How dare they be so impertinent as to tell the Grand Duchess to move aside. Peon turned his head back to the blueprints of Lusenford Castle.
The Grand Duchess had already learned all about the confidential areas within the castle. If the butler had to speak, he should have done so in the Grand Duchess’s presence, or else kept his mouth shut and withdrawn.
The butler was deeply dismayed. Although it’s common for young men to be enchanted by women when they can’t control their passions, he never expected the well-raised Grand Duke to be like this.
Why did it have to be a woman from the South, and the Emperor’s niece at that?
Unlike Beatrice who was gentle and cheerful, this noble princess who didn’t even bring wealth to Lusenford was a poor match for Peon. The fact that she had Peon so besotted was already the worst.
“The cause of the food poisoning has been identified.”
Seeing Peon not even glancing this way, it seemed Beatrice was right. This was a matter of life and death. Either the Grand Duchess would die, or the butler would die. One of the two.
The butler, who had no intention of dying, was newly shocked by how things had turned out, but there was nothing he could do. What’s done was done, and he couldn’t back down now.
Just looking at Peon’s cold attitude, it was clear that the butler’s well-being was already in jeopardy.
“The doctor?”
“She couldn’t come because he was treating people. In the meantime, seven more patients have been added, bringing the total to twenty-six. From the kitchen staff including the head chef, sous chef, and pastry chef, to the maids in particular, it’s severe.”
It was too many. Only then did Peon raise his head.
“What’s the cause?”
“Well…”
The butler pretended to hesitate, glancing at the Grand Duchess. Kaela was also uncomfortable with that familiar signal that she was an unwelcome presence and shouldn’t be here.
Every hesitation, every scrutinizing gaze was an ominous sign. It was also unpleasant how those bulging eyes with protruding blood vessels briefly scanned her.
Finally, Peon turned to the butler with a frown.
“It’s because of the tea served to Your Highness this afternoon. There was a lot of tea left in the teapot, so the chef made leftover cookies with the tea water and the remaining tea leaves. Everyone who ate those cookies ended up like this. There are even people whose lives are in danger.”
While it wasn’t surprising to use the flavorful leftover tea from Peon in pastries or bread, the problem was that people got sick from eating it. Kaela was startled – wasn’t Peon in danger too?
“So the tea is the problem?”
“Yes.”
“Then why should our Duchess not know about this?”
Kaela’s already surprised eyes widened even more at Peon’s blatant reference to “our Duchess.” Did she hear that wrong?
“The tea… was brought by Her Highness.”
Right. She must have heard wrong. But the butler’s words were heard very clearly. Kaela was always powerless in the face of words that gradually pushed her to the edge of a cliff. The northern tower where she had been imprisoned, where no defense worked, came to mind unbidden.
“…I should see the doctor.”
Peon stood up.
****
Night fell. Kaela quietly called for the youngest maid among those who had come with her from Ostein. It seemed that if not now, it wouldn’t be possible.
“Marie.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Marie, now quite accustomed to the new title of “Your Highness,” approached.
“Did you dispose of the letter I gave you last time?”
“What? Oh, yes! Of course! You saw me burn it yourself, Your Highness.”
There was a time when she had tried to send a letter to her father through Marie, just in case. Kaela nodded slowly. Yes, there had been such a time.
“Yes. You did well. Take this.”
“What is… this?”
It’s money! The heavy pouch was filled with gold coins and some silver coins.
“Use it as pocket money.”
“This is too, too much!”
Marie’s eyes widened, as even one or two gold coins would have been enough to say thank you.
“Yes, it’s a lot. When it’s a lot, someone might covet it. Marie, listen to me carefully now.”
Marie always listened well to Her Highness. The clever and pretty Her Highness taught her many things, which were very useful to learn well.
“You must never let anyone know that you have this money. Not even Cecile or Denise. If others find out, they’ll covet it and do bad things to you. So you must never let it be discovered, and you should use it secretly, little by little. Understand?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Good. Try to use the silver coins first. Little by little.”
Why is she saying this? Marie tilted her head but answered diligently. If Her Highness said so, she had to do it unconditionally.
“Yes.”
“…Good.”
Her Highness nodded along with her.
