Chapter 42
“Explain everything properly from the beginning.”
Adriana’s expression hardened. I had touched on a sensitive point for someone who knew they were dying. Adriana was aware of it—that her lifespan was running short. She couldn’t not know. In front of others, she acted boldly, but in truth, she herself was the most frightened of all.
It was the kind of expression that might have made a faint-hearted person immediately drop to their knees and beg forgiveness for such rudeness toward a royal, but Blair had weathered too many of life’s storms to be intimidated by such things.
“It’s exactly as I said.”
Blair handed over a thick herbal medicine book he had urgently procured through Clara last night. He opened it to the section he had marked and pushed it in front of Adriana.
[Esilie is easily processed and doesn’t have an unpleasant taste. It’s a highly effective medicine that sharpens mental clarity, but it has one fatal flaw. When it reacts with a nerve paralytic called Karpen, it becomes a deadly poison. One must thoroughly confirm that the user hasn’t consumed Karpen before prescribing it.]
After letting her read that paragraph, Blair flipped through the book to find another section. He pointed to a new part and pushed it toward Adriana. She read it slowly.
[Karpen is a painkiller that numbs nerves and is widely used, but in large doses, it clouds the mind. Being colorless, odorless, and flavorless, it should only be prescribed in minute amounts when the patient’s pain needs to be dulled.]
“Karpen?”
“Yes, that’s right. Since Karpen itself is both expensive and difficult to obtain, this isn’t widely known information. Even among physicians, quite a few wouldn’t know about it. Many texts don’t even cover knowledge about Karpen unless they’re thick, specialized pharmacological volumes.”
“So you’re telling me that I’ve been consuming this Karpen medicine without my knowledge?”
Adriana was indeed clever and quick-witted. Blair smiled with satisfaction, spinning his finger in circles. This would make the conversation easier.
“Yes, that’s correct, Your Highness. So if you want to live longer, stop drinking Esilie tea.”
“How did you come to know this?”
Adriana stared at Blair with unconcealed suspicion. Blair replied with a small smile.
“Well, that’s a secret, but—”
“Do you think I can trust someone who keeps secrets in a situation where a life hangs in the balance?”
“Hmm, then let’s just say I read the celestial energies through astrology. You wouldn’t believe the truth even if I told you anyway, Your Highness. What’s more important than the truth right now is that you’ve been drinking Esilie tea for a long time, and simultaneously, someone has been making you consume Karpen without your knowledge.”
Adriana narrowed her eyes. She knew that what Blair was saying wasn’t nonsense. It was an instinctive intuition related to her own survival.
“Of course, the Esilie that reacted with Karpen became poison and has been gradually damaging Your Highness’s liver. This is, of course, still ongoing.”
“Who told you this?”
“That, too, shall remain a secret.”
Though he could have told her everything, there was no benefit in sharing information that wouldn’t be trusted. Blair rested his chin on his interlocked fingers and smiled broadly.
“Very well. I won’t press you on these secrets. Then how did you know I’ve been taking this Karpen medicine? You said it’s not easy to obtain. I assume you’re not the culprit, since you’re directly telling me about it.”
Adriana swept back her platinum blonde hair that had fallen forward. There was no point in pressing further about the secret when Blair was clearly avoiding the answer. It was better to assume he had his reasons. And at this point, investigating the source of the information wasn’t particularly important anyway.
“Because the Monetery merchant guild traced where that Karpen drug was flowing to.”
In truth, he hadn’t yet secured the route of the Karpen. But Blair recited the lies without even wetting his lips. It was information that would actually be revealed if investigated, so it wasn’t really a lie. Just a slight change in the sequence of events. Blair loved Clara’s competence. He trusted Clara.
“…Where?”
“To Baron Spirenda’s household.”
Adriana’s expression hardened. Being intelligent, she had already grasped the situation with just that brief piece of information.
“Is this the truth?”
Adriana asked in a sharp tone.
“Yes, I would stake my life on it.”
“There are no people from Empress Spirenda around me.”
Her final statement lacked conviction, as if she herself couldn’t be certain of it.
