Chapter 43: What a Lot of Coincidences!

“I’ll head over in a moment.”

Abel closed the door behind him and let out a soft sigh.

Another apology.

Her Highness the Princess was truly persistent. 

She had chased him all the way from the royal capital to the Marquis Territory, apologizing again and again.

Although she had indeed gone too far before, he had to admit that this tenacity of hers was somewhat impressive.

Oh well.

Since she was showing such sincerity, it would seem petty of him to keep refusing. 

Besides, he would still be operating within the kingdom in the future. 

It wouldn’t be good to have too strained a relationship with the royal family — at least, he didn’t want to cause trouble for his older brother.

He changed into casual attire and stepped out of the room.

The corridor was empty. 

Only the morning light filtering through the stained-glass windows cast colorful patterns across the floor.

Abel headed toward the reception room.

Behind him, beside the door he had just closed, a figure in a maid uniform leaned against the wall. 

She covered her mouth as her shoulders shook violently.

Strands of purple-red hair peeked out from under her maid cap, and her star-like eyes curved into a strange arc.

“Hee hee… hee hee hee hee…”

She laughed in a suppressed yet delighted manner, like a cat that had stolen a fish.

“The show… is about to begin~”

In the reception room, Prim sat upright with perfect posture.

She had deliberately chosen a light pink long dress for today. 

Her hair was styled into an elegant updo, adorned with a delicate pearl accessory.

On the tea table in front of her sat an exquisite tea set and pastries. 

Everything looked flawless.

However, when her gaze fell upon the teapot, her heartbeat quickened involuntarily.

It’s fine. Everything is fine.

She told herself.

This was the “trump card” her second brother Lyle had given her — the Witch’s Secret Potion, divided into two parts: A and B.

As long as Abel drank tea mixed with Powder B and she drank Powder A, he would unknowingly develop intense affection and loyalty toward her.

It was said to be a secret medicine passed down from the era of witches. The effect was supposedly absolutely reliable.

What? It was this simple all along!

The corners of Prim’s mouth couldn’t help but curl upward slightly.

She had gone through all that unnecessary effort — apologizing, following him around, even learning to fight. She had wasted so much emotion! 

If she had known there was something this convenient, why had she bothered putting up with all that frustration?

“Your Highness.”

The maid’s voice came from outside the door. “Lord Abel has arrived.”

Prim quickly composed her expression and assumed a dignified posture.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Abel walked in.

“Your Highness the Princess.” 

He gave a slight nod as a greeting.

Prim stood up and offered a proper smile. 

“Lord Abel, thank you for coming. Please, have a seat.”

Abel sat down across from her, his gaze sweeping over the tea set and pastries on the table without comment.

Prim personally poured him a cup of tea, her movements elegant and graceful.

“Lord Abel,” she said, lifting her own teacup. Her water-blue eyes looked straight at him. 

“The reason I invited you here today is to apologize once again for my rudeness that day.”

Her tone was sincere.

“When I think back, I was truly blinded by arrogance at the arena entrance that day. You had already given a warning, yet I still…”

She shook her head.

“No matter what I say now, it’s useless. I only hope that from today onward, we can let bygones be bygones and get along well.”

Abel looked at her.

Her Highness the Princess was indeed different today. 

She lacked her previous aggressiveness and condescending arrogance. 

Her eyes held only sincere apology and… some kind of expectation?

He picked up the teacup and gently swirled it.

The tea was clear with a pleasant aroma. It showed no visible problems.

“Your Highness is being too serious,” he said. “Let the past remain in the past.”

Prim’s eyes lit up. “Then… are you willing to forgive me?”

“I’m not that petty,” Abel replied. 

“Besides, I’ll still be active within the kingdom. It wouldn’t be good to have too bad a relationship with the royal family.”

Prim nodded repeatedly. 

“Yes, yes, exactly! That’s what I thought too!”

She raised her own teacup.

“So, once we finish this cup of tea, shall we consider all our past grievances resolved?”

Abel looked at her, then at the teacup in his hand.

That simple?

One cup of tea and it’s over?

But on second thought, perhaps the princess genuinely just wanted to reconcile. 

After all, she had chased him this far and apologized multiple times. Her sincerity was clear enough.

He raised the teacup, preparing to drink—

“You can’t drink that!”

The door was slammed open.

A silver figure rushed in and, with lightning speed, smacked the teacup out of Abel’s hand.

The cup shattered on the floor, tea splashing everywhere.

“Ingrid?!” 

Abel looked at the silver-haired female knight who had suddenly appeared in shock.

Prim’s expression changed instantly.

She shot to her feet and glared furiously at Ingrid. 

“What are you doing?! Who let you in?!”

Ingrid stood protectively in front of Abel, her honey-golden eyes locked firmly on Prim.

“You can’t drink it! It’s poisoned!”

“Poisoned?!” 

Prim’s voice rose sharply. 

“What gives you the right to accuse me of poisoning?! I was going to drink that tea myself!”

“You were going to drink it?” 

Ingrid sneered. 

“I saw you secretly adding powder into the teacup with my own eyes! You were acting so suspiciously. You clearly had ill intentions!”

Prim’s face flushed red. “I-I was just—”

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

She had indeed added something, but it wasn’t poison!

“No poison?” 

Ingrid pointed at the floor. 

“Why don’t you take a look for yourself!”

Prim looked down and froze.

The spilled tea on the floor was emitting fine white smoke. 

The wooden floor touched by the tea was visibly blackening and cracking at a rapid rate. 

The fresh green decorative plants nearby instantly withered and turned yellow-brown.

This was definitely lethal poison!

“T-This is impossible!” 

Prim’s face turned deathly pale. “What I added was clearly—”

She stopped abruptly, realizing she had said too much.

Abel stared at the blackened patch on the floor, his eyes turning sharp.

He slowly stood up and looked at Prim.

“Your Highness the Princess,” his voice was calm, yet calm in a way that sent chills down one’s spine, “do you have anything to explain?”

“It’s not me! It’s not!” 

Prim waved her hands frantically, tears nearly spilling from her eyes. 

“I really didn’t poison it! What I added was clearly— something else! It wasn’t poison!”

“Something else?” 

Ingrid sneered coldly. 

“Then why don’t you tell us what exactly you added?”

Prim opened her mouth but couldn’t speak.

What could she say?

That “I added a witch’s secret potion because I wanted to turn you into my loyal dog”?

That would be asking for death!

“See? You can’t say it.” Ingrid turned to Abel, her expression sincere. 

“Lord Abel, I happened to see her acting suspiciously in the corridor earlier, adding something to the tea. I felt something was wrong, so I rushed over. Thank goodness I made it in time, otherwise the consequences would have been disastrous.”

Abel looked at her.

Those honey-golden eyes were filled with sincere concern and relief, along with a trace of pride for “good thing I noticed in time.”

Too coincidental.

Everything was far too coincidental.

Prim definitely had ulterior motives — her guilty expression couldn’t be faked.

But her shock when she saw the poisoned tea on the ground didn’t seem fake either.

That meant whatever she originally intended to add had been swapped out for actual poison.

And Ingrid just “happened to pass by,” “happened to see it,” and “happened to arrive just in time” to save him.

What a lot of coincidences indeed!