Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 166

☆ Chapter 166 ☆

The Empress opened her mouth, her face stiff.

“How very odd, Young Lord Kaishen. It seems to this Empress that you are deliberately preventing the Princess from drinking that beverage.”

A cool gaze slowly scanned Young Lord Kaishen’s face.

“Could there be a reason why you would do that?”

“……!”

The atmosphere suddenly chilled, as if cold water had been poured over it.

‘This could be a disaster if answered incorrectly!’

I glanced at Young Lord Kaishen.

He wore a composed expression, but the corners of his smiling mouth were slightly stiff.

‘……It seems he intervened to protect me?’

Hmm, I suppose I have no choice.

‘This Lulú has no choice but to step in!’

I put on an innocent face and asked Young Lord Kaishen in a clear voice.

“Felix, is it because of the time I mistakenly drank the cocktail?”

My sudden show of familiarity filled Young Lord Kaishen’s face, the epitome of a white rose nobleman, with bewilderment.

‘Just play along! I’m helping you right now!’

“Cocktail?”

The Empress asked me.

“Yes! I accidentally drank some alcohol last time. It was sweet and delicious, so I didn’t realize it. I think they mixed some alcohol with orange juice.”

“Oh my! That must have been terrible.”

The Empress exclaimed in surprise.

I clung to Young Lord Kaishen, looking up at him as if he were one of my brothers.

“Felix took care of me for a long time. He scolded me a lot, too.”

“So that’s why Young Lord Kaishen is looking after Ruatisha so carefully. Indeed, there are cocktails mixed with juice at the party now.”

Empress, nice!

The Empress, who has a good relationship with me and wants to end today’s party without any incidents, readily agreed with my words.

“Young Lord Kaishen is so kind.”

Cid said to Young Lord Kaishen, who was standing next to me.

‘Oh, but what’s with that smile? He’s definitely smiling brightly, but……’

It’s the first time I’ve felt chills from someone smiling while saying something kind.

Is that a compliment?

“……Is that so?”

The Empress still looked doubtful.

‘Even if that happened, it is a bit strange to intervene in this situation.’

Unless I take another glass, the Empress’s suspicion will not completely disappear.

“It’s okay, Felix! I chose the juice properly this time.”

I smiled brightly and held out my hand to Young Lord Kaishen.

He hesitated for a moment but eventually handed me the glass.

‘Just pretend to drink.’

His cautious, clear eyes seemed to be telling me that.

‘Um, but then the Empress will notice right away.’

She’s looking this way with a very suspicious expression right now.

I accepted the glass like an innocent child and swallowed the juice in one gulp.

“……!”

Young Lord Kaishen grabbed my arm with a pale face.

It was the first time I had seen his flawless, handsome face so shaken.

“Delicious! I chose the juice well after all.”

See? I told you I was okay.

Young Lord Kaishen seemed to be checking my condition for a moment.

To see if I was really okay, or if the poison might spread over time.

I shrugged my shoulders.

‘If it’s a poison that doesn’t show any immediate symptoms, it probably isn’t a lethal dose. And it’s not in a pill.’

Young Lord Kaishen seemed to have come to the same conclusion, as he looked at me with a much calmer face.

And soon, a question arose on his face.

“……You two seem to be very close.”

I turned my head at the voice that had burrowed into my ear and saw Prince Esteban looking at me with a displeased expression.

‘Ah, right. He was here too?’

I didn’t say it out loud out of courtesy, but did he realize what I was thinking?

Prince Esteban’s face twisted.

“The Princess is very popular.”

“Thank you?”

A vein popped out on his forehead at my answer.

“It’s amazing how you’re always with new men every time I see you.”

No, Young Lord Kaishen is the same age as our Zeon?

Are you calling an eleven-year-old baby a man?

‘Wow……’

Prince Esteban flinched and turned his head away when he saw me looking at him with a disgusted face.

“There was a slight commotion. Shall we have another toast?”

The Empress raised her glass, trying to smooth over the situation.

I didn’t miss the fact that her gaze lingered deeply on Cid.

