IMMCFC 30

 Chapter 30

Although I had been suddenly dragged here and suspected, I didn’t actually feel unpleasant.

‘It’s natural for her not to trust me.’

I knew that Celia’s current behavior stemmed from her ill feelings toward me.

But setting aside malice, it was a perfectly reasonable suspicion if considered logically.

Until recently, I had been an outsider with no connection to the Duke’s household.

And now, barely having entered, I suddenly claimed that an incurable poison could be used as a cure. It was only natural that my words were hard to believe.

But my claim that this was a treatment was not false.

After all, it was information straight from the original story.

In The Future Saint, the remedy for the Tamutar disease was discovered purely by chance.

‘Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say it’s thanks to the heroine’s buff?’

The incident began when an assassin forced Gamjong herb into Jayden.

Though he was technically a patient, Jayden’s body, infused with dragon blood, was almost immune to poison.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been a minor incident—a slight fever for a day—but the problem was that Melody knew nothing of this.

Fearing Jayden might die, Melody gave him the pointed-leaf herb in tears.

‘Right now, Gamjong is ranked third among assassins’ favorite poisons, but that’s only for the present.’

Seven years in the future, where Melody exists, it was hardly used at all.

This was because the antidote for Gamjong had been discovered—the pointed-leaf herb.

After treatment, Jayden woke up crying, touched by Melody’s concern, and became completely devoted to his sister.

That night, something strange happened.

The usual pain from Tamutar disease that came with sleep completely disappeared.

It was the first time since the disease had severely progressed.

Cain immediately investigated the cause and discovered the interaction between the pointed-leaf herb and Gamjong. The pointed-leaf herb, in the process of neutralizing Gamjong’s poison, strongly suppressed the dragon energy.

In other words, if the two were combined in the right proportion, they became an excellent remedy for Jayden’s illness.

But this reasoning only worked from the perspective of someone familiar with the original story.

‘It’s reasonable for her to be suspicious.’

Even if Celia’s actions stemmed from ill intent, that was irrelevant.

Misunderstandings like this could happen to anyone if the proof wasn’t provided, and it was my duty to resolve them.

‘No matter what I say, the doubts won’t disappear.’

…Then I might as well demonstrate the effect by taking it myself.

It was something I had to do eventually. The timing just happened to be now.

As she had said, I couldn’t give something potentially deadly to a child like Jayden without testing it myself.

Without hesitation, I brought the poisonous herb to my lips and swallowed it.

“Miss Viola! What are you doing…!”

Though he tried to urge me not to, Conrad grabbed my arm in alarm, as if he had never imagined I would actually eat it.

Unlike the panicking Conrad, Celia only became more triumphant.

“You don’t mean to pretend to die now, do you? Trying to get sympathy votes?”

But then it happened.

“Viola!”

Cain, returning to the office, seemed to have understood the situation at once and rushed toward me.

Before the poison could circulate fully in my body, I quickly took out the antidote from my pocket and swallowed it—it was the one I had prepared earlier using pointed-leaf herb as a trial.

Wow. It was the first time I had swallowed such a potent poison…

And no sooner had I done so than symptoms of poisoning began to hit me. My vision spun.

Ugh, dizzy… I staggered involuntarily, and Cain caught my collapsing body in his arms.

“Are you crazy? What were you thinking, eating a poisonous herb…!”

On his usually impassive face, this moment showed unmistakable anger.

Was he angry? Why? Ah, perhaps because I hadn’t mentioned the antidote… My mind wasn’t functioning well due to the poison.

“Hahaha, sorry. It’s strong… I even took the antidote right away.”

I forced a smile, lifting the corners of my mouth as my strength faded, though it clearly wasn’t the answer he wanted. His gaze was troubled.

“Spit it out.”

He cupped my face and tried to force my mouth open. I vaguely remembered a similar event earlier… My mind was too foggy to recall clearly.

“It’s too late for that… If I spit it out, the antidote would come out first…”

The terrifying thing about the Sweet Death herb was that it was absorbed immediately upon ingestion and spread rapidly.

If I tried to vomit now, only the antidote would be expelled, and I might actually die.

“Ah, but don’t worry… When giving it to Young Master Jayden, this won’t be a problem…”

Although I had taken the raw herb and faced these effects, it would be properly processed for Jayden. No problem there.

I wanted to tell Cain this, but words wouldn’t come.

“Did you even say that!”

I thought I heard him scold again, but I wasn’t sure.

I was just so sleepy. Not because of the poison… maybe it was the antidote. Adjusting the mixture slightly could be fine…

My thoughts didn’t reach the end. I fainted in Cain’s arms.

At the moment Viola fainted, Cain couldn’t say a word.

His heart felt like it had dropped.

‘Am I surprised? Why?’

Even after countless near-death encounters fighting monsters, he had never felt like this.

But if not surprise, how could he explain this reaction?

My life had always been clear, but at this moment, a confusing sense of uncertainty completely overwhelmed me.

My heart pounded like someone furious. The unfamiliar thudding shook me. My jaw muscles tensed automatically.

“Look at this! I knew it! She collapsed! Dangerous poisonous herb… Huh!”

Celia, failing to notice the tension in the atmosphere, had stopped talking mid-sentence.

Her triumphant attitude vanished instantly, and she trembled, bewildered.

‘I… what’s happening to me?’

It was the first time I had been this close to Cain since entering the mansion.

He was always away on monster hunts.

So I should be proudly showing him my achievements today, yet no words came.

Even though nothing had happened, the overwhelming pressure felt like facing a giant monster, suffocating me.

Eventually, my legs gave out, and I collapsed.

The servants around me, shaken by the same fear, followed suit.

“Everyone, leave.”

Cain’s words were brief, yet no further explanation was needed.

The servants hurriedly left. Two of them dragged Celia out since she couldn’t stand.

Finally, the hallway fell silent.

Cain looked down at me in his arms. My pale, milk-white face was ghostly.

Even with the antidote, I had swallowed the poisonous herb.

‘There’s no way her body could be okay.’

Surely she knew this too. Why did she do it?

Even a newborn squirrel would not do this without knowing the danger. Did this woman have no survival instinct?

Even if there was an antidote, voluntarily swallowing poison?

Cain’s grip tightened, but he forcibly maintained his composure.

The reason didn’t matter right now.

First priority: to lay my body down safely.

“Sir, I’ll handle her.”

Conrad reached out as if to take me, but Cain shook his head and gestured for him to stay.

“It’s fine. I’ll do it myself.”