If You Devour Poison / Doku wo Kurawaba Sara Made

Chapter 4: The Capture Targets

In the Royal Family’s office, situated at the center of the castle, sunlight poured in through the windows facing the courtyard.
With his back to the window, seated on a comfortable chair, and elbows on the mahogany table, Crown Prince Vikram had a pensive look on his face. Beside him was a lovable girl, her long black hair flowing down her back.

Her name was Nasha Laturi. Born and raised in a village called Cofone in the outskirts of the Kingdom of Palcemith, she was the current holy maiden. Timid parents, two older sisters, a younger twin sister, and a sickly brother made up her family of seven. They were by no means affluent, in fact, they were poor enough to be hard-pressed for dinner on some days. Yet, Nasha did not loathe her life in Cofone village and lived her days modestly.

One day, knights claiming to be messengers of the royal family appeared in her house and took her away to the capital in what seemed to be almost a kidnapping. She was shocked when the smirking Head Priest Malacia told her that she had been chosen to be the Sacrificial Priestess to be offered to the Dragon.

Even the luxurious room she was given, the luxurious food she was presented with, and the position of being waited upon by even the royal family failed to comfort her. Even if she wished for a mere glimpse of her worried family, she could never do so.

Yet she did not give up.

She spoke to the Crown Prince and the Imperial Knights who came periodically to meet her in house arrest. She succeeded in building a relationship of mutual trust with them, and they would take Nasha outside at times.

In her world that had grown just a tiny bit bigger, she desperately searched for a way to free herself from her predicament.

She knew lamenting would change nothing. She looked straight ahead, fighting against overwhelming powers and her sorry fate. Her figure touched the hearts of the Crown Prince and his aides.

Before long, Nasha fell in love with the Crown Prince, overcame the obstacles brought by the Crown Prince’s fiancée, the Dragon Priestess Julieta, and at last overturned her fate.

“But still, it’s unexpected…”

The one who broke the silence was a blonde-haired boy, with a beautiful face that could be easily mistaken for a girl’s, sitting on the two-person sofa opposite the crown prince’s desk. Wearing an informal robe with a dragon-shaped brooch on his chest, his name was Morin Swettso. Despite having commoner origins, he was a child prodigy who had passed his bachelor’s examination, which was under the direct purview of the royal palace, at only six years of age. He was currently the brains behind Crown Prince Vikram.

“Indeed. Even though the plan was to have her running around me.”

Sitting on the sofa beside Morin was a youth dazedly gazing up at the frescoes on the ceiling. His name was Lutora Milca Oswein. The most adept at scouting amongst the Royal Knights, he was a young man with short-cropped gray hair and a wise air around him.

“I never thought the Prime Minister would not respond to such provocation… we have to rethink our plans.”

“I was certain that he would be seething in rage and raising hell and then go to make necessary arrangements with the powerful nobles after that, but...”

“I intended to dig up the nobles with deep connections to the Prime Minister, but the results were contrary to our expectations.”

“Sigurd, do you have any idea? Why did the Prime Minister act in such a manner?”

On being called out and asked a question, the masculine-looking young man who was standing behind the Crown Prince, gazing at the courtyard beyond the window, quickly shifted his gaze onto Lutora.