The Lycan King's Puppet-Chapter 116: Blurred

Claire stared at him with wide eyes as if she expected him to take back his words and exempt only her.

What if it was spiked? How was she to survive?

Falstaff picked up his goblet and held it close to his lips. She could hear his laboured breathing from where she stood.

Andon, who had been silent, picked up the pitcher and refilled Plumette’s goblet.

The older man murmured a grudging ’thank you’ and picked up the goblet.

She and the others were left.

He carried his drink, and she was forced to do the same.

Yeren was watching all of them closely, waiting for them to empty their goblets.

How ironic - he was finally looking at her when she was about to possibly drink poison.

Falstaff tilted the cup to his lips and finished everything in one long gulp. Afterwards, he wiped his lips with the back of his hand and set the cup on the table with a loud thud.

Redmare followed suit, so did Plumette, Rodick and Aldrich.

And she was the only one left.

The goblet felt very heavy in her hand as she stared at its content.

Then, squeezing her eyes shut, she downed the drink.

It tasted like normal wine, with a soothing yet tingling aftertaste. Nothing was different or off about it.

Claire dropped the goblet at the edge of the table and waited for the poison to take effect.

But nothing happened.

Everyone seemed fine.

And it only made her feel like a fool. She had accused them of poisoning the King.

Rodick took his seat with a grunt, wiping his mouth with a cloth he produced from his garment.

"This is why the word of a servant should never hold any value next to that of peers of the Realm." Redmare said.

Aldrich lowered his eyes but said nothing. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Claire stepped back. She wanted to hide, better yet run away.

But to where?

Yeren’s jaw twitched but he still watched them quietly.

"Apologize to them, Miss Stenly."

Her eyes rose to meet his across the room.

He was looking at her.

She felt her knees wobble beneath her dress.

"Over my dead body." She said quietly and turned to walk away.

She could feel his eyes as she walked away, not just his - that of everyone in the room.

"Be careful what you ask for, it just might come true." She heard one of them say as she closed the door behind her.

She leaned on the door for a brief moment, trying to understand why she was still alive.

And why Yeren was bent on humiliating and belittling her.

The return to her chambers was long and uneventful.

Claire went straight to her room and fell face-flat on the large feather bed. It creaked under her weight, briefly filling the silence before it disappeared.

"I should hate him." She murmured to herself.

Slowly, she fell asleep. It was a long, dreamless sleep. When she awoke, candles were lit in the room. Her arms and legs felt heavy and her lungs felt like they were burning.

She pulled herself to a sitting position with a grunt and struggled to stare ahead of her.

What was wrong?

She was fine just a few minutes ago.

A glance outside the window told her it was getting dark.

How long had she slept? She was a light sleeper - she never slept that long, no matter how tired she was.

The moment her feet touched the cold floor, her head began to swirl.

Something was wrong with her indeed. But what?

She hadn’t had breakfast since she woke in the morning - so it wasn’t something she ate that wasn’t agreeing with her.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"My lady, Lord Redmare to see you." Her olive-skinned guard called from beyond the door.

"Send him in." She said without thinking.

The door opened and footsteps clicked loudly over the polished floor.

"You look pathetic."

She lifted her heavy head with much effort on her part and tried to focus her vision on him. He appeared in twos and threes.

"What... do you want?"

Claire swayed from side to side as she spoke.

"You don’t look like you’d make it till morning - a sad disadvantage of being a helpless human. And a woman at that." He scoffed. "Take this." He gave her a little vile. "Drink it all and burn it when you’re done, if not, you’re sister will have to return to your uncle after you’re dead."

Her mind was slurred - she could hear him, but her processing speed was very slow.

"What is this?" The cold glass felt foreign in her palm.

"An antidote to a very deadly poison."

"And why are you giving me this? Won’t you prefer it if I die?"

He grabbed her jaw and lifted her face until she could see his eyes, his fingernails biting painfully into her soft skin.

She gulped.

"Good question. I do want you to die, but not in a situation where the blood would be on my very innocent hands. Such a time would come soon enough, I promise you, but for now, abide a little longer."

He released her jaw. "You’re little ’sniff the poison’ game worked too well. And now, we are left in a twist. The King is too smart for his few years - and he knows perfectly well that if all of us die, neither of us poisoned it and if all of us survive, the drink was never spiked."

Claire blinked. It was a full struggle to open her eyes again.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"If you die and we survive, it would be obvious that you knew nothing about it, leaving the rest of the honourable council as suspects. Only the poisoner would know the antidote to the poison he used. And in this case, you would’ve died a pathetic death. But you understand that once you take the antidote and choose life, you are bound in loyalty to me for saving your life." He leaned lower until their eyes were nearly on the same level.

"If you report me to the King or to anyone else, you will be hanged for treason and I’ll make sure that all evidence points to only you."