Chapter 98: 99

Michael barely regained consciousness after suffering for more than two weeks.

I visited Michael as soon as he woke up.

The dark dungeon was still cold even when the heat of summer was ripe.

As soon as I approached the bars, Michael snapped, as rough as usual.

“What?”

Even if he looked at me viciously, it didn’t feel threatening to me at all.

He was haggard beyond comparison to when I was poisoned four years ago.

‘Unlike then, this kid really almost died….’

According to Nike, the poison in the decoction was far more than the lethal dose.

If it was someone else, not Michael, who was resistant to poison, he would have gone to the afterworld on the spot.

“If you have nothing to say, go away… Keuk!”

Mihael spat out a dry cough while talking.

Harsh sounds rang out in the chilly dungeon as if tearing up the lungs.

“Keuk! Keuk!“

“…Michael!”

I got close to the bars without realizing it.

Michael’s condition seemed quite serious.

He was trying to cover his mouth, but I could clearly see drops of blood dripping under his chin.

I looked around in a hurry.

None of the guards watching paid attention to Michael.

I shouted at them who were standing still.

“Please bring me some medicine! Or a cup of water…!”

“Hey, don’t make a fuss”.

Even when I tried to take care of him, Michael frowned and dissuaded me.

I stuck my face close to the bars and shot back.

“Take it and eat it.”

Only then did Michael shut up.

I was surprised by my own rough expression, and it seemed like I was going to hiccup.

I took the opportunity to gather my hands tightly together and plead to the guards.

“Hurry up, Michael is very sick.”

The guards, who were avoiding my gaze, seemed puzzled.

“Princess, that’s… We’ve been ordered not to approach him recklessly.”

‘That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give him a cup of water…’

I was frustrated by the lackadaisical guards.

“If Michael dies like this, it will be harder to reveal the real culprit.”

If Michael died, the case would just end after branding him as the criminal.

Which meant I wouldn’t know who the real culprit was.

For me, it was very important for Michael to live and claim his innocence.

I eventually broke through the guards and approached the table far away.

On the table were water bottles, cups, and plates.

They left it outside the prison because they couldn’t carelessly give cutlery to dangerous people.

I poured a cup of cold water from the water bottle and put the cup through the bars.

Then the guards rushed over in a fuss.

“Princess, it’s dangerous!”

“Please stay away right now!”

These people, when Benny was trapped in the past, they just glanced with scared eyes… I guess they were like that because they were not afraid of Michael.

I ignored the guards and looked straight at Michael.

“Drink it, Brother.”

I didn’t even think about getting up from the floor.

I shook the cup of water in frustration.

“Drink it. Can’t you walk? Do you want me to bring it all the way there?”

“…….”

Using both hands, Michael pushed himself off the ground.

As soon as he staggered up, he touched the wall as if he was dizzy and breathed heavily.

It did look hard.

But he soon clenched his teeth and walked to the bars.

The way he approached with his tired body seemed to reveal his unique stubbornness.

He took the cup of water from my hand and gulped it down.

The glass quickly ran out. I think he was very thirsty.

After drinking all the water, he sank down on the spot.

I was surprised, almost thinking he collapsed again.

“What’s wrong?”

Fortunately, Michael was intact and answered while holding the glass with both hands.

“….It’s nothing.

I squatted down in place and looked at him.

He still looked haggard, but somehow his complexion seemed slightly better than before.

At that time, red eyes like rubies suddenly turned to me.

“Why are you here?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you here? Did you come here to find out if I really did it?”

Michael’s tone was as sharp as usual.

I sighed openly in front of him like a feisty cat.

“To ask such a question, you need to get better first. I came today because I had something to say.”

“What is it?”

“So…”

I rubbed both hands awkwardly and whispered with my face close to the bars.

“Thank you.”

Michael’s expression blanked out as if he had been hit on the head with a hammer.

“What did you say?

“Please understand it at once…”

I lowered my voice again because I was afraid that the guards would hear it.

“I didn’t forgive you. That’s a different matter.”

I didn’t mean to bring up how he wanted to turn me into an idiot.

But anyway, Michael ate poison instead for me.

I should thank him for that.

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“Thank you, Michael. For saving my life.”

Upon hearing my words, Michael looked completely absent-minded.

He murmured as he swept up his dry blond hair like dried straw.