* * *

Raising her glass, the Empress raised the corners of her lips.

‘Hmph, did you think I put poison in it or something?’

She glanced at Kaishen.

There was a more important matter, so she just moved on, but she would have to investigate it in detail later.

Then it would be revealed.

Whether he stopped the Paeraton Princess from drinking alcohol again, or—.

Whether he mistakenly thought that poison had been put in the drink to harm the Paeraton Princess.

‘Well, it was a complete wild goose chase in the first place.’

“This is a potion that causes berserker mode. In short, it turns a human into a madman… no, a beast.”

“Berserker mode…? Then wouldn’t he become a madman and slaughter all sorts of people!”

“That’s why it’s good. Wouldn’t Prince Sidrian commit an irreversible act?”

The person she and Mrs. Sarah were aiming for was not the Paeraton Princess, but Prince Sidrian.

Even if the Paeraton Princess drank the spiked juice, nothing would happen.

“The traces?”

“It won’t work on anyone else. But Prince Sidrian is different. He was under a Geas [a magical compulsion or oath].”

This was a miraculous medicine that would only cause abnormalities in Prince Sidrian.

‘Now, all that eyesore has to do is drink it.’

I was wondering when to feed it to him, but the Emperor gathered the imperial family on his own, so this was nothing short of a divine revelation.

‘It’s perfect since I called the Paeraton Princess to my side.’

Fortunately, Sidrian and the Paeraton Princess were standing right next to each other.

The Empress checked the location of the Paeraton Princess’s men.

They were looking this way from a distance with very displeased faces.

‘Mrs. Sarah said that they would be separated from the Princess because she had taken measures.’

The moment he drank the drink, Sidrian, who had become a madman, would go on a rampage and tear the Paeraton Princess, who was closest to him, to shreds.

‘Even if the Paeraton Duke responds quickly, his daughter will have her skin torn off.’

Even if his daughter was still alive, the Paeraton Duke would never forgive Sidrian.

‘Then I can just sit back and enjoy it.’

There was nothing that could put her in danger.

The moment the Paeraton Princess was attacked, mana would cover Sidrian’s entire body.

It was a perfect plan!

Clang!

The crystal glasses clinked together, and a clear sound rang out.

The sound was like a bell celebrating her victory.

The Empress did not take her eyes off Sidrian even as she drank her wine.

Sidrian bringing the glass to his lips seemed frustratingly slow to her.

The glass tilted, and the liquid inside the clear crystal glass sloshed.

Gulp.

Soon, the boy’s Adam’s apple moved.

‘Finally……!’

As expected, Sidrian reached out to Ruatisha.

‘It’s over!’

That was the moment.

“You have something on your lips.”

Sidrian’s finger gently brushed Ruatisha’s lips.

“It looks like you have a mustache.”

A mischievous, boyish, innocent smile.

“Huh? Oh…….”

Ruatisha blushed and scrubbed her lips where Sidrian’s finger had passed.

“Th, thank you.”

And a pink aura bloomed between the two children.

‘Wh, what is this……!’

The Empress stared at the scene with wide eyes.

‘He definitely drank the drink?!’

But things were happening in a completely different way than she had expected.

There was only one thing that was the same as she had expected.

The men of the Paeraton Duchy and Marquis Tarenka were rushing over with fire in their eyes.

The Paeraton Duke scooped up his youngest daughter and took a firm step.

Thud!

The force of the step was so strong that the carpet underneath was torn.

With that one leap, the Paeraton Duke was more than 40 steps away from Sidrian.

Chuck, chuck!

And the young lords and Marquis Tarenka blocked the way.

It was a scene that could be mistaken for a war, with them protecting their youngest from the enemy.

“…….”

The Paeraton Princess, dangling in her father’s arms, sighed, “Hoo一.”

But the Empress didn’t even notice that.

“……Prince Sidrian?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

She looked at Sidrian’s face with suspicion.

Was he okay? Was there anything wrong with his body? Did he feel nauseous or unwell?

Thousands of questions tapped her lips.

But she couldn’t ask any of them.

“……It’s nothing.”

