Chapter 77
“Mother!”
Crown Prince Anasis, looking panicked, rushed straight to the table.
“Ugh… Gah…!”
Empress Ramiela coughed up blood, but upon hearing her son’s cries, she turned her head in his direction.
Layla, startled, also ran over.
“Call the palace physicians!”
Shouting, Layla checked on William. He had returned from Rainier’s persona to his original, bumbling self. He looked around, clearly confused.
“Where was the poison?” Layla asked, and people’s attention shifted to the toppled teacup in the distance.
“Mother! Please, stay with us! Mother!”
“Anasis…”
Layla wondered if Rainier had wanted the Empress to die right here. She recalled the red eyes of Princess Weimar when she had unusually sided with Mont earlier.
Could it be… that Rainier really had tried something as underhanded as poisoning?
Flustered, Layla looked at William, who shook his head as if to say it wasn’t him.
“We need to make her vomit the tea.”
Layla said this and began pounding on the Empress’s back.
“Ugh…!”
The Empress vomited the tea along with blood.
“Your Majesty!”
The palace physicians rushed over, faces uncertain whether from fear or panic, and checked her condition.
“She needs to be moved to her chambers.”
“Is my mother going to be okay? What kind of poison was it?”
“Was it really poison?”
“Good heavens.”
“How dare anyone try this against Her Majesty…”
Seeing Anasis holding his mother tightly, worried, Layla couldn’t help but say:
“Your Highness, quickly escort Her Majesty to her chambers. And palace physicians, identify the poison immediately! And prepare the antidote!”
Recalling the long periods she herself had been poisoned, Layla found the situation unpleasant.
At that moment, Crown Prince Anasis drew his sword and cut his own palm. He then opened his mother’s mouth and poured his blood into it, drop by drop, until red beads overflowed from her lips.
“Ha…”
Soon after, the Empress regained her breath.
“Ah… the blood of royalty…”
Layla breathed a sigh of relief. Crown Prince Anasis, still anxious, calmed once he saw his mother’s eyes clear and alert.
As the situation stabilized, the Crown Prince looked toward Layla. The moment their eyes met, he visibly relaxed, his shoulders sagging in relief.
“Palace physicians! Treat His Highness’s hand!”
Layla, realizing he was pretending, shouted.
“What are you doing, palace physicians?”
Princess Weimar chimed in as well. The palace physicians, realizing it was the Crown Prince who needed treatment rather than poison testing, scrambled and began preparing bandages.
“Let go, Anasis.”
“Mother… but you need to go to your chamber.”
“No.”
The Empress spoke coldly and rose from her seat. Though slightly unsteady at first, she soon stood as if nothing had happened.
The blood of royalty can neutralize all poisons. The Empress had become royal by marriage, not by birth. But her most cherished son, Crown Prince Anasis, was born with royal blood.
“I must find out who dared attempt to poison me.”
She wiped the blood from her mouth. Her blouse bore a circular stain from it.
“First, allow me to thank you, Miss Avier.”
“Pardon?”
“Thanks to your quick thinking, the palace physicians arrived promptly.”
“Oh, no. That’s far too generous a compliment.”
Layla found it strange to hear the Empress, who had been casual moments ago, speaking formally with such dignity.
“Anasis, you truly are my son.”
“Mother… I was worried. And even now, I still am. Let’s go to your chambers.”
“No. I will handle this matter here.”
Hearing this, Crown Prince Anasis’s eyes reddened. He looked like a ten-year-old sulking.
“Who shouted that there was poison in the tea I drank?”
At her question, Baron Jeren, sitting next to Siver at the same table, bowed and answered,
“I… it was me.”
“Baron Jeren, I see.”
The Empress nodded, and the palace physicians quickly drew a silver rod, pressing it into the remaining tea in the fallen cup. Watching its tip corrode as if rusting, they confirmed to the Empress,
“It is certain that the tea contained poison.”
The Empress frowned in confusion.
“When everyone at the other table drank the tea, it was fine, Your Majesty. Even Crown Prince Anasis drank it.”
Layla said this to help the Empress, though she was also reminded of William’s Rainier-like expression. She worried that leaving things unchecked could be dangerous.
Rainier was royal. Crown Prince Anasis was also royal. Rainier, both in the original story and in Layla’s current reality, was a brilliant strategist. He would never attempt to kill the Empress with a poison that wouldn’t work.
Embarrassed at having doubted him, Layla tried to erase the thought. With a universal antidote nearby, why would the culprit bother using poison?
Then the culprit must not have seen Crown Prince Anasis’s abilities firsthand.
“I don’t think the culprit is from the central nobility,” Layla said.
The Empress pressed her throbbing temple and smiled slightly.
“And why do you think that, Miss Avier?”
“I saw Crown Prince Anasis’s abilities for the first time. Most nobles consider it mere rumor that royal blood can neutralize poison.”
“And…?”
The Empress listened, intrigued.
“Could you identify the type of poison?”
The Empress nodded, and a palace physician spoke up with bowed head,
“It is Belladonna poison, Your Majesty.”
“Belladonna is potent enough for arrow tips. Whoever used it must be very knowledgeable about plants.”
Upon hearing this, Layla immediately thought of one person.
“Then, Layla… you weren’t the culprit, were you?”
Her thoughts were interrupted by Siver’s voice.
“What do you mean, Miss Siver Avier?”
The Empress, knowing they were half-sisters, asked curiously. She also knew their relationship was strained.
“Actually, the seat where Her Majesty sat earlier was Layla’s place.”
“I see.”
“And Layla… is the type who will do anything to get attention.”
“I don’t understand. Explain clearly, Miss.”
Siver, lowering the corners of her mouth that had risen, said sulkily,
“Perhaps Layla herself intended to drink the poison, but Her Majesty drank it instead.”
“You dare suggest this at a tea party I am hosting?”
“Yes… humbly, Your Majesty. She has done similar things before.”
“Is this true, Miss Layla Avier?”
The Empress’s cold tone left Layla incredulous. She had assumed Baron Jeren was the one who poisoned it. He owned a large flower farm and had his eye on the palace flower supply business.
Only Baron Jeren, who knew about the deadly properties of flowers, wasn’t part of the central nobility but desired entry, fit the profile. Though an aide to Count Avier, he could betray her father anytime.
“It’s slander.”
“Then Layla, how did you act so quickly? You made the Empress vomit the tea immediately. What is this about?”
Siver asked, pressing her. Layla’s knowledge came from years of taking the poison called Mermaid’s Tears in her previous life, which she had vomited to survive. Its effectiveness had stuck in her memory.
“That’s basic knowledge. When someone shouted that the tea was poisoned, I thought they should vomit it immediately.”
Layla looked at the Empress, then at Crown Prince Anasis, who gazed at her with confusion.
“I knew His Highness’s abilities. But could I really have done such a thing?”
Siver could no longer hide her smile.
“You probably wanted to look good in His Highness’s eyes. Thanks to his help, Layla’s business has flourished.”
“Imagine if word spread that His Highness saved Layla after she drank poison—it would boost Mont’s prestige even more.”
Layla scoffed at Siver.
“Is that really what you think?”
“Honestly, Layla, you didn’t do anything wrong, did you?”
Siver then knelt.
“This has nothing to do with the Avier family! Punish only Layla!”
Layla replied dismissively,
“If I identify the culprit, I hope Her Majesty rewards me for it.”
“I will see to that. If you truly can.”
Bowing slightly to the Empress, Layla then looked at Siver with disdain.
“I believe the co-conspirator in this matter is Sister Siver.”
Using this, the count’s family might fall under her control.
Thinking this, Layla struggled to suppress a smile.
