IBFWTV 16

 Chapter 16

I turned my body and pushed Serden’s face away with my palm. My heart was beating wildly. Seeing his face squish like a steamed bun made me relax a little.

“Th-that surprised me!”

“Haha. I guess I startled you. I’m really sorry.”

Serden muttered, but his face did not look sorry at all. He took the book from my hands and opened it.

“The Blonde Princess?”

It was the first time I saw Serden dressed so casually. Whatever he wore suited him well.

I had to try hard not to look at what could be seen through the open part of his shirt. His eyes looked especially moist today, and his lips too.

Today, Serden felt strangely dangerous.

I looked at him carefully and answered quickly.

“Mm! She’s a princess with very, very long hair!”

“You were going to read this book to me? Wasn’t I the one who was supposed to read it to you?”

“Mmm. No. I’ll read it.”

“Why?”

“Because husband is scared!”

I opened my eyes wide and said it clearly. Then I hugged the book and smiled brightly. Serden lifted the corner of his lips.

“Me?”

“Yes, husband! That’s why you asked to sleep together…”

At that moment thunder struck. It sounded as if the sky was being torn apart. I flinched without thinking. No, really, it startled me.

I swallowed hard, but suddenly I hiccupped.

“Hi-hic!”

Serden covered his mouth with the back of his hand and laughed softly. While I was distracted by his smiling face, he smoothly took the book from my hands as I hiccupped.

Serden waved the book lazily.

There was no tension at all in the way he looked at me. It made my strength leave my body. I was still the only one who was conscious of him.

Right. Of course.

Even though I knew that, it still annoyed me.

“The one who’s scared isn’t me. It’s Evelyn. Looks like I should read this book for you.”

I stared at Serden blankly.

Ah, why did I have to hiccup at a moment like this?

It felt like Serden had seen all my embarrassing moments. As if all my dark memories were spreading out in front of me.

Serden took my arm.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Are you not going to sleep? I’m tired. It’s bedtime, Evelyn.”

“Mm?”

Serden laid me down on the bed and wrapped the blanket around me tightly. I looked like a rolled kimbap. Then he pushed me toward the wall and lay beside me, leaning on one arm.

I looked like a caterpillar with only my face sticking out. All the strange thoughts I had while coming here disappeared.

I felt strangely solemn.

Serden turned off the light. It wouldn’t be easy to feel this solemn while lying in the same bed with a man—especially one more handsome than my ideal type.

Still wrapped like a caterpillar, I only moved my head.

A dim lamp beside the bed barely lit the letters of the book. My eyes met Serden’s. The light falling over the curves of his face made him look deeper somehow.

I swallowed.

Looking at that face felt like staring at a rice cake inside a painting—something beautiful but unreachable. I’m probably the only one thinking like this.

Serden placed the book on the bed and began to read.

His voice was low and pleasant.

So this must be the main-character buff. Even his voice sounds good. Usually if someone has a handsome face, their voice isn’t that nice. It seems God put all the points into his appearance.

Wrapped tightly in the blanket and listening to the book being read…

I slowly grew sleepy.

Then I quietly fell asleep.

Seriously… I’m going crazy. It’s not like I’m really a little kid.

Serden poked Evelyn’s cheek while she slept deeply.

He had never expected that he might actually end up reading the book to her, nor that she would fall asleep listening to it.

Serden pushed the book aside and looked at Evelyn.

The result of the investigation came quickly.

The substance on the glass was a poison that slowly poisoned a person and eventually made them cough up blood and die.

When someone died from it, the symptoms looked very similar to pneumonia, so almost no doctor could tell the difference.

“…You knew about it.”

Of course, Evelyn gave no answer. She was deeply asleep, moving her lips slightly.

Serden asked in a low voice,

“You knew everything, yet you drank it without fear.”

When Evelyn drank the champagne, she did not hesitate at all. She drank it as if it were just an ordinary drink. Not a trace of fear showed on her face.

Even her sleeping face looked peaceful. As if she had never drunk poison at all. Maybe the amount was so small that she wasn’t poisoned.

But seeing how calm she had been, maybe…

Maybe it had no effect on her.

He had heard that some people had a rare body that was not affected by poison. Maybe Duke Spellman planned to use that.

But he could not guess what purpose Evelyn was acting for. If she had been on Spellman’s side, she would have simply let Veronica drink the poisoned drink.

Instead, she took the glass and drank it herself. Then she even threw the glass away.

No one suspected Evelyn. Not even Spellman.

“What exactly are you?”

Serden pressed Evelyn’s cheek again. Her soft cheek wrapped around his finger like whipped cream.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly.

Evelyn moved her lips.

“Candy… I don’t like it.”

Serden had been holding his breath, thinking she might wake up. But when he saw her fall back into deep sleep, he covered his mouth.

“Kh.”

A laugh escaped without him realizing.

Morning came quickly. The traces of last night disappeared as if nothing had happened. Serden left the bedroom, leaving Evelyn still asleep.

Last night, Evelyn showed no reaction to the poison.

While Serden was thinking, Morte asked,

“Where did that glass come from? It was Spellman’s doing, right?”

Morte followed closely behind Serden with a stubborn expression, just like in the past when he used to cling to Serden even when Serden tried to push him away.

Serden glanced back at him and answered casually.

“I wonder.”

“You’re sure you didn’t drink what was in the glass, right?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, really. We must find out who the culprit is. You’re not just going to let this pass, right?”

Serden smiled coldly at Morte’s words.

He had already sent secret agents to investigate. The one who brought the glass with the poison was a maid.

When preparing a banquet like that, temporary workers were hired, so all kinds of random people gathered.

They followed the maid.

But she had already become a cold corpse.

This cruel method and clean finish was very much Spellman’s style.

Serden’s uncle would not handle things this neatly.

The problem was how Evelyn was involved in this matter.

He remembered the girl who had slept in his bed last night with an innocent childlike face.

“The evidence has already been erased.”

Morte’s face looked like he wanted to swear. He could not curse in front of Serden, so he held it in. Even so, his honest expression made it obvious.

That honesty was one of the reasons Serden kept him around. Everyone else around him hid their thoughts and deceived others, but Morte showed everything on his face.

Of course, he was also easily fooled. If it were Roselina, he would act like a puppy chasing snacks.

In that sense, Evelyn was the exact opposite.

She hid many things, and she was even more suspicious because of it.

“So what should we do? Do we have to endure it again?”

Morte asked with a frustrated face.

“I wonder.”

Serden lifted his lips coldly. His eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke.

“Didn’t you say Duke Roger would return soon?”

Surprised by the sudden question, Morte answered,

“What? Yes. He probably passed through the Imperial Castle by now. He will likely enter the palace tomorrow and report about the situation at the border.”

“Invite Duke Roger’s wife and his son to dinner tomorrow evening as well. To praise their hard work.”

While Serden was at war, Duke Roger protected the north and the nearby borders. It was to prepare in case enemies attacked two places at the same time.

Roger was also a famous knight and a war hero. Serden could trust him completely.

They had trained under the same master since childhood. Roger was the only person Serden could truly call a friend.

And Roger had a six-year-old son.

Roger had his son at nineteen, and now the boy was exactly the right age to place beside Evelyn.

Serden wondered what reaction Evelyn would show when she met Roger. He also wondered when Evelyn would finally reveal her true identity.

Thinking that far ahead, Serden lifted the corner of his lips in a crooked smile.