“Po-poison?”
The doctors, who came running after seeing the blood, exchanged surprised glances at Walter’s words and conveyed their opinions through eye contact.
『 If it wasn’t poison, there would be no reason for this healthy-looking Little Duke to suddenly vomit blood.』
『 But all the participants in the tournament ate the same food and drank the same water, and the other participants were fine. That means—』
If the Little Duke’s unusual symptoms were truly due to poison, it meant that someone had taken the risk of targeting Walter Isaac Lexion.
『 If someone were to poison the Little Duke in a swordsmanship tournament where participants use real swords, it could be able to inflict fatal wounds by disguising it as an accident.』
There was only one family that would kill Lexion’s heir whenever the opportunity arose: Count Gerturk’s family.
Moreover, in the current situation, denying the possibility of poisoning would mean disregarding the Little Duke’s opinion.
If Gerturk complained of injustice, they would have to listen to their story, but for now, they had no choice but to cooperate with a polite attitude in response to the doubts expressed by the Little Duke.
“Since you coughed up blood, there is a high possibility of poisoning.”
“For now, please get a medical examination. I will immediately inform the knights to investigate the participants’ waiting room.”
When the doctors and knights responded as expected, Walter replied calmly.
“Since I arrived at the arena, my condition hasn’t been right from the moment I drank water, so I request an investigation into whether the food I received was poisoned. I will receive a medical examination from the family’s doctor later, so be aware of that.”
“Yes, we will do that.”
“Attempting to poison at a tournament hosted by His Majesty will be severely punished. Don’t worry; we’ll definitely take care of it.”
“I appreciate you saying that.”
Walter wiped his mouth again and adjusted his disheveled clothes. Since his condition didn’t worsen after the hemoptysis, he had to go and calm down Edith, who must be startled.
T/N: Hemoptysis is the medical term for coughing up blood.
Suddenly, Cassius came up to him hurriedly.
“Little Duke. Are you alright?”
“Why all the fuss again?”
“But…”
Cassius, who witnessed him coughing blood, had no trace of playfulness left on his face. This was because he knew that Walter’s hemoptysis was not caused by poison.
“Anyway, if I want to reach the awakening, I inevitably won’t be able to stop myself from bleeding at least once, so I thought I’d take advantage of that.”
When Walter said this after explaining his physical condition, Cassius almost grabbed him by the collar, forgetting that Walter was the Little Duke.
Make use of it? Even though there’s a chance something might go wrong with his body.
However, Walter knew that to share his magic power with his unborn child, he would have no choice but to cough up blood in front of Edith. At the same time, he hoped she wouldn’t be aware of his condition.
That’s why he had brought a small glass bottle with him, containing a diluted version of the poison used by Gerturk’s assassins he had captured before.
“Cassius. Did you place the glass bottle properly?”
“Yes, yes. I did a good job placing it as I pretended to bring a towel to you earlier.”
Cassius unconsciously mocked Walter, who didn’t realize how worried he was and only asked about the operation.
『 I wish he would think about his own body a bit, but he keeps focusing on the lady and the child.』
Of course, if he pretended that his hemoptysis was caused by Gerturk’s poison, Edith wouldn’t even think that anything was wrong with his magical powers, and he could send knights to pressure Gerturk as well.
Walter’s strategies were more like stabbing annoying individuals if he saw an opening and taking advantage of it at the same time.
Soon, the knights would find something on the floor of the locker room where Aizen was staying and arrest him.
All Lexion had to do was quietly observe the situation and, when the time was right, reveal that the poison used by the Gerturk assassins captured before was the same as the poison found in his meal.
Now that Lexion has a reason to put pressure on Gerturk, are there any other traps like this?
“It’s all right as long as you place it well.”
“It’s not about that… I heard Aizen really poisoned the water.”
“I was using defensive magic the whole time just in case something like that happened, so it’s fine. Did you hand over the water I was drinking to the vassals?”
Cassius’s expression became increasingly sullen due to his student not showing any care for his own well-being.
“Ugh, sure. I moistened a handkerchief with that water and handed it over to Lexion’s vassals. If it’s a special poison, they’ll find out.”
“Thank you.”
“Yes, yes. You’re welc… What?”
Cassius, who reflexively responded with sarcasm, paused when he realized what he had heard.
He knew that Walter wasn’t someone to express gratitude easily, but the two words he had just said carried more weight and were more polite than usual.
Walter, feeling a bit awkward expressing gratitude with such weight, scratched the back of his head and briskly walked ahead.
