Dead-End Villainess Who Makes Medicine

 

 

“Kyaaah!”

 

The sight of dozens of birds surrounding and pecking at a single person was a sight to behold.

 

The ladies near Yeffa panicked and retreated; some even sat down on the ground.

 

A few birds also flew toward me.

 

It was probably because I had touched the Elento on the wooden plank earlier.

 

“What the… Your Highness!”

 

Fortunately, Ares appeared and blocked the birds, but Yeffa seemed unable to handle it alone.

 

“It seems I’m not too late.”

 

Behind the squawking flock of birds, Julion walked slowly.

 

With his black hair resembling canaries, he exuded an aura like the king of animals leading a flock of birds.

 

As I smiled softly at that, Julion called me out curiously.

 

“Rohiriel?”

 

“Oh, no. I didn’t realize there were so many of them. It would have been enough to bring just one or two.”

 

“Oh, that’s because…”

 

Julion frowned slightly. There was a subtle sense of awkwardness in his voice.

 

“I was planning to do that too. But the moment I opened the cage, all the canaries inside rushed out.”

 

“Ah…….”

 

“They must have smelled the scent of Elento and got excited.”

 

I had a vague idea of what had happened. I sighed as I looked at Yeffa, surrounded by birds.

 

“What are they doing to me? Go away!”

 

Yeffa, deep in thought, waved her arms to shoo the birds away.

 

The ladies, bewildered and not understanding what was happening, looked at Yeffa in confusion.

 

“Ouch, that hurts! Why is it only happening to me… Cherry, wait a moment, help me!”

 

Yeffa glanced at the ladies, pretending not to know anything, and sought help from those around her.

 

However, the ladies all retreated with frightened expressions, avoiding eye contact.

 

“Seeing the canaries sticking to her like that, it seems she was covered with Elento scent.”

 

Julion, observing the intense reaction of the canaries, spoke in a perplexed voice.

 

“The effect is stronger than I thought; now that we’ve confirmed it, shall we send them back?”

 

I shook my head in response to Julion’s question.

 

Not yet.

 

Even though Yeffa should be well aware of the canaries, she continued to pretend not to know. To eliminate her escape route, we had to break even her mask.

 

‘At first, I thought she might have thrown the Elento in the lake.’

 

This lake is a place thoroughly managed within the palace.

 

She didn’t want to take the risk of disposing of something as crucial as evidence, only for it to be discovered later. There was no way he would do such an uncertain thing.

 

‘It is Cassian’s policy to dispose of evidence thoroughly.’

 

No doubt she planned to take it with her and dispose of it outside the palace.

 

She probably had no idea that Elento’s existence would be revealed like this, bringing the canaries along.

 

“Help, Your Majesty! Ah!”

 

The flapping of the bird’s wings intensified. Some birds circled the lake and flew towards the boat.

 

Landing on the broken boards, they crazily pecked at the edges. Some stuck to Yeffa’s handbag and clung to it.

 

In that moment, Yeffa let out a sharp scream, collapsing to the ground.

 

Her dress near the side was torn because of the birds, so she was holding onto it.

 

Squeak!

 

All the birds by the lake rushed towards Yeffa—more precisely, towards the small vial that fell to the ground as her dress ripped.

 

As the glass bottle shattered from the bird’s attack, the liquid inside spread across the ground.

 

The Empress and the ladies stared at the broken glass with curiosity.

 

‘As expected.’

 

Thinking now was the time, I took a step forward and spoke.

 

“So, you had Elento with you, Yeffa.”

 

“Princess, what in the world is going on? Have you lost your mind?”

 

“Forgive me, Your Majesty. We had to resort to drastic measures to identify the culprit.”

 

“In that case, could it be…”

 

The Empress’s gaze, filled with suspicion, intensified.

 

Yeffa, slightly freed from the bird attack, attempted to defend herself, clutching her torn dress. However, before she could say anything, I spoke with a louder voice.

