Chapter 89
Megara stared at her face, flushed bright red and covered in blisters.
Her once flawless ivory skin was gone. Her face, swollen and puffier than usual, was sprouting new blisters even at that very moment, making her look like a monster from a fairy tale.
Suddenly, she hurled her hand mirror.
The expensive glass shattered into pieces. The maids serving Megara flinched.
She had destroyed one of her most cherished possessions. The once-elegant young lady seemed like a completely different person.
Megara had always taken pride in her beautiful, delicate face.
It was the first time in her life that it had been ruined like this.
And what now? Who was crowned queen?
Though she had been forced to leave the banquet hall in haste because of her terrible condition, Megara had never even considered the possibility that “Nerys Truydd” would become queen.
She thought it would either be a graduating senior or, perhaps, even Valentin.
Of course, if that wretched Valentin had been crowned queen over her, Megara would have been furious.
However, in that case, she would have quietly swallowed her anger, preparing to get her revenge at next year’s graduation ball.
But for someone of such lowly birth!
Her rage would not subside.
“Milady, the priest has arrived.”
Her closest maid spoke timidly. Megara quickly composed her expression.
“Bring him in.”
Soon, the priest entered the luxurious mansion Megara was using as a dormitory reception room.
“Megara.”
Unlike the campus physician or apprentice priests, a high-ranking priest had been specially summoned at great cost.
His face showed genuine pity upon seeing Megara’s condition.
He had known Megara for some time.
A young girl who had once been dazzling now entangled in such an unfortunate incident during what should have been the most enjoyable night of her youth—he found it truly pitiful.
“Priest, I’m terribly sorry for asking you to come at such a late hour. But it hurts so, so much…”
While cursing Valentin Elandria inwardly, Megara pleaded with a sorrowful expression.
It was no lie: her entire skin stung and burned.
Any ordinary teenager would have been scratching desperately by now.
The priest examined her skin with a sorrowful expression, though his eyes wavered slightly at the grotesque sight despite himself.
Soon, a white light flowed from his hand. Megara closed her eyes, hoping to be restored to her original self.
It took her a few moments to realize that the burning itchiness wasn’t fading.
Slowly, Megara opened her eyes. The priest’s flustered face reflected in her hardened gaze.
He withdrew the divine light from his hand and said,
“It appears this is not a poison, Lady Megara.”
“What?”
It was like being struck by lightning.
“Divine power purifies poisons harmful to the human body.
However… there are certain types of toxins that do not attack directly, but instead cause the body to attack itself.
Among the secret poisons of old noble houses, many fall into that category.”
So, this was… the Elandria family’s secret poison?
They used a family poison for something as trivial as a school ball?
Megara couldn’t believe it.
It wasn’t that she doubted Valentin would use poison if given the chance—of course that wretched girl would.
But she couldn’t imagine the Elandria family actually handing her something so dangerous, even if they loved her.
This was on a different level entirely.
Megara’s thoughts tangled in confusion.
The priest, looking uncomfortable, offered advice.
“Fortunately, you show no signs of deeper internal harm.
You should call for a physician.
This will require medicinal treatment.”
Considering how priests usually looked down on doctors, the priest’s suggestion was unusually conscientious.
But Megara was in no mood to appreciate his rare honesty.
Barely keeping her composure, she sent the priest away and then grimaced in anger. A maid approached and asked,
“Shall I summon a doctor right away, milady?”
“Quickly!”
Megara snapped irritably.
The fastest footman in the mansion rushed out.
Everything was infuriating. Absolutely everything.
Grinding her teeth, Megara thought back.
The itching and swelling had started after she fled in panic to the women’s lounge following Colin’s public accusation about lice.
Specifically, after she had used the comb and water there.
The lounge was stocked with supplies for fixing makeup or tidying hair during the ball. Clean water and various tools were prepared.
Since anyone could come and go, anyone could have planted something.
Yet Megara had immediately suspected Valentin because Delma, Valentin’s favorite maid, had snooped around the women’s lounge to “check” Megara’s condition.
The excuse was perfect:
She claimed she was looking for a missing glove belonging to her lady.
It wasn’t unheard of for an overzealous attendant to carry spare gloves for their master, especially for late returns to the dormitory.
But why would the glove end up in the lounge during the middle of the ball?
And why did the glove mysteriously disappear right after Megara was struck by that wretched “poison”?
Megara’s suspicions were confirmed when she noticed small red blisters forming on Delma’s hand.
Feeling her face rapidly swell, Megara had made eye contact with Alecto.
Alecto had understood immediately, found a convenient excuse, and slapped Delma across the face.
The satisfying crack had echoed sharply, but to Megara, it wasn’t enough.
As she stewed over how to punish Delma so that Valentin would feel the pain too—Valentin herself had shown up.
After that came… bickering, insults, flimsy excuses… Eventually, exhausted, Megara withdrew to the dormitory before drawing even more attention.
Nerys Truydd must be proudly wearing the queen’s crown right now!
The rage was enough to drive her mad. Megara collapsed onto the bed and began to sob.
—
Even as she boarded Cledwyn’s carriage, Nerys still couldn’t quite believe it.
She placed the queen’s crown on her lap and kept staring at it.
