When I looked at him with a strange expression, the knight commander signaled with his eyes.
Clang.
The imperial knights, who had been politely supporting him, simultaneously reached for their swords.
“Did I say that? No way.”
“Then what reason would I have to lie?”
“Your Majesty the Empress. Are you all right? Knight Commander, just now, Her Majesty was nearly injured by an arrow that came out of nowhere. She seems startled, so it would be best to check on her.”
Cedric looked at my slightly grazed face with a worried expression, as if implying I was so shocked that I was confused.
‘You’re going to make me doubt myself at this rate.’
What an actor.
The knight commander had assumed the wound on my face was from the intense kiss Xian had given me earlier, which had made him react with alarm.
“Your Majesty the Empress, are you all right? It doesn’t seem too serious, but you must return to the imperial palace immediately and see the royal physician!”
“Oh, you mean that arrow.”
The poison from the arrow had already been neutralized by the antidote in my body.
I wiped the remaining blood from the wound with the back of my hand and said,
“It was a poisoned arrow. It had a strange scent, and the wound burned as if it were being seared.”
“What?!”
Not only the knights but also the nobles who had gathered nearby flinched in shock. Cedric also reacted with a start, his face full of outrage.
“Escort Her Majesty immediately! It must have been a poison meant to confuse the mind. No wonder she misremembers the events…”
“No need. I already took the antidote.”
I interrupted him, crossing my arms.
“You all know how obsessed His Majesty has been with my health these past few weeks. These days, I don’t just take nutritional supplements—I also take special medicinal herbs to detoxify my body.”
Of course, that alone wouldn’t neutralize Alsetamine, but I had been taking detoxifying medicine, so I could use that excuse.
No one here knew the details anyway.
“So that means there’s no way I lost my mind just because I was hit by a poisoned arrow.”
I looked at Cedric with the same arrogant gaze Xian often had.
Already wounded once by the chimera and a second time from his sword fight with Xian, Cedric was visibly shaken.
“I-I must have misspoken in my confusion. His Majesty did indeed attack the chimera. But Your Majesty the Empress, you saw it too! After killing the chimera, His Majesty pointed his sword at me, an innocent man!”
“Of course, I saw it.”
Step.
I approached Cedric.
“But instead of ‘innocent,’ I think the correct term would be ‘suspect.’”
As I spoke, I suddenly grabbed Cedric’s hand. The knights immediately drew their swords, ready to protect me.
Surrounded by knights in an instant, Cedric’s face hardened as he protested.
“Your Majesty the Empress, calling me a suspect without evidence is a reckless statement that could lead to diplomatic issues.”
“What a shame. Since you were my former fiancé, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt by calling you a suspect.”
I lifted his unarmed hand. It was a firm, ordinary man’s hand, though now marred with scratches.
“Oh well.”
I smiled. Then, in full view of everyone, I lightly pressed my lips to Cedric’s hand.
A hand that reeked of Alsetamine.
“Then I’ll just call you the culprit.”
The same poison from the arrow entered my body. As the antidote activated, I coughed up a lump of blood.
“Ughh.”
Hot blood slowly trickled down my lips.
The knights gasped, and the surrounding nobles screamed.
“Y-Your Majesty the Empress!”
“The detoxifying herbs are reacting, which means his hand was indeed coated with poison. Arrest him immediately.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The knight commander clenched his teeth and signaled with his eyes. The imperial knights instantly swarmed Cedric and restrained him.
“T-this is ridiculous! Y-you’re misunderstanding! I can explain!”
What kind of ordinary person goes around with poison on their hands?
I gave him a pitying look.
“Sure, go ahead. Explain who your accomplice is. Who shot that poisoned arrow while I was with you?”
There was no way he had done this alone.
It was clear—Cedric had lured the chimera here to turn the hunting grounds into chaos and provoke Xian, who was sensitive to blood.
The arrow hadn’t missed by accident. It had been deliberately aimed wrong.
Then he had lied to me, claiming Xian had tried to kill him—probably to separate me from Xian, who was already on the verge of madness.
And he had meant to kill me with that poisoned arrow. But it had only grazed me, and I didn’t die from the poison.
On top of that, I even managed to stop Xian’s rampage.
‘If I had died, it would have been the perfect situation for him to claim Xian had killed me.’
And there was an even worse possibility.
‘If the soul-binding ritual between Xian and me had activated…’
Already provoked by both Cedric’s and his own blood, Xian might have lost all control if I had died.
I wasn’t sure if Cedric knew about that part, though.
‘I need to figure out exactly how Xian reacts to blood.’
Considering what he had told me about his coronation and the fact that he didn’t enjoy war, I didn’t believe he took pleasure in blood or carnage.
But today, it was clear that under certain conditions, he reacted to blood—whether his own or someone else’s—as if possessed.
‘I can’t allow this. I worked so hard to raise him—no way am I letting people call him a tyrant again!’
I would find out the truth and correct it so this never happened again.
