Chapter 161 – I Was Hoping You’d Stop Me, Just Once

Would someone from a common household ever have the chance to be poisoned?

Evelyn mulled over the words, studying the guildmaster across from her. It occurred to her that he might have grown up in a far from ordinary family.  

As she fell silent in thought, Marcen gave a light shrug, as though brushing off something trivial.

“It was just a bit of mischief between siblings.”

“Even so, it left a scar.”

Evelyn, too, had been unable to drink tea for quite some time after the deaths of her parents.

She had only managed to overcome her own aversion because of the family she had now.

‘But poisoned as a child…’

Conflicts between siblings were hardly rare, even among the nobility. But for some reason, the thought left a faint heaviness in her chest.

Marcen gave an empty laugh and murmured as if to himself.

“Well, something like this hardly even counts as much of anything anymore.”

At his demeanor, which seemed to hold back from saying more, Evelyn only nodded quietly.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

Crack—

A faint, unnatural shift suddenly traveled up from the tips of Evelyn’s feet as she stood before the mirror. In the next instant, her balance shifted sideways, and she wobbled precariously on one leg before catching herself.  

“Ugh, what’s wrong now…?”

Frowning, she glanced down at the shoe she was standing on, now tilted at an angle. The thin heel had snapped clean in half, the broken piece lying a short distance behind her.

“Are you alright, my lady? I’ll go get another pair right away!”

The maid, who had been helping her prepare to go out, blinked in surprise before hurrying toward the dressing room.

This… this feels almost like a divine sign telling me not to go out?

Evelyn tapped the broken heel against her foot with a pout. Beside her, Larie glanced up, noticing the faint shadow that had fallen over her lady’s mood.

“My lady, are you perhaps… reluctant to go?”

At her personal maid’s question that hit a little too close to home, she nodded without hesitation.  

“You know those days, when all you want is to stay home and do nothing?”

“But, my lady, His Highness the Crown Prince sent the invitation himself.”

“Yeah, from His Highness himself.”

And that, precisely, was the problem. Because of him, she had no choice but to attend the palace gathering.

It was baffling why both she and Axion had been invited together to an event hosted by Erden? Axion had been far from pleased when the crown prince ignored his warning, and she had barely managed to stop him from sending a letter of protest to the imperial palace.

Even before the exchange had begun, unease was already gnawing at her. She let out a long sigh.

‘If it’s the Crown Prince, there’s no telling what sort of scheme he has in mind.’

The gathering was held under the pretext of fostering unity among the nobility, but she doubted that was the whole truth. A nagging thought whispered that the invitation might have been nothing more than a ploy to place her and Axion in a difficult position.

“I guess I’ll only know once I get there.”

Muttering to herself, she slipped on the fresh pair of shoes the maid had brought and steeled her resolve before heading downstairs. Before long, spotting the dark-haired figure sitting imposingly in the drawing room, Evelyn couldn’t help but feel quite taken aback.

When she entered, Viaton barely acknowledged her, his attention fixed on the chessboard as he carefully moved a piece.

“You’re here? Surprised you got ready so early for once.”

“What are you two doing? And why are you here?”

Evelyn asked, blinking in confusion. She was sure she was supposed to meet her fiancé after entering the palace.

Setting down the piece in his hand, Axion replied in his usual indifferent tone.

“It seems we’ll have to stop here for today.”  

“Yes, brother-in-law. It was a good game.”

Then, turning his gaze, the man continued, speaking to his fiancée.  

“I played a game of chess with Brother while waiting for you.”

“Chess? Out of nowhere…?”

Hmm, something’s off.

As Evelyn narrowed her eyes slightly. The two of them rarely exchanged more than a few polite words, yet here they were, sitting together like old acquaintances.

As her gaze flicked between them, suspicion prickling at the back of her mind, Viaton merely shrugged.