My Mom Entered a Contract Marriage - Chapter 48

“Princess!”

Shouts fell from Lauv and Brynn’s lips.

Atil pulled Lilica into his embrace and covered her face while growling.

“Everyone, back off! Brann, call for the imperial doctor. Bring me the first aid kit.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Brann moved quickly.

Atil rubbed Lilica’s back while taking out a handkerchief.

“It’s okay. You’ll be alright. You don’t have to force yourself to cough, but you don’t have to stop coughing either. Shh—”

Lilica was slightly puzzled by Atil’s response, but soon felt the tenseness in her body reducing.

As Lilica held onto his hem, she gasped.

What Atil was embarrassed when Lilica’s tooth fell out was the fact that he’d ‘hit’ Lilica and caused her to lose her tooth, and not due to the blood or anything else.

He was a member of the Imperial family, who’d been trained from birth, and when it comes to the threat of poisoning, he had also experienced it multiple times.

It was very familiar.

He thought that it was something familiar that he hated, but his body reacted according to his habits.

Each time she coughed into the handkerchief, her small body trembled greatly.

Atil gritted his teeth.

‘Poison? Where? When?’

“Don’t touch the leftovers. Brynn Sol, write down the places that she went, the food she ate, and the people she’d met.”

Just then, Brann brought over a cup filled with liquid.

Atil said.

“Lily, it’ll be really hard, but you have to drink all of this. Can you drink it?”

Lilica nodded while coughing lightly.

The taste of blood filled her mouth.

When Atil held out the cup, Lilica drank up all the slippery and foul-smelling liquid.

Her stomach turned after drinking it.

Brann brought over a bucket.

“Puke it all out.”

Atil pulled back Lilica’s hair.

Lilica couldn’t endure it and vomited out everything that she had.

“Well done.”

The itchiness in her throat subsided and felt much better than before.

Atil picked her up and tucked her face into the crook of his shoulder.

While in his arms, Lilica coughed several more times on his shoulder.

“D, dirty…….”

As she spoke, Lilica was surprised.

She made a toad-like voice.

“I have a lot of clothes.”

Atil replied bluntly to her words that his clothes were dirty.

The imperial doctor rushed over soon after.

After Atil placed her onto the bed, the doctor looked inside her mouth, examined her eyes, and felt her pulse.

“Her neck, stomach, and mucous membranes were damaged. Fortunately, the poison doesn’t seem to have spreaded throughout the body. Even so, you should rest fully until your internal injuries are healed.”

The doctor briefly explained to Lilica. He also bowed to Atil.

“It’s a relief that the first aid was administered quickly, which was why the poison didn’t reach her stomach and intestines.”

Atil frowned without saying anything.

He balled his hands into fists to hide its trembling.

After a while, Altheos entered, slamming the door open, almost breaking it.

“Greetings to Your Majesty.”

Altheos ignored all the startled servants that knelt down and approached Lilica’s side.

‘His pupils… are like fireworks.’

His pupils, which should have been black in colour, were dyed red, like a fire was burning from within.

“How is she?”

“Although the princess had suffered internal injuries, her organs were not severely damaged by poison.”

Altheos gritted his teeth.

I’ll protect you.

That was the promise he made. It hasn’t even been a few days since he made that promise.

But how dare they?

As he pushed down his rising, burning and deepening anger, Altheos turned his gaze.

“What about you?”

Atil shook his head.

“I’m alright.”

“Alright.”

His hand stroked Atil’s head gently.

Altheos looked back at Brynn and Lauv.

“Now then, shall we hear from the both of you?”

* * *

The Barat duchy’s capital mansion was much larger and more grandiose than anyone else’s.

When uninformed people came, they would even mistake it for the Imperial Palace.

If it wasn’t for the extravagant flower emblem on the wall.

The Barat mansion was always crowded. It was the same as the Imperial Palace.

The Barat mansion was always filled with people that had ideas that were the opposite of the emperor.

Fjord Barat walked through his mansion amidst greetings.

Within this mansion, the Barat family was the same as the royal family.

He greeted them with an elegant smile as he walked past them.

Just like the roots of the flowers, which burrowed deep into the soil and took in unknown nutrients, this mansion’s basement was rather deep, and only Barat knew what was within.

Fjord could only smile cynically at those that admired the splendid mansion that towered aloft from the ground.

They gathered in twos and threes, and as they waited for the Duke of Barat’s appearance, everyone discussed Takar slanderously.

At that time, the new person who rushed into the mansion raised his voice as soon as he met someone he knew.

