episode_0007

Episode 7.

I quietly looked at the liquid in the vial.

Red and black. It’s like the color of sin. Well, considering its purpose, it is definitely an item related to sin.

To be honest, it is true that I feel a little hesitant.

No matter how much of a jerk he is, my father. It is inevitable that you will feel hesitant about letting your closest relatives drink such a terrifying poison with your own hands.

But it was all something he brought on himself.

First, it was Fehat who broke the trust as blood relatives.

It is impossible for her to abolish Sarah, who has always assisted her as the first princess, and to give priority to her child with Carmel, who has not even been born yet.

Above all, the cause belongs to me. Because Carmel really wants to destroy this country. Perhaps the ancestors who watch over the kingdom from the royal tomb will fully understand.

Besides, I am not Princess Sera in the first place. In fact, what I feel for Fehat is just a hint of sympathy for the idiot who ruined his life by taking the wrong woman. I don’t consider him my real father.

Everything to make Carmel completely mine.

To that end, it would be better for Fehat to remain quiet for a while.

I hid the glass bottle deep in my chest again.

* * *

“Doctor! Please call the royal doctor immediately! Your Majesty, your Majesty, your Majesty!”

From early in the morning, a new voice resonates within the palace. I too, mixed in with the crowd of people with slightly surprised faces, headed to Fehat’s bedroom.

“Father!”

The medicine purchased from the shaman was as effective as ordered. Fehat was stiff on the bed, his face colored the color of dirt. It seemed impossible to speak or move his body.

I urged the royal doctor who was examining Fehat next to him.

“Reynard! Why is your father like this? The person who was clearly healthy until yesterday… Ugh!”

“That… I’m sorry to tell you… It seems highly likely that it is a symptom caused by poison…”

“Poison! It’s poison!”

I trembled like a person who had heard the most terrifying story in the world, and then I stood up in anger.

“If that is true… it is a high treason that will never be forgiven. I will never, never be forgiven… What kind of person…”

“Princess…”

Carmel was also among the people, looking at Fehat’s condition with a serious face. If you’re Carmel, you’ll notice. Fehat’s symptoms were caused by poison from the northern people.

In fact, this is an extremely lax crime.

The person who knows that Fehat always drinks a glass of wine before going to bed, and who has the easiest access to the bottle. Any reasonable investigator would think of investigating me first.

But as it happens, the person who is planning to supervise the investigation is none other than me.

I left the royal doctor and Fehat in the room, and led the rest of the people out of the room. And he proudly declared, puffing out his chest in front of them.

“As His Majesty the King became incapacitated due to a vicious weightlifting, I, Sarah Lustier, the highest priority heir to the throne, will act on behalf of the King in accordance with the Act on Acting on the Act of Kingship. The first thing to do is to find the culprit who put His Majesty like this!”

People nodded silently as they looked at the princess with tears in her eyes.

A confident princess who is willing to carry out her duties without fear despite the misfortunes of her father, the king. The directing seems to have been successful.

* * *

That evening.

I found Carmel’s room.

Carmel opened the door with a wary face.

Today’s outfit is somewhat flashy. The thin silk dress was held precariously by two strings hanging over her shoulders.

It is so thin that when light shines on it, the inside seems to shine through. He must have tempted Fehat with this cheeky outfit.

“Can I come in, right, Mother? Oops, not yet.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t think it’s something to say publicly. Let’s talk quietly.”

Instead of answering, Carmel stepped aside to the door. I easily stepped into the room.

The door closed, and Carmel asked me with her arms crossed. Very bluntly.

“It was your doing, right? Poisoned.”

You’re quick-witted. I can’t believe you noticed that.

“Poisoning, what kind of cruel words. Your father is still alive, right? I had no intention of killing him from the beginning.”

Carmel’s expression was quite something to see. Even though I am a very vicious villain, I am surprised at this level.

But he immediately changed his attitude and started pushing me.

“You’re going to go that far to keep me in check? Aren’t you stupid? It’s obvious to anyone that you did it!”

“Why is it so obvious?”

“Then who else but you has a reason to do that? Who else but you is holding a grudge over being eliminated from the throne?”

“Oh my… you know so much in detail. That fact is still only in His Majesty’s heart.”

“…Is that important? Do you still not realize the seriousness of what you did? No matter how much she is the first princess, no, because she is a princess, the sin of usurpation must be even more severe! You are finished, Princess Sera!”

Carmel spat out the words and smiled faintly. I guess I’m making a big mistake.

“I don’t know why I’m coming to an end. The culprit who tried to poison His Majesty the King… was none other than you, Carmel.”

“…What?”

I took out a glass bottle with a faint black liquid on the bottom. Of course, it is the poison that made Fehat unconscious.

“I just found this glass bottle in this room. This is physical evidence that cannot be moved. This is significant evidence that points to you as the culprit.”

“Ha?”

Carmel has a face that looks like a person who has gone out of his mind. She continued speaking in an absurd tone.

“What a ridiculous piece of work… I just took it out of your pocket!”

“Did it look like that? Actually, I just took it from the desk over there. At least it will be like that tomorrow morning.”

“Don’t be funny. Such kids’ pranks…”

“No, there is sufficient evidence. The poison used on my father. Carmel, you must have already noticed, right?”

Carmel closed her mouth and looked intently at my face and the glass bottle. As expected, there was something to be guessed about.

“…Where on earth did you get that?”

“I couldn’t get it? There’s no need to explain, but the northern people really hate the Lustier people. There is no way for the Lustiers, or even the royal family, to get their hands on this item?”

Unless, somewhere, they eavesdrop on a clan covenant that the northern people consider more important than life.

Carmel clenched her molars and glared at me. As expected, you are quick-witted. It looks like you’ve already gotten the point I’m trying to make.

“Yes. Right now, Carmel, you are the only one in this royal palace who has the slightest chance of getting your hands on this poison.”

A sense of defeat spreads across Carmel’s frowning face. It seemed like he had an intuition that he had completely fallen into a trap. It seemed like he didn’t want to admit that fact yet.

“…Do you think such a claim will be accepted?”

“I’m sorry, but I also have the authority to decide whether to accept that claim or not. As Acting King. Moreover, it is a reasonable conclusion without any logical flaws.”

“There is no reason to kill! The soon-to-be queen kills her husband-to-be king for no reason? What is the reason for that…”

So, I didn’t kill him. Well, it could have killed him.

“That’s a good point. I’ll think of a good reason by tomorrow. Anyway, since there is no means of execution other than you, there is no reason to do so.”

“You…!”

Carmel reached out her hands towards me with great force, then lowered them as if she had given up. The burning gaze remained the same.

I said with a triumphant smile in my heart.

“Hehehe, as you may have guessed, the reason I came to see your mother was to make a deal.”

“……”

Perhaps the word “deal” reminded her of her previous humiliation, and Carmel raised her hands and wrapped her arms with an anxious expression.

The humiliation of exposing one’s breasts and being scrutinized by one’s enemy, or at least the one one one dislikes so much. It seemed that the memory was already engraved in my body and would not be easily forgotten.

This time, you’ll end up in worse trouble than that.

“Yes. If you accept my terms, I will destroy this vial without anyone seeing it. Let’s end the investigation ambiguously.”

“…Is it possible to take care of it? When the King wakes up, you…”

“Oh my, are you worried about me? Mother too… Now is the time to worry about yourself rather than that?”

Carmel’s face scrunched up at the sly answer. Even that expression was too attractive to bear.

After taking a breath, I spoke to Carmel. With a smile as beautiful as an angel.

“Well then… Please take off everything you are wearing now, mother. Not a single thread left behind.”