Chapter 39
Knock-knock-
Theodore, who had been lying on the bed in a disheveled posture, raised his upper body.
“Who is it?”
There weren’t many people who would knock on Theodore’s door at this hour.
“It’s me, brother.”
Blair carefully opened the door handle and peeked his head in to greet him.
“Ah, it’s our pretty youngest brother. Come in.”
Theodore welcomed Blair with a hearty laugh. Theodore adored his youngest brother, who was ten years younger than him. While he and Clara had grown up fighting like most siblings do, pulling each other’s hair, the much younger Blair was like a son to him. There was no reason to dislike his youngest brother who grew up well without causing any trouble. He was completely different from Clara, who made him wonder how such a child could have come from the Monetery family.
“Are you sleeping?”
Blair entered the room with a gentle smile.
“Not yet.”
“If you’re not sleeping yet, could you spare me some time?”
Blair firmly closed the door behind him.
“Of course. You’re always welcome.”
Theodore pulled over a small side table placed in the corner of the room. Blair dragged over the other two chairs.
“Let’s have a cup of tea.”
Theodore brought herbal tea that was good for sound sleep for Blair. For his own portion, brandy was placed. Theodore, who had poured brandy into his glass, looked at Blair with a smile.
“So, what brings our youngest to me at this hour?”
“Hmm, well…”
Blair looked back at Theodore with the same smile. Though his brother was a full ten years older, to Blair, who was over thirty at heart, the twenty-six-year-old Theodore still looked like a child. Of course, he had no intention of saying that out loud unless he wanted to be treated as mentally ill.
Blair was quite fond of Theodore. If he still had the passion to make someone emperor, he might have even considered making Theodore emperor. Theodore was a person of steady character, thoughtful, and intelligent. He was fundamentally different from Blair, who had declared to himself that he would do his best to slack off this time. If Theodore had been sent back to the past, he would have lived his life to the fullest again.
So if Theodore became emperor, he might truly become a great ruler who would be remembered throughout history.
House Monetery was an incredibly wealthy family. Moreover, given their enormous influence throughout the empire, it wasn’t a completely absurd idea. But if he were to bring up the topic of revolution to Theodore, it was obvious that he would be shocked and cut ties with his only brother. So he decided to keep this thought as his own secret.
“How is Imperial Princess Adriana doing?”
Blair took a sip of tea and asked. Theodore’s expression instantly crumpled, having been thinking about her all day. Seeing his ashen face, Blair continued speaking calmly.
“The Princess is very ill, isn’t she?”
Theodore’s expression changed instantly. Adriana’s weak constitution was a top secret among secrets. It was already a sensitive time not long after the Empress’s death. When Adriana appeared at official occasions where she would show her face to the empire’s people, she carefully applied makeup to hide any sign of illness, saying it would cause anxiety among the people. Not only at official occasions, but even within the imperial palace, she strictly silenced her maids, saying there was nothing to gain by showing weakness to Empress Spirenda. She retained the noble pride befitting a royal.
“How… do you know that?”
Theodore looked at Blair with sharp eyes.
“I wonder.”
Blair shrugged. His expression was incredibly calm.
It was then that Theodore realized the source of the discomfort he had been feeling when looking at Blair recently. The Blair sitting in front of him now didn’t look at all like the young brother he had known. He seemed like a crafty nobleman who hindered Theodore’s proposals at every assembly, or like a sage who had gained enlightenment through deep study. The child before him didn’t seem like the Blair he knew.
Who are you?
Regardless of whether Theodore was on high alert, Blair moistened his lips with tea, put down his cup, and said what he needed to say.
“If we don’t act now, Imperial Princess Adriana will soon pass away.”
“Blair, how do you…”
The glass fell from Theodore’s hand in shock. The strong smell of alcohol stung his nose. The spilled alcohol spread across the table and began dripping steadily. Blair continued speaking without reacting at all to Theodore’s astonishment.
“Now, brother. If you don’t want the Princess to die, remember my words carefully. The Princess is currently being poisoned with Esilie, and if we don’t act right now, she’ll have until the end of next winter at the longest.”
“Blair.”
“Trust me, it’s true.”
