A Barbaric Proposal Chapter 94

※Poisoning (3)※

[Liene] "......!"

It was impossible to miss. For a split second, she saw Dieren’s eyes darting frantically. His attendant was no different.

[Liene] "What were you planning to do to me, Prince Dieren?"

[Dieren] "That... no... accusing someone without evidence... this is a grave diplomatic discourtesy, Princess."

[Liene] "I can hardly believe this. To plot such a thing, the moment Lord Tiwakan leaves the castle."

[Dieren] "That... no, I mean... There is no evidence—"

The evidence was clear. His pale face and the cold sweat pouring down his forehead told the whole story.

[Liene] "If you insist on being so stubborn, why don't you pour the remaining ink over your own hand?"

[Dieren] "What... how could you say that... I, I..."

The sweat on his brow intensified. Liene noticed a strange, sickly odor beginning to waft from the ink bottle where the liquid had been thick and dark.

Klima pulled at the hem of her dress with his other hand.

[Klima] "Step back, Your Highness. The smell is foul. Cover your nose."

Liene covered her nose with her sleeve and retreated.

Klima stepped toward Dieren. His usually gentle face turned eerily blank.

Terrified, Dieren scrambled backward.

[Dieren] "D-Don't touch me! You, what are you doing? Go and get Baiyar!"

[Attendant] "Ugh...!"

Thud!

Unable to handle the pressure, the attendant threw the door open and bolted. Klima didn't even glance in that direction as he approached Dieren. In any case, there was nowhere for a lone attendant to escape within this castle.

[Klima] "I won't kill him, Your Highness."

Klima muttered as if to himself.

Sensing that all was lost, Dieren turned to flee just as his attendant had, but before he could, Klima grabbed him firmly by the back of his neck. The large hand gripping his neck tightened.

Despite the chilling fear of the moment, Liene waited, trusting Klima’s word that he wouldn't kill the prince.

[Liene] "......?"

Then, something strange happened. Dieren began to foam at the mouth, his eyes rolling back in his head. After flailing his hands uselessly, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor.

[Liene] "Sir Renfel...?"

Liene called out to him. Klima’s empty hand began to tremble violently.

[Liene] "What is wrong? Sir Renfel?"

Klima rubbed his mouth with his shaking hand and stumbled backward.

[Klima] "D-Don't come near... y-you mustn't touch..."

Thud!

Klima collapsed as well. The poison on his hand had taken its toll.

[Liene] "This can't be!"

Liene rushed toward the door to call for help. Just as she flung it open, someone spoke as if they had been waiting for her.

[Baiyar] "Your Highness? Has something happened?"

[Liene] "......"

In an instant, her body went cold as if she had been doused in ice water.

It was the messenger from the Kingdom of Sharka—the man Klima had repeatedly insisted was strange.

---

There was no reason to panic. Showing fear would only give him the upper hand. She had to act as if she didn't know who he truly was.

Liene knew that a certain number of Tiwakan men were always stationed within the castle. Although the guards on the third floor of the main palace were inexplicably absent, she would surely find Tiwakan warriors if she could reach the entrance of the North Tower.

Her priority was to distance herself from this man.

[Liene] "Someone has collapsed. Go and fetch a doctor. You’ll find the guards at the North Tower. Tell them to bring a physician to this room immediately."

[Baiyar] "I am a physician."

The messenger from Sharka stepped boldly into the room.

For a second, Liene felt a sense of defeat, but she quickly steadied her heart.

[Liene] "I see. That is fortunate. Then, attend to those two. I will go and find someone to help you."

[Baiyar] "Your Highness."

Slam!

Before she could move, the messenger slammed the door shut. His movements were unnervingly fast. The way he moved was completely different from his outward appearance—it reminded her of Klima.

[Baiyar] "Do not think of running. The moment you flee to save your own life, that loyal subordinate of yours will lose his."

He spoke as if he were reading her mind. Somehow, she knew his name. It was the name Dieren had screamed earlier.

[Liene] "......Is your name Baiyar?"

He must have been the one pulling Dieren’s strings. If so, his identity as a messenger from Sharka was not to be trusted.

[Baiyar] "Quick-witted, I see. Or perhaps His Highness was simply careless with his tongue."

[Liene] "Are you a man of the Grand Duchy of Alito, not Sharka? Did Prince Vasheyd truly die?"

[Baiyar] "Your efforts to stall for time are admirable, but it will only hasten that man’s death."

[Liene] "What do you want from me?"

[Baiyar] "I have the antidote. If you follow me quietly, I will give it to you."

Nonsense.

How long would it take for someone else to arrive? Surely not long.

She had heard the castle’s security was airtight. Even if they couldn't stop an uninvited guest disguised as a foreign visitor, there was no way he could take her out of the castle safely.

Liene took a deep breath, focusing her thoughts.

Seeing Dieren collapsed, Baiyar didn't seem particularly flustered. He didn't rush to administer an antidote. Perhaps the poison in the ink was not the type to kill a person so easily.

[Liene] "Who is the one commanding you?"

[Baiyar] "If you do not want the antidote, I shall have to take you by force."

Baiyar approached with silent steps.

Liene twisted her body with all her might and bolted into the bathroom.

[Baiyar] "Fools have no fear."

Baiyar muttered as he followed her.

Click!

The moment she entered the bathroom, she slipped out through the opposite door. Instead of locking herself in her bedroom, she entered the King’s Gallery.

Pressing her back against the wall, she waited until she was certain Baiyar had entered the bathroom, then she ran back into her chambers with everything she had.

Thump!

She pushed the door open with her shoulder and burst out of the bedroom, nearly crying with relief when she spotted the guards approaching.

