episode_0007

“Are you satisfied?”

Those were the words I uttered immediately after swallowing two fake pills.

The Third Princess only let out a sigh. She hasn’t been broken yet.

“Are you still unsatisfied? …Yes, understood.”

She swallowed another one.

The Third Princess hurriedly looked around as if searching for reinforcements, but no one paid attention to her distress. They all just observed silently.

I understood. Honestly, who would help in this situation?

“Still not enough? Well then.”

To apply pressure, I tasted one more.

Finally, a reaction came.

“Stop!!!”

Princess Anais’ scream echoed through the meeting room.

Until a moment ago, she had maintained her composure, but now even that seemed difficult. Her doll-like features twisted grotesquely, and tears welled up in her eyes. It was the moment when I realized she was just a seventeen-year-old academy freshman.

“If I were Anais’ advisor, I would never have allowed her to act directly.”

I would have spread rumors like “Second Princess Sienna tried to poison the Empress” while securing evidence. That way, even if things went wrong later, the backlash would be less severe. But Anais tried to perform the surgery herself.

Her innocence was simply admirable.

**

It’s more enjoyable than I expected. Why didn’t I think of this method earlier?

Britannia Empire’s Second Princess, Sienna Kallail, struggled to suppress a smirk.

She had never strained her facial muscles like this until she turned nineteen.

In the first place, she rarely cared about others’ opinions. Although there were occasions when she used her acting skills to deceive the Imperial Consort or her step-sisters, it was never as challenging as it is now.

Alan Maydoff, her knight escort, had orchestrated scenes that were different from the rest.

“Sir Alan, poisoning? Anais has never said such a thing!”

“Then what else could it be? Why did I taste it?”

“What an impure thought! Are you not lacking in the qualities of a knight?”

Alan Maydoff stood firm, not showing a hint of expression, against Anaïs’s unruly entourage. At first glance, he seemed like a knight exerting effort to protect his lord.

“He had this talent,” Alan thought to himself. He used to provide good entertainment from time to time, a friend who had often offered pleasant surprises.

Three months ago, there was an incident at the gambling den secretly owned by Siena. There were arrogant individuals who impersonated the palace guards and tried to extort money. They probably didn’t know it was Siena’s establishment, but that was no excuse. So, Alan, the most trusted confidant, was instructed to handle the situation. By “handle,” it ultimately meant killing them as an example.

Alan’s handling of the impostors was quite impressive at the time.

“Fight each other. Only the winner will be spared.”

“I’m not lying. Think about it. I am a knight guarding Her Highness, the princess. Staining my morning star with the flesh of lowly individuals like you would only make it harder to clean later. I don’t want to volunteer for such trouble.”

“After all, there are more flies like you. As a warning, we’ll let one of you die and send the rest away. Start now.”

Deceived by these words, the impostors engaged in a bloody fight to the death within the iron bars where brawls usually took place.

After a brutal brawl, one person eventually died, and Alan swung his morning star at the survivor’s head, who cried out to keep his promise. It was a scene much more entertaining than an ordinary brawl.

“It was fine. But it wasn’t a tie.”

Now, Alan’s target was not petty criminals rolling on the ground but Princess Anais, the third princess, and the nobles accompanying her.

Lord Ricciarman, the majority shareholder of Higgin’s Bank, Marquis Ajax, who had amassed considerable wealth through trade with the East, Viscount Sowan, the chairman of the Securities Exchange, and so on.

They were all nobles who lined up to please Anais.

It seemed like they hadn’t come knowing the full details. Perhaps Anais called them, and they came without much thought.

However, Siena had no intention of overlooking those nobles. They were to be punished for a long time as traitors to the royal family.

“I shouldn’t have stood up for that person.”

Siena, who had paused for a moment, slowly approached the pale Anais.

“Anais, I will make it clear here. I didn’t use any poison. Can you believe me now?”

“I need verification.”

“Did you receive a tip from a journalist named Bono? It’s unfortunate. That person was caught spreading rumors about me within the palace.”

“…”

Anais finally closed her mouth when Bono’s name was mentioned. It meant she acknowledged that it was beyond her capabilities.

“In the end, you believed the outrageous remarks of a mad journalist and slandered me.”

Siena looked at her beloved half-sister intently.

Until a few years ago, almost no one took Anais seriously as a successor to the throne, but now it was different. She had succeeded in building a support base by quietly expanding her influence, despite her young age.

“She may not surpass her sister, but she has moved ahead of me.”

However, Anais’ two years of good reputation ended today. She had raised suspicions of poisoning in front of dozens of people and ended up disgraced.