“Don’t you believe it? I… I did a self-made play.”

“There’s no reason for you to do that.”

I could guarantee it. Michael was not the culprit.

He was not a fool, even though he was annoying.

‘If Michael was going to poison me, he wouldn’t have used the poisonous herbs he raised in his greenhouse.’

This was a trick to openly frame him.

I didn’t know who the culprit was, but the more I thought about it, the more disgusted I felt.

‘It’s my privilege to bully Michael.’

I grabbed the bars tightly and whispered in his ears.

“Where were you before the awakening ceremony? What is it called… Do you have an alibi?”

In order to find out the true culprit, Michael had to be cleared of the false accusation.

For now, everyone was suspicious of him.

I thought Michael would answer me thoroughly as usual, but surprisingly, he lowered his head helplessly.

“I don’t know.”

I was a little surprised. It was my first time seeing him so down.

“Don’t joke around. I know you’re not the culprit. Tell me honestly.”

“…….”

Michael slowly raised his head.

There was a deep gloom in his red eyes.

“I hated you.”

“Huh?”

That was out of the blue.

I wondered if he was half asleep, but I didn’t think so.

“From the beginning, I hated you. Because you were pathetic.”

Michael leaned his head against the bars and spoke to me in my ear.

“You even know you’re destined to die anyway, and yet you’re struggling desperately to survive… I was annoyed.”

“Why are you saying some…”

“Just like me.”

Michael’s voice trembled slightly as if suppressing something.

“That’s why I hated you.”

I recalled Michael’s hostility that I experienced from the first time I saw him.

Now I could see how the fierce gaze began.

It was self-hatred.

“…Don’t you hate me now?”

I patted the bars carefully. The tapping sound was refreshing.

“’Hated me’. Not ‘hate me’.” 

Michael didn’t talk for a while and looked straight at me.

“You’ve changed.”

My face was reflected in his mirror-like ruby red eyes.

“You’re becoming more and more like Father. Just like a real daughter.”

“…Me?”

That was a strange statement.

I was not even Alan’s biological daughter.

Michael paused for a while and reached through the bars.

“I’ll tell you a secret.”

Michael pulled me by the collar.

I felt an impending headache and it hurt for a while, and he put his lips on my ear lobe.

The guards were surprised and ran to pull me back.

“P-Princess!”

“This bastard, take your hands off the Princess right now!”

At that time, several heavy footsteps were heard from the entrance.

The sound of footsteps mixed with the sound of the armor approaching the door, and the iron door opened with a creaking sound.

As soon as the guards looked back, they became nervous.

“Du, Duke…!”

They quickly removed their hands from me and greeted him.

“We, we were trying to stop the prisoner before he could do nonsense to the princess!”

Alan, who appeared with the knights, walked straight to me without caring about the guards.

He kindly reached out to me who was sitting on the floor.

I, out of spirit, stood up and reflexively holding his hand.

Alan tucked my messy hair behind my ears and looked back at Michael.

His eyes were as cold as an ice awl.

“Michael, evidence has been found that you put poison in my daughter’s potion.”

If it was another prisoner, he would have a surname after his name.

But Michael was just ‘Michael’.

He had no family to protect him.

House Bauner, whom he believed he could be a family member of, was not on his side from the beginning.

“The poisonous herb in the decoction was collected from your greenhouse, and we have secured witnesses who said they saw you entering the kitchen just before the awakening ceremony.”

Michael was still listening to the absurd words.

His eyes were out of focus as his body fell as if he had completely dried up.

“Michael, you wanted to prove your worth in 10 years.”

Alan hugged me with one arm as if protecting me.

It was chilling rather than reassuring, those hands on my shoulders.

“You drank your own medicine, but there is no way to prove your exact intention. Therefore, the charge of the attempted murder is applied, and considering that the victim is the official daughter of the Duke of Bauner…”

Alan paused for a moment. It was to announce the scheduled end.

“You’ll be hanged without trial.”

Michael lowered his head deeply. Because of this, I couldn’t tell what expression he was making.

After finishing what he wanted to say, Alan took me out of the tower.

In my head, Michael’s whisper was ringing.

Attempted murder. Hanging.

More than anything else, a word stuck in my head.

“The one who put poison in, was me.”

As I pondered the words, I went to the only person who could give me a clue.

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