Chapter – 05
This Is How You Stab Someone in the Back
‘Thanks to that, you avoided Helias’s suspicion and even gained his absolute trust.’
Only now did she finally realize it.
Everything had been in Elisabeth’s hands from the very beginning.
‘So you were planning to betray me starting from that tea party. How lovely.’
But what filled her hollow chest was no longer despair.
It was betrayal—calm as a winter sea yet burning like blue magma—and rage.
“If I had known this is how you’d repay me, I really should have slipped poison into your cup back then.”
Yet one question still remained.
According to the timeline, Josephine wasn’t suspected by Helias until much later.
It had been an incident serious enough that the Emperor could have been assassinated. Someone must have taken responsibility for it.
“…Ah.”
Josephine suddenly understood everything.
“That person… it was him.”
She had once heard that the Imperial Guard knight, who oversaw inspections at the time, had taken life imprisonment in her stead and been confined in the western tower.
Given the severity of the crime, he had likely died there.
‘I’ve finally found a way to overturn this fate.’
Siegfried had just told her clearly.
The person she truly needed to take revenge on was Elisabeth.
If so, there was no longer any reason to hesitate.
This time, she had the chance to twist the direction of fate herself.
Josephine’s mind began to race.
“Haber.”
Her voice, dry and hoarse, called to Haber standing behind her.
“It’s already ten o’clock. Helias will arrive soon—let’s hurry.”
“I’ll head to the kitchen now to prepare the desserts and tea so they’re ready when he arrives.”
“Good. And go to the Élisée Palace before it’s too late. Bring back the item I mentioned.”
The Élisée Palace? Haber blinked in disbelief.
“That’s where Elisabeth is staying.”
“Did you forget? Elisabeth insisted she wanted to personally give Helias our summer black tea at the tea party.”
Josephine turned to look at him.
“Wasn’t she the one supposed to bring it? She said she wanted to give His Majesty a surprise gift.”
“As you know, everything brought into the Imperial Palace must be checked by the Red Knights. Cici’s things are no exception.”
“But… if we just barge in and take it, won’t they be offended?”
Josephine’s lips curled slightly.
“Tell them the Red Knights requested it. Say it’s just for inspection and will be returned. They’ll have no choice.”
She added one more instruction.
“Say Commander Siegfried requested it. Understand? You must never say it was my order.”
Something felt off, but Haber had no choice but to agree.
“I’ll do as you command.”
When he disappeared beyond the door, Josephine was left alone in the banquet hall.
The palace staff would soon arrive to prepare for the tea party. Before that, she had something she absolutely needed to confirm.
After ensuring no one was outside or inside the hall, she took something out.
A white rhinoceros–horn ornament—known to be far more sensitive to poison than silver.
Josephine carefully lifted Helias’s teacup.
Then she scraped the bottom of the teacup in slow, repeated circles with the ornament.
‘As expected.’
Fine, glasslike grains clung to the horn—and the ornament stained dark red.
The material was translucent and invisible to the naked eye. And it could only be detected by white rhino horn.
Everything matched the results of her investigation in her previous life.
‘It’s the same deadly poison found in Helias’s teacup—back when Elisabeth pretended to drink it in my past life.’
Josephine checked Elisabeth’s cup as well, just in case.
Nothing. No reaction at all.
‘Yes. Siegfried… he was the one who put the poison in.’
Her coral eyes burned sharply.
‘In the last life, and the life before that—it was always him. He did it at Elisabeth’s command.’
Her grip tightened around the ornament.
‘And yet Elisabeth had the nerve to accuse me as the culprit and have me killed.’
Elisabeth had claimed she survived because she consumed only a tiny dose. But poison was poison.
Clearly, she had planned everything in advance, taken the poison in a controlled amount, and immediately swallowed the antidote.
Even her dramatic collapse from stomach pain had been a performance.
‘So that’s why Siegfried didn’t hide when he poisoned Helias’s cup.’
He had deliberately pretended to attempt regicide to draw Josephine’s attention.
He knew Josephine would check the Emperor’s cup beforehand.
He had been secretly warning her—showing her what plots were unfolding behind the scenes.
She still couldn’t understand why he was cooperating with Elisabeth.
But one thing she could be sure of:
‘He told me Elisabeth’s name to survive—to beg me to stop her.’
The banquet hall doors opened again. Josephine quickly set the cup down and hid the ornament.
“Your Majesty, the Red Knights have completed their poison inspection.”
It was the attendant who had earlier urged her to wait in another room. Josephine asked calmly:
“What were the results?”
“They reported no issues. Everything is safe to proceed.”
No issues?
She was holding a poison-stained rhino horn in her hand. How could they say there was no problem?
Josephine replied coldly:
“Can you stake your life on that? I cannot proceed based solely on your word, especially since you are not the one responsible for the inspection.”
“But, Your Majesty, I saw it myself. How could I lie?”
The attendant’s tone held no proper respect.
She had heard this line countless times in her previous life.
The attendant had certainly been present during the inspection. It meant Elisabeth had bought off the palace staff as well.
‘So they were trying to lull me into lowering my guard.’
Josephine trembled with fury at Elisabeth’s meticulousness.
“Very well. Then we’ll simply replace His Majesty’s teacup with a new one. It’s old anyway—I was planning to replace it soon.”
“…Pardon? But they said there was no problem. And His Majesty cherishes that cup.”
“Do you find my command amusing?”
Josephine raised her voice before the attendant could finish.
“Or did you suddenly gain the right to question the Empress? Does Helias know you speak to me this way?”
“N-No, Your Majesty. I was careless.”
“You will fetch the replacement yourself. Bring one identical to this from the imperial storeroom. Understood?”
“A-As you command.”
Josephine gazed coldly down at the bowed attendant.
He would not dare refuse.
If poison was discovered later, the fact that he had resisted replacing the cup would also incriminate him.
“Your Majesty, here is the item you requested from the Élisée Palace.”
As soon as the attendant left, Haber returned.
“I will conduct a final inspection of the hall with my maid. No one enters until I give permission.”
The doors closed once again.
Silence filled the banquet hall.
“Haber.”
Josephine softly broke the stillness.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You said you have lived only for me, didn’t you?”
The sudden question made Haber uneasy, but he answered honestly.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You said I should trust you if no one else.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
Josephine finally turned around, smiling gently.
“Then you can truly do anything for me, can’t you? Even risk your life?”
“W-Why are you suddenly saying such things…?”
Fear crept into Haber’s voice.
Josephine placed a finger silently over her lips.
Then she handed him something.
“Put this into the teapot you brought.”
It was the vial of poison she had secretly taken from the Empress’s Palace.
