that child coming to find me frantically for someone else is something that I could have never imagined.

“… …”

It’s probably not even once or twice that he’s seen me faint. Why did he go and find him so frantically?

Is it because I’m under a blanket? It felt like my face was heating up I continuously fanned my face with my hand. 

“If you get hurt there are many people who will jump about so you’ll have to be careful in the future. …Please wait for a moment. I’ll call for Theo and Silph.”

As soon as Finneas left the bedroom, silence quickly fell over the room. Luckily, it seems as if there aren’t only scary people in the Lapileon Family. 

Anyways.

‘Did I really eat poison?’

I thought that I had obviously collapsed after eating the two’s blood. Because the sensation of fainting and waking up had been the same as that time. 

While I scratched my head with a confused expression the bedroom door burst open. When I turned my head Selphius stood there with a wild expression. 

“Selphi.”

“Y-Your Highness.”

As soon as I called the child’s name, he ran over to the bedside as if he’d been waiting. 

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? If there’s anyone that hurts even just a little bit you have to tell us. Do you understand? Are you fine now?”

“Ask one question at a time. I’m not in pain, my body is a bit sore but it’s bearable, and I think I will become better now.”

As if strength in Selphius’s legs left he sat down heavily in a chair while continuously saying, ‘It’s a relief, it’s a relief.’ Suddenly biting his wobbling lips hard he furiously rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. 

‘Why is he crying?’

As I thought their reactions are too strange for it to be that I had eaten of the two’s blood. 

I looked at Theodore who walked behind Selphius slowly with an expression asking for an explanation. As if something had happened in that time Theodore’s face looked paler. He spoke with a low voice. 

“You ate poison.”

“It’s not the blood of one of you?”

I asked promptly. Since there is a possibility that Finneas may have been mistaken. 

Theodore will probably now say, ‘That’s right you ate blood again!’ right? There’s no reason for me to collapse other than having eaten someone’s blood. There’s no way that someone would have mixed in poison and tried to kill me.

However the reply that came to me was different from what I had expected.

“No.”

“See I told you I ate blood… what?”

“I believe that you ate actual poison and not our blood. We didn’t even spill even a little bit of blood from our bodies. Just to make sure we checked even the underneath our fingernails but not a single drop of blood appeared.”

“What?”

“It’s definite that someone put in poison.”

Theodore’s voice, which was speaking lowly, sounded cold. No matter what I think it seems like I actually ate something poisonous.

‘Gasp, then I really almost died?’

I obviously only thought about waking up after eating blood, I didn’t even think that someone was really trying to kill me.

“W-Why? Who?”

I don’t understand just who and for what reason put poison into my food. After hearing that someone had intentionally put poison in, my anger flared up for a moment.

“Just what jerk did it? Did you catch who did it?”

The chef made the food themselves. And the main dish lobsters were sent Sercia herself. 

The other side dishes were probably bought separately at dawn but, it’s a difficult environment for poison to be brought in from outside.

Either it was done by someone on the inside, or there’s an accomplice within. It’s one of the two.

“Was I the only one to have eaten poison? You said that there was poison within the food. Selphi, are you okay? Theodore, what about you?

“Because we are cursed we have an immunity to all poisons. Even if there was poison in the food we would not have died.”

Hearing how I was the only one to have experienced that pain, it’s the silver lining among misfortune.

But the person who put poison in definitely did not know about the Lapileon Family’s curse. They definitely hoped after eating that food Theodore, Selphius, and I would die.

Thinking about that it feels as if curses will burst out on their own. As soon as I just barely held back those for Selphius’s sake, Theodore, who had been silent for a long time, opened his mouth.

“It’s my responsibility.”

The first words that he spoke as if they were just barely squeezed and spit out were not even asking if I was okay, or a funny joke. 

He who always said that he would protect me who had become his person like it was habit blurted out his guilt because he could not protect me. 

“Like Sekphi said, we are not affected by poison. But you are different.”

Theodore stared down at my bandaged finger with a deep gaze. 

“I overlooked it. So everything is my responsibility.”

After those words, Theodore fell into silence once more. Because that silence felt like an apology he was sending to me, my shoulders felt heavy.

Having no other choice but to press down my surging anger, I sat up. Although Theodore dissuaded me, telling me I shouldn’t get up yet, I shrugged him off, and got up.

“Did you catch the perpetrator who poisoned the food? And confirm the food that was poisoned?”

“…Mashed potatoes. A bird that flew in during the middle of the investigation ate some mashed potatoes and then died immediately on the spot.”

Heok, instant death? What the hell? T-That could’ve been my future!

“The assistant chef said they bought the potatoes themselves early this morning at the market.”

“And what about the assistant chef? Did you investigate them?”

“They left saying they had something to do before breakfast, and has yet to return.”

Caught you, you bastard!

Then it’s highly likely that the assistant chef bastard is the one who did this. They poisoned the food and then escaped from the murder scene! …Although it didn’t end up being a murder scene.

“I sent someone to their house, but they’d already organized things there a long time ago. It seemed like nobody had lived there for a while. They might have been planning this for a long time.”

Theodore quietly dropped his gaze. Behind his long eyelashes I could see a silent fury and contempt towards himself within those red eyes.

“And if they’ve been planning this for a long time, their goal was probably me. Since back then, neither you nor Selphi were here.”

“…”

“You got caught up in my business. That’s why it’s my fault.”

I quietly watched Theodore, who endlessly reproached himself.

Just like when he’d fought with Selphius, it seemed like he was hoping I’d hate him.

