Chapter 26
Anais, who must have come running at full speed, didn’t even have the presence of mind to wipe the sweat streaming down his forehead. He clutched my hand tightly, his gaze darting all over me as he checked my condition.
“G-Grandfather….”
“Don’t speak…! You—! Where is Horn?!”
“Th-the master is currently… occupied with urgent matters in the county…”
“Then you should have brought Elli straight to the marquisate!!”
Watching Anais snap at Maya for no reason, I hurriedly tightened my grip on his hand and looked straight at him, silently telling him to stop. Perhaps he read it in my eyes, because Anais let out a long sigh and gently cupped my cheek.
“Do you have any idea how frightened I was…!”
“Haha, I’m sorry….”
Seeing the expression on his face—one that clearly said he’d been genuinely worried—I lost the timing to make any excuses. Honestly, no matter what I said, this was the same grandfather who would respond with, ‘Elli! Don’t lie to me…! You nearly drank poison…!’
Of all people, why did it have to be Anais who showed up?
“…Hoo. You should rest now. This grandfather will take care of the rest.”
“…Ah….”
“Bowshell.”
“Yes. I’ll head to the study first.”
So the physician who had examined me was named Bowshell. He handed Maya an unfamiliar vial of medicine, then hurried out of the room—probably to investigate the poison.
After Bowshell left, Anais glared at the maids, gave Maya a final warning to keep her mouth shut, and then departed as well. Only after the two men were gone did one of the terrified maids collapse to the floor and burst into tears.
“Young lady…!! Please spare me…!! I’ve done nothing wrong…! Please…!”
“But weren’t you the one who served the young lady her tea?”
Maya spoke in my place as I lay there.
No!! The black tea itself was perfectly fine…!!! It’s because I dropped that strange mineral powder into it…!!
“What are you all doing? Hurry and take this child—”
“Wait…!”
Perhaps she realized that Maya’s furious voice was aimed at an innocent maid. More than anything, the girl truly wasn’t at fault. The villainess Elizabeth would have ordered her execution regardless of guilt—but not me…!
“Everyone except Maya and that girl, leave.”
“But—”
“Now.”
At my words, Maya reluctantly dismissed the other maids, then sighed as she looked down at the girl sobbing on the floor.
“Miss, this child attempted to poison her master. All food and drink served to you are inspected by me beforehand. And when I checked, there was no poison.”
“I don’t know anything!! Truly, I don’t!”
“Haa…. Maya, there was a letter sent to me today—no seal, nothing.”
“…Pardon?”
“I think the poison was on that.”
I didn’t say that poison had been enclosed. I only said it had been on the letter.
“And I accidentally dropped the letter into my tea.”
Holding up the soaked paper—its ink already blurred beyond recognition from when I’d dropped the cup while sneezing violently—I continued.
“So that maid did nothing wrong.”
“…Haa….”
Only then did Maya and the maid both release deep sighs of relief. It wasn’t a lie, after all.
The real problem was how to convince Anais. If he were to immediately pursue the sender of the letter, that would be ideal—but it would interfere with my future plans as a villainess.
I had to persuade him. Carefully. Moderately. About this whole incident where I almost drank poison.
“And besides, I didn’t actually drink it. I noticed something was wrong before I drank it, so I dropped the cup.”
“You should have called for me immediately…!”
“Haha, sorry. I was just too startled.”
“Hoo…. Honestly. Rua, you may get up now. The young lady herself has clarified that you’re innocent.”
“……!! Y-Young lady….”
If you look at me with those teary eyes, of course my heart aches. Just the thought that I almost had an innocent person killed makes my chest tighten—can I really poison Osborne properly later?
Haha…. Dying as a villainess is harder than I thought…. Haha.
“And really, who would be so bold as to try to kill me?”
“…Ah, um. That’s… true.”
I noticed Maya’s expression twist strangely for a moment and tilted my head, but she only smiled.
Something felt off, but I decided that as long as this incident ended smoothly, it was fine. I dismissed the maid named Rua, then headed toward the study to find the doctor and my grandfather, who had disappeared.
===================================
Bang!
The door to the study at the Arlesia estate slammed shut loudly. With the count away handling matters in the county, Anais could not suppress his rage at the fact that someone had dared target Elizabeth in his absence.
“What kind of poison was it?”
“It seems we’ll need to investigate further, but… ha.”
How many attempts had there been by now? Anais pressed a hand to his forehead and sat down heavily on the sofa. Seeing this, Bowshell spoke carefully.
“One thing is certain—the young lady is currently unharmed.”
“That’s an even more frightening statement.”
“…Indeed. It means she’s developed resistance to poison.”