“Why did I receive this?”
“Everyone clearly has good eyes.”
Cledwyn chuckled, throwing back the very words she had said to him earlier.
Even though the awards ceremony had long ended, Nerys still couldn’t fully grasp the situation.
Queen of the ball—it was a phrase that had never belonged to her.
When she was very, very young, like her peers, she had vaguely dreamed of it, but that had been a lifetime ago.
Throughout her long school years in her previous life, she had been conditioned to fear the unconditional attention of others.
And after becoming an adult, though she had sat at honored seats far grander than any school ball, it was all formal, hollow ceremony.
For the current Nerys, this crown should have meant nothing.
It should have.
The jewels embedded in the crown sparkled as they caught the moonlight streaming through the carriage window.
Nerys suddenly laughed softly as she stared at it.
“…Did you see Valentin’s face?”
From the moment of the crowning until the end of the ball, Valentin had glared at Nerys nonstop.
Anyone watching might have thought Nerys had stolen Valentin’s husband.
Even if it was childish, she couldn’t help but feel a little delighted.
The initially burdensome and troublesome crown had turned into something amusing thanks to Valentin’s behavior.
Besides, the whole stunt against Megara today had likely been for the sake of this crown.
If things had been left alone, Megara would have been crowned queen.
Even Megara, holed up in her dormitory now, would probably gnash her teeth even harder than Valentin once she heard that while they were ruining each other’s reputations, it was Nerys who became queen.
Honestly, it felt incredibly satisfying.
But now that she realized how petty that thought was, a faint shame prickled her.
Nerys quickly schooled her expression, hoping the darkness of night would conceal her small, mischievous smile.
Her eyes, heavy from fatigue, narrowed slightly in a pout.
Cledwyn did not miss the subtle change in her expression. A smile touched his lips.
“I saw. I’m sure everyone saw.”
And it would only take a few days for tonight’s scandal to spread to the imperial capital’s social circles.
If Valentin had ever tried to maintain a proper façade in front of high society’s important figures, tonight that mask had been forcibly ripped away.
Nerys placed the queen’s crown back into its case.
She then quietly stared out at the scenery slowly moving past the window.
Because all the students had poured out at once after the ball, the carriage barely moved at a crawl.
Unlike Diane’s dormitory, which was close to the ballroom, Nerys’s dormitory was much farther away.
It would still be a long trip back.
Having stayed up for several nights already, with the darkness and quiet of the carriage, Nerys began nodding off without realizing it.
She would jerk awake, straighten her back as if she hadn’t fallen asleep, only to tilt her head again—until finally, her eyes closed completely.
“Hold a moment.”
Cledwyn tapped lightly on the driver’s seat and whispered. The carriage slowly veered off the road.
They happened to be near the lakeside for which Karten was famous.
The moonlight poured onto the shimmering surface of the lake, and the breeze rustled through the fresh leaves.
If it had been daytime, the lilacs blooming there would have flooded the view in a sea of purple.
From inside the carriage, now stopped by the lakeside, Cledwyn gazed quietly outside.
Nerys, asleep, shivered slightly.
He noticed and carefully draped his jacket over her.
A bitter smile crossed his face.
When she woke up, she would surely be terribly embarrassed.
“If I weren’t here, would you have just slept outside like this? Such a reckless young lady.”
“…That’s right…”
The timing was perfect. It was a sleep-talking murmur.
Cledwyn leaned closer, wondering if she was awake, but after a long moment of steady breathing, he realized she was still fast asleep—and chuckled again.
“What on earth happened?”
After they had danced, Nerys had kept glancing strangely at Megara.
She might not have realized it herself.
Of course, he knew Nerys and Megara didn’t get along.
Yet throughout their school years, Nerys had always kept her emotions tightly controlled around Megara.
Though she surely hadn’t found that girl adorable, she had remained composed, and even if she subtly sowed discord among the high-ranking noble daughters, she always did so with practiced, deliberate steps.
But today had been different.
Nerys had looked at Megara as if seeing something horrifying, something dreadful.
Even as she pretended otherwise, she couldn’t help but glance at her, sipping water like she was drinking wine.
He had asked, but he hadn’t expected any answers from the sleeping Nerys.
Still, at this moment—he was more satisfied than he had been at any time in recent years.
Nerys flinched again, and with her eyes still closed, she murmured, her voice as light as the breeze.
“…Where are we…?”
“In the carriage. Sleep a little longer. We’re not there yet.”
It was a shameless lie. But Nerys simply muttered, “Ahh…” and seemed to accept it.
Her murmuring faded into soft, sleeping breaths.
Would she be uncomfortable?
Cledwyn wondered.
He hadn’t stopped the carriage to detain her—he thought the rough jolting would disturb her sleep, and if they stayed stuck in the traffic of other carriages, the noise would wake her.
He had planned to let her fall fully asleep and then quietly bring her back by a side road.
Yet somehow, he himself couldn’t seem to fully relax.
As he wrestled with what to do, another whisper brushed his ear like a gentle breeze.
“…Don’t go today… please… just for today…”
What?
Cledwyn, struck by shock, quickly checked on her.
And then he realized.
She was talking in her sleep.
While shedding the faintest, most fragile tears.
