CHAPTER 37 – The Day of Reckoning
“…Ha… Duchess, what are you saying?”
Baron Kranos faltered, caught off guard. He froze for a brief moment, then quickly scanned the expressions of the other retainers, trying to gauge their reactions. As Bella’s accusations about a spy reached their ears, the retainers looked stunned and began whispering while glaring at the Baron.
“She likely never informed you that I had regained consciousness. That must be why you were so confident.”
“I understand this situation has turned against you, Madam, but that doesn’t justify throwing baseless accusations at me—”
“I initially thought she was just a diligent maid. But she increasingly spent time in unused rooms—so often that even for a cleaning maid, it seemed suspicious.”
Interrupting Baron Kranos, Bella tapped her cheek with her finger, tilting her head thoughtfully.
“So I investigated. That maid has a sick younger sister who had mysteriously gone missing. Oddly enough, no missing person report was ever filed. Digging deeper, I discovered she sent almost her entire salary—except for a small portion—to a single location.”
“…And what does that have to do with me?”
“She was sending it to the Ahoda Herb Trading Company—the very business you own shares in, Baron. I watched for a while. Each time she sent money, a shipment would be delivered to a certain house—the head sous-chef’s home in our duchy.”
“…”
“The shipment contained a fruit called toret. The seeds of this fruit are known to cause infertility. That powder was consistently mixed into the food prepared for me and the other children of the Duke’s household.”
The atmosphere in the conference hall grew frigid. The revelation that even the young heirs had unknowingly ingested something that could cause infertility was beyond shocking.
No one dared to protest anymore.
“Worse yet, the powder reacts with the illang tea I regularly drink—it becomes a poison. That’s why I collapsed. I suppose you spent quite some time finding a substance that would react lethally with what I consumed most often.”
“All speculation! Just because the maid sent fruit to that house doesn’t mean I had anything to do with it! I happen to hold shares in that company—that’s purely coincidental!”
“Then how would you explain this? You were holding her sick sister hostage, weren’t you? That’s how you coerced the maid into buying toret and having it delivered to the sous-chef’s home. You wanted to look uninvolved, but the maid has already confessed everything to me.”
“Hah! And you believe the word of a single maid over mine?”
“You came rushing to the mansion the moment you received her letter saying I had collapsed—without even notifying anyone beforehand.”
“What—?!”
“That letter—I told her to write it. I didn’t think you’d come running quite so eagerly, though.”
As Kranos’s face flushed with fury and he tried to object, it was Kaelan, who had been watching silently, who cut in. He turned his head deliberately so the others could see the betrayal on his face.
“Then… when you offered me illang tea that day, was that also an attempt to poison me?”
“Ka–Kaelan! Of course not! I drank the same tea with you, remember? And we all ate dinner together that night—”
“But you drank your tea cold. You knew cold illang neutralizes the toret seed’s poison. Didn’t you?”
“How did you… No, that wasn’t the reason—I just said the room was warm that day and wanted something cool!”
The retainers visibly grimaced. Even among nobles, drinking cold tea was rare—especially when it wasn’t even midsummer. Everyone in the room recognized how strange that excuse sounded.
One of Kaelan’s loyal retainers suddenly stood and shouted in fury.
“How dare a retainer of the Duke’s house try to poison both the Duchess and the young heir! And to secretly feed infertility drugs to our children—have you lost your mind, Baron Kranos?!”
“This is the work of a monster! Absolutely disgusting!”
“I didn’t! I swear I didn’t do it!! You have no proof!”
Bella calmly shuffled the papers she had brought and lifted them for everyone to see.
“Letters from Baron Kranos to the maid he planted inside the estate. The handwriting has already been verified.”
Kaelan glanced at the papers and scoffed, locking eyes with the now pale, silent Baron.
This can’t be happening.
I made sure those were destroyed after reading them…
But the papers were undeniably real.
Kranos’s hands trembled as Bella passed them to him. The moment he recognized the contents, he erupted in fury and ripped them to pieces.
Then, realizing what he had done, he froze—lifting his head slowly to look around.
The room was full of glares: some horrified, others contemptuous. Kaelan’s face was cold, and Bella was smiling faintly, as if she had expected exactly this reaction.
“Of course. Those were just copies.”
The Baron’s hands went limp. He watched the shredded pieces flutter to the floor.
“Your hostage—the maid’s sister—has likely escaped your estate by now.”
“Hah…”
Bella finally dropped her smile as she stared down the crumbling Baron.
