“Please, don’t say unnecessary things. You’ll jeopardize your position. And a prolonged consultation would seem unnatural. Please, leave.”
Though I tried to dismiss him, Lysander remained.
“Listen to me, Hermia. Helena is trying to kill you. But this presents an opportunity.”
He produced a small pill from his pocket and showed it to me.
“What is that?”
“It’s poison meant to kill you. I created it under orders from Princess Consort Helena.”
“Give poison to my sister and kill her! I can’t stand being a secondary consort!”
“Once my sister is gone, I’ll be the true crown princess, both in name and reality. I’ll show His Majesty my worth!”
That’s what Helena had said.
“I want to save you,” Lysander told me. “As the court physician, I plan to report Princess Consort Helena’s scheme to His Majesty. Hermia, show this poison to the king. With evidence, you can have your sister deposed. And then, surely, Prince Demetrius will—”
“I want to drink the poison,” I interrupted.
Lysander’s well-composed face stiffened in shock.
“…Are you serious? Do you intend to die and let your sister’s plan succeed?”
“No, this is revenge. My death will be the greatest retribution against them.”
Without me, this country cannot function. I have endured the rigorous education of a future queen and earned His Majesty’s high regard. Some state matters are already entrusted to me.
Helena, who knows only how to flatter others, cannot take my place. Even if another noblewoman were chosen as consort, it would be too late to find a replacement.
“I want to watch them struggle in despair from the depths of hell,” I said coldly.
Lysander’s expression turned unbearably sorrowful.
“When you were a child, you were like a free bird. So much has tormented you,” he murmured regretfully, then gently handed me the poison.
“Once consumed, you will lose consciousness in half a day. A few hours after that, you will appear unequivocally dead. There will be no pain—it’s a poison that will let you pass as though peacefully asleep.”
“How lovely. Thank you, Lysander.”
I smiled like a proper lady, and his face grew even sadder.
I’m sorry, Lysander. I am no longer the innocent child I once was.
My heart and emotions have withered away.
Even my love for you… dried up long ago.
I drank the poison without hesitation.
“If you wish for hell, I will follow you to its very end,” Lysander whispered before leaving my chambers.
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