Villain, Let Me Touch You! - Chapter 114
It was the deadliest snake in his collection, carrying a venom so potent that not even the Empire had an antidote for it.
Only Milchin had the antidote.
So the woman should have been dead by now. But not only was she still alive, she had regained consciousness after half a day.
āThatās impossible. Thereās no way.ā
That was all Milchin could say.
āYou lied to me, didnāt you? Or did you give the antidote to that bastard, Helios?ā
Milchinās pupils flickered nervously. What had been supposed to be a big reward had instead put his life in danger.
With a loud thud, Milchin knelt.
āPlease, Your Grace! But I swear, the yellow-banded viperās venom is deadly!ā
Priscilla looked down at him without a word.
It was only after the situation went awry that Priscilla realized she had made a glaring mistake.
Helios will suspect me.
Helios might not have backing, but he certainly wasnāt lacking in skill.
If he truly set out to investigate her, there was no way she would escape.
Iāll have to strike first.
She had been in a similar situation before. Hadnāt she given up the chamberlain to protect herself back then?
If she handed Milchin over, he would die, but what did it matter?
Even if he had succeeded, she had planned to deal with Milchin anyway.
Priscilla’s eyes gleamed with a venomous light. However, her voice calling Milchin was as smooth as silk.
“Milchin.”
“Y-Yes, Your Grace?”
Milchin raised his head, his pupils trembling violently.
“I must have pushed you too hard. You probably didnāt want things to go wrong like this, did you?”
“Y-Yes. Ah! I didnāt mean that you pushed me, Your Graceā¦”
“I understand your feelings.”
Priscilla gently patted Milchin’s shoulder.
“Milchin, it seems your stay here is no longer favorable.”
It was the dismissal he had been waiting for. Though he hadnāt received the title he had hoped for, Priscilla had already ensured he had ample money.
It was enough to live comfortably for the rest of his life, with Chloe, in a small village.
“Yes, Your Grace. I will leave now.”
Milchin left the palace, barely managing a proper farewell, as though Priscilla might stop him. She watched him leave, then called for her aide.
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“I need to get rid of Milchin.”
The aide quickly started formulating a plan in his mind.
“I’ll prepare a customs declaration.”
It was standard practice to fill out a customs declaration when importing plants and animals from foreign lands. Of course, few actually followed this rule. There were too many ports in the empire to keep track of, and countless people crossing the borders through inland passages.
So it wasnāt surprising that there were many like Milchin, who collected bizarre and unusual things.
“Once the customs declaration is filed, His Highness the Crown Prince will have no choice but to pursue Milchin.”
Helios would be suspicious of the customs declaration. It would be hard to justify using a yellow-banded snake, listed in the declaration, as the weapon for poisoning.
But without more solid evidence, the investigation would be wrapped up. The aideās orders were only to eliminate Milchin.
“When we find Milchin, he wonāt be a man of this world anymore.”
The aide did not bother to think beyond that.
It was the way to survive long in his line of work.
***
The moment I opened my eyes, feeling as though my throat was burning, I met Helios’s gaze.
His eyes widened as if he had seen something extraordinary, and he dropped the papers he was holding.
“Your Highness, theā”
Before I could finish speaking, he suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.
It was so strong that I thought I might suffocate before dying of thirst.
Without saying a word, he just held me, and from his quiet relief, I could feel the depth of his worry. How much had he been stressing over me?
Understanding that, I didn’t push him away. Instead, I returned the embrace.
I inhaled deeply, taking in his scent, which had always been a faint presence beside me whenever I regained my senses. It meant that he had stayed by my side, watching over me through the night as I suffered.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Heliosās arms loosened slightly, and as he pulled away, he looked into my face before offering me a cup of water. My throat was so dry that I drained the cup in an instant.
“Drink slowly. Iām not thirsty, so donāt worry about drinking it all.”
Heliosās thumb brushed the edge of my lips. He then licked the droplet of water that clung to his thumb.
It was just a simple action of wiping away moisture. But for some reason, I found it oddly erxtic.