⋙“If a student doesn’t even thank the teacher after winning a tournament, that’s immoral.”⋘
⋙“…”⋘
Cassius suddenly remembered the time when he threw a wooden sword at a skinny boy who was depressed and trapped in Viscount Fortrion’s manor.
Walter was now wielding and swinging a sword, as he had taught him. Employing the techniques they had practiced together, he skillfully deflected the attacks of his opponents.
Even if Cassius had no eyes to see, he imagined messing up Walter’s black hair and smiled.
“You worried me, and now you want to move me.”
“Why are you worrying so much? When was I ever a sloppy student?”
Cassius couldn’t argue with him. Walter was not bluffing or telling lies. As he confidently said, he was like a monster student who always brought back results three times better than expected, confidently spitting out what he promised.
“Well, it seems like you have other concerns, so I guess I can put my worries aside for a moment.”
Cassius quietly backed away. Then Walter approached Edith with long strides as if he was not at all tired.
Ever since she saw him coughing blood, she couldn’t sit still in her chair and almost stuck to the railing, only observing his complexion. Edith’s face seemed even paler though he was the one coughing blood.
Seeing her blue eyes fixed solely on him gave him an immature thought that it wasn’t so bad to be the object of worry.
The seats reserved for Lexion were closest to the arena floor. Walter carefully climbed the stairs and headed towards Edith.
The ladies, fascinated by the winner of the tournament approaching the audience, soon realized that his green eyes were fixed on someone.
Just like those men who try to bring glory to their lovers by winning a swordsmanship tournament.
And, shortly after, everyone could see who the woman was that captured his attention completely.
“Miss Edith.”
Walter called out to her with a mischievous tone in his voice. He was aware that in official places, he should address her as the Former Lady of Fortrion. Since she was married, he had to at least use the title Lady.
However, the fact that he became the Little Duke of Lexion also meant that he had no problem ignoring such trivial formalities.
The moment he called her name in front of everyone, a tingling headache surged, and it seemed like a certain scene might come to his mind. It was one afternoon when he kissed the back of a young girl’s hand and glanced up to see what kind of expression she would make when she received his kiss.
“Thanks to the handkerchief you gave me as a gift, I was able to perform well in the tournament.”
Walter recited similar words that past winners used when proposing marriage. Instead of his bloody eyes that were visible during the matches, he now had the gaze of a well-tamed, gentle beast.
When he lightly pressed his lips to the back of Edith’s hand, the surroundings became agitated.
“Is that right now…”
“Is the Little Duke proposing to Lady Fortrion?”
More than the fact that she was the wife of the late Viscount Fortrion, the fact that Lexion’s heir had chosen her stuck in people’s minds.
“Walter, are you alright?”
Edith whispered in a low voice that only he could hear. While her mind worried about him spitting out blood from his mouth, her mouth went dry because of the warm lips that touched the back of her hand.
“You can check my body later. See if I’m still fine or if I need to seek further medical attention.”
Her heart tightened as he whispered against her skin and softly nibbled on the back of her hand, reminiscent of their encounter in the library of Fortrion Manor.
Judging by the mischievous tone of the voice, not loud enough for others to hear, it didn’t seem like he was seriously injured, but a part of her felt uneasy.
As she frowned slightly, Walter gently caressed her slender wrist with his thumb.
“Rather than worrying about me, it seems you should worry a bit more about yourself.”
Only then did Edith realize that Walter had been burying his lips in the back of her hand for quite some time. By all accounts, this was not a kiss to express gratitude but rather a deep and provocative seduction.
Edith felt dizzy when people realized, because without realizing it she had revealed as if she were used to receiving his kisses on any part of her body. However, at the same time, she didn’t mind letting others know that they had a special relationship.
His action of kissing the back of her hand in a public place was no different from asking her if she was satisfied with being the lady who saved the kidnapped Little Duke.
Since Walter held her hand for the first time, Edith also wanted to step forward. But if he had run to another woman, her heart would plummet to the ground.
“What am I going to do, Walter? I can’t date another man anymore.”
Edith smiled and whispered so softly that only he could hear.
The moment Walter heard her sweet voice, his heart felt as if it had been pierced by a small arrow. Until just now, he thought that he could act slyly, but when she brought up the topic of dating for the first time, his reasoning seemed to falter.
His thinking took off surprisingly quickly. Stating that she couldn’t date other men meant she wouldn’t even marry someone else. It was nothing short of asking that he should be responsible for her, having kissed her in public.
Edith and no one else.
“…Why worry about that? There’s no one more responsible than me.”
Although the conversation between the two could not be heard, Walter’s reddened face spoke more than any explanation.
❀.°• ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ •°.❀
