Apparently, I’m a Poisonous Woman Who Sells One-Night Dreams, but I Ended Up Awakening a Hero’s Devoted Love - Chapter 2.15

As she watched the fragments of memories flowing one after another, Mariadoll pondered which one to choose.

She had decided on one from when Carnah died, but for the other, even Dennis couldn’t decide which moment to pick and had left it up to Mariadoll.

From Dennis’s perspective, he probably thought the first one was enough, since after Carnah’s death, he wanted clues connected to whoever had ransacked her room.

(Prince Dennis said it was a staged double suicide, but I want to know Lady Carnah’s feelings and thoughts too.)

Mariadoll hesitated for a while, but time was limited.

In that case, she reached out for the memory of when Dennis and Carnah’s engagement was decided.

Amidst the falling snowflakes, a man and a woman sat in the garden gazebo, idly watching the scenery turn white.

“I was surprised when I heard from Father. I never thought I’d be told to marry you.”

The woman, speaking in a tone that could be taken as resignation while exhaling white breath, held down her chestnut-colored curly hair blowing in the wind with both hands and looked up at the man beside her with her blue eyes.

Dennis, slightly younger than now, had black hair that reached about his shoulders. He had tied it up casually and was looking at the falling snow just like the woman.

“I’m sorry. I’ve dragged you into this, Carnah.”

“It’s fine. After losing the war, we have to pay massive reparations and even build a highway crossing the country. Not to boast, but our House of Roshas has the greatest financial power in this nation. It can’t be helped that I was chosen to be the prince’s consort. Though I heard it was a unanimous decision in the parliament, they say His Majesty the King is secretly opposed.”

“Because he dislikes me gaining power. I have no interest in being king. I just want to become a subject quickly and live a carefree life.”

(His Majesty doesn’t seem to have favorable feelings toward Prince Dennis.)

Dennis, being the child of the deceased queen consort, was also a figure the king feared.

When the previous king died, Dennis was still a child, so no nobles promoted him, but now that he’s an adult, a faction claiming Dennis is more suited to be king could appear at any moment.

The fact that the noble council unanimously pushed for Carnah to be Dennis’s wife could also be seen as a sign of that.

“If only that war hadn’t happened, you might have ended up with the princess of Dunbargas, Dennis.”

“Wh-what are you saying all of a sudden!”

“Oh, did you think I hadn’t noticed? I studied abroad in Dunbargas too, you know.”

“Only for a month, though.”

“Seeing you blush so obviously, I didn’t need a month to figure it out. Just a moment—a single moment. Don’t underestimate your childhood friend.”

As Carnah shrugged with an “Oh well,” Dennis made a sour face and groaned, then took off the coat he was wearing and draped it over her slender shoulders.

“That’s all in the past now. From now on, it’s only you, Carnah.”

“Do you really understand what that means? Making me your wife, having children. Can you do that?”

“…Couldn’t you phrase that better? What about you? You said there was someone you always liked, right? I can no longer meet Princess Melfi, but you’re different. You could even arrange to meet him…”

Carnah covered his mouth with her hand, and Dennis swallowed his next words.

Her upturned blue eyes were glistening.

“That won’t do. When I was told to become the prince’s consort, I decided to live in a way that wouldn’t bring shame to the title. We were raised being told that political marriages are a noble’s duty. This is unavoidable. I’ll seal away these feelings of love. Thinking that, I’m glad it’s you, Dennis. Even if feelings of romance or love never sprout between us, I believe I can build a relationship of trust with you.”

“Yeah. I trust you too, Carnah. You’re beautiful, and our children would surely be cute.”

“Hehehe, you seem like you’d be a doting father. Don’t worry, our future is bright.”

“Ah, it’s cold! I can’t take it anymore!” Carnah stood up and returned the coat on her shoulders to Dennis.

“Oh, right. Dennis, do you need the ‘Bracelet of Delmis’?”

“I won’t be going to war anymore, so I probably don’t need it.”

“Lately, among the youth, it’s popular for men to buy the Bracelet of Delmis and give its key to the woman they fancy. Apparently, it’s like a pledge to love only her forever.”

“Huh,” Dennis replied disinterestedly.

“Why don’t you give it to her?”

“Me? Even if I suddenly gave her the key, she was born in a foreign country—she wouldn’t understand its meaning. Besides, you should be the one to give it, Carnah.”

