Chapter 13

“Be patient.”

Deborah’s voice was sweeter than usual.

Then, the sound of flesh clinging and squeaking could be heard tangled. The scene of their immoral secret meeting was very explicit and provocative.

That young man’s body was Deborah’s toy. Every time she was stressed, she would knead, squeeze, and be heated up with him.

‘I knew about her committing an affair from reading the original story, but…’

I didn’t know who she was hanging out with.

‘That person must be Marquis Kalen!’

Wasn’t he the one who regularly had meetings with Deborah, saying that it was as part of the Nine Nobles? I remembered him as a man who was used to receiving the words ‘Shut your mouth, Marquis Kalen’ whenever he offered Deborah an opinion.

I didn’t know the two of them had a relationship like this… I really couldn’t even imagine it.

At that moment, Marquis Kalen bit his trembling lips and exhaled.

“Madam, I love you.”

Deborah, mercilessly, did not respond to the confession.

‘If the nobles knew about this, they wouldn’t believe Deborah’s words that frame me to be promiscuous.’

Deborah’s words would be less credible. If they knew that she had such a moral flaw, the same kind of flaw she was trying to paint me with.

I needed to think a little more deeply about this.

I turned away from the man and woman who were covered with lust and left the garden.

In the distance, the faint sound of a young man groaning and moaning could be heard.

* * *

The next day, after waking up early in the morning, I ate mushroom soup and soft bread.

Then early on, I started thinking about Deborah.

Just by witnessing the secret meeting in the flower garden yesterday, could I stop Deborah from talking in the social world?

Of course, it would be a fatal scandal for Deborah. Only if the nobles knew about it. Deborah’s authority in the social world would be greatly diminished, so for the time being, Rixus and I would suffer less.

But there was one problem.

I couldn’t simply go forward and inform them.

It was degrading for the newly appointed crown princess to compete with provocative gossip. If I made a mistake, I might lose my image forever in the social world.

‘If I can’t step out…’

It would be best to let someone else do it… Who would be a good choice?

‘It would be better if the person came forward to gain an advantage.’

For example, someone who could achieve his or her goal through the downfall of Deborah. Or one that had some grudges against Deborah… 

If that was the case, that person would be more active than anyone else.

I thought carefully and raised the corners of my lips slightly.

There was a face that came to mind properly.

‘Hmm, I just thought of the right person.’

Having concluded, I drank the last sip of milk and got up from my seat with my eyes lit with interest.

Rather than telling the right person openly, it was better to pretend it was a coincidence.

So I had to think of a way.

I got out of the bedroom and called in a maid to dress up. As a matter of fact, Rixus said he had a foreigner to introduce this morning.

Seryl tried to dress me up elaborately, saying, ‘Oh, it’s Your Majesty’s first diplomatic debut!’ But I managed to calm her down and escape from looking like a peacock.

Standing in front of the door of the reception room I was about to enter was a man who was just as tall and white as the door.

“Rixus.”

As our eyes met, his lips moved upward.

“Berylia.”

The voice calling me was sweet like the syrup from breakfast.

The first thing that caught my attention was Rixus’ handsome face, followed by the bouquet in his hand.

The combination of white, pure, and rich peony, pale purple bell-shaped campanula, and small and cute purple peacock grass was elegant and dreamy.

It was a beautiful and fresh bouquet.

“Queen, did you sleep well?”

“……I slept well.”

The bouquet’s combination was very pretty. It seemed that the servant who put it together was quite sensible.

“Flowers would not be a burden.”

Rixus smiled sweetly and held out the bouquet of flowers.

A husband who asked in the morning if I slept well and gave me flowers… He was the romantic and caring husband that I had dreamed of at least once.

The only problem was that the husband was Rixus.

“No, that flower is also burdensome.”

The flowers were pretty, and so I put my hands behind my back. Because I was afraid that I would receive it without realizing it.

“So there’s no need to harass the servants in the morning to pick flowers, Rixus.”

When I squint one eye and gave him a hard time, he lowered his head close to my face and said,

“This is what I picked myself, this morning.”

He gently waved the bouquet.

The refreshing smell of dawn and the sweet, fresh scent of flowers enveloped me in a fascinating way.

‘Directly…?’

My gaze fell on his thick knuckles.

A fresh red scratch particularly stood out. It must have been a wound that occurred early in the morning. It was obvious that he was injured while picking flowers for me directly from the garden… 

My mind became weak.

“Then there’s nothing I can do.”

While I was thinking so, Rixus was about to give up and throw away the bouquet.

“!”

Without realizing it, I quickly grabbed the bouquet and brought it back.

I was a little, no, very embarrassed because I rejected it earlier, yet was now taking it almost as if I was stealing it. So I blushed faintly and deliberately spoke in a cynical tone.

“I receive the flowers because I feel sorry that they will be thrown away.”

Not because of you, but because of the flowers.

