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~Chapter 23~
From the start, Eden had no intention of killing the duchess and the young lady at this point.
They had to stay alive for his future plans to work.
So this time, he carefully chose a poison that would simply reveal the tea had been tainted—
low fatality rate if treated in time, but high in pain.
Something that would make the culprit’s excuses worthless and leave no room for mercy or forgiveness.
Which meant, whoever took even a sip would instantly realize something was terribly wrong.
So why… how did that woman drink all of it?
“Why are you all just standing there? Lock down the mansion at once! Knights, seize Evans—he’s the prime suspect!”
Nixia’s ice-cold voice shattered the frozen air.
She remembered exactly what Eden had shouted when he burst in through the door.
‘Madam! My lady! Stop! Don’t drink it! That woman poisoned—’
He’d known there was poison, and he’d tried to frame someone else—of course he was the culprit!
“He must have the antidote. Catch him!”
Bang!
Those who had been frozen, staring only at the doctor, came to their senses and moved to follow the order.
But Eden—Franz, the man known for reason, logic, and cold intellect—was lost in a storm of incomprehension.
As knights forced his arms behind his back and pushed his head down, a sharp realization pierced him.
She drank it on purpose. She knew what was in it, and still drank it all…
That woman had planned to die by his hand from the beginning.
“Miss Shariette! Breathe, breathe!”
Shariette opened her mouth. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to breathe—each time she tried, the bitter scent of tea mixed with the metallic tang of blood rushed up her throat.
Her head already throbbed, and now her stomach churned, making her vision spin.
She slowly counted in her head until she regained her breath.
After that, it was easier. She shifted her awareness away from the battered stomach and esophagus, watching the scene from above and organizing it in her mind.
-
Marian was holding her head.
-
Nixia was controlling the situation beside her.
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At least ten witnesses were present.
-
The teapot, the evidence, was on the table.
-
Eden was under arrest, and Milla hadn’t appeared yet.
“Miss Shariette, can you hear me?”
She blinked a few times.
-
Her vision was fine, but her sense of touch in the extremities was a bit dulled.
Too lazy to open my mouth.
It took a moment to bring her awareness back down from that detached state enough to actually speak.
“Ma… rian… milady.”
When blood welled up as soon as she spoke, Nixia quickly cut in.
“Shariette! Don’t talk, just hold on! We’ll beat the antidote out of that bastard right away—”
“Kehuk—poison… in the blood… stay back…”
“Is this the time to say that?! Keep your mouth shut!”
Since she knew she wasn’t going to die, Shariette was the calmest person there.
This wasn’t her first time tasting poison.
Ah, but I did drink too much.
Blegh—
Even plain water would make you queasy if you drank a whole pot at once. Filling an empty stomach with bitter tea left her nauseated even now.
“I found the antidote!”
A familiar voice. Shariette turned her head where she lay.
Josef had pulled a vial from Eden’s coat pocket, read the label, and was hurrying toward her.
Behind him, she locked eyes with Eden, who was half sprawled on the floor.
Covered in dark blood and looking as if she might die at any second, Shariette pulled one corner of her mouth into a smile.
“…!”
He looked at her like he’d just seen a ghost. Shariette hadn’t known he was capable of that expression.
I win.
There was no way she wouldn’t know what Eden—Franz—knew.
Especially when the method was something straight out of an Argen researcher’s playbook.
The moment she’d opened the teapot, she’d known the poison inside wouldn’t react to silver.
She’d even figured out exactly what it was.
A lick of the teaspoon was all it took—her body was faster and more accurate than any test strip.
“Shariette? Wait, Shariette…! Don’t close your eyes, take the antidote first—”
Either way, everything had gone according to plan.
No one hurt, no one dead, the culprit caught—and with luck, they’d find the Peynile poison too. Then she could root out the last of Argen’s agents.
I did it.
Her karma debt had just been reduced. Relieved, she gladly let the oncoming drowsiness take her and closed her eyes.
About 30 minutes earlier—
“You’re being threatened, aren’t you? By Eden Evans.”
Shariette didn’t even look up from arranging the tray.
“Wh-what?!”
Milla flinched in shock, hiding her hands behind her back.
After tasting the teaspoon and tucking it into her coat, Shariette turned to face her.
The maid’s dark, sunken face wasn’t just from lack of sleep, nerves, or stress.
“The black tinge near your nail beds. The faint discoloration along your veins. The twitching nerves. All signs of poisoning.”
“…!”
“He must have told you that if you didn’t do as he said, you’d die. And that only he could make the antidote.”
Shariette recited it as if she’d been watching the scene herself.
That sort of game was a nasty hobby of certain researchers back in Argen.
Poor Milla couldn’t bring herself to nod or shake her head, trembling with tears in her eyes.
Shariette set the tray down and stepped closer.
“I can make that antidote too.”
“Wh-what…? Really? Truly?!”
“I made the young duke’s insomnia medicine, didn’t I? You think I can’t make this?”
Her tone was calm, as if stating an obvious fact.
Her turquoise eyes shone like the surface of an emerald.
Hope lit up Milla’s face.
Among the servants, this new physician-pharmacist was a strange figure—
looking like a refined noble lady when silent, but saying odd things the moment she opened her mouth.
Though she was technically an employee like them, she spoke freely with the duchess, the young duke, and Lady Nixia.
Lately, she’d become the target of suspicion—rumors that she was being treated too well, or that she had seduced the young duke to enter the mansion.
No one knew where the gossip began.
But no one could deny the effectiveness of her medicine.
Milla didn’t hesitate—she grabbed onto Shariette and clung to her.
Her knees hit the floor with a thud.
“Please, I beg you…! I have five mouths to feed. My younger siblings are still small. If you save me, I’ll do anything…”
“Then do two things for me. For the record, in your current state you won’t die immediately. It’ll hurt, though.”
What does that mean? Milla’s eyes went wide.
Shariette smirked.
“I guarantee it—once all this is over and Eden Evans gives you the antidote, that will be the day you die. It’ll be the real deadly poison.”
“…!”
“If you don’t believe me, go test it now. See how he reacts.”
Having turned the maid to her side, Shariette calmly took the poisoned tea back to Marian and Nixia.
Then, acting crazy, she emptied nearly the whole pot herself—
Leaving just enough for evidence, but not enough for anyone else to drink.
For a normal person, a sip or two would have been enough, but for Shariette, who was far too resilient, that amount wouldn’t have done the job.
If I want to be certain, I have to drink as much as possible.
From the beginning, her goal was proof for persuasion, and persuasion for an arrest.
To catch a poisoner, a poisoning had to actually happen.
And the perfect candidate to be poisoned without dying, while showing the effects clearly—was Shariette herself.
