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Stefan opened his eyes wide and whispered back.
“Now?”
“Yes. Right now. We can’t let the Archduke drink the wasp wine as it is.”
“Oh, I understand. Sorry, but can you splash some white wine on me? I need to smell like alcohol.”
Stefan drank a glass of wine from the table and then immediately staggered and fell.
“Your… Your Grace!”
Rachel shouted loudly, swinging her arms and knocking several wine glasses from a nearby table to the floor. Clang! There was a loud noise and the smell of alcohol filled the air.
Anger showed on Sigar’s face as he offered Cian the drink.
“Stefan!”
Beatrix screamed and tried to run over, but froze in place when she made eye contact with Sigar. She trembled all over, as if she might collapse at any moment, not knowing what to do.
The surrounding nobles’ attention was focused on Stefan.
“Ugh. Ugh, this is good. This wine tastes great!”
“Your Grace, are you alright?”
Stefan grinned at Rachel’s worried question.
“Hmm. Who is this beauty? Lady Serhi?”
“Oh my god, this smell of alcohol. Since when have you become this drunk?”
“Ever since I fell in love with you. Every day is as sweet as wine, and I can’t come to my senses. How about you, Lady Serhi? Will you marry me?”
“I am Countess Rachel, not Lady Serhi. Please get a hold of yourself, Your Grace.”
“Not Lady Serhi? Bring Lady Serhi! Bring Lady Serhi here now!”
Stefan’s drunken performance was superb.
Cian sighed and bowed to Sigar.
“It seems Duke Stefan is drunk. If this continues, the party will be ruined, so I’ll take care of him and put him to bed in a spare room.”
Sigar shook his head in disapproval.
“The host cannot be absent from the party. Have the servants take care of him.”
“No! No! Bring more wine, more! Bring some really delicious and sweet wine! And bring Lady Serhi too!”
Stefan flailed on the floor like a spoiled child, pushing away the approaching servants. He was so strong that some servants even groaned in pain after being hit.
Servants and nearby nobles looked at Cian and Sigar, their faces asking what to do.
Rachel, who was standing a little away and looking at Stefan, clapped her hands inwardly.
‘Wow, his acting is amazing, I can believe he only had one drink. If I didn’t know, I would’ve been fooled too.’
Cian looked back at Stefan and spoke again.
“Your Majesty. I think I really need to go there myself. The Duke is good at wielding a sword which makes him quite strong, and if left alone, the party venue will be…”
“No! No way! You can’t move one step from here before you put this wasp liquor in your mouth!”
“…”
“Ugh.”
Everyone was silent except Stefan, who was immersed in his drunken act.
Beatrix, with a pale face, sat down trembling.
His act was clearly malicious and unreasonable. There wasn’t one soul among those gathered who did not realize Sigar wanted to harm Cian.
The emperor’s personal and unprovoked anger towards someone loyal to the empire made the nobles nervous.
Noticing the wary gazes of the nobles, Sigar muttered a curse under his breath.
“… Shit.”
“I’ll be back.”
Cian approached Stefan, grabbing his friend by the collar, and lifted him up.
“Hey, you damn Cian! Let’s fight! Fight with me! Fight! I will totally smash you…!”
“Shut up.”
With a light chop to the back of Stefan’s neck, Cian knocked him out. The party hall fell silent.
Carrying the large Stefan effortlessly, Cian left the party hall, ignoring Sigar’s fierce glare.
Rachel sighed.
‘Thank goodness. What a close call. That could’ve been bad.’
Sigar, trembling where he stood, left the party without a word. The large bottle of wasp wine he brought was left where he’d been standing.
‘I didn’t know the emperor hated the Archduke so much. To try and make him drink wasp wine so blatantly.’
Cian had no ambition for power and was very loyal. Rachel had never dreamed that he had a bad relationship with the emperor.
Only then did she realize why Cian kept his identity hidden, humbled himself, and never let his guard down. It was all an effort to avoid the emperor finding fault with him.
An emperor who sees only what he wants to see, hears only what he wants to hear, and hates his loyal younger brother, was nothing short of a tyrant.
It seemed it was indeed Sigar’s fault that the original Dolorosa left the capital and went on a journey after becoming an adult.
* * *
The party ended anticlimactically.
When Cian returned to the party hall after taking Stefan, who’d pretended to faint, to his room, the party had been half-cleared.
