How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending

Who knew how long we had been riding. The rain that had been falling like sharp blades finally began to lose its force. The raindrops that broke apart midair scattered into mist.

When Tristan clicked his tongue shortly, the black horse slowed to a stop. We had arrived at a desolate stretch of land at the edge of the territory. There was no sign of life anywhere in that vast wasteland.

I had no idea what he meant to do after bringing me all the way here. My throat went dry from tension.

“Your Grace?”

Was he planning to bury me here where no one would find out? No one in the Grand Duke’s household liked me anyway, so even if he did something to me in broad daylight, no one would question it. But still, why here?

Troubled, I stared blankly into the darkness. The heavy rain that had been tapering off suddenly stopped completely. The sky opened, and the black clouds dispersed.

Moonlight spilled over the rain-soaked ground.

There, before my eyes, spread a field of flowers that looked like red mist. Under the pale moonlight, the blooming red petals rippled like waves of blood.

Tristan swung down from his horse.

His black hair fell carelessly over his white forehead. Standing amidst the red sea of flowers, he lifted his arm toward me.

For a moment, I simply looked down at that marble-like face. Then I placed my hand in his, and with his support, I dismounted the horse.

That was when a terrible stench stabbed at my nose.

The smell of rotting flesh was so strong it made me dizzy and nauseated.

Then I realized.

“These are corpse flowers.”

“Yes. A rare plant that grows in Hezekia.”

“Oh…”

So it wasn’t a flower that literally fed on corpses.

After wandering for ten days in the wrong place, I had been branded a witch for nothing. My face twisted in disbelief, and Tristan gave a quiet laugh.

“I can’t imagine what you were thinking. Did you really believe there were flowers that grew by eating corpses?”

“…I guess not…”

Really, of course not. It’s not like they’re vultures. How would a wildflower eat a body? Even if I had fallen deep into this fantasy BL world, my imagination had gone too far. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at myself.

Tristan bent down and plucked one of the red flowers.

“The corpse flower is a poisonous plant. I doubt you were unaware of that when you claimed it as an ingredient for an antidote.”

“…”

I didn’t know.

It felt like all the blood drained from my body. I almost shouted for the System out loud. Poisonous? And I proudly said it was for an antidote?

‘Hey, System. What’s going on? Is it really poisonous?’

The corpse flower is…
…
(No response.)

The System lagged out, just when things got bad. Great.

Cold sweat ran down my temples, but I forced myself to stay calm.

‘No, that can’t be. I checked it in the original story.’

But the truth didn’t matter now. The problem was that Tristan believed the corpse flower was poisonous. If he wanted, he could easily accuse me of trying to poison Constantine.

“But, Your Grace…”

Just as I found my voice, Tristan spoke again in his calm tone.

“Depending on how it is used, it can become an elixir. I don’t know the details. Strangely, you seemed to.”

Was he trusting me?

I swallowed dryly, my nerves stretched thin, when his low voice came again near my ear.

“You said the Elsworth family’s old records contained a formula for an antidote made from corpse flowers.”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

I had forgotten that excuse, but I quickly answered, pretending to recall. Tristan’s gaze slowly shifted toward me.

His steady eyes seemed to pierce straight through me, yet deep within their cool surface, faint blue waves flickered.

“I don’t believe such an excuse.”

His icy voice washed over me, leaving me cold to the bone. I sucked in a short breath.

“Even if those records truly existed, Viscount Elsworth would never share the method for making Constantine’s antidote with you. Your father is not someone who trusts anyone.”