“I’ll hide it well and use it very little by little, only after thinking three times when there’s something I really want to buy.”
“Use it where you need it. Don’t be too frugal.”
“Still, Your Highness. It’s precious. I’ve never seen so much money before. Thank you.”
“…I’m giving it to you because you’ve done well. Now go. Put it in your pocket and cover it with your apron.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Thank you.”
Marie bowed and withdrew quietly. Her heart was about to burst with excitement. Her Highness had given her such a precious gift! She should keep it well and use it wisely when she gets married later.
Although she didn’t have anyone to marry, big sister Denise had said that one must always save money for marriage. Marie’s footsteps were as light as a feather.
****
“Confess.”
Peon spoke coldly.
“You should only say words you can take responsibility for.”
The butler, unconsciously sweating, opened his mouth.
“There was a lot of tea left in the teapot, so quite a few cookies were made.”
It was already a difficult time. With just a little extra flour, sugar, salt, and eggs, the southern tea that the Grand Duchess had brought as part of her dowry could produce an excellent flavor.
The chef, familiar with southern cuisine, skillfully made many, enough to generously share. And the maids who called their friends and shared the precious cookies in small amounts suffered mild symptoms, while those who ate a lot alone were on the brink of death.
“There’s no commonality other than those cookies.”
The butler, who had overturned the temporary kitchen, spoke firmly. Even Darinka, who was busy tending to the patients now, acknowledged this. At Peon’s gaze, Darinka quickly nodded.
“Yes, it seems the cookies are indeed the culprit.”
Even as she said this, she observed the Grand Duchess who had come with Peon. As the Grand Duchess’s personal physician, it was a habit to check the Grand Duchess’s complexion and condition. To Darinka, the Grand Duchess’s complexion didn’t look good at all.
“I personally checked that all the ingredients that went into the cookies were fine, Your Highness. I even drew fresh water from the well.”
The butler spoke in an agitated tone. He wanted to reveal this matter in front of more people, but the Grand Duke only allowed a few.
So only a few knights who were close to the Grand Duke and had known the butler for a long time, along with the personal physician and the Grand Duchess, were present. The witnesses prepared by the butler had to wait outside the door.
“To properly understand what the problem is, we need to wait for the results of chemical experiments…”
“I ate it myself and I’m fine! Don’t speak out of turn in front of His Highness the Grand Duke.”
As soon as Darinka spoke, the butler cut her off sharply. He seemed to have already drawn his conclusions about the incident. Somehow, the butler looked like a madman.
“Ah. So you’ve tried everything?”
While the butler making a fuss was nothing new, why was His Highness the Grand Duke acting like this? Darinka felt chills down her spine as she observed the Grand Duke’s expression.
His expression seemed to say, “Go ahead, talk as you please,” but the butler didn’t seem to notice.
“Yes! I’ve tried everything. Isn’t it a very serious matter that illness has broken out in the castle? The flour, eggs, sugar, salt, and yeast are all fine. They’re being managed cleanly.”
“The new chef seems to be a clean and skilled person.”
“Ah, yes. That’s true.”
When the Grand Duke pointed out an unexpected aspect, the butler ended up inadvertently praising the new chef that the Grand Duchess had brought in.
The butler, who had no intention of doing so, answered glumly and moved on. While this wasn’t the important point, the Grand Duke had subtly strayed from the main topic.
“But since this problem occurred, the chef should also take responsibility.”
“I heard he’s currently bedridden and unconscious.”
When Peon glanced at Darinka, she quickly nodded.
“It would be difficult for him to take responsibility then.”
“Your Highness, you can’t just overlook the crime of neglecting ingredient management.”
“Didn’t you just say that all the ingredients were being managed cleanly?”
It was certain. The Grand Duke was now almost mocking the butler. Still, the butler was determined to implicate the chef as well.
“That may be so, but he should have properly checked the state of the teapot and tea leaves.”
As he spoke, the butler held out the tea that Kaela had brought as part of her dowry. Nothing was as certain as what could be seen with one’s own eyes. That was also a selection of precious southern tea that the Duke of Ostein had specially chosen for his daughter’s liking.
To the people of Lusenford, who considered spending so much money on mere drinking tea to be wasteful, it was a luxury item. To ordinary people it was so, and to those in positions that cared about etiquette and propriety, including the butler, it was an object that provoked feelings of inferiority.
