Chapter – 24
The Second Attempted Poisoning
The day after my unfortunate encounter with Gilbert, I was in the food storage room of the Crown Prince’s palace, racking my brain.
What should I do to speed up Noah’s detoxification?
I believe the most important thing is to make it a habit. It would be great if we could expel all the toxins from his body at once, but there’s no such convenient method, so the fastest way is to steadily continue. And I also think that making something a habit is actually the most difficult part.
I’ve tried countless detox methods, diets, and beauty routines myself, only to give up because I couldn’t make them stick. In the end, the only things that become habits are those that are simple and easy, or those with overwhelmingly effective results.
“Yoga has been a complete failure so far whenever I’ve invited him. He seems to be getting into the habit of drinking warm water and detox tea since Marsha makes it for him. Besides that, supplements would be good, but I don’t know how to make them. So that leaves snacks—”
‘Olivia~. What’s for snack today? What?’
While I was muttering to myself, Shiro popped up and looked up at me with his round eyes.
Divine beasts apparently don’t need to eat to survive, but Shiro, being a glutton, makes sure to have three proper meals a day and even manages to eat snacks. I wonder if divine beasts can get fat too.
“Today’s snack? I was thinking of making charcoal ice cream. Or maybe cake, no, pudding too…”
‘Charcoal again?’
“What, you got a problem with that? Charcoal is the ultimate detox ingredient; it adsorbs toxins in the body, you know.”
‘But that stuff is super black.’
“Well, it’s charcoal, of course it’s black.”
I had been thinking about whether I could use the charcoal produced daily from the kitchen stove, cleaned with Shiro’s water magic and dried with wind magic, in cooking.
The other day, I tried making cookies with it. The cookies made from charcoal, sesame, and soybeans turned completely black. They tasted delicious, but their visual impact was so strong that even Shiro seemed to need considerable courage to eat them.
When I offered the same detox cookies to Noah, he froze with a smile and then said, “What kind of poison did you put in this?” I recall that even when I told him they were for detox, he showed no sign of believing me at all. Well, in the end, he finished them all while maintaining that frozen smile.
(By the way, I gave Gilbert charcoal cookies too, I wonder if he ate them.)
I smirked, imagining Gilbert’s astonished face upon seeing the pitch-black cookies, just as Marsha came running into the food storage room.
“Lady Olivia…!”
“Wh-what’s wrong, Marsha?”
Marsha, who is usually calm, was clearly agitated, making me tense up.
She looked up at me as if clinging to my arm.
“Th-the Crown Prince, His Highness…! His Highness…!”
◆
“Prince Noah…!”
Dragging Shiro along, I rushed to the bedroom where Noah had been carried. Several palace physicians and their assistants had gathered. Noah, laid on the bed, had a pale, bloodless face and was taking rough, repeated breaths. Parts of his clothes were stained a reddish-black.
“Marsha, what happened to Prince Noah?”
I asked Marsha, who had followed me, and she explained that it seemed poison had been placed in the tea served to him during his official duties.
(So the Queen hasn’t given up on poisoning him.)
“How is His Highness’s condition…?”
When Marsha asked the palace physician, he replied, “It’s serious,” an answer that was obvious just by looking.
“We have used recovery magic, but the poison’s effect seems significant. We are currently analyzing it at the medical bureau to identify the poison, and once we do, we will prepare an antidote.”
“Couldn’t you first narrow down the possible poisons and administer multiple antidotes?”
“Some combinations can be harmful. I understand your feelings, maid, but we must not act hastily.”
As I listened to their exchange, I pretended to wipe Noah’s sweat and touched his skin directly.
A beeping sound chimed, and a status screen appeared before my eyes.
————————————————
【Noah Arthur Ygbarn】
Gender: Male | Age: 13
Status: Acute Poisoning (Lancades’ Horn: Poison Lv.2) | Occupation: Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Ygbarn, Olivia’s Fiancé, Olivia’s Enthusiastic Supporter
————————————————
(Lancades’ Horn!)
