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chapter 60
“Make me a very potent poison.”
What Lydia wanted was not a fertility treatment. She needed a poison strong enough to take a life instantly.
“What… what will you use it for?”
Nunuki flinched and blinked in surprise. Her heart raced at the request from Lydia, whose face was like that of an angel, asking for poison.
Lydia had always had a certain cruel streak since childhood. Her mother had worried that Lydia treated life too lightly.
Later, she often expressed concerns that Lydia might develop madness like her own grandmother.
“I just feel like I might need it.”
Lydia smiled faintly. It seemed she had found a purpose for it.
“You’re not thinking anything… bad, are you?”
“Nunuki, did you really think I would take the poison myself and end my life?”
Lydia laughed at the anxious look in Nunuki’s eyes, as if she were examining her with concern.
Nunuki didn’t really know her. Lydia wiped away the tears forming at the corners of her eyes from laughing so much and looked at Nunuki, whose face was still worried.
“Why would I die? I won’t die just for that.”
“Of course. So what if there’s no child?”
Nunuki held Lydia’s hand. The coldness of Lydia’s hand made Nunuki’s smile awkward.
“Someone else can have the child.”
Lydia pulled her hand free. There was someone to bear a child—Ceraret Inohater. She had thought him useless, but he turned out to be quite useful.
“Adoption is fine too. Yes, our angel.”
Unaware of Lydia’s true thoughts, Nunuki nodded earnestly, trying to please her.
“Nunuki, I won’t die. So make the poison. I have a use for it.”
Lydia urged Nunuki.
“Poison is dangerous, my lady. I can’t give it to you recklessly.”
Nunuki looked troubled. There were sometimes discreet requests from nobles to make poison, but Nunuki never complied.
Poison was too dangerous and shouldn’t be used carelessly. She could not hand it over to Lydia.
“You’re partly responsible for how I ended up like this, Nunuki. You need to take responsibility. Otherwise, I might end up hating you.”
The voice coming from Lydia was cold. Her expressionless face showed no emotion, giving her the feel of a porcelain doll.
A chill ran down Nunuki’s spine. Though the tone was soft, it was clearly a threat: if she didn’t provide the poison, Lydia wouldn’t let it go.
“Uh, where will you use it? I can’t give it to you until you tell me.”
Even so, Nunuki mustered the courage to ask.
“I’ll just keep it. So hurry up and make it.”
“You promise you’ll just keep it?”
“Yes.”
“Wait a moment.”
Nunuki reluctantly rose, gathering herbs and potions. She returned to the large table and began making the poison.
Even while making it, she felt uneasy. Yet she told herself to trust Lydia and completed the poison.
“Is it ready?”
Lydia approached the table.
“Yes.”
Nunuki poured the finished poison into a bottle.
She extended her hand with the bottle but quickly withdrew it. She needed to hand it over but still felt uneasy.
“Give it here.”
Lydia reached out, her face bright with the delight of receiving a long-awaited toy.
“You must keep your promise.”
Reluctantly, Nunuki handed over the bottle, her expression tense as she cautioned once more.
“Don’t worry.”
Lydia replied with an expression of mild annoyance.
Lydia exchanged a brief greeting with Nunuki and left the apothecary. Anita, waiting outside, approached.
“Anita.”
Lydia handed her the bottle of poison. Anita took it carefully.
“Let’s finish this. Cleanly.”
Lydia smiled at Anita with an angelic expression.
“Ma’am! Ma’am!”
Hannah burst into the bedroom, her face pale as paper.
Ceraret, who was reading, looked up in alarm and slammed the book onto the table.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
Ceraret stood and approached Hannah to check her face.
“So… Sophia… Sophia…”
Hannah’s voice trembled.
“Sophia? What about Sophia?”
“She’s… dead.”
“What?”
Ceraret’s eyes widened at Hannah’s words.
What could this mean? Sophia was dead? She had clearly gone to meet the person who gave her medicine yesterday. Ceraret’s breathing became irregular.
“Apparently, Sophia didn’t come back yesterday. Her body was found last night, and her identity was only confirmed this morning. The police are at the lobby now.”
Ceraret quickly left the bedroom, Hannah following.
