Translator: Nox

Chapter 8

The one who spoke was Serene's elderly family physician from the Hyperion Ducal House.

The doctor, trembling with tension, opened his mouth.

"The atmosphere right now makes it seem like our young lady orchestrated some scheme and faked her own poisoning... That's absolutely not the truth!"

"It's not?"

"No. I swear before God and before Yeha Ruelian Rackroitz, God's proxy. The reason our young lady can't answer readily is actually due to her kind heart. She's covering for someone else's mistake."

Huh? What was this now? Surely not some desperate ploy to buy time with nonsense?

Before the puzzled gazes of everyone including me, the physician bowed his head.

"I'll explain everything. But not here—somewhere quiet..."

Ruelian scanned him up and down and said,

"Fine. Court adjourned briefly."

The trial halted, and only a few of us entered the waiting room as relevant parties.

Me. Duke Karnel, summoned from the witness stand. Serene and her physician.

After the door closed, Ruelian asked,

"So, who is this person the Hyperion Duchess is covering for?"

Instead of the trembling Serene, the physician answered.

"An employee of the Rosen Ducal House."

What?

I was shocked. Duke Karnel, who had been dragged here half in disbelief, was the same.

"One of my employees?"

"I'll explain."

The physician spoke methodically.

"That day, our young lady and I arrived early due to nerves. I didn't have an invitation, so I couldn't enter until the tea party started, and all the employees were busy being scolded by Duchess Aristina, so our young lady was sitting there awkwardly alone."

Even just hearing it was embarrassing.

"During that awkward time, one of the protocol maids preparing the tea party kindly suggested touring the greenhouse. Our young lady, who loves plants, happily went right into the nearby greenhouse..."

The physician paused there and looked at Serene.

"Young lady, show them. For them to clear up the misunderstanding, they need to see it directly."

"Alright."

Serene removed her long gloves that reached up to her forearms and rolled up the flowing short sleeves of her dress.

'Hm?'

I widened my eyes and stared.

Serene's upper arm was wrapped in bandages. Unwinding them revealed a wound. It looked like a long gash that was in the process of healing.

Ruelian asked with a puzzled expression.

"What is this?"

"A wound from brushing against a landscaping sickle."

The physician answered.

"I only learned of it belatedly while treating our young lady's poisoning symptoms, but that day in the greenhouse, she was injured by a novice gardener boy's mistake. He was working overtime alone because he couldn't meet his deadline, and he swung the landscaping sickle toward where our young lady was, causing the injury."

"What do you mean by that?"

Flames shot from Duke Karnel's eyes.

An employee of a great noble house injuring a guest by mistake? Unimaginable for a family head like a duke.

"Knowing you'd be this furious, Your Grace, the boy clung to our young lady, begging and crying. Thanks to his quick first aid, the wound was safely treated, but he said if this got out, he'd receive horrific punishment from you."

Punishment? From Duke Karnel?

"Our young lady felt that punishment was too cruel and horrific, so she promised it would be a secret just between them and that she'd never tell anyone. Then she tied a ribbon over the torn part of her arm to hide it, wrapped a shawl tightly around, and left the place."

'This is a secret just between us two.'

So that's the context for Serene's line? And the 'Yes' came from the novice gardener boy?

I muttered as if struck on the head.

"Then, the reason the ring was bloodied and fell on the greenhouse floor..."

"Yes. That's it."

Serene finally spoke cautiously.

"I pressed the wound with my right hand first, but it got slippery with blood and must have caught on something and slipped off. I was out of it at the time, and right after that, the... poisoning attempt happened. After lying ill for days and finally regaining my senses, I realized the ring was gone and looked for it..."

"Worried it might affect your recovery, I lied as your physician. That it was safely kept. It's all my fault."

"No. What fault does William have? It's mine. But what about that boy now? I couldn't keep my promise to keep it secret—what should we do? If he really suffers something horrific... I could never forgive myself!"

"Don't worry, young lady. Now that it's been publicized before Yeha, the Rosen Ducal House won't cut off that poor boy's hand and hang him under a bridge."

I doubted my ears at their whispering.

Duke Karnel was so flustered that color momentarily rose to his cheeks.

"What nonsense is that? We don't do such horrific things? We just cut them off."

"Yes. At the wrist."

"No! We fire them!"

"Ah, yes..."

"You're not believing a word. What the hell did that guy say?"

"To relay exactly as our young lady heard... The day after the boy was hired, he saw a maid named Mary have her hand branch cut off in the backyard of the main building."

"???"

Duke Karnel and I gaped in bewilderment, but the physician continued.

"All employees must gather and watch without fail, and if they look away even briefly, the whip flies. In the duke's mansion, such things are so common that a craftsman who attaches iron rods instead of hands resides there permanently, and already over ten have received such punishment this year alone..."

"That's blatant nonsense, a bald-faced lie!"

The duke coughed violently.

"How much heart and soul have I poured into making that mansion beautiful and dignified! Why would I do such a messy thing? I just fire them! Besides, there's no maid named Mary in our mansion at all!"

Ruelian fell into thought.

"If Your Grace says so, it's probably true, but why would that boy lie like that?"

