8 - Valentina's Paradise
Valentina didn't back down an inch, staring straight at him with her head held high.
"This isn't Petronia, it's Regio Florida. If you kill me here, you'll die too, won't you?"
"If I'm going to die anyway, I might as well die with you. It was my wish to die with you, on the same day and at the same time."
The elegant and courteous demeanor vanished in an instant, revealing his true colors. The bare bottom of his emotions was desperate and violent. Valentina, to calm his agitation, asked in a composed voice.
"Edeled, I have no reason to be subjected to this by you. Explain the reason."
He wiped his mouth with one sleeve and laughed as if dumbfounded.
"You're really shameless. You put poison so blatantly in the food, did you think I wouldn't notice? It's the fifth time since I arrived here, isn't that too much?"
Fifth time? Valentina was greatly shocked.
"What are you talking about? I swear I don't know anything about it!"
"Oh, you don't know? Then did the maids put it in? Should I interrogate them all? Your jester? The knight? Or did your uncle from Nebulosa put it in?"
"Edeled! Explain yourself so I can understand!"
As Valentina shouted, Edeled twisted his lips and spat out.
"It's a very familiar and missed scent. When I was young, I almost died several times after eating food with that scent. Once, I was so hungry that I ate greedily and vomited so much blood, I thought all the blood in my body was pouring out through my throat. I don't know about anything else, but I'll never forget that scent."
"……."
"But, that smell keeps coming from the food you send. Were you worried I'd get homesick?"
Valentina laughed with a hollow face. Pepe had completely misunderstood. It felt like the strength was draining from her legs.
"So, every time food with that scent came out, you threw it all up?"
"Ah, so I should have obediently swallowed it for you?"
"So, you've been eating very slowly, checking your body's condition, because you were afraid an unknown poison would come out?"
"Why? Were you unhappy that I was struggling to live again? Because I didn't die like a man should?"
He sneered endlessly. Valentina shook her head and explained step by step.
"That scent is from a spice made from Mandrako, a specialty of Florida. Originally, it's quite toxic, and if eaten as is, it will cause you to vomit blood and die, but if the toxicity is neutralized, it's used as an excellent medicine, painkiller, and top-grade spice. The spice that came out today is one that I personally neutralized."
His eyes widened. Valentina hammered in a wedge as he moved his lips as if to say something.
"Don't you remember that I cut the same piece of meat from the same plate, divided it, and ate it with you?"
"……."
His sword slowly fell downwards. His face turned red in an instant, and the black pupils that had been glaring at her murderously hurriedly fled to the side.
"...I misunderstood. I'm sorry. I showed you an unsightly sight."
The gray puppy whined and clung to him as if finally relieved. He picked up the puppy, stroked its head, and soothed it.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm okay. Were you worried? It's nothing."
The whispered voice was warm and affectionate. Valentina sighed and changed the subject.
"May I ask what the name of your loyal subject is?"
"...I don't have one. Just call him Puppy."
"To not even bestow a name, let alone a ceremony of appointment, to a loyal subject who is saving your life, is too much. I thought you had that much affection."
Valentina tried to joke, but before she could finish, she realized that her joke had failed. Edeled's eyes narrowed again, as if he had taken the words as criticism.
"I didn't deliberately not give him one."
"Why?"
"If he doesn't have a name, it'll be easier to forget this child after he's gone."
Suddenly, she was speechless.
His words of wanting to forget easily were not words of not loving. They contained the pain of not being able to bear even the remaining memories. Love often appears in the form of pain.
"You said it was cruel for this child to distinguish poison... May I ask you just one thing?"
He looked down at the puppy and added bitterly.
"At first, this child was for distinguishing poison, but as I grew fond of him, I couldn't do that anymore. Now we just eat together."
"……."
"So, when I die, this child will die with me. I'm not bad. He'll be my companion on the long journey. So, instead of sending this child away to live, is this heart of dying together and leaving together cruel or affectionate?"
