Chap 22-No Way!

 

I don’t experiment with poisons on women, at least if I can help it.

After all, their bodies are different from men’s, so they don’t have immunity to poisons and can’t endure a variety of experiments.

Of course.

Conversely, if they drink it themselves, that’s a different story.

“What are you talking about? You better speak clearly.”

“Well, our Princess was almost poisoned by that maid, so I prepared various things to distinguish poisons. But that rude girl, Sera, barged in, announced that Ailia wanted to see her, and then drank it and left.”

In short, this side is wronged! That’s it.

It’s the fault of the beggar who picked it up and ate it.

“What kind of poison is it!”

“It’s just an upgraded version of what Ailia gave her as a gift back then. It won’t kill her, but she won’t be able to use magic again.”

“How could you have such a thing.”

“Shall I say it again? That girl picked it up and drank it herself. We didn’t intend it. We were practicing in case we got poisoned in the rose hall, but that maid was rude and thought it was our Princess’s tea and drank it.”

Well, there’s no need to tell the truth.

But it’s not entirely wrong either.

In many ways, I was able to experiment with our Princess’s mana poison.

And I was able to screw over that arrogant girl.

As a result, this meeting became advantageous for us.

“The antidote!”

Ailia urgently looks for the antidote, but.

No way!

“There isn’t an antidote in the first place.”

“There’s no antidote?”

“Yes. So it’s that woman’s own fault. Or she has to go outside to get it, but there’s no way to get an exit pass at this hour. Don’t worry, she won’t die. Well, it’s like becoming disabled due to not being able to use magic. If time passes like this, she’ll have to be in the hospital for the rest of her life.”

A body that can’t handle mana is treated as disabled.

I whistled and grinned.

“There’s poison but no antidote. That doesn’t make any sense!”

Ailia slammed the table and stood up.

Anyone would think she cares about a single maid, but.

The reality is different.

“Of course, it’s not that there’s no antidote. But as I said, the crime that maid committed is too great. Well, it wouldn’t be good if this incident spread widely.”

Ailia is worried about that.

She’s a maid, but she’s also a student belonging to Schperen.

And she’s a noble.

Ailia boasts a tight structure with other princes in the succession competition, but a maid becomes disabled?

What kind of image will this give?

Individuals may see a maid as expendable, but reputation will be tarnished.

Even if it’s after becoming Emperor, it’s different. Even a slight blemish on her reputation means moving away from the throne.

If this spreads, the princes will try to tear her apart.

In reality, she doesn’t care even if the maid becomes disabled, even in the worst-case scenario.

Arietta?

Arietta doesn’t have a reputation to lose in the first place.

What problem is there?

“Still, this. Is she really not going to die?”

“If she doesn’t die, there’s nothing to worry about. Of course, her lifespan will be greatly shortened. No, if she’s a moron who can’t handle mana at all. She might die.”

As soon as I finished speaking, her face turned sour.

A person’s lifespan is also affected by mana.

If the mana circuit is broken, it will inevitably affect the lifespan of the body.

Like water leaking from a broken water jar.

Her lifespan will be shortened, and her body will become weak. We have the handle of the knife.

“Still, if you prepared this poison, you can make an antidote, right?”

“Wow. I didn’t think you cared so much about a maid.”

“You know why I’m doing this, don’t you?”

Yes. I know very well.

She wants to cooperate with us. Or at least, to maintain a tight structure while facing the current princes, she must not have even the slightest flaw.

She wants to protect the maid’s life as much as possible.

Above all, she must consider that this is Schperen.

Suicide by poison in an educational institution. This could plummet Schperen’s reputation.

Ailia will bear the responsibility for that.

What happens to the succession competition?

She ruins it.

“If you grant our request, I might suddenly gain the knowledge to make an antidote.”

“What do you want?”

“Recently, some loser tried to assassinate our Princess with an arrow while she was training.”

Saying that, I narrowed my eyes and stared at her for a long time, as if piercing through her.

“So?”

“I would appreciate it if you could find out who that is.”

She probably already knows.

But the reason she doesn’t say it directly is.

She might be trying to use that to pit us against that prince.

That’s probably more likely.

Ailia didn’t come to this place today just to rely on our help while turning on the hope circuit.

She’s just throwing it out there.

Even if that’s her true intention, Ailia will think differently now that I’ve come out like this.

“What will you do if I tell you?”

“Bury him.”

“Bury him?”

“Of course. I hate troublesome things. Since he touched us first, we have to kill him to prevent future problems.”

If the star sign holder is the opponent, it’s troublesome.

Even if he’s inexperienced, it’s annoying to have him as an enemy.

Especially if he’s a moron who uses his abilities only to pursue his lust for power, it’s just a loser with power.

“Ciel. You can’t kill him.”

“Why?”

“This is Schperen.”