"Doesn't it seem like he intentionally stoked Serene's fear? To get a promise to keep it secret even at knifepoint."

At my words, he turned to look at Serene. Then he suddenly asked,

"Hyperion Duchess, how did that gardener boy perform first aid?"

"He disinfected it with antiseptic and wrapped it in bandages."

"Disinfect, specifically?"

"He poured the antiseptic over the wound and let it flow in. Like this."

"How much?"

"Quite a lot. About half a bottle right there."

Ruelian looked back at the physician.

"What did you do with the bandages the boy first wrapped?"

"Of course we threw them away. Burned them long ago."

Hm? Why look for those bandages?

As I puzzled over it, suddenly a light bulb flashed in my head.

'Ah!'

Thanks to my experience reading mystery novels back in the day?

A hypothesis suddenly came to mind. My heart started pounding.

The reason Serene collapsed from acute poison despite me not tampering with the glass. I thought I knew it.

I muttered dazedly.

"Right. Poisoning doesn't have to be only through drinks or food. Culprits go to all lengths to avoid leaving evidence."

As expected, I'd recruited the right talent.

Ruelian, experienced in such matters, sniffed out the oddity right away.

Thanks to him, I caught on quickly too.

"There are all sorts of methods. Coating book pages with poison so the victim gets dosed while licking pages to turn them. Mixing into daily-use shaving cream or lotion for slow poisoning. Of course, slipping into medicine is common too."

Duke Karnel glanced at me amid his confusion.

"How do you know all that?"

"Ah, well, I like poisoning so much..."

I paused mid-answer.

"Of course, I mean I like reading books about poisoning."

I hurriedly added, but no one seemed to buy it.

Aristina reading books? Given her track record, it just sounded like she loved actual poisoning.

'To clear misunderstandings, I should stock some pharmacology books in my room. If I survive here, that is.'

I quickly changed the subject.

"Anyway... Normal poisons show effects immediately, so they're easy to catch on-site. But with special delayed-action poisons, you can frame someone else. What poison was used? Serene's wound is the key clue. There's a substance that turns into a powerful poison when mixed with blood. None other than 'curare'!"

"To my knowledge, that's not the name, but I get what you mean. It's the substance barbarians apply to arrowheads for hunting, not well-known in the empire yet."

Ruelian looked at me and said. A 'What is this girl?' expression.

"That substance is harmless enough to use as medicine normally, but turns toxic when mixed with blood. Once that poison infiltrates the nerves, it causes paralysis and death from respiratory failure."

"Exactly like our young lady's symptoms!"

The physician exclaimed in surprise.

"To tell you now, I did think it was odd. Despite clear poisoning through the drink, there were no traces of ingested poison in her body."

"Then why didn't you say so?"

"I thought Duchess Aristina used some exorbitantly expensive new poison. She's more than capable of it. But if the poison was injected through the wound and spread through the body? Oh, God! I was completely fooled by a professional con artist! No wonder the arm injury was in such a cunning spot that didn't hinder movement much..."

My goodness.

Chills ran up both my arms. Finally, the puzzle pieces fit.

"See? I told you! Even basic investigation reveals it this quickly! Everyone's too much, really!"

Duke Karnel, sensing something serious by now, jumped to his feet.

"Bring that novice gardener here right now."

"Wait a moment."

I calmed him first.

"That guy's just the muscle. A puppet brought from outside. There's a separate mastermind inside. Someone who knew that day's schedule and everyone's movements perfectly and staged the crime scene. It's the protocol maid who suggested Serene go to the greenhouse right on time."

"Right."

The duke muttered in disbelief.

"Our family's protocol maids are elite personnel—why would one plot something like that?"

"Ask her yourself."

I turned to look at Serene.

"Do you remember the maid's appearance?"

"...!"

Serene startled at my voice while lost in thought.

Well, understandable. Even if the circumstances fit perfectly, accepting my innocence suddenly is hard.

Serene answered in a small voice.

"I... have no idea. Protocol maids all dress the same, and right after, I suffered severe aftereffects..."

She seemed to rummage through memories, then picked up a pen and drew a square object.

Ruelian stared at it and asked,

"Is that the maid's face?"

"No. It's the antiseptic bottle. That's all I remember."

He was speechless. Duke Karnel had a 'You're kidding?' look.

But that might actually be useful?

"Give it here!"

As I snatched the paper, Ruelian smirked.

"The poison-laced bandages are gone, so no proof that poison was used then. Can't even identify the key suspect protocol maid. What are you going to do with just that antiseptic bottle? Torture? Duchess, you know that's illegal, right?"

Torture is what you'd do.

I swallowed those words and retorted,

"Of course, I'm using a perfectly legal method. Just leave it to me, and I'll identify the culprit among the protocol maids right now."

"Right now?"

Duke Karnel asked incredulously.

"Yes, Father."

I answered confidently. And explained my plan to crush those petty, vile bastards.

"......"

Everyone's faces turned strange.

Well, I said legal, but not exactly honorable. Sometimes you gotta get a bit dirty to survive, right?

As long as I caught the real culprit, I was prepared to do anything.

Grind.

I gritted my teeth and said,

"Alright, shall we start the show?"