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Chapter: 25
“W–wait a moment…!”
A scream that sounded like someone was about to suffocate rang out, and something came charging toward us at full speed.
It was one of the servants who had been pouring champagne.
The servant, pale as a sheet, trembled violently as he threw himself down in front of the Empress.
“Y–Your Majesty the Empress! Please do not drink from that glass. Th–there is… poison in it.”
“Poison?”
Just moments ago, we had been cheerfully clinking glasses, laughing and saying things like ‘There couldn’t possibly be poison here! Hohoho!’
And now, in this situation—poison in the Empress’s glass, no less?
The atmosphere in the banquet hall instantly froze to the bone.
“What do you mean, poison?”
The Empress asked in a dignified voice.
It’s going according to plan.
Extracting confessions from the servants had been part of my plan all along.
I tried to appear calm, but inside I was tense—my small heart pounding at top speed.
After all, this was no small matter.
The direct bloodline of House Bellas was noble enough, but the Empress—the ruler of the Empire—was on an entirely different level.
Being involved in poisoning Adrian could be silenced as long as the ducal household covered it up properly.
But if the Empress were assassinated and the Empire thrown into chaos?
The imperial family would launch a full investigation. It would only be a matter of time before House Bellas was searched.
All evidence would be dragged out. Torture would begin.
And once everyone connected to the incident was exposed…
Anyone who had even slightly contributed to the Empress’s death would face a horrific punishment.
Death would be the minimum.
Their heads would be hung from the city walls for harming imperial blood, and their families would have their property confiscated and be cast out as wanderers.
“The poison was smeared on the glass meant for His Grace the Young Duke. We didn’t know he would toast with someone else…”
“…You?”
“Eek! Th–that is, everything was done under the Duchess’s orders!”
The kneeling servant slammed his head down as he spoke Melisandra’s name.
That’s right.
Imperial law included something called the Informant’s Statute.
If accomplices to a crime confessed in advance and helped prevent greater damage, their original punishment would be reduced by one degree.
Perhaps remembering that too late, the other servants hurried forward and dropped to their knees across the banquet hall.
“That’s right! We only obeyed the Duchess because she threatened us!”
“She said she’d drive us out of the ducal house!”
“She said we should frame House Stewart for the Young Duke’s death!”
“Yes! The Duchess always said she wanted to push the Stewarts out!”
“Please spare our lives, Your Majesty!”
“You insolent wretches!”
At the Empress’s sharp rebuke, the servants who had been crying out fell silent.
The guests—who had been whispering in disbelief at the claim that Melisandra had used poison, even trying to kill her own son—also closed their mouths.
In the deathly quiet banquet hall, the Empress’s commanding voice rang out.
“You dare speak so much after nearly killing not only your mistress, but also Lady Utel and myself?”
“……”
The servants bowed their heads, faces drained of all color.
And Melisandra—she was particularly worth watching.
She stood frozen like ice some distance away.
The large feather in her hair trembled uncontrollably. Her entire body shook violently.
Her face turned paper-white, then quickly flushed red and blue.
“N–No, Your Majesty! Do not believe the words of those lowly creatures!”
She glared viciously at the servants.
If looks could kill, that would have been the one.
“You wretches—how dare you slander me—!”
“You’re talking far too much, Melisandra.”
The Empress cut her off coldly.
At the Empress’s gesture, attendants from the imperial palace stepped forward and seized Melisandra.
“Let go of me!”
She resisted at first, true to her nature, but was soon forced down onto her knees before the servants.
Even then, she lifted her head and glared at me as though she wanted to kill me.
I tilted my head innocently as I met her gaze.
Huh? Rosha doesn’t know anything though?
—Ding!
[SYSTEM: Your innocent expression fills the target with dizzying rage.]
“Y–You sly little bitch…! This is all because of you!”
“Melisandra. Are the servants’ statements true?”
Once again, the Empress cut her off with dignity.
At that moment, another voice came from the entrance of the banquet hall.
“Oh my, has the interrogation already begun?”
It was a low voice, calm, yet carrying effortlessly across the room.
“I, too, have something to accuse that woman of.”
Duke Bellas and the butler entered the hall.
“Duke Bellas?”
The Empress spoke in surprise.
“I thought you were still subjugating monsters in the north.”
“The campaign is nearing its end.”
Adrian’s father, Duke Bellas, bowed respectfully before answering.