That’s right. We can’t bury him carelessly.

I’m just trying to make Ailia more aware of my existence.

Not to mess with me.

At Arietta’s persuasion, I shrugged.

“Alright. But I have to warn him. If Princess Ailia grants my request, I might be able to make an antidote.”

“If I don’t tell you?”

She doesn’t want to give up the initiative even if she dies.

No way.

“Then Ailia will be the target too.”

“Do you think I’ll lose to you?”

Was this her weak spot?

Ailia has never lost.

She wouldn’t have had to fight directly with other competitors using the star sign’s abilities. Except for that, she has never bowed down to anyone or thought she would lose.

Look at those eyes now.

Her face was distorted because of a maid just a moment ago, but now she’s saying that she won’t be defeated in terms of combat power.

Whatever.

“Arrogance is always crushed by greater power. Don’t think that the star sign is Paleob’s privilege. I can at least make you half disabled. Who will suffer more, someone with nothing to lose or someone with a lot to lose?”

“….”

“Now, who would like that the most? The archer? Or the lion who’s lurking somewhere?”

No matter which one it is, it will be a sight to see.

Ailia, who had been grinding her teeth for a while, carefully opened her mouth.

“You’re a star sign holder.”

“I’m just neutral. Whether I become a mad dog depends on you.”

So, what are you going to do now?

Are you going to make us neutral? Or are you going to dare to touch us?

The answer was obvious.

Bang!

As soon as Ailia returned to the Princess’s palace, she kicked Sera.

She needed a place to vent the anger that she didn’t know where it came from.

Above all, if there is a source of that anger, isn’t it a legitimate reason to release it?

“To think of the humiliation I suffered because of you!”

“Cough. Cough. I’m. I’m sorry. Princess!”

“How dare you use my prestige to touch Arietta and make me suffer this humiliation?”

Ailia’s kicking didn’t stop.

What she hates the most is when someone looks down on her, no matter who they are, and dares to get on the betting table.

The reason why she was humiliated by a mere Baron Family’s daughter was this maid.

Sera.

She was somewhat capable, so she kept her by her side. But because she was doing dirty things behind her back, she made her younger sister, who couldn’t even raise an eye, rebel.

Bang! Bang!

Ailia’s kicking made blue bruises on the body of the maid Sera, who had been half-dead from the mana poison until just now.

Bathory, who made an antidote on the spot, somehow fed it to the maid and saved her.

Yes. She saved her, but it’s clear that she was humiliated.

If this Sera hadn’t done anything stupid.

“You have to be aware of the situation even when you’re being bossy! Why should I be humiliated by Arietta now?”

“I’m. I’m sorry!”

The one who directly humiliated her was that Bathory or whatever.

But since Bathory’s owner is Arietta, she was humiliated by Arietta.

It’s all this damn girl’s fault.

Ailia, who had been venting her anger on the maid Sera for a while, kicked Sera out of the room when she fainted and sat down on the chair.

Ailia, who had regained some composure, had to change her plans.

‘Damn it. What the hell is that girl.’

She felt it directly, and that girl, Ciel, is suspicious.

First of all, her identity is unknown, and she feels ominous.

Yes. Arnold was right.

She was definitely not an ordinary girl.

She is a star sign holder who no one can touch.

Except for the royals, no one dares to look at her and bows their heads to the ground.

How dare she show that kind of behavior towards a star sign holder that no one can touch.

Besides, how dare she criticize her star sign’s abilities like that.

She might be a star sign holder.

Then she needs to know what abilities she has.

“Yes. I told her to tell me.”

Then it’s not bad.

Looking at it, Bathory is not an ordinary person.

At least, she clearly shows the will not to let it go if someone touches her carelessly.

To shoot an arrow at such a girl. Kailon doesn’t seem to be in his right mind either.

If they can’t cooperate, they have to fight.

If Arietta, who has nothing to lose anyway, attacks Kailon, the factions that naturally attach to Ailia will increase.

After all, there will be no one who will stick to hedgehogs who have no interest in the throne.

Of course, it’s true that they will be a bit of a hindrance when compared to herself, who will eventually ascend to the throne. But she can think about that then.

She’s the type who doesn’t do things that don’t pay off.

She’s already looked into Kailon, so she just needs to hand over the data.

She will tell them about the star sign abilities and factions that he has been hiding.

She will hand over all the information about him.

Ailia finished her thoughts and got up from her seat and headed outside.

Ailia smiled kindly at Sera, who was lying outside and now recovering.

As if she hadn’t hit her just a moment ago.

She just reached out to her as if nothing had happened.

“Sera. Get up”

“Yes. Yes.”

Ailia carefully whispered in Sera’s ear as she staggered to her feet.

“Hand over everything you’ve investigated about Kailon to Bathory or whatever.”

Let’s see who laughs last.

Because the one who laughs last will have the throne.