 

“Yes, these birds are called canaries. They react to an oil called elento. Even if it’s kilometers away, they can smell it and chase after it.”

 

“Elento……?”

 

Someone muttered, and I added an explanation.

 

“Elento is an oil that corrodes wood. To be more precise, it turns them into paper.”

 

“That’s not… that’s just perfume!”

 

Yeffa shouted in fear before I could finish my sentence.

 

But no one paid attention to her words.

 

The Empress’s heavy voice fell over the cowering Yeffa.

 

“Check it out. Put a plank of wood over the spilled elento on the floor so we can be sure.”

 

“Y, Your Majesty…”

 

Yeffa’s emerald eyes shook violently.

 

Soon, the knights who had received the order put the wooden plank over the spilled Elento, and some time passed.

 

Because there was such a large amount of Elento, the wooden planks deteriorated in an instant.

 

Once the Empress confirmed the situation, she cast a disdainful glance at Yeffa.

 

“Why did you do that?”

 

The young ladies’ moods turned grim as they fully understood the situation.

 

“So those tears were all an act.”

 

“How could you lie so…”

 

“Disgusting.”

 

The canaries circled around, flapping their wings in a frenzy. When they smelled nothing but the odor of Elento and no real food, their eyes darted here and there, searching for a place to peck.

 

The Empress then sighed and said, “Julion, I think it’s about time to clear away the birds.”

 

At the Empress’s words, Julion turned to me.

 

Nodding in agreement, I watched as Julion signaled a knight who had been waiting at the entrance of Emerald Palace.

 

Before long, the canaries all rose high into the sky, circling the lake once in an orderly manner and then disappearing in the direction they had suddenly emerged from.

 

“It’s all settled,”

 

They probably had a device prepared on the other side, with Elento buried in it.

 

It was quite fascinating that, despite catching the scent and thinking there was food, they didn’t recklessly attack.

 

“Sometimes animals can be more human-like.”

 

Julion commented, his eyes turning towards Yeffa, who was trembling on the ground.

 

“Please… Sum… summon a physician. It hurts so much!”

 

Yeffa pleaded with a forlorn expression.

 

Seeing her battered and bleeding from the canaries’ beaks, the ladies turned away with furrowed brows.

 

Ignored by the people, Yeffa abruptly changed her expression from misery to anger, gritted her teeth, and shouted. “This is a conspiracy! Someone played a prank on me!”

 

“Yeffa, stop it. Evidence against you has emerged since earlier.”

 

“Is this, perhaps, a scheme concocted by you, sister? How could you do this to me?”

 

“Don’t be silly, Yeffa. Why did you sabotage the boat? Do you have a grudge against Count Rivolain?”

 

At my question, Yeffa clenched her fists.

 

She glared at me, then turned to the Empress, beginning to plead again.

 

“Your Majesty, I didn’t know. I truly had no idea… Please listen to me. I thought it was just perfume; I was trying to spray a little on the boat, but then I accidentally spilled it…”

 

Yeffa, as if genuinely unaware of everything, shed tears once again.

 

“I never thought the boat would break because of the perfume. I swear…”

 

However, the Empress didn’t show any sympathy toward Yeffa.

 

With an icy expression, the Empress said,

 

“Then why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

 

“I… I was scared. ……I was afraid that I would be misunderstood like this, so I didn’t tell you. Please believe me, Your Majesty!”

 

Yeffa, choked with tears, reached out and clung to the hem of the Empress’s garment.

 

But the Empress coldly brushed Yeffa’s hand away.

 

“Is there even a single person here who believes the lady’s words?”

 

The Empress directed her gaze toward the gathered ladies.

 

Under the weight of all those cold stares, Yeffa bit her lip.

 

“……Your Majesty, please, I was wrong, but I really didn’t know, and I didn’t do it on purpose.”

 

“You really are beyond redemption.”

 

 

 

 

𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑲𝒐-𝒇𝒊