Theodore carefully examined Blair’s eyes. They weren’t the eyes of someone telling a lie. How on earth does this child know such things? Blair was never one to enjoy pranks or be mischievous. This meant it wasn’t a joke.
“How… do you know this? How do you know about Esilie? No, Blair. Esilie isn’t even a poison to begin with.”
Theodore, who had been caught up in Blair’s words, came to his senses and denied Blair’s claim. Esilie is not a poison. Therefore, Blair’s words couldn’t be true.
“Let me explain accurately from the beginning. The poison that the Princess is being poisoned with isn’t exactly Esilie. It’s Karpen.”
Karpen. Theodore had heard of this herb when studying herbology at the Academy. While Esilie had various uses, Karpen did not. Karpen was produced in very small quantities to begin with. It wasn’t used in many places, and it was so difficult to obtain that acquisition routes were recorded.
“That’s right. As you said, Esilie isn’t a poison. Rather, it’s a good medicine that can make the mind clear if used properly.”
Blair began speaking in a solemn voice.
“Esilie has an effect that keeps one awake. It also wakes up a foggy mind. The Princess probably drinks it brewed like tea from time to time. But Esilie has a fatal flaw.”
“What is it?”
“When it comes into contact with Karpen, it severely damages the liver.”
“Karpen?”
“Yes, there must be a maid who is putting it in the Princess’s food right now. Karpen itself isn’t such a strong poison. It’s a medicine that’s used as a painkiller when properly dosed. But when it meets Esilie, which awakens and sharpens the nerves, it becomes a deadly poison.”
Blair recalled his past memories. It was after the tide had turned and Kyle had become emperor. Of course, the losing side, Joshua’s faction, had to be dealt with, and they also needed to break the overly confident forces of Dain and Empress Spirenda once. It was a time when he was pondering how to effectively deal with that household. That’s when a woman quietly approached Blair.
Her red hair and freckles were memorable, and what she said was truly shocking. She told him that Empress Spirenda, who wanted to become Empress, had poisoned Imperial Princess Adriana. The freckled woman was a maid who had attended to Imperial Princess Adriana closely, and she said she had occasionally put Karpen into her food and drink to create a conflicting reaction with Esilie.
So that the person consuming it would die as quietly and naturally as possible. So that no one would be suspicious.
It was eye-opening information for Blair, who was thinking about how to effectively and efficiently deal with Empress Spirenda. The informant maid was promised her life, and Blair thoroughly searched through House Spirenda’s ledgers to find records of acquiring Karpen. Karpen was effective but so expensive that it wasn’t traded carelessly, so all transaction records were kept. Fortunately, there was evidence remaining.
After that, everything proceeded smoothly. The crime of assassinating the Imperial Princess—when they would have made a fuss even over non-existent pretexts. It was a crime close to treason by anyone’s standards. Blair used this incident to implicate the entire House Baron Spirenda, deposed Empress Spirenda on charges of assassinating the Imperial Princess, and stripped them of their title.
“The Princess is probably still consuming it now. That Karpen.”
“How do you know all this?”
Given that Blair was pointing out the specific name of the drug, it didn’t seem like he was talking nonsense.
“That’s not what’s important right now, brother. What’s urgent is preventing the Princess from consuming Esilie. To begin with, Esilie is a substance that can cause problems if consumed in large quantities. It’s fair to say that Esilie is worse than Karpen. Because Karpen alone doesn’t cause major issues. Still, to be safe, it would be good to immediately dismiss the maid who is putting Karpen in the food.”
“Is this really true?”
“When have you ever seen me talk nonsense?”
Blair shrugged. Theodore recalled the symptoms: loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting. Indeed, these were all symptoms that appeared when the liver was damaged. Theodore narrowed his eyes. It was the first time even for Theodore to hear that Adriana consumed Esilie, but it didn’t seem entirely groundless. This was worth checking out.
“Alright.”
“As quietly and quickly as possible. Ah, that maid’s name is Sisi. She has red hair and freckles.”
It was even more surprising that he knew the name. Theodore looked at Blair with an expression of disbelief.
“I’ll check it out.”
“Yes.”
[To be continued….]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
