~Chapter 85~
When she was young, her mother had been an enormous presence.
The absolute ruler of the hut—someone who could make Camilla cry, or hold her in her arms.
But now, the mother whispering in front of Camilla looked terribly small.
“……It’s done.”
Inside the laboratory, her mother did not even show a sign that she recognized her.
She should still be young, yet her back was bent, and her eyes were empty.
Ignoring the thin hand that passed her a flask filled with a transparent liquid, Camilla asked,
“After selling your daughter and receiving a chest full of gold coins, is this all you gained?”
“……”
“Mother.”
At that single word, Meisa’s hand paused. But only for a moment.
“……It is time to tend the herbs. I will be going now.”
She placed the flask on the table and stood up.
Camilla followed her.
“I’ll go with you. I’m curious about the herb field you personally take care of, Assistant.”
Ignoring Camilla, Meisa walked toward the herb field. Camilla slowly followed.
Even as she stubbornly ignored her, once they reached the field, Meisa silently began digging up herbs.
‘The red herb.’
The proof of poisoning supplied to the Emperor.
Camilla crouched beside Meisa, who continued digging without a word.
Lowering her voice, she whispered,
“Stop supplying the herb that poisons His Majesty, Mother.”
The steady sound of the hoe stopped.
“No, perhaps it’s better to replace it entirely. What about something that looks similar? Like Lapus…”
Swish!
Two rough hands suddenly grabbed Camilla’s shoulders. Meisa, her eyes bloodshot, screamed hoarsely,
“I am NOT—your mother!”
Her fingers were thin as if they would snap, yet she gripped so tightly that Camilla’s shoulders throbbed.
Spitting as she shouted, Meisa cried,
“What would trash like you know?!”
‘…She keeps suppressing everything until she explodes. And her eyes are unfocused.’
It was not madness. It seemed more like accumulated fatigue and extreme mental pressure.
“Assistant.”
Flinch.
“Please lower your hands. It hurts.”
Focus slowly returned to Meisa’s eyes. She glared at Camilla through clenched teeth, then let go.
This was far better than when she had looked lifeless and unresponsive.
“If an attempt to assassinate the Emperor comes to light, you will be the first to lose your head. Are you still fine with that?”
“Ha…! What do I care? She will protect me.”
Meisa, who had maintained formal speech until now, revealed her true self. Though still exhausted, her eyes sharpened like they held poison.
“The Empress Dowager treats her subordinates as disposable. It would be wiser to run away.”
It was sincere advice, but Meisa grabbed her head and shrieked,
“Get lost! Get lost, get lost! I said get lost! Damn it! Why?! Why did you appear in front of me again?!”
“…That’s unfair. It was Her Majesty the Empress Dowager who had me brought here.”
“Ha! You should have lived well in the Mowin house! And yet you were dragged here too. In the end, your worthless life is obvious!”
“…Were you brought here as well, Mother?”
At Camilla’s calm question, Meisa’s face turned pale.
“I—I don’t know! Get lost! Get lost!”
Finally, screaming, she ran away. Camilla stared blankly at her retreating back.
‘…I think I’m surprisingly fine.’
When she first decided to return to the hut, and even when she faced Meisa again at this villa, she thought she might vomit.
But strangely, she was calm even after meeting her mother for the first time in over eight years.
She even felt pity watching her run away like that.
‘…Is this because of you, Dane?’
Thinking of the man who had become her new family, she touched the ring hanging from the end of her necklace.
Once her heart steadied, she tucked the ring back inside her clothes and looked around.
‘The herb field in the Empress Dowager’s villa. In truth, a poison field.’
It was more secluded than expected. Unless outsiders deliberately forced their way in, it was impossible to enter. Only a small side gate in the wall connected to the outside.
‘Kabul said he found Mother in the herb field. I thought it would be more open.’
To bring someone here, one would either have to tail them—or allow oneself to be tailed.
Camilla approached the side gate and carefully examined the surroundings. She even searched thoroughly in case there was another gap.
‘There’s a small groove.’
A crack in the wall revealed a faint glimpse of the scenery beyond.
‘It would have been better if Kabul had explained it himself.’
Perhaps, by some miracle, Kabul might come this way again.
But she could not simply wait.
As she returned to the laboratory, Camilla hoped the fishing line she had cast would catch something.
‘Amelia confessed about the golden potion, but judging from the Empress Dowager’s reaction, she did not reveal everything.’
If she had, the Empress Dowager would not still be speaking about making Camilla the head of Glamis.
Then Camilla noticed a servant in a deep hood standing before the laboratory door. Inside, she felt joy.
“…Let’s talk for a moment.”
“Of course. Come in, Lux.”
The thread she aimed for—her connection to the outside.
Camilla let the coldly whispering man inside and rummaged through a drawer.
“I’ll serve you some tea. Please sit—”
“No.”
Without warning, he pressed a dagger against Camilla’s throat.
“…This will be troublesome, Lux.”
Camilla glared at him, gripping the object in her hand.
“If you value your life—”
But suddenly, a sharp sting spread through his thigh. Lux could not finish his words.
A syringe was already embedded in his thigh.
“-?!”
“Do you know how many times I’ve been kidnapped? I prepare when I can now.”
After injecting the paralytic, Camilla pushed his wrist away with a sigh.
He staggered, unable to extend his arm any further. Camilla leaned close and whispered,
“Now. Shall we renegotiate our terms?”
“Ugh… ugh… Uwegh!”
Meisa vomited blood and wiped her mouth.
It hurt. It was painful.
Since being brought here, her symptoms had only grown worse.
“Unforgivable… unforgivable… unforgivable…”
The baron who sold her here after half a lifetime of loyalty, the Empress Dowager who treated her as worthless, and the child who called her mother—all of them were hateful.
“Stop supplying the herb that poisons His Majesty, Mother.”
Suddenly, the voice of the daughter she had met again after eight years echoed in her mind.
“…Hehe. What would happen if those words reached Her Majesty’s ears?”
The daughter she met again as an adult lacked spirit, yet she was elegant.
Was it not because Meisa had personally sold her into a noble house?
After receiving such a favor, the girl now dared to command her as an assistant. It was unbearable. She did not want to show her ruined self.
“…Yes. I will inform Her Majesty.”
Let her be removed forever from her sight.
Having decided so, Meisa staggered back toward the villa.
Suddenly, a strong hand clamped over her mouth.
“Mmph! Mm!”
As fear of death filled her wide eyes, a once-familiar deep voice spoke,
“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? Shall we talk for a moment?”
Meisa lifted her gaze and saw the man holding her.
A knight, his beard thick with the passing years.
Her heart dropped.
‘…Kabul!’
Kabul Everitt held her with a fierce glare.
“…I did my best, but perhaps it is still not enough. If only that child were here.”
“…Kabul will surely find Camilla.”
Dane quietly comforted Renelia. It was he who had sent Kabul to the Imperial Palace to find Meisa.
“And with the antidote ingredient you discovered, we will treat His Majesty the Emperor.”
In truth, he himself wanted to storm in immediately and rescue Camilla.
But not yet.
Taking a deep breath, he stood and opened the meeting room door.
Romulus, the commander of the Lionel Knights, and Eugenia, who saluted him respectfully, stood waiting.
Dane nodded.
“From this moment, I will explain the plan to raid the Imperial Palace and eliminate the traitor.”
