Ch#150
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The subsequent dinner was consumed in total stillness. No conversation broke the quiet. Julius appeared lost in contemplation as the chef served the meal: beef tenderloin topped with sautéed goose liver and a garnish of Fly Agaric. The mushrooms possessed a vivid, almost alarming crimson hue from the heat of the pan.
Amidst the distant rhythm of breaking waves, the only sounds were the soft ring of silver against porcelain and the mechanical noise of eating. Afterward, a dessert arrived—a cake overflowing with Death’s Nightshade Fruit.
While twenty of these berries were traditionally considered a lethal dose, this single portion featured more than thirty. To combat their natural bitterness, which Julius had previously noted, the kitchen had glazed them in honey. The Witch expressed her approval, noting that it finally felt like a proper treat, though the Duke remained stoically silent.
The dinner concluded without incident. To everyone’s relief, no one collapsed.
Julius retreated to his study followed by Gavin and Roy. Adi stayed behind, maintaining a watchful eye on their guest to prevent any trouble.
Ignoring her shadow, the Witch strolled into the drawing room and settled onto a sofa. She opened a volume written in a script that certainly didn’t belong to the Kingdom of Dalkatir.
She displayed no signs of planning an escape.
The woman had to realize that if the Duke died under her care, her own life would be forfeit. Her calm suggested absolute certainty in her methods.
“Can I ask something?”
Adi spoke up, causing the Witch to glance away from her pages.
“Is he expected to keep eating toxins indefinitely?”
“It is a healing process.”
The answer was blunt and certain. Adi suspected that Joel, with his formal training in restoration magic, would have been sickened by such a claim.
“A Witch uses her own ways to mend things.”
“But he only carries the blood,” Adi countered. “He isn’t actually one of your kind.”
The Witch closed her book entirely and fixed her eyes on the knight. She remarked that Adi clearly harbored deep doubts.
“It looks like poison to any rational person,” Adi insisted.
“Perhaps for a mortal,” the Witch replied. “But the Duke isn’t exactly human, is he?”
Adi bristled. “Aside from you, I fail to see anyone else here who fits that description.”
The Witch took offense at the tone, suggesting it was rude to equate non-humans with being primitive or savage. She noted that such narrow-mindedness was precisely what sparked the historical Witch Hunts.
She wasn’t entirely wrong. Human nature often led to the persecution of anything different, whether it was another race or simply a different culture.
Furthermore, the Grimaldi line had been the primary architects of those ancient purges. The Witch’s words felt like a pointed jab at Adi’s heritage.
The woman laughed softly, pointing out that Julius had just survived a meal that would have dropped a man instantly. She questioned how anyone could call him human after seeing that. She added that if the public knew the truth, his humanity would be questioned by everyone.
“Do you intend to spread that secret?” Adi asked sharply.
The Witch dismissed the idea, noting it would serve her no purpose. Besides, she pointed out that those who needed to know about his lineage were already aware.
Most people, Adi included, viewed that lineage as a terrible affliction.
“Forgive me,” Adi said. “My concern for his wellbeing made me speak out of turn.”
The Witch studied her with an unreadable expression. She didn’t appear physically hurt, but it was hard to be sure. Then, her face brightened into a grin. She offered to overlook the tension if Adi did her a single favor.
“What do you want?”
“Some seeds,” the Witch requested. “Or a small plant of those wild raspberries.”
Adi was confused. “The ones that are lethal to Witches?”
The Witch confirmed this, explaining she needed to study why they were fatal and if they played a role in the Duke’s physical regression. When Adi asked if the current supply was insufficient, the Witch scoffed, asking what she was supposed to learn from shriveled, dried fruit.
“I can do that. How much longer will you be staying?”
The Witch paused to think, then changed her mind. She told Adi not to bother with the plant itself—she just wanted to know the location of where they grew.
She clearly wasn’t planning on a long stay.
“The place where they thrive naturally.”