The first thing Cian did after sending all the nobles away and entering his bedroom was to throw away the wasp liquor. When he threw the bottle into the fireplace and it broke, the faint flame that seemed like it was about to extinguish flared up strongly.
It was an indication of how strong the poison inside was.
Feeling a prickling sensation in his throat, he rubbed it with his hand and collapsed into a large chair. He undid the button pressing his neck and took a deep breath.
“Ha. This is something I can’t do twice.”
Such a grand party. If not for Rachel, he wouldn’t have even done it this time.
“It’s fortunate that Berengella was dealt with as originally intended.”
It was Rachel’s idea to show Sigar the captured Berengella.
Rachel didn’t yet know how sinister Sigar was. All she could think was that Berengella, who met Sigar, would be so ashamed she’d never enter the capital again.
But Sigar was someone who would kill a servant just because he was in a bad mood. The chances of Berengella surviving intact after catching Sigar’s eye at Cian’s mansion were slim.
He debated whether or not it would be a good idea to tell Rachel what would happen to Berengella, then shook his head. He didn’t want to make her feel guilty.
Rachel was the only one that mattered to Cian.
As long as Rachel was okay, nothing else mattered.
Thinking that, he closed his eyes, then frowned. Berengella’s outrageous remark came to mind.
‘Rachel still loves Theodore.’
Even knowing it wasn’t true, the words made his head feel like it was exploding. He felt the urge to get rid of both Berengella, who was spouting nonsense, and Theodore, the subject of the nonsense.
‘Before I knew what kind of person he was. There was a time I had feelings for him.’
When Rachel said that, it felt like his heart was being crushed.
Did she really have feelings for that guy? So, Rachel had to watch the person she loved, love another woman? Had she been hurt to such a cruel extent?
Remembering Rachel’s back as she watched Berengella being dragged away, his heart ached. He wanted to hold her and shield her from the pain.
“Are you dead?”
Cian opened his eyes and looked towards the voice at the door.
Stefan was leaning against the door of the bedroom with his arms crossed.
“You’re not dead.”
“I didn’t drink it. Why would I be dead? Anyway, what are you doing here at this hour? You should be sleeping quietly after I carried you to your room.”
“Can’t I be here?”
“This is my bedroom.”
“I know. So, what? Can’t we do this much for each other? Don’t forget you owe me for causing a scene in front of the emperor to stop you from drinking the wasp wine.”
That’s true. Without Stefan, Cian wouldn’t have been able to refuse the glass Sigar offered.
Acknowledging it, he nodded.
“Thank you. I’ll repay the favor anytime, just say the word.”
“Well, half of it is owed to Countess Rachel. Thank her later too.”
“Countess Rachel?”
“Yeah. She told me to collapse and cause a scene. Without her, you’d have drunk the wasp wine.”
Stefan gestured towards the broken wasp wine bottle in the fireplace.
Cian took a deep breath and exhaled shortly.
Rachel.
Rachel had saved him.
Unaware of Cian’s thoughts, Stefan chuckled and continued.
“When you first told me about Count Rachel, you said she was such a talented person that you wanted to take good care of.”
“I did.”
“Well, I wondered how smart she could be, but she’s exceeded my expectations.”
“Why?”
“The opponent was the emperor. Normally, if the emperor appears and orders the Archduke to drink wasp wine, most people would freeze in shock or fear.”
That’s true.
There’s a reason the expression ‘the blood drained’ exists.
“But she looked at me and told me to fall down right away. Do you know how calm Countess Rachel was at the time? She spoke as if she had everything planned. It was pretty impressive.”
“I told you.”
“Moving seamlessly without prior planning. I admit, she’s worth you coveting. I never imagined someone like her would be hiding in the capital.”
Then he muttered as an afterthought.
“Risking being caught and getting into big trouble. She wanted to save you that badly, huh?”
Cian clenched his fist, then stood up and walked towards Stefan without a word.
Stefan, who’d been leaning against the door, uncrossed his arms and stood up straight. The two men stood face to face at the door.
Stefan, seemingly startled by Cian’s sudden behavior, stepped back a bit.
“W-What? Why are you coming closer all of a sudden?”
Without answering, Cian grabbed Stefan by the back of the neck.
Stefan stiffened in shock.
“Hey, hey! Cian! Hey! Your Highness! Someone, save me!”
“Shut up.”
“Hey…!”
Ignoring Stefan’s urgent pleas, Cian tilted his head.
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