Descending the stairs rapidly, Ceraret approached the police officers with the butler in the lobby. The officers saluted politely.
“Duchess.”
“I heard a maid of the Berun household has died. Is it true?”
Ceraret asked calmly, though her heart pounded. Had the person who gave her the medicine ended up dead?
“Yes, we found a maid named Sophia at the Berun estate. There are traces of poison, but it’s unclear whether it was homicide or suicide.”
“Poison?”
Ceraret paled at the word. Memories of a previous life came flooding back. She immediately suspected Lydia. Had Lydia used poison to cover up her own actions?
“Ma’am… surely not.”
Hannah, beside her, seemed to share the same thought, her eyes nervous.
“The culprit is still unknown?”
Ceraret asked, trying to steady her mind.
“Yes, the investigation is ongoing. We will contact you once it’s solved.”
The butler gestured toward Sophia’s room. Ceraret stepped aside.
“Please cooperate fully.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The butler led the police to Sophia’s room. Once they were gone, Hannah stamped her foot.
“Didn’t Miss Elliot do this?”
“Hannah, shh.”
Ceraret glanced around cautiously and told Hannah to keep quiet. Her thoughts mirrored Hannah’s, but nothing was certain. Without clear evidence, she couldn’t act recklessly.
Returning to the bedroom, Ceraret sat on the sofa, stunned.
Eve came to her side, shocked, and sat opposite.
“It can’t be suicide. She cared so much for her siblings; she wouldn’t leave them behind.”
Hannah shook her head, agreeing.
“I think so too,” Ceraret said.
Sophia, essentially the head of her family, would not have committed suicide. She had gone to meet the person who gave her medicine yesterday, so it had to be Lydia.
Ceraret felt heavy-hearted, thinking Sophia had been driven to her death. Their father was gone, and her younger siblings barely had food. By now, Sophia’s family must have heard. How painful it must be. Ceraret clenched her lips in sorrow.
“Why, ma’am? Where are you going?”
“I want to go to the Berun estate where Sophia was found.”
“Over there?”
“Yes, to see if there are any witnesses. I can’t just sit still.”
“Then I’ll come with you.”
“No, Hannah, you’ll come. Eve has other matters.”
“Where?”
Eve asked. Ceraret handed her some money from the safe.
“Go to Sophia’s home and deliver this.”
“Understood. Leave it to me.”
“Hannah, let’s go to the Berun estate.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The Berun estate was one of the largest slums in the Eirun Empire. Roads were unpaved, there were no proper drainage systems, and filth covered the streets.
Crime was rampant, and pickpocketing was common. Most horrific news came from here.
Ceraret told the coachman to wait at the alley entrance and led Hannah deeper inside.
“She was found in a back alley, right?”
Hannah looked around nervously.
“Yes.”
The streets were littered with trash, and the old houses seemed on the verge of collapse.
A stench of garbage and filth made Ceraret frown. She bit her lip, thinking sadly of Sophia, who had died here.
“Ma’am, over there.”
Hannah pointed toward a police line.
Ceraret and Hannah approached. The dead-end alley was filled with garbage, the ground stained dark red.
It had to be Sophia’s blood. Ceraret’s throat tightened, and tears pricked her eyes.
Sophia had died from poison, just like in Ceraret’s previous life. Her heart ached more.
“Rest easy, Sophia. Don’t worry about your siblings.”
Ceraret silently prayed for Sophia’s soul.
“Ma’am, should we ask the elderly lady over there if she saw Sophia that day? Maybe she saw someone suspicious.”
Ceraret’s gaze followed Hannah’s finger to a distant house. An old woman sat slowly blinking on a chair. Ceraret nodded.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Hannah approached the old woman. Ceraret stopped abruptly. Among the trash, she saw something—bottle-shaped.
“Hannah, go ahead and ask first.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ceraret entered the police line and bent down to retrieve the bottle from the trash.
It was a familiar bottle. It looked exactly like the one that held birth control. Ceraret frowned.
She tried to check the bottom for the Held tribe symbol when she sensed someone behind her.
Just as she turned, a sharp pain struck her head.
Thud
With a dull sound, Ceraret lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.