“Do you really think so? I don’t think that’s the case. I really don’t.”
Blair said casually.
“Are you telling me to suspect those around me?”
“No, not the plural ‘those.’ Your Highness only needs to suspect one person. There’s a red-haired, freckled maid in Your Highness’s palace, isn’t there? Her name is Sisi. She’s the culprit.”
“How did you…?”
Adriana looked at Blair with astonished eyes. Information like a maid’s name could certainly be obtained if one really tried. But no matter how she thought about it, the third son of House Monetery had nothing to gain by falsely accusing an ordinary maid working in the Imperial Princess’s palace. Considering that, what he was saying was likely true.
“Is this the truth?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Blair nodded calmly.
“Fine. You have no reason to lie to me. That’s where I’ll begin. Alright. I’ll believe what you say.”
Adriana calmed her startled heart.
“First, let’s stop the Esilie tea. If you stop it right now, your body will recover. Instead, take this.”
Blair held out a small satin pouch. Adriana took the pouch and opened it to look inside.
“What is this?”
“An antidote. It was quite an effort to obtain it so quickly.”
Money could indeed accomplish almost anything. It was something he had received early this morning after contacting Clara.
“To be precise, it’s a medicine that alleviates the toxicity of Karpen, so it doesn’t perfectly match Your Highness’s situation. But it’s much better than not taking anything.”
“…I understand.”
Adriana carefully tucked the antidote into a hidden pocket.
“Well, that was just the introduction. Let’s move on to the main point, so pay close attention, Your Highness.”
Blair smiled, removing his chin from his hands and spreading them open. His speech was quite disrespectful and blunt for addressing royalty, but no one present pointed that out. The fact that the Imperial Princess was being poisoned was shocking enough—and this was just the introduction?
Adriana hardened her expression and stared intently at Blair. She focused all her attention on him.
“There are three things we need to do now. I can’t do them alone, so Your Highness needs to actively cooperate.”
Theodore, who had been sitting quietly like a borrowed sack of barley, raised his head and looked at Blair with a serious expression. Theodore had only been shocked like a wild boar caught in a forest fire, but he hadn’t thought about what to do next.
“What… is it?”
By this point, this was no joke. Imperial Princess Adriana’s expression turned serious.
“First, we need to crush House Spirenda.”
“Huh?”
The confused question came from Theodore, while Adriana nodded gravely. For her, this was exactly what she wanted.
“We have material evidence, don’t we? Even without it, we should bring them down for making such a clumsy attempt to take me out when they’ve so obviously stuck their necks out.”
“Can you bring the ledger showing the Karpen transactions?”
“Of course.”
He wasn’t actually in possession of the Karpen transaction records yet. But Blair was confident he could secure the ledger. Because he had done so in the past. Despite their attempts to thoroughly cover their tracks, Blair had found the transaction records in the past. This time too, they probably handled it carelessly, thinking no one would discover them.
“Just give me a little time. Securing the ledger won’t be difficult. To be precise, the Karpen would have been sold to some physician. A puppet of Baron Spirenda’s, of course. Both the maid and the physician will confess under torture. We’ll take care of the physician. Your Highness should handle the maid.”
“Very well. I’ll do that.”
“If communication with the maid is cut off, they’ll immediately notice and start covering their tracks. So until we secure the transaction records, Your Highness must not show that you know. We’ll contact you as soon as we secure the physician and the ledger. It won’t take long. Once we have custody of the maid as well, it’s over.”
“Alright, I understand. I’ll be careful.”
Adriana nodded solemnly.
“After we crush House Spirenda, the next step will be to support Your Highness as the successor.”
“Right… what?”
A startled Adriana looked at Blair with wide eyes.
“Why? Don’t you want to be Emperor?”
Blair smiled mischievously as he dropped the hint. Adriana’s expression changed moment by moment. Theodore simply folded his large body quietly, rolling his eyes as he watched Adriana and Blair.
“Me, becoming Emperor?”
Adriana’s voice trembled. It was something she had never considered before. Her slender hands began to shake uncontrollably. But Blair remained calm.
[To be continued in the next chapter….]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