“This is the tea that has been used until now. The tea that Your Highness has been drinking. Look! The color of the tea at the very top has changed slightly. There’s a very faint trace of moisture.”
The butler gently poured the tea leaves onto a piece of paper. The dried tea emitted a fragrant smell. He was confident.
For now, the Grand Duke was listening, and there was no color in the Grand Duchess’s face. He had already perfectly constructed the incident. Even if the Grand Duke was bewitched by a woman, he would have no choice but to believe his words at this point.
“Although it’s masked by the aroma, if you take it out like this, you can detect a slightly foreign smell mixed in. Please smell it. The physician here has also confirmed this.”
Instead of smelling it himself, Peon looked at Darinka. With a very troubled expression, Darinka had no choice but to answer.
“It’s perfura.”
It was a famous poisonous herb. Known as a poison that causes vomiting, severe diarrhea, and abdominal pain when ingested, it was also refined and applied to arrows or swords.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes, that’s right. We’ve conducted experiments, and for now, the problematic substance is refined perfura poison.”
That was the truth, so it had to be acknowledged. The butler struggled to suppress the corners of his mouth from rising.
“Your Highness has been drinking frightening tea all this time. It’s a terrifying thing. But if this were the only issue, I wouldn’t have hastily reported such a serious matter. Unfortunately, there’s one more thing.”
The butler pulled out another part of Kaela’s dowry, the Blanue wine that had been problematic yesterday evening. The wine was new, and true to Blanue wine, it was sealed with a cork piece and candle wax instead of a wooden piece and oiled cloth.
“This is the wine that was supposed to be used for tonight’s dinner. Look here. The candle wax is different, isn’t it? The color is the same, but there’s another layer of wax on top. Compared to other new wines, it’s clear that someone has tampered with it.”
The butler took out another Blanue wine to compare the seals. Such matters must be handled thoroughly and without gaps.
“So, not just me, but in front of several people, I opened this wine once more. And again, there was the smell of perfura. Like the tea, the strong aroma of the wine can mask it, but there’s a faint smell inside the bottle.”
The Grand Duchess’s gaze slid from the wine to wander somewhere in the empty space. She remained silent, not offering any rebuttal.
“So?”
“Pardon?”
“So, is that all?”
“The wine for yesterday’s dinner or the tea to be served to Your Highness were chosen by Her Highness. No one else could have touched them.”
A wise person would have understood by now, so why is he asking again? The butler looked at Peon with wide eyes, as if to say, “Don’t you understand yet?” Strange. By this point, there shouldn’t be a need to say more.
“No, I mean, do you have anything else to say?”
Peon said, rubbing his brow.
“Of course, there’s more. I’d like to bring in a witness. Please allow it.”
“Go ahead.”
This wasn’t just about the clumsily brought wine and tea as part of the dowry. The butler had very solid evidence. Evidence that Beatrice had pointed out.
A cleaning maid entered, trembling.
“Now. Tell us what you saw, where, and how.”
The maid, who was sweating profusely and looking extremely nervous, had fingers already bent from hard work, with almost no nails left. She looked to be in her mid-30s, but was probably much younger. Hard work ages people.
“I, I clean Her Highness’s bedroom. Every day, every day. While cleaning the day before yesterday…”
The maid glanced at the butler before continuing.
“Some, something had fallen between the dressing table drawer and the wall, so I took it out to clean the dust. But it looked like a precious medicine bottle, so I didn’t touch it and put it back in its place. It seemed like it was hidden…”
“Is this what you saw?”
The butler held up the crystal bottle that Kaela had brought as her most important dowry item. The poison inside wasn’t full, but slightly less than full, as if someone had used some.
“Yes, yes, that’s it! That’s exactly what I saw!”
“Your Highness.”
The butler spoke in an agitated voice.
“Inside this delicate Ostein crystal bottle is refined perfura poison! After hearing the maid’s words, I brought it for examination just in case, and sure enough, this is the result! It’s a thousand blessings that Your Highness is safe!”
He nodded towards the Grand Duchess.
“You must be very regretful about this turn of events.”
Kaela stared at the butler expressionlessly.