“Listen well, Theodore. You are not the offender but a victim.”

“…What?”

“The bad person is the assistant chef who poisoned the food and ran away, and not you. There was no way you could have known.”

“But this is all because of…”

“If you’re acting liek this because you want to be hated, then stop. Since I have no plans on hating you.”

Had I been sitting for too long? My stomach felt sick and my head was slowly starting to spin.

“I don’t blame you, but the bastard who poisoned the food and ran away… Ugh.”

As I retched, Finneas, who had been standing in front of the door, noticed quickly and approached.

“Are you okay? I told you it’d be too much for you to sit up yet. How’s our stomach? Do you feel like you’re going to vomit? If you do, don’t hold it in and just throw up, that’s better.”

“…Right now, it’s okay, but if I sit up any longer, I might really vomit.”

As I pursed my lips and managed to reply with a suppressed voice, Theodore slowly helped me lie down on the bed.

“You might be dizzy and feel nauseous because you consumed all of the antidote at once. Don’t move around too much.”

I nodded quickly at Finneas’ words.

After lying down on the bed, it felt like my queasy stomach relaxed a bit, and it relieved me. As expected, you should listen well to a doctor’s words.

“There’s nothing you have to be sorry about, but if you still feel sorry, there’s just one thing you have to do.”

“…What is that?”

“Bring me the bastard who made me like this. Since I’ll kill them myself.”

“But.”

“If you keep talking back to me I’m going to vomit on your clothes.”

It was only then that Theodore closed his mouth in a straight line. Although it seemed like he had lots he wanted to say, it appeared he was holding it in.

Watching Theodore and I, Finneas who was standing next to us smiled gently.

“You’ll have to be careful for a few days. Theo, take good care of Her Highness the Grand Duchess from beside her.”

“Yes.”

“Selphi, let’s take our leave. The Grand Duchess needs to rest.”

Selphius nodded, but couldn’t remove his worried gaze from me. He seemed to have been very shocked by my near death experience.

Finneas skillfully lured and comforted Selphius, whose eyes were teary, and left the bedroom.

As soon as they left, the bedroom was filled with awkward air.

‘What are we supposed to do if only the two of you leave so suddenly?’

Clearing my throat, I tried to change the atmosphere by speaking up.

“What you said on the carriage that day was real.”

“What I said on the carriage?”

“You told me you’d get scared if I got hurt or fell into danger.”

TL/N: 놀라 can mean ‘surprised’ or ‘scared’. In the original scene they’re referencing right now, it was translated at ‘surprised’, but ‘scared’ is more fit for the current situation.

After remembering what I was talking about, Theodore opened his red lips slightly.

“Did I say that?”

Argh, pretending not to remember.

“Yes, you said that you’d be so worried for me, so worried that you wouldn’t know what to do if I died.”

“I only said I’d get scared, when did I say…”

“Oh? So you do remember.”

As I calmly pointed at him with my finger, Theodore closed his lips and turned his head.

“To be honest, I didn’t believe you back then. So seeing that Your Excellency truly got scared, I was a bit touched.”

“…I was scared?”

“Yes, am I wrong?”

“Ha, who said that?”

“Then were you not scared?”

At my question, Theodore hesitated, before turning his head to avoid my gaze.

“…I wasn’t too scared. I was just curious what was happening since it seemed like you were poisoned in the middle of our meal together.”

“Really?”

“I don’t get scared at something to this degree.”

“To say that’s true, isn’t your face too haggard right now in comparison to this morning?”

Feeling at his face, Theodore sighed lightly. He must have realized his excuses made no sense, as he knitted his eyebrows and wiped his face with his big hands.

“But I heard you looked desperately for Sir Finneas for me? Sir Finneas told me.”

“He really told you all sorts of things… It wasn’t me, but Selphi. I was just staying still.”

“Regardless, I lived because of you. Thank you.”

Smiling and shaking my hands, Theodore stared at me like I was a weird person, and frowned. Then, he pulled the chair closer and sat down, pulling the cravat that was tight around his neck free.

“How can you say you’re thankful to me?”

“Then should I say I’m sorry and apologize?”

At my joking tone, the atmosphere that had been frozen quickly melted. Running a hand through his hair, Theodore laughed.

“You are more fascinating the longer I get to know you. Isn’t it normal to be scared and cry, or cling and beg to be saved if one goes through this kind of situation?”

“You’re complimenting me for being brave, right?”

“Ha, just look at you.”

“Anyway, it’s a relief that no one other than me got hurt or sick.”

“You’re worrying about other people in a situation like this?”

At Theodore’s nag-like fury, I answered seriously.

“I would have gotten very scared if you got hurt, too.”

“What?”

“Ah, for Selphi too, of course. So isn’t it great that only I got hurt? But anyway, this was probably to kill you, right? The statue incident from last time, too. There are so many people who hate you.”

“I don’t know which bastard it is, but when I catch them, there’ll be a lot of work to do.”

With a cold expression like the frost of winter, Theodore grinded his teeth.

“I feel the same.”

“I have nothing to say since you got hurt because of me.”

“It’s fine. I knew you’d ensure that I wouldn’t die.”

Theodore showed a rare dazed expression. It seemed like he was unsure of how to reply.

“Why are you so surprised? Have you forgotten about our contract?” I spoke smiling, after having burst into laughter at Theodore’s dazed expression.

“Our contract was to protect my inheritance and life, so that I won’t die.”

“…”

“So I’m not too worried. Since you’ll save me anyway.”