~CHAPTER 80~
The inner and outer castles were not far apart.
It took twenty minutes on foot, or five if a strong man ran without stopping.
Harbirich ran without rest.
When he arrived at the Grand Duke’s castle, it was in chaos.
People were still gathered together, and among them sat Noah.
“Where is Lincia?”
“The physician said he was escorting Her Grace the Grand Duchess to her bedchamber.”
Harbirich headed for the bedchamber.
He didn’t forget to tell someone to move Noah to the underground prison.
His heart pounded with anxious noise.
Lincia collapsed.
When Harbirich reached the bedchamber, Ethan spoke before he could even catch his breath.
“It’s a drug that causes pain only to pregnant women.”
Harbirich looked at Lincia lying on the bed.
Cold sweat ran down her face.
She couldn’t even straighten her back, her body half-curled.
Her hand crumpled the fabric over her stomach, and her small frame trembled from time to time.
Tears streamed from her tightly closed eyes, and sometimes a faint groan escaped her lips.
“It’s rare and hard to obtain, but it has a distinctive scent, so it’s easy to identify. That’s why it’s seldom used.”
As Ethan went on, Harbirich’s mind went blank.
“It’s less of a poison and more like a nutrient for the fetus. But if taken in excess, it causes severe pain to the mother.”
Harbirich’s lips trembled.
“There’s no direct harm to the body, and the pain will disappear within a few days.”
“A few days?”
Harbirich clenched his fist.
His nails dug deep into his palm.
“She’s in such pain, how could…”
I wish I could take the pain for her.
The more Harbirich looked at Lincia, the less real everything felt.
It was dizzying.
“Your Grace.”
At Ethan’s call, Harbirich snapped back to his senses.
“Is there a way to ease her pain right now?”
“There are two options… but both have clear pros and cons, so I would normally ask the guardian or the patient.”
“I’ll decide.”
Ethan hesitated before speaking.
“…Please don’t take this as insolence.”
“Get to the point.”
“The first option is to administer an antidote immediately. It won’t harm the mother, and the pain will vanish at once… but the fetus won’t survive.”
The child would be lost along with the pain.
Harbirich sucked in a sharp breath.
He knew it was something Lincia would never choose.
“And the second?”
“A narcotic painkiller.”
Harbirich bit the inside of his cheek.
“Unusually for a narcotic, it doesn’t harm the fetus. But the mother’s body will take a heavy toll… it might affect her later.”
Once the body grows used to such strong medicine, weaker ones no longer work.
“Then obviously—”
“But Your Grace, if you ask the patient herself, she would usually choose the latter.”
Of course she would.
Harbirich knew how strong Lincia’s maternal instinct was.
How precious she considered that child.
“No mother can bear losing her child.”
“…”
“Nine out of ten patients fall into deep depression. Some… even end up harming themselves.”
It was a drug filled with malice toward mothers.
“What will you do?”
***
The underground prison of the Grand Duke’s castle was where Noah sat, biting her nails hard enough to make a sound.
She wanted to bring down the Grand Duchess no matter what.
That seat beside Harbirich was originally mine.
No woman in the Grand Duchy suits that title better than I do.
But that woman Lincia used the North as an excuse and ended up beside him, even earning his love.
When her father first said the Grand Duke had fallen in love, Noah had scoffed.
How could someone bearing Durand’s name be loved?
In this land, someone like you, how could you be?
She never fit in at the Grand Duke’s castle—pale skin, thin frame, small stature—she looked fragile to anyone.
But that wasn’t the only thing that drove Noah mad.
“His Grace cares for her. Stop it already.”
People who had once been on her side started turning away.
“Maybe so, but…”
Noah knew the truth.
Everyone, though they kept quiet, wondered whose child the Grand Duchess carried.
And that wasn’t all she knew.
Lincia had been inquiring about northern herbs related to memory.
“I heard she’s trying to get Lepatham.”
“…What?”
“Count Ethan Chaester was seen trying to obtain it.”
Too many things were suspicious.
Love alone couldn’t excuse it all.
Even a servant who worked in the study told her that the Grand Duchess had been looking into drugs related to memory.
In truth, there were more who disliked her than those who didn’t.
That was Noah’s only comfort after losing her place.
So Noah began looking into truth serums.
Every truth serum in the castle was under Harbirich’s control, so to use one privately, she had to turn to the black market.
Luckily, Noah met an apothecary there.
He always wore a hooded robe that covered him entirely, and no one had ever seen his face.
It was unsettling, but everyone recommended him, so Noah went to his shop.
His shop was in the most secluded corner of the black market.
No one else was around, but even there, Noah had to wait quite a while.
The man had poured her a cup of tea before disappearing, only to return when her cup was almost empty.
“You’re looking for a truth serum?”
“Yes.”
“You seem to be of high status. Such drugs are not to be used lightly.”
That caution actually made her trust him more.
“You’ll be paid well. Just make sure the product works.”
The apothecary accepted the pouch she handed him.
After checking the gold coins inside, he pulled a packet of powder from his robes.
“Once absorbed into the body, the truth serum takes effect immediately.”
“Absorbed into the body?”
“It’s usually mixed into food, but inhalation also works to a certain extent.”
Since everything the Grand Duchess ate or drank was carefully inspected, sprinkling the powder was Noah’s only option.
It was strange how well the apothecary seemed to understand her situation, but she brushed the thought aside.
“I’d like to test it.”
“I’ll bring someone for you.”
Noah tested the drug on another person.
She picked a child at random and gave a small dose—nothing happened.
That reassured her, and she took the truth serum with her.
It was an unthinkable act, but she believed that if she could prove Lincia tried to harm Harbirich and that the child belonged to another man, it would all be justified.
She might even be praised for her courage.
Then, Harbirich would look at her again.
That was the reason she did it.
But how did it end up like this?
“Your Highness!”
The scream from the woman’s maid still echoed in her ears.
Noah covered her face with trembling hands.
Footsteps echoed down the stone stairs.
She looked up and met the gaze of the man standing before her.
It was Harbirich.
Thank you very much 🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