The Empress, pale as a sheet, turned away.

The Emperor called her with a puzzled look.

“Empress?”

“……I’m tired after coming to such an event after a long time. I’ll go rest for a while.”

“Do so.”

The Empress bowed slightly to the Emperor and then looked at Sidrian and Ruatisha one last time.

‘Damn it!’

She clenched her fist tightly and quickly walked away.

Lady Aizel, who had been assisting the Empress, followed behind her.

Suddenly, Lady Aizel shifted her gaze.

Ruatisha and Lady Aizel made eye contact.

But it was only a fleeting moment that seemed like a coincidence.

* * *

“How in the world did this happen!”

The Empress shouted as soon as she entered her private lounge.

“Sidrian was supposed to drink that drink and go crazy!”

The sight of him not only being perfectly fine, but even flirting, made her blood boil.

The Empress turned around and glared at Lady Aizel.

“Are you sure you put the medicine in properly?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Then why is he perfectly fine!”

Even with the Empress’s questioning, Lady Aizel opened her mouth with an unwavering face.

“If the plan Your Majesty devised went wrong, there is only one conclusion.”

“One?”

“Didn’t the information leak out?”

At those words, the Empress’s face hardened like a stone statue.

Regardless of whether she understood Lady Aizel’s words, all sorts of emotions welled up inside her.

Lady Aizel quickly knelt in front of the Empress.

“Lady Aizel?!”

“I apologize for my presumptuous words, but I don’t know what’s going on. Your Majesty did not tell me about the conversation you had with Mrs. Sarah after meeting with her alone.”

“……Are you saying you’re upset about that?”

“I am merely Your Majesty’s hands and feet. How could I think such a thing?”

At those words, the Empress looked at Lady Aizel with a much more relaxed attitude.

“There is only one thing I know.”

Lady Aizel looked up and met the Empress’s eyes.

“That I had to put the medicine Your Majesty gave me in the drink.”

“Yes, this Empress ordered you to do so.”

“I followed Your Majesty’s orders to the letter.”

“…….”

“But if you did not get the effect Your Majesty wanted, wouldn’t someone have switched it out in the middle?”

“Lady Aizel is right.”

The Empress leaned back on the sofa.

‘Who could have leaked that information?’

The Empress’s gaze turned to Lady Aizel.

‘No, no.’

As Lady Aizel said, she doesn’t know anything about this.

She only gave her the potion right before the party started and told her to secretly put it in the juice.

‘And the serving was done by a servant that Mrs. Sarah bribed.’

Lady Aizel doesn’t know the identity of the medicine, nor who she’s targeting.

‘It can’t be Lady Aizel.’

Then……?

It was the moment the Empress’s gaze left Lady Aizel.

“Actually…….”

Lady Aizel carefully opened her mouth and then closed it again.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Why are you stopping in the middle of your sentence?”

“No, I’m afraid I’ll upset Your Majesty with unnecessary suspicions…….”

“It’s okay, tell me.”

“But一.”

“Isn’t Lady Aizel this Empress’s most loyal maid? This Empress knows that whatever you say comes from the heart.”

“……Then I will tell you.”

Lady Aizel asked the Empress with an infinitely serious face.

“Your Majesty, how much do you know about Mrs. Sarah?”

“What?”

The Empress frowned at the unexpected question.

“Mrs. Sarah is一.”

In fact, she doesn’t know anything.

A woman who appeared long ago, at the exact time she was needed, with the exact abilities she needed.

There were few reasons not to take her hand, and more than enough reasons to take it.

And so far, that transactional relationship has been well maintained.

“How much do you know about Lady Shabonnes?”

“Lady Shabonnes? Why is that name suddenly coming up here?”

“……You didn’t know.”

The Empress frowned in frustration.

But she didn’t feel like getting angry at Lady Aizel.

Lady Aizel’s unique way of speaking, which was different from her usual self, made the Empress close her mouth and listen.

“It’s Lady Shabonnes.”

“What is?”

“Mrs. Sarah’s identity, that is.”

“……!”

The Empress’s eyes shook violently like a boat caught in a storm.