This was not something that could be easily buried or ignored. Siena had never intended to let it go in the first place. If they were such affectionate sisters, this situation would never have unfolded.

“What should I do, sister?”

In the end, Anais took a step back.

Siena smiled brightly and conveyed the message to just shut up for now. The obedient half-sister followed her instructions.

**

Even after some time had passed, the taste of the fake medicine’s bitterness did not fade from his mouth.

“But still better than eating hallucinogenic mushrooms.”

The hallucinogenic effects of the mushrooms were on par with LSD.

If taken in moderation, one could enjoy a sense of euphoria and happiness, but if overindulged, the outcome was unpredictable. It could lead to running through the palace naked after discarding one’s uniform or causing a disaster by throwing Siena’s teapot while giggling.

So I prepared a fake one and tasted it, but I didn’t expect to eat this much…

Fortunately, the results were good.

“I’ll be back. Allen.”

Sienna confidently entered the empress’s office alone, which was evidence itself.

It all happened when the empress, who had witnessed the absurd drama involving her daughter, gave instructions, saying, “Bring Sienna quickly. I’m glad you prepared the medicine. I’ll take it now.”

Perhaps the third princess, her own daughter, wanted to somehow resolve the unfortunate incident. Even though she seemed like a lifeless plant, she still retained a minimal sense of motherhood.

Of course, resolving such a situation was impossible.

The situation had turned sour when a direct member of the imperial family tried to slander another direct member.

There was no way to pass through this unscathed. Even I, as a political broker, couldn’t come up with a clear strategy.

Did she know that reality? Anais just sat there with a vacant expression.

She didn’t come to me to persuade or discuss countermeasures with her aides.

At this moment, she had only one wish.

That the medicine I made and Sienna administered would have no effect at all. Perhaps she even wished for a mild reaction. If the empress took Silocin and vomited, it would create an opportunity to save face somehow.

“But that won’t happen.”

About 30 minutes passed.

Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding. A melody broke the silence. The sound came from inside the empress’s private space, her office. The third princess and her aides, who had been gloomy, began to raise their heads in different directions.

Soon, the question was resolved as the door to the office opened, guided by a maid.

“Your Majesty, Empress…?”

A slender East Asian woman was riding on a sedan chair.

The performer was none other than the empress, Yeonhwa.

Her skin was so pale that it could make most Caucasians look dark, and she didn’t even have makeup on her face, despite this being a reception for her daughter. I could imagine how she lived on a daily basis. She probably didn’t go out at all.

However, at this moment, she was riding the sedan chair with a bright expression.

I played an incredibly obscure piece on the piano, improvising without sheet music. In the midst of that, I discovered the third princess with a pouting expression and couldn’t help but smile as if I was delighted.

“Have you come?”

“Uh, umamama.”

“Please stay quiet. It’s disturbing to see sound.”

“Well, now is the time for that… Wait, did you say ‘see sound’?”

“Quiet!”

The empress, seemingly energized by the growing audience, began playing the piano even more passionately. Her expression became absorbed in the music. It seemed like the empress had entered a mysterious sensory world where she could see colors through sound.

“Are you really okay!?”

The third princess anxiously blurted out, unable to let go of her concerns.

To hope for something to be wrong with her mother…

Unlike the dutiful Princess Sienna, it was a somewhat inappropriate behavior. Although she understood that her position would be compromised if the empress were truly satisfied…

The empress responded favorably to her daughter’s expectations.

“Mother is better than ever. There’s no rule saying we can’t see sound.”

That’s how the efficacy of Silovine worked.

It induced hallucinations while making one extremely sociable and enthusiastic. In the mainland, it was often used as a booster when people who had been studying too much became depressed and needed to attend parties. They unknowingly became lively.

“But still…”

“Do you wish for me to not be okay?”

“…No.”

“Then it’s settled! That’s enough.”

The empress’s expression turned serious as she playfully teased her slender, long fingers.

As an outsider, I don’t know much, but it was something exciting and floating.

The empress’s mouth was smiling as she played, but there were tears in the corners of her eyes. It was a bonus to see her gaze at ‘somewhere’ with a nostalgic expression.

Perhaps it was a piece she used to play in front of her family during her childhood. She might have been recalling the praise she received from her parents for playing the piano well and the innocent laughter of her youth. A time when she didn’t even need to consider complicated politics.

“Haha!!”

The performance became more and more lively.

The third princess, too, was moved by her mother’s playing and burst into tears.

Everyone seemed happy, and I was truly relieved.