The woman needed to reach the North before the frost set in. Since winter claimed the northern lands early, she had to leave during the autumn months.
“The exact spots are hard to name, but I know where they are,” Adi explained. “They are common throughout the Grimaldi lands and the surrounding territories. They usually grow wild in the highlands and have a deep purple color. I’ve never seen them in the valleys.”
“How curious,” the Witch mused.
She looked at the small bag in the corner of the room containing the berries. She remarked that despite her travels, she had never encountered these before.
She picked up the pouch. To a human, the berries were harmless, which made them a hidden trap for any unsuspecting Witch.
“To think my sisters are unaware of this danger.”
They were a threat that needed to be eliminated.
“Probably because no one lived to tell the tale,” Adi suggested.
The Witch’s gaze sharpened, and Adi quickly added that it was a tragedy of the past. When Adi asked if the Witch resented humans for the purges, the woman simply said it didn’t matter. In her view, life was a cycle of one creature killing another to survive.
She stepped toward Adi. “What is your name?”
“Adrina Dean.”
“Your real one?”
Adi hesitated. “…Grimaldi.”
“Adrina Grimaldi.”
Adi braced for a hostile reaction, knowing the Witch must realize the connection between her family and the poisonous berries. Instead, the Witch remained perfectly calm. She leaned in, stood on her toes, and pressed a kiss to Adi’s cheek.
Stunned, Adi clutched her face. “What are you doing?”
“A deal,” the Witch replied.
When Adi asked for the meaning behind the gesture, the Witch asked if she’d never heard of a Witch’s kiss. She described it as either a gift or a curse, depending on the perspective.
As the Witch looked at Adi again, her eyes widened in genuine surprise. She began inspecting the knight from head to toe with renewed interest.
“What is it?” Adi asked, feeling uneasy.
“Nothing,” the Witch claimed, though her fascinated gaze suggested otherwise. She muttered to herself about something she hadn’t realized before.
Refusing to explain, she asked if Adi was heading to see the Duke. When Adi confirmed she was, the Witch asked her to deliver a message.
“Tell him,” she said, “that I have seen the forest waking up.”
Adi wondered if she meant the scorched woods of the Woodpecker estate. If the land was healing, the Duke would be pleased.
“He’ll understand,” the Witch promised. “Now, show me where those bushes are.”
The Witch gathered parchment and ink from the room. She handed the pen to Adi, demanding a map.
Adi began to sketch the Grimaldi territory from memory, marking the spots where the purple berries grew while the Witch watched in silence.
*
Once the map was finished, the Witch excused herself to her quarters to think. Adi prepared for her shift change and headed toward the Duke’s office. Though this manor was smaller than the primary estate, its familiar design made navigation easy.
The silence of the halls was a comfort; a loud house usually meant a crisis.
She knocked on the office door, and Roy answered. He looked startled to see her.
“I thought you were Joel,” Roy admitted. “But it’s just as well. Have him check the Duke when he gets here anyway.”
“Is something wrong?” Adi asked, her heart racing.
“He’s better. Well, mostly.”
Roy explained that Julius had been suffering from a fever while working, but he had suddenly transformed.
“He’s about your height now,” Roy noted.
The change had been instantaneous. Roy had seen the Duke’s smaller form that morning, but he hadn’t expected such a rapid growth spurt. He admitted the Witch seemed to know what she was doing before he headed off.
Adi knocked again and entered.
“Your Excellency?”
Julius stood up from his desk. Roy was right—the Duke was much taller now, perhaps even taller than Adi herself.
“Adrina,” he said, signaling her to come closer.
The poison had actually worked as a cure. Adi looked up at him, feeling the tension in the room. His expression was grim. As she prepared to give him the Witch’s message about the forest, Julius spoke first.
“I have a question for you, Guard.”
He reached out, his hand resting against her cheek.
“If I were to destroy your father… would you despise me?”