“Yes.”
Anais knew. That was why, whenever Horn had to leave urgently, he entrusted Elizabeth to Anais. But today had been unexpected. Horn wouldn’t have left her unattended if he were to be gone for less than a day.
Moreover, Horn always knew Elizabeth’s schedule. If Anais had stepped away briefly while Elizabeth had an outside engagement, Horn would have asked Ain to escort her.
“Which attempt was this?”
“Since I was assigned here, this makes five.”
Bowshell had originally belonged to the Vincent marquisate. At Anais’s command, he now remained at the Arlesia estate on standby for Elizabeth’s emergencies. Sehwa—the one possessing Elizabeth’s body—didn’t know this. She didn’t know that even before her possession, Elizabeth had survived multiple poisoning attempts.
Elizabeth had many enemies. Sending Bowshell to the estate in preparation for such dangers had truly been a fortunate decision.
“That child—what sin could she possibly have committed…!”
When Anais slammed his fist down, a dull thud filled the room. Startled, Bowshell flinched unconsciously. Whenever it concerned Elizabeth, Anais reacted faster than anyone, and because of that, Elizabeth was always treated as a special point of caution by those around him.
The servants weren’t ignorant of the rumors about Elizabeth. After all, Elizabeth herself had once cultivated those rumors. And yet they kept silent—because of Anais.
“I’ve given the head maid a general antidote for common poisons, just in case. So please don’t worry.”
“First, seize that maid and trace the one behind her—”
Knock, knock.
The sudden knock worsened Anais’s already foul mood.
“Grandfather, it’s me.”
The moment he realized the visitor was Elizabeth, the murderous intent that had filled the room vanished without a trace. Anais had already crossed the room to the door before anyone could even register it. Watching this, Bowshell stared, mouth agape.
No matter how doting a grandfather one might be, this was excessive. Everyone knew that—even if she was the child of his beloved daughter.
“Elli…!! Are you moving around already? That’s dangerous…!”
“Haha, I’m fine. See? I’m perfectly okay.”
I shrugged and smiled as if nothing had happened, but Anais only continued urging me to return and rest, his voice thick with worry.
“Still, you should rest. This grandfather will handle everything.”
“No, actually, Grandfather. There’s something I need to tell you….”
As I said that, I glanced subtly at Bowshell. Our quick-witted doctor immediately caught on.
“I’ll go investigate the composition of the poison the young lady encountered,” he said, then hurried out of the room.
“Hoo. Sending even Bowshell away—what are you trying to say? This grandfather truly….”
“I’m sorry. But it’s something I really had to say in person.”
“All right, all right. Let’s sit down first.”
Anais carefully guided me to the sofa and insisted on seating me himself.
Ah, Grandfather. This is embarrassing. Anyone watching would think I actually drank the poison…!
“Now then. Go on.”
“First of all, the maid is innocent.”
“……!! Elli! Poison was found in the tea! And doesn’t Maya personally inspect everything served to you? That maid was clearly—!”
“Actually, this morning, there was a letter sent to me with no seal at all.”
“…A letter…?”
I had already hidden the mineral that had been inside. The paper bearing the words ‘All things according to the will of God’ was soaked and unreadable, but the envelope itself remained intact. I handed it to Anais.
“Yes. I accidentally dropped the letter inside water, and I think the poison was on it.”
“What? You dropped a letter into water and still drank it? You should have thrown it away and poured a new cup…!”
“Hahaha….”
That reaction—I hadn’t anticipated that. How do I talk my way out of this?
“I was about to pour it out and refill the cup, but then I noticed some strange powder floating around. So I dipped a spoon in, and when it turned black, I panicked and dropped the cup.”
After fabricating a plausible lie, I quickly continued before Anais could press further.
“Sending a letter without a seal is suspicious to begin with. So I want to uncover who’s behind it myself.”
“…Yourself…?”
“Yes. You know as well as I do that I have many enemies.”
“Hoo, that may be true, but—!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything dangerous.”
“Haa…. Even so, you must be careful. If anything happens, you must tell me immediately. And if—if anything were to happen to you, then this grandfather will have you formally adopted into the Vincent family.”
“I understand. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Anais’s final words were terrifying in their own way, but what could I do? For now, I just needed to smooth over this incident. After all, the one who would drink the poison I’d prepared wouldn’t be me—it would be Osborne. There was no way I’d end up being adopted into the Vincent family.
At least, that was one outcome I absolutely had to avoid. Anais was already overprotective enough. If Elizabeth were to become part of the Vincent family—
There’s no doubt Anais’s surveillance would become even more suffocating!!
