Ashid strode directly toward the central tent.
“Kyaaa!”
Several noblewomen inside screamed in terror upon seeing him enter. With his right hand gripping his cursed sword, Villadwell, and his left arm dripping blood, Ashid scanned the central tent with a fierce gaze—he looked like a demon.
Empress Victoria, her face pale as a sheet, stepped forward as if to shield the noblewomen and exclaimed,
“W-What kind of outrageous behavior is this, Duke Alberic? How could you barge in here looking like that, especially in a gathering meant only for ladies!”
Ashid let out a scornful laugh and replied in a cold voice,
“Just a moment ago, a maid tried to serve poisoned tea to my wife.”
“……!”
“I’m here to find that vile criminal, Your Majesty.”
He slowly turned his head toward where the palace maids had gathered. His sharp gaze swept over the trembling maids one by one.
But among them, the “young maid” he was looking for wasn’t there. Only adult maids were inside the tent. Ashid turned back to the Empress and asked,
“Is this your answer?”
“……I don’t understand what you mean, Duke Alberic. What do you mean by ‘answer’?”
“My attendants said there was a young maid earlier. But strangely enough, I don’t see her now. Would Your Majesty happen to know where she went?”
“H-How would I know such a thing?” the Empress stammered, clearly flustered.
Ashid’s gaze returned to the maids.
‘There’s no way she could’ve escaped during all that. If she had, my knights stationed nearby would’ve seen her.’
In other words, the culprit was still here.
‘But then, how did she hide herself?’
His icy eyes narrowed with suspicion. Then suddenly, a thought struck him.
If his hunch was correct, the maid who poisoned Daniela could still be here—disguised, pretending to be someone else. Fixing his gaze on the maids, Ashid spoke to the Empress again.
“There’s one more thing I’d like to ask, Your Majesty.”
“……What is it?”
“I heard that the girl spilled the teapot just before serving tea to my wife. Is that true?”
The Empress hesitated, not having witnessed the event herself, but one of the noblewomen stepped in to answer for her.
“Y-Yes, that’s right! Because of that, the young maid brought a different teapot and served the duchess again!”
“I see.”
Ashid nodded and approached the maids. He stopped in front of one with plain features and dark brown hair.
“You reek of black tea.”
Then he pointed his cursed sword directly at her neck.
The maid turned pale, her whole body trembling as she stammered,
“N-No! T-That’s only because I was in charge of brewing the tea…!”
“You still intend to lie to the end?”
A sneer deepened on Ashid’s handsome face. At the same time, a deep indigo aura poured out from his sword, surrounding the maid. It was a magic that restored dispelled spells. In other words, if this maid had been under a spell to appear as a child earlier, the aura from Ashid’s sword would revert her back.
“……!”
As expected, the maid surrounded by his aura transformed into a young girl.
The noblewomen, realizing who she was, gasped in horror. She was indeed the girl who had served tea to the Duchess earlier.
“Did you really think you could fool me with such a crude disguise spell?”
Ashid coldly smirked and brought his sword even closer to her neck—so close that not even a sheet of paper could fit between them. If he wished, he could pierce her throat in an instant.
The terrified girl collapsed where she stood, joining her hands as if in prayer and begged,
“I-I was only following orders from Lady Emily of House Linburton! Please, I beg you, spare my life!”
At her words, all the noblewomen—including the Empress—were stunned. Emily, her face ghostly pale, shouted in fury,
“That lowly girl! What is she saying?! Your Majesty, it wasn’t me! She’s falsely accusing me!”
Ashid let out a snort of derision. Withdrawing his sword, he spoke in a voice as cold as ice,
“We’ll find out the truth through an investigation.”
Just then, Ashid’s knights—fully armed—stormed into the tent. They had followed him here.
They immediately seized the maid and Emily by their arms and dragged them out. Emily’s anguished screams echoed through the tent.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me, Your Majesty.”
Ashid offered a haughty bow to the dazed and flustered Empress, then turned his back without hesitation.
The Empress, hands trembling, turned to her head maid for support and said,
“……Inform His Majesty of this immediately.”
It’s hot.
So hot I could die.
No, I might die crushed by the heavy pressure weighing down on me before that.
Daniela squirmed and slowly opened her eyes, trying to escape the oppressive heat and suffocating weight.
She saw a white cloth ceiling above her—and dozens of thick cloaks piled over her body.
“My lady! Are you awake?!”
At that moment, Mella, who had been sitting by her bedside, cried out in relief.
Daniela gently pushed away some of the cloaks and looked around.
“Ugh… Where am I? And what are all these cloaks?”
“We’re inside the Duke’s tent. His Grace brought you here himself and, to treat you, gathered every cloak he and his knights had and covered you with them. Do you remember any of it?”
“……No.”
Daniela shook her head at Mella’s question. She remembered getting lost in the forest, nearly being attacked by a strange man, and Ashid rescuing her—but everything after that was a blur.
As Mella wiped the sweat from Daniela’s forehead with a handkerchief, she suddenly gasped.
“Oh my! I should get the doctor right away!”
Mella jumped up and rushed out of the tent. A moment later, the physician hurried in, looking flustered. Seeing color return to Daniela’s face, he sighed in relief and said,
“I’m so glad you’ve regained consciousness, Duchess. I’m Radel, one of the palace physicians. Are you experiencing any discomfort?”
“……Other than feeling hot, not really.”
“You’ll need to stay under those cloaks, even if you’re uncomfortable. To purge the remaining poison from your system, you’ll have to sweat it out for a while.”
“I see. Have you figured out what kind of poison it was?”
Radel shook his head with a gloomy expression.
“No. After several tests, we only detected a mild sleep-inducing agent. Duchess, do you happen to suffer from insomnia?”
At that moment, Daniela recalled a conversation she once had with her maid Anne. Half in doubt, she asked him,
“This is just my speculation, but could it be possible the poison was related to St. Polana’s Flower?”
“……St. Polana’s Flower, you say?”
“Yes. My maid once told me about a tea made from it. It helps with sleep, but if consumed excessively, it can be dangerous.”
“You’re not wrong. However, the pure extract is banned in the Empire due to its harmful potential. It’s also very hard to obtain. I doubt someone would go through the trouble of using that instead of a more accessible poison or magic…”
“Still, would you mind checking, just in case? Please.”
Reluctantly, Radel stepped outside. A little while later, he returned, looking dazed, and said in disbelief,
“Just as you suspected, it was the pure extract of St. Polana’s Flower. Incredible.”
“To confirm one more thing—could that poison be used to control someone’s mind?”
Daniela asked, recalling the voice that had lured her into the forest. Radel nodded.
“It’s certainly possible. But to do that, a very special item would be required.”
“What kind of item?”
Just as she pressed him with another question, a commotion arose outside the tent and Mella came rushing back in. Daniela looked at her and asked,
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“……It seems His Grace has found the one who tried to harm you.”