It was the same poison that had been in the tea I drank in Noah’s place. As expected, the Queen had targeted Noah’s life again.
“What about the poison in his stomach?”
When I asked, the palace physician looked puzzled but answered, “The poison has already been vomited up.” He must have meant Noah vomited it up along with blood. I desperately tried to remember my own experience of being poisoned.
I definitely vomited a significant amount of blood too. Some poison might have been expelled with it. But probably not all. There should still be residual poison in the stomach. In that case, recovery magic can’t remove the poison, so even if the body is healed by magic, it would soon be affected by the poison again.
“Marsha, lay Prince Noah on his left side.”
“Y-yes! But why…?”
“Gastric lavage. Shiro, please. Gently send water from his mouth into his stomach without hurting him. Once it’s washed inside, please bring the water out through his mouth. Can you do it?”
When I turned and asked him, Shiro was lying sprawled on the floor, wagging his tail as if the tense situation meant nothing to him.
‘Ehh~. But y’see, I was only told to help so Olivia doesn’t die, I don’t know about other humans~’
“I’ll make you a full course of detox meals!”
‘What was it you wanted me to do? Wash the Crown Prince’s stomach? Leave it to this great Shiro!’
The palace physicians were making a fuss, shouting “What are you doing!” but I ignored them.
Shiro deftly manipulated water into a thin stream, sending it into Noah’s mouth. After a while, the water that came out of Noah’s mouth formed a spherical shape in the air. The physicians shuddered at the sight of the discolored, reddish-black water.
“To use water magic like this…”
“The poison in his stomach has been flushed out. Please use recovery magic again.”
“Eh… ah, ah, yes. Right away.”
The eldest palace physician began casting recovery magic.
The light emanating from his palms was faint. I remember the recovery magic used by the heroine in the otome game “The Saintess Who Saves the Nation” from my previous life emitted a much stronger light. The power of a Saintess really is on a different level, I suppose.
“The poison given to Prince Noah is Lancades’ Horn. Please hurry with the antidote.”
“How can you know that…? No, but the symptoms do match…?”
“Just hurry! Are you okay with Prince Noah dying?!”
When I shouted, the other palace physicians snapped back to reality and rushed out of the room.
Eventually, Noah’s breathing stabilized, and the palace physician who had been continuously casting recovery magic staggered back to the medical bureau. Marsha, who had been crying, wiped her tears, brought fresh water, then left with the bucket, leaving just the two of us alone in the room.
“Olivia…?”
Noah slightly opened his eyes and called my name.
“Prince Noah! I’m right here!”
When I leaned in close, his blue eyes found me and he smiled.
His lips, still stained with blood, moved slightly, forming a shape.
‘My. Saint. Ess.’
“Prince Noah…”
Then, the blue eyes closed once more.
I thought his condition might have worsened, but his breathing was stable, and I realized he had simply fallen asleep.
“I’m sorry, Prince Noah. I’m not the Saintess…”
Noah believes without a doubt that I am the Saintess.
The more I feel how much he cherishes me, the more my chest tightens with guilt. When the real Saintess appears, he will surely be disappointed. He might even feel betrayed.
(At the very least, I have to protect him until the real Saintess appears.)
I can’t just retreat to my territory with peace of mind like this. I have to think of something.
‘Olivia~. When do I get the promised detox meal?’
I was taken aback by Shiro, who rubbed against me looking refreshed as if he’d just finished a job, completely oblivious to the mood.
“You really are so laid-back. The detox meal will be after things have calmed down.”
‘Ehh~. I wanna eat it today~. Even if it’s those pitch-black charcoal dishes.’
“Now is not the time for that…”
(Wait. Charcoal, detox… that’s it!)
I had a flash of inspiration. I hugged Shiro tightly and gave him a thorough, satisfying fluffing.
“You’re amazing, Shiro! Good job!”
‘Huh? What? I’m amazing?’
“You’re amazing! The best! Why didn’t I think of it before? There’s the ultimate detox method!”
And not just a health method, but one that was used as a real antidote in my previous life.
“I’ll make activated charcoal…!”
