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Chapter 26
“What is the young lady’s condition?”
“The examination is already finished. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem serious, but the doctor said traces of the medication that accumulated over a long period are still left in her body.”
“Long enough for the medicine to accumulate?”
“Yes. They said she appears to have been taking it for at least several years.”
Several years?
Haah.
William let out a deep sigh.
He had worked at Ludwig for so long, yet he hadn’t even realized something like this was happening.
“I’ll contact the prison side for now. That maid is our prime suspect at the moment, so she’ll have to be interrogated.”
“I’m counting on you, Head Butler.”
Watching Janette bow deeply, the head butler nodded.
“Really, it’s fortunate that Lady Graham became Her Grace’s maid.”
“You flatter me. I only happened to notice it by chance.”
When reporting the tea leaves mixed with drugs to the head butler, Janette had explained:
“I had tea with Her Grace a few times too, and I found it strange how unusually sleepy I became each time, so I looked into it.”
“We’ll conduct another inspection on the confiscated tea leaves.”
“Yes.”
“And just in case, I’m thinking of examining the newly purchased tea leaves too.”
“Then should I set the tea leaves aside separately?”
“No need. We’ll collect them ourselves.”
“Understood. If you need any help later, please let me know.”
William nodded at Janette’s polite response.
“I’ll inform you as the investigation progresses.”
“Yes. I’ll be waiting.”
“Very well. Keep up the good work.”
After giving her a warm smile for a moment, William quickly returned to his stern expression and left.
After seeing him off properly, Janette headed straight toward Julietta’s room.
Julietta sat leaning against the bed, staring blankly into space.
“Your Grace.”
“Ah, Janette.”
At Janette’s appearance, some color finally returned to Julietta’s pale face.
She must be deeply shocked.
Understandably so.
Someone had been drugging the tea she drank every day.
Anyone would be terrified.
Looking at Julietta’s empty expression made Janette’s heart ache.
For a brief moment, she wondered if she had done the wrong thing—
No. This was for Her Grace too.
Steeling herself, Janette stood beside Julietta.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“My body’s fine, but…”
Answering more quietly than usual, Julietta groaned and flopped her head onto the pillow.
“So that’s why I kept getting sleepy lately.”
“The newly ordered tea leaves probably weren’t mixed with anything.”
“Who on earth would do something like this? And why?”
Julietta trembled.
She never imagined an unknown culprit could feel this terrifying.
At this rate, even without medication causing insomnia, she felt like she wouldn’t sleep properly anymore.
Janette looked at her pitifully before speaking.
“Your Grace, please don’t worry too much. The culprit is probably Sien.”
“Sien?”
“Yes. She’s already considered the prime suspect, and interrogation is scheduled. She’s already in prison, so she won’t be able to harm you anymore.”
Janette deliberately spoke as if Sien were definitely the culprit.
If she didn’t reassure Julietta somehow, her already fragile anxiety might worsen.
Strictly speaking, Sien was one of the culprits anyway.
Fortunately, Janette’s plan seemed effective.
“…You really think so?”
“Of course. And if anyone tries to harm you again, I’ll protect you.”
Julietta blinked.
“You’ll protect me?”
“Yes. I’m actually quite confident in my strength.”
Julietta’s eyes drifted toward Janette’s slender wrists.
She looked like she couldn’t even lift heavy things properly.
What kind of bluff was this?
Yet somehow, it wasn’t unpleasant.
A small laugh escaped her.
Haah.
After laughing quietly, she felt her mind lighten.
And with that little room to breathe, a small doubt surfaced.
But something feels strange.
She could understand not sleeping because Sien had drugged the tea.
But—
Then why did I only sleep well on the days I met Nova?
Until now, she thought her insomnia was simply caused by stress.
She believed meeting Nova comforted her enough to let her sleep.
But if it was because of the drugs… doesn’t something about that seem strange?
Could such a coincidence really happen?
Watching Julietta sink into thought, Janette quietly considered:
I hope this makes her suspicious of Nova.
So that when the time came to completely deal with Nova, Her Grace would suffer less.
“Anyway, from now on, you drink my tea too, Janette. Understood?”
“Yes, understood.”
“And meals too. You prepare my meals.”
“That would be difficult, Your Grace. The chef should still cook.”
“No, but…”
Janette firmly shook her head.
She was happy Julietta trusted her.
But letting her fall into complete distrust of everyone would be dangerous.
“This happened because of Sien. If you start suspecting everyone else too, you’ll only suffer more.”
“I know that, but I’m still scared.”
“Then before you eat or drink anything, I’ll take the first bite. That’ll reassure you, right?”
“If that’s the case…”
Julietta delayed her answer and blinked.
Staring at Janette’s calm face, she pouted slightly.
“…You’re not afraid of anything, are you?”
“How could I not be afraid? Damp dark places, loud noises, hunger. There are countless scary things.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Huh? Then what did you mean?”
“…”
Julietta was speechless at the innocent question.
She stared at Janette with flat, fish-like eyes before shaking her head.
“Forget it. Never mind.”
Her grumbling lips slowly curved upward.
Before she realized it, the anxiety filling her heart had settled.
After confirming Julietta looked much more comfortable, Janette smiled faintly too.
The chaotic day quietly came to an end.
And a few days later—
News arrived that Sien, the prime suspect, had taken her own life.
The arrest of Nova, the Head Maid.
The drugging incident targeting Lady Julietta.
And the death of Sien, the prime suspect.
With one major incident after another, a strange tension spread throughout Ludwig.
Well, this atmosphere will disappear soon enough.
People tend to forget easily when it isn’t their own problem.
Actually, Janette worried more about Julietta’s reaction.
Julietta was already mentally exhausted from the drug incident.
What if learning Nova—the person she trusted most—had been arrested completely shattered her?
But oddly enough, the incidents seemed to lessen each other’s impact.
Like multiplying negatives and somehow getting a positive.
“Sandy.”
“Yes, Miss Maid!”
“Can you go call Mary for me?”
“Yes! I’ll be right back!”
Janette moved Sandy’s assigned area from the kitchen to near Julietta’s room.
She also worked hard to transfer Mary from the main building to Julietta’s annex.
Since they were already planning to request additional staff for the vacancy left by Sien, there was enough justification.
She did this to keep both of them close and protected.
Even after Sien’s death, the investigation continued.
Because they still weren’t certain Sien was the real culprit.
If anything, her death only intensified the investigation.
After all, the death of a prime suspect often meant someone was cutting off loose ends.
With Ludwig’s investigators currently concentrated around Julietta’s annex—
this was now the safest place in Ludwig.
“We’ll place people near their families too, just in case.”
“Please do.”
Theo agreed to watch over the families outside.
As a noble, Nova was being investigated under house arrest in her own residence within Ludwig rather than imprisoned underground.
When will she contact the mastermind?
For now, she would stay quiet to protect herself.
But sooner or later, she would try contacting the person behind all this.
She had to.
To cover up the bribery charges and figure out a response to the drug case.
We can’t miss that moment.
With that resolve, Janette focused on returning to normal life.
However—
their peaceful routine didn’t last long.
“We greet His Grace the Grand Duke and Her Grace the Grand Duchess.”