For a moment, she was speechless. Edeled narrowed his eyes, smiled, and repeated again.
"Wise Dominella. Is it cruel or affectionate? Huh?"
The word "cruel" must have hurt quite a bit. Valentina clicked her tongue inwardly and replied.
"My words were harsh. I apologize to Gongzi as well."
Edeled stared at her suspiciously without answering. He seemed to trust nothing in this castle except the puppy in his arms.
"Edeled, I understand your words. Objects and names are important mediums of memory, so if love is too deep, you can't bear the remaining objects, and even the names that come to mind can be painful."
He tilted his head as if surprised. A faint light flickered in his black eyes.
"Think as you please. I can't say I'm grateful for your understanding, though."
Valentina had a premonition that the man before her would not easily disappear from her heart even after he left this castle. Some kinds of memories, for some unknown reason, have disgustingly long tails.
He turned around, straightened his clothes, and wiped his face with his sleeve. He seemed to care a lot about his appearance and attire, but it seemed he had left his handkerchief on the table. But when Valentina offered him a handkerchief, he was startled and avoided it.
"Keep it. It'll get dirty."
Instead of forcibly handing him the towel, Valentina silently reached out and wiped his cheeks and mouth. He was startled as if struck by lightning and hurriedly retreated to the wall.
"Don't touch me, it's really dirty... Oof!"
Valentina sighed, grabbed his wrist, and started walking down the empty hallway. Near the entrance, there was a large water jar prepared for people to drink from. Edeled couldn't shake off Valentina, who was much smaller than him, and was dragged out.
"Don't resist and just follow me quietly. Do I have to give you an order for you to stay still?"
"What are you going to do if I don't listen to that order? Tie me up and wipe my nose for me?"
Ah, should I just punch him once? Even in this state, does he want to raise his thorns and butt heads? Valentina replied coldly.
"Why? Do you think I can't do that to my former fiancé? I can't stand dirty and smelly men."
At those words, Edeled immediately gave up resisting. Valentina began to carefully wipe his face with a towel soaked in water. He squeezed his eyes shut and hunched his shoulders. He endured her touch with gritted teeth as if being tortured.
"Relax a little, Gongzi. I feel like I've become Loro."
"Who's Loro?"
"An investigator in the basement of our castle."
"...That's a strange name... Is he from the Romani tribe of Ora Shahara?"
"I don't know... But are you curious about that in the midst of all this?"
Valentina asked nonchalantly. His face seemed to be getting redder and redder. Does he feel this situation is humiliating? When she even tidied up his messy hair, his body stiffened like a wooden block.
I'm going to kill someone like this.
When Valentina stepped back, Edeled sighed deeply like a prisoner released from the torture rack.
"I apologize for showing you an unsightly sight."
"There's no need to be sorry."
"Still, I made a meal that should have been enjoyable disgusting. It wasn't the luxury of the old nobility of the Holy Empire, though."
"Don't worry about it. I've already finished eating."
Valentina suddenly stopped speaking. His apology contained the words Pepe had been saying in the hallway earlier. Each criticism that had reached her ears must have been piercing to the bone.
"I apologize on behalf of Pepe's rudeness."
"The jester was just telling the truth, so why apologize? I can't even lift my head because I ended the good time with Your Highness in this way."
Valentina said carefully, as if trying to soothe him.
"I sincerely feel sorry that you had a hard time... Of course, it must have been because of the Duke's illness."
In that instant, sparks flew from his eyes.
Duke Edwin II had doubted his son's bloodline, and later showed signs of mental confusion. So, he might have momentarily lost his reason and done such a thing to his son.
But Edeled neither admitted nor denied it, and just gritted his teeth. His long eyelashes seemed to be trembling.
Perhaps he was more ashamed that others knew about the fact that he had been subjected to such a thing by his father than the fact itself. Valentina sighed and changed the subject again.
"From now on, I will instruct them to cook without the Mandrako spice. There will be no such thing as today in the future."