Just as I was burning with determination, like a pet owner determined to train their troublesome beast—
Cedric, now tied up like a trussed fish, wasn’t confessing but was instead shouting in panic.
“I-I don’t know anything about a poisoned arrow! What was on my hand was a legal stimulant used in Silvester—”
Ugh, annoying.
“Take him away.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“We obey your command!”
I shut down Cedric’s desperate rambling.
The imperial knights tightly bound him and tossed him onto a horse like a sack of goods. Judging by the situation, he was headed straight for the underground prison.
Bwoooo—
The hunting competition was officially ended with the sound of a horn. The knights began organizing the murmuring nobles.
“Your Majesty the Empress, you must return to the palace at once. We need to treat both Your Majesties and launch a full investigation!”
“Understood. Once His Majesty wakes up…”
Just as I was sighing in relief, thinking the major crisis was over—my vision blurred.
“Ah.”
“Your Majesty the Empress?!”
Hmm. I must have absorbed too much poison. And after all that horseback riding, my body just couldn’t take it.
“Stay with us!”
“Take… care of…”
Take good care of my body.
I mumbled as I lost consciousness. I barely sensed myself being moved into the carriage where Xian lay.
“C-Commander! I heard Her Majesty the Empress is pregnant?!”
“What?! If that’s true, this is a national emergency! We must prepare for wartime-level security!”
…No, that’s not it, guys.
I weakly protested with my blurry vision, but the carriage door had already shut, and we were speeding back to the capital.
‘Seriously, that’s not it.’
Still, at least the worst was over.
An irresistible drowsiness took over.
Through the window, I saw Cedric, trussed up and gagged, being dragged away.
‘Serves you right.’
I had almost been played for a fool.
I turned my gaze toward Xian, who was lying across from me, and sighed in relief as my eyes closed.
‘He’s my husband. No way I’d let anything happen to him.’
But wow, that nose is really well-sculpted.
My thoughts drifted aimlessly in my hazy state. Just as I was about to fall asleep, Xian stirred and opened his eyes.
Now he wakes up after I’ve handled everything.
‘Like a troublesome black panther.’
I found it slightly annoying, but seeing his golden eyes back to normal reassured me.
“You…!”
Xian’s face hardened as he saw my bloodied form smiling at him.
“You… Leah.”
Yes, that’s right. My name.
My body went limp. I felt his strong, burning grip on me as I completely lost consciousness.
*****
Boom!
The Empress’s Palace was thrown into chaos. The Empress, who had left on her own two feet, had returned covered in blood, cradled in someone’s arms.
“Start the treatment immediately.”
The summoned medical staff felt a chill run down their spines. The Emperor, who had carried the unconscious Empress back, looked as if he had just returned from the battlefield.
“Y-yes, we will do our best!”
“Your Majesty, I heard you lost consciousness at the hunting grounds. You should undergo an examination as well…”
“Shut up and take care of the Empress. If you waste time worrying about anything else, I will personally take your head.”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty!”
The royal physicians had only spoken out of concern, yet they had nearly met their end. With cold sweat running down their backs, they hastily began treating the unconscious Empress.
‘Damn it.’
Why? How had things escalated to this point?
Xian, stepping back anxiously as he bit his lip, caught sight of a familiar face—a fair-looking blonde.
It was the Empress’s personal apothecary, someone Leah had personally selected from the imperial harem.
“You. The Empress took detoxifying medicine, correct? Has the poison from the hunting grounds been neutralized?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The poison Her Majesty was exposed to has already been neutralized. The sudden intake merely shocked her nervous system. With sufficient rest, she will regain consciousness.”
Fortunately, the apothecary’s answer was reassuring. Xian roughly released his grip on the man’s collar.
“The poison from the Crown Prince’s arrow—compare its composition.”
“It’s an exact match. Upon examining the recovered arrowheads, they were determined to be identical.”
Xian clenched his teeth.
The moment he heard that Cedric had once been Leah’s fiancé, it had left a foul taste in his mouth. And now that man had dared to lay a hand on his Empress?
“Make sure not a single strand of her hair is harmed.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The apothecary bowed respectfully before approaching the Empress’s bed to assist the physicians in her treatment.
Xian watched for a moment. Then, slowly turning his head, he walked out of the room, his fists clenched so tightly it felt as if his bones would shatter.
‘Bastard.’
His memory was frustratingly blank after he had been grazed by the arrow.
The fact that his delicate Empress had stopped him from losing control, uncovered the Crown Prince’s scheme, and only then had he finally regained consciousness—it was maddeningly pathetic.
‘I won’t let this go.’
He would end this situation as quickly as possible.
Radiating a murderous aura that even his guards feared, Xian made his way to the underground prison.
Chimera, poison—whoever was involved in this incident would not be left to live peacefully.
Most of all—
Thud—
“Urgh!”
“Talk. What was your goal?”
He refused to let Leah wake up to this wretched mess.