[Guards] "Princess! Why are you out here?"

[Liene] "Inside...! A man claiming to be a messenger from Sharka... huff... he used poison. You must catch him and get the antidote. Sir Renfel has collapsed."

[Guards] "What?"

The guards’ eyes widened in shock. Liene shouted at them.

[Liene] "Hurry! There’s no time to stand there in surprise!"

[Guards] "Ah, yes! Understood!"

Guards usually moved in pairs. Knowing there was an intruder, leaving Liene alone was out of the question.

[Guards] "Escort the Princess to another room. And sound the intruder alarm."

One guard entered the chambers while the other moved to relocate Liene.

---

Gong, Gong—

The bell of the North Tower rang out fiercely. It was the second time since Klima had infiltrated as a messenger for the Kleinfelters.

The entire Nauk Castle, which had been preparing for sleep, was now wide awake. The castle was illuminated by torches as the guards and Tiwakan quickly divided their forces to search the grounds.

The guard who had pursued Baiyar alone was found dead. The wounds on the body revealed that Baiyar was an experienced assassin.

The alert level was raised even higher. The attendant who had fled earlier was soon captured and locked in a room.

As for Dieren and Klima, who lay collapsed from the poison, they were kept where they were as they waited for a physician. Without knowing the nature of the poison, it was too dangerous to move or touch them.

It was a long, agonizingly slow night.

[Flambard] "Why is it taking so long to find one person! And why are these physicians so slow to arrive!"

Madam Flambard paced restlessly, her voice raised in frustration. She had been nursing Madam Henton when she heard that more people had fallen ill and had rushed to the scene.

There wasn't much she could do, but she couldn't let Liene tend to the patients alone. Fortunately, Madam Henton was asleep and did not know of the tragedy that had befallen her son.

[Flambard] "If she finds out her son has collapsed like this, imagine the pain she will feel..."

Listening to her, it seemed the two women had become quite close in the short time they had spent together.

[Liene] "They will find him soon. It hasn't even been an hour. Let’s wait just a little longer."

[Flambard] "Oh, honestly."

Madam Flambard stopped her pacing and approached Liene.

[Flambard] "I don't know why this night feels so suspicious. Why is there no word from the Tiwakan?"

[Liene] "I was wondering the same."

The unease refused to subside. Liene felt a growing dread that Klima’s collapse wasn't the end of it.

[Liene] "I wish they would return soon..."

It was just as Liene uttered those words to herself.

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door from outside.

[Linderoy] "Your Highness. May I enter? I have a message for you."

It was the Captain of the guards.

[Liene] "Ah, it’s Sir Linderoy. Stay here, Madam. I’ll go."

Liene hurried to open the door.

[Liene] "Did you catch the intruder? What about the antidote?"

[Linderoy] "That is... not yet, Your Highness. My apologies."

The Captain was alone.

There were two groups of outsiders currently in the castle: the mysterious men who brought Weroz, and Dieren’s party. The group that had secretly left their quarters was caught wandering the rear garden smoking tobacco, so they had been returned to their rooms. However, they still needed to be monitored.

Physicians had to be brought in, and the entire castle had to be searched top to bottom to find the one who used the poison. Every guard was moving busily, but they were short-staffed.

[Liene] "Then who is the message from?"

[Linderoy] "Ah, well, the Guard Commander has regained consciousness!"

[Liene] "Sir Weroz is awake? Oh, that is wonderful news."

In this long night, it was the only piece of news that brought her any relief. However, the Captain’s expression was not bright.

[Linderoy] "But the Commander said he might not last much longer. He insisted that I bring the Princess to him immediately, as he has something important to tell you."

[Liene] "Oh, no..."

Her heart tightened. Liene nodded, her face pale.

[Liene] "Lead the way. Madam, I will be with Sir Weroz for a moment."

The Madam also looked somber, but she didn't offer to go along.

[Flambard] "Understood, Your Highness."

Liene hurriedly followed the Captain.

She had so much to tell Weroz, and much she wanted to hear from him.

She thought Weroz would be overjoyed to learn that the Treaty of Risebury, which had shackled the royal family, had lost its power and that the Kleinfelters were being erased from this land.

---

[Liene] "Sir Weroz......"

Weroz was alone in the guard barracks. The barracks were empty, save for two guards watching the strangers in the adjacent room.

[Weroz] "Your Highness."

As Liene arrived, Weroz gestured for the Captain to leave the room. As soon as the door closed, he sat up in his bed.

[Liene] "Sir! Stay as you are. There is no need for formalities."

She tried to stop him. But Weroz wasn't trying to offer a greeting. After sitting up fully, he reached out and knocked firmly on the wall behind the head of his bed.

[Liene] "Sir Weroz...?"

A sense of discord washed over her. Weroz did not look like a dying man at all. There seemed to be no reason for him to have been brought in on a stretcher if he could move like this.

[Liene] "You... you aren't injured."

The bandages wrapped around his body had been a deception.

[Liene] "Did you lie to me?"

[Weroz] "......I had no choice if I wanted to escape their eyes."

He had deceived her. For what possible reason?

[Liene] "By 'their eyes,' do you mean Tiwakan? Tiwakan have been given a new name: the Arsak Guardian Knights."

[Weroz] "A name is just a name, Your Highness."

[Liene] "You are wrong. Sir Weroz, much has happened while you were away from Nauk. Tiwakan are not Nauk’s enemies. Lord Tiwakan is now Nauk’s—"

[Weroz] "I know who he is."

He cut her off, his face set in a terrifyingly stern expression.

[Weroz] "The last bloodline of the Gainers. And even now, a curse flows through that blood."

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