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~Chapter 29~
Through vision blurred with tears and blood, only Noxian Rubellot’s gaze flickered like the flames of hell.
Noxian removed his foot, crouched, and grabbed his jaw.
“You came in here two years ago. Just before Argen’s conquest.”
All that came out was a painful groan, but Noxian only squeezed harder, as if to break the jaw.
“Back then, was Shasha… alive?”
The question was almost a whisper—mixed with desperation and an unknown tension.
At that moment, Eden realized.
“Haha…! So Blanche’s precious little collection, the one that rat dared to touch, was you!”
Coughing up blood, he laughed madly.
Like pieces of a puzzle falling into place, all that he had missed lined up in his mind.
“Haha! You really knew nothing, Noxian Rubellot! Shasha, that woman, mute, you say?”
“……”
“She wasn’t pretending for no reason—it wasn’t an act. Her mouth was sealed. Hahaha!”
He might not remember every experiment subject’s voice, but he was certain—she wasn’t born mute.
“If her voice was taken, it must have been the Sillen poison.”
Eden chuckled.
With Shasha’s resilience, the effect of Sillen would last less than two days—so she must have been forced to drink it daily.
An acidic poison that melted vocal cords—taken every day!
Noxian stared down silently.
Shasha… could speak.
“They poisoned her to kill her voice? Every single day?”
“That’s right. Her recovery was monstrous, so there was no other way. Haha, even then, eventually she would’ve di—”
Eden suddenly froze mid-sentence.
A bolt of realization struck him.
What if he had been wrong?
What if Latium’s blessing had somehow kept her alive even through all that?
Someone who could brew Noxian’s failed sleeping drug, notice Feynil poison and create an antidote without a sample, someone who could down a whole pot of Crusell poison and live.
He knew only one such person.
The apothecary in the Verdette pharmacy.
That woman was Shasha.
Eden thought blankly:
‘Why didn’t I realize sooner?’
With that, every doubt vanished. Her strange skills, her unhinged behavior, her madness in drinking lethal doses—if it was Shasha, it made sense.
Of course his plan failed. He had treated her as human, when she wasn’t.
“If you want to speak, finish your words.”
Noxian’s grip crushed his throat. Tears and blood streamed down, but Eden smiled faintly.
He wanted to see this man despair.
He would die here anyway—at least let this man be just as ruined.
“You burned the goal I chased all my life. You should lose your purpose too!”
“Shasha is dead, Noxian Rubellot. Dead in the most miserable way!”
“…What?”
“You think a traitor, a rebel, would be left alive? Fool! If she hadn’t gone over to you, she would’ve lived!”
But the expected punishment never came.
The grip on his neck loosened slightly. Eden’s joy grew.
“Did you even know who she really was? From birth she was a disgrace, a rat who stole Latium’s blessing! Kept alive only for her skills, but in the end she dragged you in and destroyed the Marquisate!”
“Stop.”
Even at the quiet warning, Eden didn’t stop.
Seeing a reaction, he felt like fireworks went off in his head.
“You were fooled then, and you’re fooled now! Hahaha! Want me to tell you more?”
His eyes gleamed. Joseph, watching the still Noxian, suddenly felt a strong sense of dread.
“The poison I gave your mother and sister was secretly developed in Argen just before I was brought in. No one but us should have known.”
His voice dripped with twisted delight.
“How did you—”
Crack.
The small sound swallowed every other sound. Even the death cry.
Only the drip, drip of thick liquid filled the silence.
Joseph held his breath. Instinct screamed at him: speak now and you’ll die too.
Just like that doctor with the broken neck.
“…You talk too much.”
Noxian slowly withdrew his arm.
The hand that had moved in impulse trembled once, then stilled.
His mind overflowed—information he wanted, information he didn’t, things he knew, things he should never have known.
All that remained was one impulse—
To silence that mouth.
“Shasha is dead, Noxian Rubellot. Dead in the most miserable way!”
Lies.
“From birth she was a disgrace, a rat who stole Latium’s blessing!”
Just words to shake him.
“No one but us should have known. How did you—”
Enough.
Before the final picture could form, Noxian threw the last piece far away.
So no one would hear what would have followed.
Eden was dead. Mila was dismissed.
“You’ve done wrong, so I can’t write a recommendation. But I’ll put in a large severance payment, so you won’t have trouble until you find a new job.”
“Thank you for your mercy, Madam. I’ll never forget your grace.”
“Enough. Thank Miss Shariette. She said it was thanks to you we caught the culprit.”
After Mila left, Marian launched a large investigation among the servants.
In the process, ugly facts came out about their treatment of Shariette.
“These vile, low creatures…!”
Nixia raged, but Marian summoned the responsible leaders first.
The head maid and head butler arrived pale, bowing deeply. Shadows fell long across the floor.
“I am greatly disappointed in you.”
Marian’s calm voice fell heavy.
Not cold or harsh, but her usual kindness was gone.
“The young duke brought her here as a savior. I ordered she be treated as our most precious guest. And yet you let her suffer disgrace in my house? Do Rubellots not know honor?”
“We are sorry, Madam.”
“We beg forgiveness.”
They bowed even lower. The duchess rarely scolded like this, and the weight of responsibility crushed them.
“If your negligence caused the young duke to lose his physician or something equal to it, how could I accept that?”
The air grew sharp, tense, almost choking.
Marian made it clear—their poor oversight had nearly harmed not just the physician, but the young duke and the whole family.
“Or did you allow it on purpose, hoping for that outcome?”
“Never! It was our fault, Madam. We should have noticed and stopped it sooner. Please forgive us!”
As the scope of responsibility widened, they dropped to their knees in fear.
But Marian’s expression didn’t soften.
“Bring everyone involved, no matter who they are. The decision will be made by the victim. Beg forgiveness from her, not me.”
Meanwhile, that victim was upset for another reason.
“Argh, this is crazy!”
Two days since she woke up, Shariette still hadn’t been allowed outside her room.
After all the fuss and chaos, now she was stuck under strict bedrest.
She said she was fine, healthy, perfectly well—but no one believed her.
Who?
The people of this house, starting with the man named as superior in the contract!