Looking down at me, who was emphasizing hard, Rixus’ eyes were curved. He smiled slowly, very slowly, it stretched through his skin.

‘Why are you smiling so excitedly…?’

Had I seen it without knowing anything, I would have fallen in love with him.

I was glad I knew how cruel and scary that man really was.

Hence, I was very happy.

He spoke up as I was brainwashing myself.

“Yes. I’ll thank you for taking the flowers, my queen.”

“……”

I stood at the door without answering. My heart was pounding strangely.

* * *

Seeing the foreigners waiting for us in the waiting room, I was a little surprised.

There was a man who I had already met.

Baron Tevelon from the Western Continent, with light blue hair and innocent eyes.

He was the man I met while having tea with my maids.

“Haha, Your Majesty the Queen! I am seeing you again.”

“Do you know each other?”

Baron Tevelon replied with a smile to Rixus’ question.

“I already met her last morning and greeted her .”

Rixus nodded slightly and skipped the introductions.

We sat down and started talking.

Baron Tevelon ran the Top of the island of Grinarita in the Western Continent and he said he wanted to supply spices to Aktoum.

‘It’s strange, why is there a déjà vu?’

For some reason, this felt like something I had experienced before. This moment when he comes to Aktoum to sell spices.

“The first thing I planned when I went to Grinarita was this spice trade.”

Baron Tevelon held up a sample of spices as he continued, 

“A savory one and a fragrant one. There are two types. If you use them in Aktoum’s cuisine, it will revolutionize food.”

Was it because Baron Tevelon was a businessman? That was a lot of exaggeration… What sort of spice could cause a revolution in food?

I thought about it calmly and threw out the following.

“Akhtum nobles tend to make a distinction between spices.”[TL/N: ‘가리다’ can mean the above (make a distinction), or informally, it can mean ‘be fussy/picky’. I went with the former since it wouldn’t make sense for Berylia to speak informally here.]

“If you don’t like it, I’ll step back cleanly. But first, try the spices brewed with tea leaves.”

“Does that mean you’re confident in its scent?”

“I’m confident.”

Before I knew it, I was leading the trade.

I stared into Baron Tevelon’s eyes and gave the order.

“Bring it.”

Then the door to the reception room clicked open, and attendants entered with teapot sets.

Meanwhile, Baron Tevelon handed over two copies of the contract to Rixus and I, respectively. I slowly looked at the contract.

It was a normal contract. Neither side would suffer a loss, and neither side would gain a great deal.

There were no toxic provisions.

But why?

In front of this non-special contract, I was showing meticulousness to the point that I felt like I was being excessive. It was not enough to check every clause, I even checked down to the signature line.

Below the signature line, the full name of Baron Tevelon was written.

‘Baron Hermish Tablon?’

Hermish… Tevelon, Hermish? In an instant, realization struck as if lightning had pierced my entire body.

I finally realized. The reason why I felt familiarity with this innocent-eyed man. Even the reason why this place felt like déjà vu!

‘Hermish… He’s the man who tried to poison Rixus in the original story.’

In the original work, he was simply referred to as ‘Hermish’, so I didn’t know he was the same person as Baron Tevelon.

Poisoning time… It was when Hermish Tevelon met Rixus for the spice trade.

Which was right now.

‘Today, he is trying to poison him here.’

I stared at Hermish, and I felt my heart sinking coldly.

His hand was trembling slightly as he quietly brewed the tea leaves. It was only now that I noticed his lowered eyelashes looked somewhat uncertain.

My eyes quickly skimmed through the tea set.

Only one teacup was shining finely in silver.

However, when the brewed tea was poured into the teacup, the silver was washed away and melted without a trace.

“!”

It’s nightleaf bird poison.

When I lived in a swamp infested with poison, it was the poison I was tired of seeing.

Uniquely, it exhibits scentless and tasteless properties when dissolved in water.

However, it was extremely poisonous. If you ingested even a little, you would struggle with the pain of your intestines tearing apart, then die instantly.

“Try it, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Hermish handed the cup to Rixus himself.

The intensely joyful eyes of the mean man who recommended extreme poison were reflected in the sparkling tea water.

Was that the same person who had droopy innocent eyes just a while ago? I was shocked to see a completely different expression than before.

I opened my mouth quickly.

“Rixus, how about trying other spices first?”

I felt Hermish flinching. I casually added.

“I think that’s the right order because tea is originally consumed during dessert.”

“But Your Majesty, His Highness have already tasted everything else.”

“Okay……?”

The innocent eyes under the soft sky blue hair confronted me with all their might. With trembling eyes, he said,

“Yes, the other things have already been passed on through the servants, and the Crown Prince has confirmed their commercial value.”

Hermish repeatedly held the teacup out towards Rixus.

“……”

The poison swirled right in front of Rixus’ nose.

Ame’s note: A few more chapters till we get a little bit of the first half of the summary (aka, their meeting as kids)!