“Listen, it wouldn’t be proper for me, who’s from the same country and will continue to see him, to give him a gift. I just said I want to be proper as the prince’s consort. But you won’t be able to meet her anymore…”

“Then I can’t do it either. Besides, if you want to be proper, I should receive it from you.”

“You’re so stubborn,” Carnah puffed her cheeks, and Dennis crossed his arms, saying it was mutual. To anyone watching from afar, they would look like an affectionate couple, but their conversation weighed heavily on Mariadoll’s heart.

Then, gradually, their voices faded away. It was about time to leave this memory.

(I understand the bond between Prince Dennis and Lady Carnah, but it’s unclear who the knight Lady Carnah admired was.)

There were no clues about his age or appearance in their words.

“Well then, let’s go buy it together tomorrow or something.”

Finally, Carnah’s voice was heard, and the dream ended.

Once again, numerous memories appeared before Mariadoll.

(Next is when Lady Carnah died.)

From the flowing memories, Mariadoll chose the most vivid one.

But the moment she unraveled it, a piercing sadness flowed in along with it.

As the doctor bowed and stepped back from the bedside, Dennis rushed over in his place.

“Carnah! Why did it come to this?”

His face, peering down as if covering her, was pale. But confirming the slight remaining warmth, he clung to her, stroking her cheek over and over.

“She was poisoned. The knight who was with her also passed away earlier.”

“What’s the knight’s name?”

“Tert. I heard he attended the noble academy with Lady Carnah.”

While thinking in the corner of his mind whether he was the third or fourth son of a baron, Dennis wondered if he was Carnah’s beloved. Carnah, who never spoke about herself, had never revealed her hidden feelings.

A few months after their marriage, the king collapsed, and until his recovery, Dennis was tasked with acting as regent.

Amidst unfamiliar work and heavy pressure, Dennis was deeply grateful to Carnah for joining him in official duties and thought it was good she was his consort. Whether it was friendship or something else, there was unmistakable trust between them, which was why he couldn’t believe Carnah would commit a double suicide with a knight.

“Carnah said she would live in a way that wouldn’t bring shame to being the prince’s consort. Investigate everyone who entered this room, now! This is an assassination made to look like a double suicide.”

At Dennis’s roar, the knights in the room exchanged glances and hurriedly left. Remembering the knights’ poorly concealed pitying expressions, Dennis clenched the sheets. They probably thought he couldn’t accept the situation and was making up stories about assassination.

He summoned the doctor and asked about the poison’s components, but was told they didn’t know yet. “Hurry up!!” Dennis shouted.

(During our conversation, he never lost his calm expression, and even when Lord Jerf and I drank with him, he never used harsh words.)

Seeing him so distraught, Mariadoll’s chest tightened painfully.

The hand that had been placed on Carnah’s cheek now lovingly touched her hair. On Dennis’s wrist, which combed through her hair repeatedly, a golden bracelet gleamed.

(So after that, Lady Carnah gave him the bracelet. No, she said they’d go buy it together, so maybe they chose it together as a symbol of trust.)

The image of her younger self, who had lost her parents, overlapped with Dennis before her, and the loss of a precious person welled up anew in her chest.

When Dennis happened to look up at one point, the edge of his vision caught the desk. True to her reputation for actively trying to learn politics, a considerable number of books were piled high.

Though she could sense several people moving about the room, Dennis’s gaze remained fixed on Carnah, so Mariadoll couldn’t tell who else was there. Eventually, someone stood behind Dennis and spoke hesitantly.

“Prince Dennis, His Majesty the King is calling for you.”

“I have no intention of leaving here now! Tell him that!!”

“But…”

Dennis clicked his tongue, stood up, and without looking at the knight who had spoken, directed his gaze toward the door. At that moment, for just an instant, the desk entered his view again.

(Ah!! The books that were neatly stacked just a moment ago have collapsed. And the desk drawer is slightly open too.)

Since Dennis hadn’t touched it, it must have been the work of someone who had been in the room. With Dennis by the bed where Carnah lay, if someone had been in such a hurry to search the desk that they needed to find something urgently, that must be what the culprit was looking for.

(What were they searching for? A book? Documents?)

Just as she tried to focus her consciousness to see better, Mariadoll felt a pulling sensation from behind and returned to the real world.