“I heard that that lowlife collapsed after drinking poison!”

“No way, is that true?”

“It’s true!”

The man became even more worked up when everyone’s gazes turned this in his direction.

Lowlife was a term referring to Lilica.

Everyone kept muttering about how something like that could be called a princess, and thought that the lowborn crown prince was better.

So, in the Barat mansion, lowborn referred to the crown prince while lowlife referred to the princess.

Just as he was about to go up to his room, Fjord’s feet stopped.

The hand that was holding the railing tensed.

He wanted to dash into the palace right away.

Then what?

As a Barat, he probably wouldn’t be able to see a single strand of her hair.

He took a deep breath and turned around.

He approached the man that was talking excitedly.

“Is that news true?”

The moment Fjord spoke, those people backed down.

“Oh, Young Duke.”

“My apologies for allowing such stories to enter the Young Lord’s precious ears.”

They rushed to shower him in words of flattery.

Fjord raised his hand to cut off their words, and smiled.

“So? How is her condition?”

The man spoke awkwardly.

“I’m not too sure about the condition, but from the looks of the atmosphere, I don’t think she’s dead.”

Fjord remained silent.

Rather, his surroundings became noisy.

“Ah, she’s tenacious because she’s a lowlife.”

“Isn’t she capable of swallowing anything because she has a lowly birth?”

As the young duke seemed to be lost in thought, everyone opened their mouths to curry favour.

“Anyway, who could it be?”

“Isn’t it the lowborn? He must have felt impatient.”

“True, that woman was so favoured, so he must have wondered if the lowlife would overtake him and ascend the throne.”

“It could be, given his originally violent temper, and rash personality.”

Despite knowing that it was absurd, they were completely preoccupied with mocking them.

“Ah, it could also be Sandar. The south has been noisy these days, right? What else can beat a snake’s venom?”

“Right, she didn’t die either way, so they must be feeling rather complicated due to their failure.”

Everyone let out a sigh, before wagging their tongues again.

“I hope that the emperor won’t falsely accuse us.”

“Surely not. It’s infuriating, because it seems like we’re pushovers that can be easily bullied.”

“Who is Barat? Isn’t it a family that has thicker imperial blood than the imperial family after a long passage of time? I can’t stand the way they keep disregarding such a place.”

“That’s right, isn’t it, Young Duke?”

Fjord spoke with an unwavering expression.

“Even so, Barat is still Barat.”

Upon hearing those words, everyone nodded and let out admiring sighs.

“Yes, Barat is still Barat.”

“No matter what those over there say.”

“Haha, as expected of the Young Duke.”

Fjord tried not to ball his hands into fists as he listened to their nonsense.

Sweat gathered in his palm.

— Don’t be broken.

He remembered the words that Lilica had said to him.

He wanted to return those words back to her as they were.

“Young Master, Her Grace is calling for you.”

At this moment, an attendant arrived and spoke in a low voice.

Everyone was disappointed but didn’t try to hold Fjord back.

As Fjord followed behind the attendant, he tried to empty the complicated thoughts out of his head.

Lily had consumed poison.

Poison.

Who? Why?

The Duke of Barat’s office was very extravagant.

A heavy door. designed for the sake of soundproofing, opened and closed noiselessly.

It was quiet in the office.

Duke Barat’s office might be one of the most tranquil places in the world.

As Fjord thought that, he approached the huge desk in the office.

New drugs were placed before the desk.

They were arranged accordingly from the right.

It had always been like that.

‘Now of all things. No, isn’t it a relief that it’s now of all things?’

Duke Barat stood with her back facing him as she stared out of the window.

“Your Grace, have you heard the news? About Princess Lilica.”

Duke Barat raised her hand and interrupted his words.

It was hard to see the duke, who turned in his direction, due to the backlight.

She pointed to the drug without saying a word.

Fjord sat down and swallowed the drugs in the stipulated order.

As she watched, Duke Barat said.

“Don’t think about useless things.”

She walked over from across the table slowly.

“Everything that you currently possess is gained from the blood and suffering of your ancestors. You’re well aware of the number of people that had suffered and died to obtain it. After such a long period of time, we finally bore witness to the first fruit.”

The drug’s effect began circulating around his body, and he became absentminded for a moment.

Gloved fingers tilted his chin upwards.

“Fjord, my first masterpiece.”

His gaze became distorted.

His blood circulated quickly and tinnitus could be heard buzzing in his ears.

At the thought of the upcoming suffering, his body began to tremble.

