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Chapter 29
“I heard everything. This is supposed to be a deadly poison, right? And you intend to make medicine out of it? Ha! What would have happened if I hadn’t been here? Everyone’s being fooled by this fraud!”
“Huh?”
Viola looked genuinely confused.
She truly wasn’t an ordinary person. Even though everything had already been discovered, she still had such an innocent, unassuming look.
Those round, gentle, sprout-like eyes almost made Celia believe that Viola was innocent.
No wonder even Conrad and the Duke had been completely taken in by this cunning fraud.
“Follow me!”
“W-why…? Could you explain…?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? Ha. Never mind. Even if I explained, you’d just try to deceive everyone with your usual fraudulent nonsense anyway!”
Celia forcefully grabbed Viola’s wrist and began pulling her along.
“Ah!”
Viola was helplessly dragged. Her body felt as light as cotton candy, making it extremely easy for Celia to pull her.
‘Pretending to be fragile, huh.’
A fake laugh escaped her lips at the audacity. Clearly, this was how she had been manipulating men by triggering their protective instincts all this time.
The sudden commotion drew the attention of passing servants, who started gathering to watch, but the more crowded it got, the more majestic Celia’s stride became.
The thought that she had caught a fraud intoxicated her with pride.
But then it happened. Viola forcefully pulled her wrist free from Celia’s grip.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll go on my own.”
Straightening her disheveled clothing, she spoke with the composure of royalty. Celia could only let out a bitter laugh.
A pretender, dealing with poisonous herbs and yet carrying herself with such dignity—it was utterly ridiculous.
Well, she would need that kind of audacity to impersonate royalty.
Unfortunately, there was no physical evidence of the royal impersonation, but that didn’t matter. She had caught Viola in the act of handling a deadly poison, making her a criminal at that very moment.
So Celia marched Viola straight toward the Duke’s office. But, to her disappointment, the Duke she so wanted to impress was not there.
Instead, they were met by none other than Conrad.
“Haah… Miss Dorn.”
Conrad pressed his temples with a deep sigh, his face showing sheer exasperation.
“What is it this time? Haven’t I repeatedly told you to stop bothering Miss Viola with unnecessary curiosity? Focus on your duties…”
“Conrad! This isn’t about that right now!”
Celia didn’t falter at his scolding. Her eyes blazed with twisted determination.
She roughly pulled the Gamjong herb from her pocket and shouted,
“Look at this! This isn’t a medicinal herb—it’s a poison, a deadly one! I investigated everything myself!”
“……”
“This dangerous herb—this fraud dared to give it to Young Master Jayden! If it weren’t for me, he could’ve been killed without a chance to escape!”
For a long while, Celia lectured everyone on what she had witnessed in Viola’s apothecary, explaining in detail how suspicious Viola was.
She was certain that once people heard her account, Conrad and even the passing servants would applaud her sharp insight.
But something strange happened. Instead of the praise she expected, everyone’s expressions were cold and disapproving.
‘What? Why are they all looking at me like that?’
The gazes made her feel as if she were the one out of place.
Then Conrad spoke in a cold voice.
“Miss Dorn, it seems you are gravely mistaken. Both I and the Duke are already fully aware of the situation.”
“……Huh?”
“I personally obtained the poison at Miss Viola’s request. Everything was done with the Duke’s permission.”
Celia’s jaw dropped.
“B-but… what if something happened to Young Master Jayden after consuming it…!”
“Miss Dorn.”
Conrad’s tone was firm.
“Young Master Jayden has a powerful constitution. What would be deadly to ordinary people is harmless to him. And Miss Viola requested it for medicinal use.”
“B-but it’s poison!”
Celia could not accept it. Her perfect reasoning and the information from her father could not be wrong.
“How can poison be medicine? People could die if they take it! Everyone is being fooled by that woman’s cunning words!”
There’s a saying: one book is more dangerous than someone who hasn’t read at all.
That perfectly described Celia.
Clutching her beliefs, she was completely immersed in her own logic, refusing to even hear what others had to say.
Seeing that further explanation was useless, Conrad resorted to warning her.
“Though you were accepted as a servant for Count Dorn’s sake, you must not cause any more disturbances.”
He shook his head as if tired of the situation.
Celia could not believe his cold tone.
‘This isn’t supposed to happen to me!’
She hadn’t entered the Duke’s household as a mere servant without any backing. The previous Duke Aschern and her father were close friends.
Her ability to enter the closed-off household as a maid was all thanks to that connection.
Even as a maid, she was effectively a guest of the late Duke.
And yet, she was being treated like this. Wasn’t that wrong?
Moreover, she could not tolerate being undermined by a lowly unmarried mother like this, as a noblewoman of the Empire.
At that moment, Viola stepped forward, her calm and kind face showing no hint of anger, her voice gentle, as if to clear up the misunderstanding.
“Miss Celia, you may be mistaken. Most medicinal herbs are naturally toxic. How you control and use that toxicity determines whether it becomes a medicine…”
“Lies! That can’t be true!”
Celia shouted back. Poison is dangerous, medicine is good—they are completely opposite concepts.
‘How dare she treat me like an idiot.’
She had been raised with proper education as a noblewoman. She didn’t need to believe the words of an uneducated commoner.
Yet Conrad, still exasperated, sighed once more. Watching her like one would a fool, Celia’s rationality snapped.
She pointed at Viola, enraged.
“Then why don’t you eat it yourself!”
“Huh?”
“It’s medicine! If it’s medicine, you won’t die from it, right? Prove it! Show that it’s not poison!”
“Miss Dorn! What nonsense are you insisting on? This isn’t the concept you think it is—”
Conrad tried to stop her in disbelief, but Celia didn’t hear a word.
As she screamed, more servants passing by gathered, murmuring in concern.
“Let’s calm down outside before the Duke arrives.”
“No! Everyone needs to see this clearly!”
Celia refused to step back. As the crowd grew, her confidence swelled, and she shoved the Gamjong herb into Viola’s hands.
“Eat it already! You wouldn’t even dare eat it, yet you plan to give it to Young Master? Look! You’re a fraud!”
Then, Viola quietly stared at the rampaging Celia.
Her eyes, calm and unreadable, lingered for a moment before shining with resolute determination.
“Alright. I’ll prove it.”
“Huh? Miss Viola? W-wait a moment!”
Conrad reached out in alarm, but Viola was faster.
Without a hint of hesitation, she put the blue poison herb she was holding straight into her mouth.