“I received an urgent report of suspicious movements within my household.”
“Suspicious movements?”
“Oinos.”
At the Duke’s call, the butler stepped forward.
“I accuse an evildoer who plotted to assassinate the Duke, imprisoned the Young Duke in the basement, and subjected him to brutal abuse.”
“……”
“And on top of that, she erased my memories—which were the greatest obstacle to her crimes—and dumped me in the far end of the estate’s laundry quarters.”
Once again, silence fell over the banquet hall.
Even without naming her, the guests clearly knew who the villain was.
They all stared at Melisandra with stunned expressions.
“Lady Bellas—no. I hesitate even to let you bear the Bellas name now.”
“……”
“Melisandra. I mean you.”
“Hah… hah… hahaha!”
Melisandra laughed like someone who had lost her mind.
“A butler dares accuse me, the Duchess of Bellas, without fear?”
Of course, she did not admit her guilt.
“You must have evidence to attempt something so bold, don’t you?”
The reply came not from the butler, but from Duke Bellas himself.
“Of course. I have the evidence.”
From inside his coat, the Duke produced a small glass vial filled with black liquid.
“A few days ago, we apprehended a soldier loitering outside the tent where my meals were prepared.”
He walked slowly before the crowd, explaining clearly.
“Upon interrogation, we found this vial on him.”
The Duke lightly shook the bottle.
“Th–that is…”
Erden muttered from among the guests.
Naturally—how could he not be stunned?
A medicine he had carefully made because his younger sister seemed mentally unstable was now being presented as evidence of a crime in someone else’s household.
But if Erden blurted out, ‘I made that,’ things would become complicated.
I shot my brother the clearest possible warning with my eyes.
Say. Anything. And. You. Die.
“….”
Understanding my mouth movements and gestures, Erden seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation and stayed silent.
Good. Brother secured.
“When questioned further, the soldier confessed that the Duchess ordered him to mix this medicine into my meals.”
As he continued speaking, the Duke pulled out a folded letter.
When her own handwriting was presented as evidence, Melisandra froze, utterly at a loss.
The murmuring among the guests grew louder.
“That vial…”
“Isn’t that an Utel alchemical potion?”
Such whispers could be heard.
At that moment, the head of House Utel—my father—who had been quietly observing, stepped forward.
“The shape and color of that vial are familiar.”
“Marquis Utel.”
“It appears to be an alchemical item produced by House Utel. May I examine it briefly?”
“Proceed.”
With the Empress’s permission, my father received the vial from Duke Bellas.
“Erden. Go to the carriage and bring the testing equipment.”
Erden exited and soon returned with a square leather case—portable tools and reagents that alchemists carried everywhere.
After clearing a table and laying everything out, the banquet hall grew even more solemn.
Opening the black vial, my father conducted a simple test and then spoke.
“At its base, it is a sedative. The problem is that it contains a lethal dose of arsenic.”
At the revelation that someone had attempted to poison Duke Bellas, the hall erupted in whispers.
“A sedative…?”
Melisandra murmured, restrained by both arms.
She stared at me with a look full of betrayal.
Well, I had sold it to her as a love potion.
I hummed innocently and looked away.
That was when Melisandra screamed at my father.
“To confess your own crime so brazenly—how fearless! Marquis Utel, you dared attempt to assassinate my husband!”
But my father didn’t even scoff.
“If House Utel were to poison someone, it wouldn’t be done in such a foolish way.”
He calmly addressed the crowd.
“First, we wouldn’t use a vial that so clearly points back to our family. And more importantly—an assassination by House Utel wouldn’t even be recognized as poisoning.”
Meaning: the victim would be killed so subtly, with toxins undetectable and unnoticed.
Those who had initially looked suspicious upon seeing the Utel vial now nodded in agreement.
House Utel had a strong image of mystery and competence. If they were to assassinate someone, they would do it far more cleanly.
“If it were Utel…”
“Indeed. With their mastery of poisons, they wouldn’t use something so obvious.”
“If Duke Bellas had died, wouldn’t that vial have made Utel the prime suspect?”
As House Utel was effectively removed from suspicion, Melisandra flew into another frenzy.
“Rohesia Utel! This is all her doing! She said it was a love potion and told me to send it to the Duke in the north!”
“Melisandra.”
“She bewitched me with that silver tongue of hers!”
“Duchess Bellas! That is enough!”
Unable to tolerate it any longer, the Empress thundered.