“You don’t know how happy I was when I’d managed to fish you out of the countless failures. Don’t ruin my feelings of pride.”

Fjord smiled faintly.

He wanted to laugh, but he didn’t know if he did.

He had once aspired to become a son she could be proud of and a kind boy.

He tried hard in order to be recognised.

Until he realised that he was just a piece of work to her.

‘I’ll probably never become your child.’

Barat’s masterpiece.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have any worth.

Ttuuk—his vision was cut off.

His eyes burned.

His body heated up.

The pain of flames burning through his blood vessels wrecked him.

His body bent over unknowingly. He tried to hold it in, but a groan escaped.

He fell from his chair and curled up on the soft carpet. His fingertips scratched the carpet.

A pair of shoes appeared through his flickering vision. It was a spotless and gleaming pair of shoes.

Hadn’t he seen this pair of shoes more than he’d seen his mother’s face?

“Endure it a little. This is nothing compared to the pain that you’ve been through in the past. Think of Takar. Think of the moment you’ll press them beneath you.”

Fjord almost burst into laughter despite the pain for a moment.

‘Can you even judge a pain that you haven’t experienced?’

But he bit his lips because he might scream if he opened his mouth.

He closed his eyes.

Even though his eyes were closed, the inside of his eyelids flickered.

He thought of Lily.

The gleaming Lake Rudin, and those turquoise eyes that were more beautiful than that lake.

His princess, who spoke kindly without any self-interest.

At the thought that she was currently in so much pain, he felt a pain stronger than his burning blood vessels from his heart.

‘I want to meet you.’

I want to hold your hand.

I want to touch your cheek and feel that you’re alive.

Just like how quickly the pain had begun, it disappeared in an instant.

His body, which had been enduring the pain, drooped.

He was drenched in cold sweat. He didn’t even have the strength to get up from his position.

Those shoes turned around.

The stout attendant that entered helped him to his feet with practised motions.

“Go and rest.”

The Duke of Barat said while seated at her desk.

As he looked at the profile that didn’t glance in his direction, Fjord recalled the thought that always came to mind.

What kind of expression will you make when your masterpiece falls apart?

But…

Don’t be broken.

Don’t be broken.

Don’t be shattered into pieces.

It was both no wonder and lamentable that he was so glad to hear those words……

Fjord closed his eyes.

* * *

Lilica opened her eyes.

She didn’t know if it’s because she slept early or due to the medicine, but her eyes opened on their own.

Brynn and Lauv weren’t present.

She knows that His Majesty called for them, but she didn’t know what happened afterwards.

‘The both of them shouldn’t be scolded though.’

What’s going on here and what will happen?

Lilica was also astonished.

Poison, all of a sudden.

The inside of her throat stung.

She was surprised that even her sick mother ran to her side.

Lilica heard that she had a cold, but Ludia was so angry that her cold was about to be blown away.

Then, His Majesty caught Ludia, who’d almost fainted due to her fever.

Although she insisted on taking care of her by her side, she could only step down when His Majesty firmly said, “What if she catches your cold?”

‘And I didn’t know that Atil was so reliable.’

She was grateful that Atil stayed calm while she was vomiting blood.

If he had been struck with a panic, she would have been even more startled.

‘It’s quiet.’

Lilica smiled quietly while thinking that everyone was so angry that she herself wasn’t angry anymore.

‘But if it was aimed at Mother.’

The hand that gripped her blanket tightened before she knew it.

Lilica was rather worried that it only happened because she ate the ice cream that she’d received from her mother, but the imperial doctor that brought her medicine in the evening told her that it wasn’t the case.

The herbal ice cream really only had herbal medicine that was good for colds.

It became a mess when the poison came from an unknown origin.

Lat and Tan sent word that they’d visit her later because she must be tired today.

‘The two of them must be busy too.’

Come to think of it, after personally experiencing the danger of poison, Mother, Atil, and His Majesty.

His Majesty.

‘Mm… Im—Imperial Father.’

After calling him that once in her mind, the thought that she should make an artifact for them appeared in her head.

‘Oh?’

Come to think of it, she couldn’t even hear the sounds of the night birds that she’d hear every night.

Lilica raised herself slightly.

The entire palace seemed to be devoid of everything and deathly silent.

That can’t be, it’s odd.

It’s a little odd.

Lilica climbed out of bed.

She felt dizzy because she still had a fever.

After standing for a while, Lilica moved towards the balcony.

Something unknown was definitely attracting her there.

When she opened the balcony window, an intense smell of flowers gushed in.

Fjord was standing on a white marble railing.

* * *