Chapter 42
When I lost consciousness and woke up again, it was morning. Just yesterday, my body had been burning hot and my head had been spinning.
But when I woke up, I felt so perfectly fine it was almost absurd. For a nameless supporting character, my recovery speed was practically protagonist-level.
‘Anyone who saw me would think I’d just taken a nap.’
If only I really had just slept and woken up…
Then why do I remember everything from yesterday?!
What happened at the banquet replayed vividly in my mind. Snapping at Bastian and calling him foul-tempered, and to Daniel… to Daniel…
‘What do I do?!’
I screamed inwardly. Not being able to control your own mind was this terrifying. Clara was far weaker to her impulses than I’d thought. This must have been Clara’s instinct.
‘Ahh… why did I have to kiss his lips…!’
I must have sighed dozens of times already. Then, without realizing it, a sob slipped out.
“Hic…”
Sara was at the foot of the bed. Hearing the sound, she jumped to her feet.
“Princess!”
“Sara…”
She must have been extremely worried—her face looked terrible. Soon after, Mia and Emily, who had been doing their own tasks in the room, rushed over.
“Princess, are you all right?”
“Waaah, Princesseess!”
Sara placed her hand on my forehead to check my temperature. All the maids were fussing over me. Emily cried out through tears.
“I’ll fetch His Highness at once! Please wait just a moment!”
“No… don’t.”
“…What?”
Emily, who had been about to run out, froze. I spoke in a heavy voice.
“…Just tell him I died.”
From embarrassment.
Ugh, yesterday’s events came back again. What am I supposed to do?
As I lamented with a tear-stained face, the door opened. It was Bastian. He came in with the royal physician and widened his eyes.
“Clara!”
“Your Highness…”
If I had simply been sick with a fever, it could’ve been a touching reunion. But the disgraceful behavior I’d shown in front of him replayed clearly in my head.
I couldn’t exactly throw Bastian out either. I greeted him with a pitiful expression.
“You’re here…?”
After sending Bastian out under the excuse of getting ready, I hurriedly washed my face with the water Mia brought me. Then I properly received him.
“Congratulations!”
The royal physician declared that I was completely recovered. He said my recovery was astonishingly fast and that he would prepare some medicine to help restore my stamina, then left.
That left Bastian and me alone.
“The prince…?”
I wasn’t ready to face Bastian, but this didn’t seem like a situation where that mattered.
Daniel tried to poison me with toxic herbs?
When Bastian had first entered earlier, I’d been flustered and unsure what to do. But now, I looked at him and spoke firmly.
“That’s impossible. There’s no way the prince would do such a thing.”
“The maid confessed yesterday. She said it was the prince.”
“No.”
I rejected it without a second thought. I knew the original story.
Daniel secretly plotting for months to harm someone? Ridiculous.
If anything, the crown prince would make more sense.
In the original story, the one desperate to devour Daniel was the crown prince. The assassin before, and this poisoning—both made far more sense if they were the crown prince’s doing.
‘The crown prince is trying to put Daniel in danger!’
I told Bastian what I thought.
“In my opinion, it’s probably Crown Prince Matthias. This isn’t something Prince Daniel would do.”
“You…”
As soon as I insisted on Daniel’s innocence, Bastian furrowed his brows.
“Don’t try to protect the prince. Don’t let yourself be fooled by that pretty exterior!”
He suddenly raised his voice, as if grabbing someone who’d fallen into a cult.
“What? Fooled…?”
I looked at him awkwardly. Well, by now Bastian must know. I’d blatantly said I liked Daniel’s looks.
Yesterday’s me… why were you like that?
Still, even if I died of embarrassment, I had to say what needed to be said. I shook my head as calmly as possible.
“That’s not it. Politically speaking, the crown prince is an opposing force to Prince Daniel, isn’t he?”
“…That’s true.”
Bastian nodded with a sullen face.
“If the crown prince is the type to use any means necessary to eliminate his political enemies, then it’s not unreasonable to think he caused this. Think about it. Every time I was in danger, Prince Daniel stepped forward to save me.”
The crown prince exiled Daniel to the borderlands to protect his position. And Bastian eliminated his brothers to protect the throne. A madman recognizes another madman.
Soon, Bastian conceded.
“We can’t ignore the possibility that the crown prince did it.”
“Right? Then where is Prince Daniel?”
“In prison.”
The image of Daniel—who had done nothing wrong—locked in prison without even knowing why flashed in my mind. Poor Daniel.
I suddenly grabbed Bastian’s hand resting atop mine. Carefully, I asked:
“Brother… could you please release the prince…?”
