Chapter 61
In an instant, the banquet hall escended into chaos.
Screams echoed from all directions, and cries erupted.
It wasn’t just one or two people who had collapsed—everyone was vomiting blood and showing signs of convulsions.
“Your Majesty, it’s dangerous!”
The emperor immediately rushed toward the commotion.
The head steward and the knights tried to stop him, but he paid no mind.
The emperor approached a sobbing noblewoman and asked about what had just happened.
“Except for me… everyone drank the newly brought beverages, and suddenly… sob.”
Someone had poisoned the drinks.
As soon as the situation was assessed, the emperor gave an order.
“Seal off the banquet hall.”
Armed knights appeared and blocked all entrances, from the hall to the terrace.
“Summon all palace physicians immediately.”
The stewards, following the command, hurried off.
The unusual situation caused the nobles’ murmurs to grow louder.
They glanced around anxiously, gathering in small groups.
“How could something like this happen in the palace?”
“I just served the drinks, and it nearly caused a disaster.”
“Could the steward have poisoned it?”
“There’s no reason for the steward to do such a thing. Someone must be seeking revenge…”
Baseless speculation poured out.
Then, voices criticizing the royal family began to emerge.
“I want to leave quickly. Who knows what will happen next?”
“No, we’re the victims here. Why should we be trapped?”
Since the banquet was held inside the palace, the royal family couldn’t escape blame.
Any incident at a gathering is the host’s responsibility.
The best-case scenario was to find the culprit without any victims.
“Who on earth would do something like this…?”
Poisoning drinks for everyone was audacious, completely disregarding the consequences.
Either they were confident they wouldn’t be caught…
Or they did it to deliberately tarnish the royal family’s reputation.
Zenoax’s eyes met hers.
His golden irises had lost all warmth, leaving only a chilling glare.
Not knowing what had angered him, she blinked, and he muttered:
“If only I had brought that drink instead of the champagne…”
The rest of his sentence was left unsaid, but the meaning was clear.
She couldn’t help but imagine people vomiting blood and collapsing on the floor.
“Is he reacting this strongly just because he almost drank the poison?”
It was eerie, but she couldn’t understand why he reacted so intensely.
He must have seen worse horrors on the battlefield.
Suppressing his anger, Zenoax stared at Laria quietly.
Only then did Laria realize:
“He’s angry because I almost got hurt.”
Soon after, palace physicians rushed in.
They checked the pulse and condition of the collapsed people, but their expressions were grim.
After a brief discussion, they reported their findings to the emperor.
“I’m sorry to say… we haven’t identified the poison used.”
If everyone drank the same poison, symptoms should have been similar, but each patient reacted differently.
Identifying the poison was the first step in making an antidote, so they had encountered difficulty from the start.
As the murmurs grew uncontrollable, a calm but clear voice spoke from within the crowd.
“It’s a poison made from monkshood and blue clown mushrooms.”
Everyone turned to see the speaker.
Semela was standing there, holding a cup of the drink in her hand.
One of the physicians, in disbelief, asked her:
“How can you be so certain without examining them directly?”
Semela spoke matter-of-factly, as if stating an obvious fact:
“You can tell just by the smell.”
Before anyone could argue, she continued:
“Monkshood is especially harmful to the wolf tribe. Those in bad condition are probably wolfkin.”
“…!”
The physicians immediately checked the most severe patients.
Indeed, all of them were partially transformed into wolfkin, just as she had said.
“And when monkshood is mixed with blue clown mushrooms, droplet-like spots appear.”
Semela’s continued explanation caused the physicians to exclaim.
They now recalled the spots they hadn’t noticed earlier.
“Then, prepare the antidote immediately…!”
“When two poisons are combined, the toxicity changes. Include fire herb in the antidote.”
The added advice darkened the physicians’ expressions again.
“There isn’t much fire herb left.”
Although the palace had stocked a variety of medicinal herbs, fire herb was rarely used, so supplies were limited.
They wouldn’t have enough to distribute to everyone.
At that moment, Theodor quietly raised his hand.
All eyes shifted toward him and Semela.
“I… have some fire herb myself,” he said.
Everyone eyed Theodor suspiciously.
It was unusual for a private individual to possess a herb that even the palace couldn’t stock adequately.
Flustered, Theodor quickly explained:
“I run an herbal medicine shop… my family is the only one importing fire herb.”
He timidly added that it wasn’t very popular.
Finally, people began to trust him.
The emperor studied Theodor carefully and asked his name.
Theodor awkwardly replied:
“Theodor Rohan.”
The emperor’s eyes widened.
“Rohan…?”
He immediately looked at Laria.
Seeing that Semela and Theodor were her family, satisfaction appeared on his face.
“On behalf of Riveus Kaesa Frandel, I will not forget this favor.”
The emperor quickly sent people to the Rohan mansion to fetch fire herbs.
Meanwhile, the stewards gathered all the fire herb from the palace storage.
They planned to administer the antidote to the most critical patients first.
“How long to make the antidote?”
“At the fastest, it will take two hours. We’ll do our best.”
The emperor furrowed his brows.
With many patients in critical condition, even a few minutes were precious—but two hours at best.
However, since they promised their best, he could only wait.
Despite the immediate crisis passing, the banquet hall remained chaotic.
The nobles, still trapped because the culprit hadn’t been caught, whispered among themselves while glancing at the Rohan count and his wife.
“I heard the snakekin is good with poisons. Didn’t expect them to know every kind of poison.”
“I’m also a snakekin, but I couldn’t recognize it at all…”
“The Rohan family runs an herbal medicine business.”
“Whatever the case, this is really fortunate.”
“Did they do it to gain the emperor’s favor? Seems too coincidental…”
The nobles’ opinions of the Rohan family were split between admiration and envy.
Laria, having heard it all, chuckled inwardly.
“What could my family possibly do with the emperor’s favor…”
They had no intention of entering politics.
Even if offered power, Laria’s family would refuse.
“Your Majesty!”
From afar, Ishuel ran in a hurry.
The emperor frowned at his lack of composure as crown prince.
Seeing the man Ishuel brought along, he couldn’t help but react.
“Herdin… working even on his day off…”
Herdin’s scowl clearly aimed at Ishuel.
Checking the patients, Herdin realized the situation was worse than expected and quickly became serious.
“Poison made from monkshood and blue clown mushrooms?”
He glanced at Semela after assessing the patients.
“Your mother must have taught you how to make the antidote… Then the attending physicians went to prepare it, right?”
“They said it would take at least two hours…” Ishuel replied.
Herdin scoffed.
“Did they go to sleep?”
Then he left immediately.
In just ten minutes, Herdin returned, holding several doses of the antidote.