“I sent knights to your mansion the moment you arrived here. Now we have another witness to your crimes.”
She held up the remaining documents.
“These are the maid’s salary transfer records to the Ahoda Company, the inventory of shipments to the sous-chef’s house, and finally, a loan certificate bearing your signature—found in the sous-chef’s home.”
Kaelan narrowed his eyes.
“The chef was deep in debt from gambling. You exploited that—loaning him money in exchange for lacing our food with black toret powder.”
Even with the evidence laid bare, Baron Kranos remained frozen, unable to speak.
He looked around the hall, realizing no one would defend him now.
Everything was exposed.
With Kranos defeated and slumped in his seat, Bella seized the moment and stood. She slammed the table, demanding everyone’s attention.
Then, glaring at the panicked Baron, she raised her voice.
“Baron Kranos falsely accused the young heir Kaelan and tried to bring false witnesses claiming to be my doctors. He sent letters implying this family council was called by Kaelan—an abuse of authority.
He smuggled poison into the estate, tried to assassinate me, and then offered the same poisoned tea to Kaelan after I collapsed.
He plotted to kill both me and Kaelan, the rightful successors of the ducal title. Worse, he fed infertility-inducing powder to our underage children—hoping to sever the Dylan bloodline. Using Duke Ferdo’s will and his status as a brother, he intended to claim the ducal title for himself.”
She paused to catch her breath, locking eyes with him.
“Therefore, Baron Kranos—you will be handed over to the Imperial Court.”
“No!!”
Realizing his grand plan had collapsed, the Baron clutched his head, eyes rolling back. He foamed at the mouth and collapsed unconscious.
Knights summoned by Kaelan dragged him out, bound and disgraced.
It was past midnight. In the stillness of the office, Kaelan sat alone.
He didn’t return to his room. Instead, he watched the door.
After some time—
Creak.
The door opened softly, and just as he expected, it was Bella.
He got straight to the point.
“How long have you known?”
“Since the day you first entered the office.”
Kaelan wasn’t angry. He felt something else—a complex emotion he couldn’t name—as he looked at the woman who had fooled them all.
“Then why reveal it now?”
“I was going to take out the trash myself. But you interfered.”
Her tone was different from usual, and Kaelan’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
Bella didn’t care. She continued:
“You told your maid to give me cold illang tea, didn’t you?”
“Hah… So that spy is still your maid?”
“Yes. Jenna confessed everything to me long ago.”
“Then you knew? You kept drinking it?!”
Kaelan’s shock was evident.
She knew it was poison… and still drank it?
“Yes.”
Bella saw the astonishment in his expression—and for some reason, it pleased her.
It was the first time she’d seen this boy’s carefully guarded face break.
“You’re insane. Do you even understand what you were drinking? No—if you knew, then how—?!”
He abandoned his usual formal speech.
“I knew.”
“What?”
Infertility.
When Jenna tearfully confessed what the powder did, Bella had felt the blood drain from her body.
But after a while… she felt nothing. As if it wasn’t her life anymore.
“I switched to cold tea, secretly. I didn’t expect to cough up blood, but I regained consciousness a few days later. I’ve mostly recovered.”
“Even if you took an antidote, your body might already—”
Bella gently placed a trembling hand on her abdomen.
Her expression didn’t change as she looked at Kaelan.
“I will never have a child.”
“That’s ridiculous. You’re still young—”
“That’s none of your concern.”
“…Hah.”
Kaelan laughed bitterly but nodded.
“You’re right. It’s not.”
Bella clasped her hands in her lap, her voice firm.
“Now that the enemy has shown himself, it’s time to clean house.”
“…”
“Tomorrow is the perfect day to dispose of the rot that’s plagued this family. Don’t you agree?”
She smiled faintly. Kaelan rose, the moonlight casting his shadow across her.
He couldn’t see her expression. Just the faint curve of her lips, half-covered in shadow.
So this is your true face…
Kaelan smiled—perhaps for the first time—at Bella.
She seemed surprised, then returned the smile.
Their expressions were devoid of warmth, but somehow, that made sense.
Kaelan stepped past her, pausing.
“I hope this never happens again.”
“I feel the same, Kaelan.”
Their tones had returned to normal. Kaelan opened the office door and left.
Bella sat down, her legs giving way.
She wrapped her arms around her abdomen and buried her face in her knees, breathing shallowly.
Only her ragged breath and a lone owl’s cry echoed in the silent room.
It was the night before the council meeting.