“Release him?”
Bastian frowned. Even after saying it might be the crown prince’s doing, he still clearly disliked Daniel.
“Yes. I’m completely better now… and the prince isn’t the one at fault. He’s such a just and kind person.”
Bastian’s expression didn’t improve. If anything, he looked even more irritated.
Was that not it?
Did I say something wrong?
But even now, I was worried about Daniel in prison, afraid he might be suffering.
‘I need to persuade him quickly.’
Suddenly, I remembered how Bastian had reacted yesterday. Looking at his annoyed face, an idea that seemed quite plausible came to mind.
It would probably be the fastest and most effective way.
Should I just close my eyes and do it once?
No… it’s still difficult…
As I hesitated and stared at him, Bastian tilted his head.
“What are you thinking right now?”
Just as he finished speaking, I leaned in and kissed his cheek.
“!!”
Bastian made a strange sound. His face instantly turned bright red. Like he’d been slapped, he covered his cheek with one hand and stared at me.
Wow… this is so embarrassing…!
My face burned as well. Fidgeting, I grabbed his hand again.
“Please, brother…”
I looked up at him with desperate eyes.
“Please… okay?”
Apparently, doing something I shouldn’t have done to my brother was worth it. Bastian ultimately granted my request.
That afternoon, Daniel came to my bedroom with Bastian.
“Princess…!”
Daniel’s face instantly lit up when he saw me.
Was yesterday’s incident really nothing to him?
As if that were the case, Daniel walked quickly toward me, then dropped to his knees in front of me.
“Prince?!”
Why suddenly kneel? I cried out in surprise, but he took my hand and pressed it to his forehead, closing his eyes.
“That Your Highness is safe…”
Daniel’s voice was filled with emotion.
“That you are safe—it is truly a relief.”
He let out a small sigh with his eyes still closed.
Unlike when I had swallowed the poison, my heart began to pound again.
As I lowered my hand, Daniel slowly opened his eyes. Deep blue eyes, so intense they felt like they might pull me in, turned toward me.
“I prayed that Your Highness would open your eyes safely. I was so worried—what if you never woke up…”
His face filled with joy.
“Thank you so much for coming back, Princess!”
The moment I saw his radiant smile, my heart dropped with a thud.
‘This is why Clara falls for him…!’
It was truly terrifying power. I ended up clutching my chest with a groan.
Only after Bastian pulled Daniel away, grumbling about him being crazy, were we able to talk in a somewhat calmer state.
Though… was this really calm?
“What about the fever? And the poison?”
Daniel fired questions rapidly. I answered in a small voice.
“The fever’s completely gone… I don’t hurt anymore.”
Yesterday’s memories resurfaced vividly. Maybe it would’ve been better if I’d never woken up. With a gloomy heart, I offered Daniel a belated apology.
“Prince… about yesterday… I absolutely didn’t mean to do that…”
‘I’m truly sorry for unintentionally sexually harassing you!’
I was about to say that, but Daniel shook his head.
“I understand. You were poisoned, weren’t you?”
“Well… yes.”
Poisoned, so instinct overrode reason.
After a brief silence, I looked at him and asked:
“Then… you’ll forget what happened yesterday? Yesterday, I wasn’t in my right mind because of the poison.”
I planned to let it all pass as something done while poisoned. Though grabbing my chest earlier bothered me a bit.
At that, Daniel abruptly changed his stance.
“What happened between us yesterday? I don’t remember anything at all.”
Isn’t that going too far?!
He sounded genuinely fearful, like he was asking what could possibly have happened. Still, it was a relief that he wanted to bury it all.
‘This Daniel tried to poison me?’
Impossible. I turned to Bastian. Bastian looked at Daniel with an expression that clearly said, What are you playing at?
‘The prince isn’t a bad person.’
With that meaning, I subtly shook my head.
Daniel quickly noticed the exchanged glances and spoke with a downcast expression.
“I swear I have nothing to do with that maid, but I won’t say I bear no responsibility. This happened because of me.”
He, too, seemed to suspect the crown prince. And he didn’t stop at acknowledging fault—he spoke with resolute eyes.
“I will pay for this. What must I do for Your Highness to feel at ease? Just say the word. Even if you command me like a servant, I will spend my entire life atoning to you.”
I was horrified.
“No, that’s not necessary!”
He looked like he was about to kneel again, so I hurriedly stopped him. What kind of prince kneels so easily?
With wide eyes, I said to Daniel:
“We can just question the maid again and find out who ordered her.”
To obtain the answer he wanted, Bastian immediately began that interrogation.
