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~Chapter 21~
Was this… him confessing his own crime?
Shariette looked at him with a puzzled face.
She was well aware of Rubellot’s resistance to poison.
Eden lifted the corner of his lips in something like a smile.
“Shouldn’t we at least be careful and on guard? Both you and I—especially when we carry the title of personal physician.”
When he saw distrust flicker in her turquoise eyes, Eden smiled again, this time more naturally.
People who don’t know their place but want to act virtuous always fall for things like this.
That woman must surely be suspicious of him.
She probably couldn’t find any proof of how the duchess and lady were poisoned, so she was only holding suspicions.
That’s why she’ll definitely take the bait.
And while he left the bait out for her—
The opportunity came sooner than expected.
“Shariette, do you have any digestive medicine?”
It happened during a rare time when Eden, who had been annoyingly hovering around the dispensary for the past two days, was nowhere to be seen.
Nixia came in looking uncomfortable, searching for her.
It seemed she’d been under a lot of stress from problems with the merchant group, and now she was dealing with headaches and indigestion as well.
Shariette handed her digestive medicine she had set aside for Nixia’s use only.
“Ah, thank you… Shariette, you really don’t have to do that anymore, you know.”
Nixia pressed her forehead as she watched the pharmacist, who insisted on taking the medicine herself first to prove its safety before giving it to her.
She felt embarrassed for ever suspecting her. Without hesitation, she swallowed the medicine she received.
“…! What is this? It tastes like grapes—no, wine.”
“That’s right. Since you like wine, I added flavoring. You haven’t been able to drink lately, so at least this way—”
Before she could finish, both her hands were grabbed. A beautiful woman, smelling of roses, looked at her with sparkling eyes.
“Shariette! Let’s do a project together.”
“…What?”
“Ah, don’t worry about Noxian. That man—no, that boy—I’ll talk to him myself. Oh my! Let’s talk in more detail over tea later, alright?”
Sparkle, sparkle.
Faced with those bright, red eyes, Shariette grew helpless and nodded blankly.
Whether it was thanks to the medicine or the relief of a burden lifting, Nixia left the dispensary humming.
Once back in her room, she called for a maid.
“Sally, I’m going to have tea with Mother and Shariette. Prepare everything and bring her in one hour.”
“Yes, my lady.”
After politely receiving the order and closing the door, Sally headed to a certain place—the room shared by the maids.
“Milla. Hey, you told me to let you know when the lady had tea with the madam and Miss Shariette.”
A maid with a dark, tired face, as if she hadn’t slept for days, lifted her head.
“…Thank you, Sally. I’ll go.”
Sally frowned. She’s not usually like this. What’s wrong with her?
To be honest, Shariette thought she might be half caught already.
After hearing what Eden said, she’d thought about it carefully.
Even if he was untrustworthy, what he said wasn’t completely wrong.
She had already confirmed through Noxian that the Rubellots had strong resistance to drugs and poison.
It was entirely possible they’d be careless because of it.
She’d been trying to get Marian and Nixia to avoid certain foods before, but since they didn’t listen, this seemed like a good chance to check properly.
Of course, no one would be foolish enough to openly announce they’d poison someone and then really do it.
“Sorry, but let me check something first.”
Shariette waited in front of Nixia’s room, then quickly stopped the maid carrying a tray with teacups and a teapot.
The startled maid nodded timidly, her light brown hair falling over her dark, tired eyes.
Lifting the pale blue lid of the small flower-patterned teapot, Shariette checked the scent. Then she took out the silver teaspoon she had prepared and dipped it inside.
“…”
When she pulled the spoon out, it was still clean silver.
She checked the teacups as well, but the silver—which was sensitive even to tiny impurities—showed no sign of reaction.
The tense maid’s eyes followed her hand and the spoon nervously before finally looking away.
“Is that enough?”
Her voice trembled as if forced out.
Shariette silently studied her composed face, her turquoise eyes sweeping quickly and thoroughly over her—hair, face, eyes, under the eyes, lips, veins and capillaries, fingers, and fingernails.
What was her name again?
Milla?
Shariette reached for the tray.
“I’ll carry this.”
“Wh-what? No, I—!”
“I have something to discuss with Lady Marian and Lady Nixia alone.”
Looking uneasy and not knowing where to put her gaze, Milla finally nodded.
As she watched Shariette’s back while she placed the silver spoon back and arranged the tray, guilt weighed on her chest. But she had no other choice.
Milla shut her eyes tightly.
I’m truly sorry…!
“Shariette! Why are you carrying that yourself instead of having a maid do it?”
Nixia, sitting with Marian, was surprised when she saw her. Shariette answered calmly.
“I wanted to try it. I once tried something similar and got fired for it.”
After only a week, too.
…It was the kind of story you didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about.
By now, Nixia was used to the socially awkward pharmacist’s unpredictable answers and helped her set the tray down.
“I guess Milla prepared the tea. She knows I like this combination of tea leaves and teacups.”
Marian smiled warmly.
Shariette, however, didn’t care whether tea leaves went into blue or white cups—but apparently, to Marian and Nixia, this was an important matter.
Which makes it more convenient to slip something in ahead of time.
Shariette frowned at the teapot Nixia was brewing from.
Brewing medicine or brewing tea—it didn’t feel all that different to her.
Marian and Nixia had tried her brewed tea once before, and since then, they never let her handle the teapot again.
Was it really that bad?
She decided she’d make Noxian try it next time. He could drink bitter medicine easily enough, so he’d probably drink it.
Come to think of it, it had already been ten days since Noxian left the mansion.
She’d heard he was in the northern territory, but who knew if he was taking his medicine properly.
Seventy percent chance he’s not.
Judging by his usual behavior, Shariette was almost certain. If he didn’t take his medicine here, he wouldn’t be taking it there either.
And since he’d even left his lieutenant behind, he was probably risking his life again.
She remembered Josef, who had been appearing everywhere she went these past few days since the dirty water incident.
Even with his cheerful personality, he was still a knight—so the servants seemed to make fewer mistakes in front of him.
“Sir Josef, you’re his lieutenant, so why aren’t you following him? What are you doing here?”
“Lord Noxian ordered me to carry out a mission here.”
“What mission?”
“…That’s classified.”
For something classified, you sure don’t seem to be doing anything.
If someone had to choose between the Setora Mountains and the capital mansion for where manpower was more needed, even a passing child would choose the first.
He really only seemed to do incomprehensible things.
How should I deal with this uncooperative patient?
Nixia interrupted her thoughts.
“So, Shariette. Shall we talk about what we discussed earlier in more detail?”
Startled back to reality, Shariette scanned the table.
Then, without pouring tea for the other two, she poured her own, downed it in one gulp—
The hot tea burned its way down her throat and into her stomach.
“I was curious about the taste. It’s good.”
Then she poured herself another cup.
Gulp.
Pour. Gulp.
Again—pour. Gulp.
Seeing someone with such a small appetite drink tea like plain water, Marian and Nixia’s eyes went wide.
