The Poisoned Apple
“The Southern vassals couldn’t possibly be unaware of House Huerton. Which means they must have their own reasons for pretending otherwise. What those reasons are, we cannot yet say.”
“That only makes it more confusing. The Archduke Illid and the Huerton Countess were to become family. No matter how unstable her mind, I cannot imagine why she would harbor such hostility toward him…”
I bit my lip and waited for Labi to continue. He merely shook his head, as lost as I was about the root of her enmity.
“The Countess is too unwell to give any answers, and the Southern retainers insist they know nothing. We have reached an impasse.”
“Wasn’t there a woman who took the Countess away? Surely she would know something?”
Once again, Labi shook his head.
“She was merely a caretaker. A distant relative, I’m told. After losing their only daughter, the Countess’s mind shattered. Count Huerton paid a fortune to entrust her care to this woman.”
“I had no idea…”
“Yes, that is all I have learned so far. And…”
Labi paused, then drew something from inside his coat. It was the locket containing the portrait of me that had been sold in the plaza.
“This is the one the Duchess tried to buy earlier, isn’t it? I purchased it while Lord Lilche and I were investigating the square.”
“Ah, thank you.”
I examined the tiny portrait inside the necklace Labi handed me. It depicted me at sixteen—flowing golden hair and a faint smile rendered with exquisite delicacy.
“But Duchess, are you not curious?”
“About what?”
“Why the Huerton Countess mistook you for her dead daughter?”
Yes. It was that very misunderstanding that had triggered this entire fiasco. Yet I had never given it serious thought, dismissing it as nothing more than the delusion of a broken mind.
“Duchess, they say that even in those whose minds are fractured, the memories that remain until the very end are the most precious ones. I urge you not to brush aside what the Countess said.”
Labi drew his chair closer to mine.
“Shall I look into it? To see whether Lady Sierra Huerton truly resembled you?”
His green eyes, half-lowered, sparkled with curiosity. They shared the same shape as Shuri’s, yet in Labi there was a sly glint none of his siblings possessed.
He fell silent, waiting for my answer.
Sierra… Yes, even Illid had called me by that name once.
It didn’t matter that the Huerton Countess had mistaken me for her daughter. But if Illid was entangled in this, the story changed. The idea that his dead fiancée looked like me left a distinctly unpleasant aftertaste.
The expression on his face when he pushed me away… it was too strange.
His eyes had been cold, as though he had awakened from a long dream only to return to reality. All this time, who had he truly been seeing? Had the person reflected in those blue eyes really been only me?
“If you will simply give the order, Duchess, I will begin my inquiry at once. Discreetly, of course—so that neither His Highness Illid nor the Southern vassals notice a thing.”
Labi’s voice was sweet and perilous, like a poisoned apple. The moment I accepted his proposal, I sensed that nothing could ever return to the way it had been.
“What is your command, Duchess?”
He urged me gently. I swallowed my unease and answered.
“Do as you wish.”
“Very well. I shall investigate quietly.”
A satisfied smile curved Labi’s lips.
After that day’s incident, Illid shut himself inside his quarters and did not take a single step outside. Not only I, but nearly everyone in the Imperial Palace found themselves unable to meet him.
The story of the Emperor’s nephew being attacked by a madwoman spread across every tongue. Yet no one seemed to know who she was. It appeared Illid had thoroughly silenced the knights who had investigated the matter.
Those unaware of the full truth assumed he had simply shown generous understanding toward the mistake of a deranged woman. But that day’s events could not be dismissed as a mere touching anecdote or trivial mishap. At least not for me.
“Ishtel, you’re not hurt anywhere, are you? That crazy woman really called you her daughter?”
On the day of the royal audience that His Majesty the Emperor would attend, Zahr arrived at the palace earlier than usual. He turned my face this way and that, inspecting it carefully.
“I’m fine, so calm down, Brother.”
“What are the Central Knights even doing if they can’t uncover a single detail about that woman? Should I go press Yulian about it?”
“Please, just stay out of it. That’s not helping.”
“Why do you only ever scold me…”
Zahr grumbled with a disgruntled expression. Whether an Archduke had been attacked or not, my brother’s only concern was whether a single scratch might have appeared on my cheek.
“Good day to you both, siblings of Regentera. What a close brother and sister you are—just as the rumors say.”
Ebony Bladin, entering the audience chamber, flashed us a wide smile.
“This is the best our sibling relationship gets, I’m afraid. I truly envy you.”
Ebony pointed to the scar running down her left cheek. Zahr shuddered dramatically at the sight, then, embarrassed by his own reaction, squared his shoulders in an attempt to look brave.
“I thought you’d be too busy flirting with the Emperor’s maid to attend the audience. It seems you found the time after all?”
“Ah, you must mean Viscount Linton. Yes, he is quite a charming man. Shall I arrange a dinner for the three of us sometime?”
“Are you joking right now?”
“Not at all. I’m quite serious.”
“Unbelievable. Birds of a feather, I suppose…”
Zahr clicked his tongue in disapproval as Ebony returned to her place.
He still harbored intense dislike for both Karina and Ebony, who had helped bring down his wife’s family, House Silanda.
But like it or not, the Duke of Regentera and the Countess of Bladin were fated to cross paths often. Zahr glared fiercely at her as he took his position directly opposite.
Soon Hellion and the Prime Minister arrived, followed by His Majesty the Emperor. Illid did not appear that day either.
“We shall now begin today’s royal audience.”
At the Prime Minister’s declaration, the meeting commenced. The ministers of each department presented the matters requiring the Emperor’s attention. With the harvest season approaching, numerous fiscal issues demanded resolution. The session dragged on for several hours.
Not a single moment was unimportant, yet my concentration had long since hit rock bottom.
What could he be doing right now?
My gaze kept drifting to the empty seat below and to the right of the Emperor, leaving my heart restless. Today was the day the policies the two Archdukes had prepared over the past three months would be approved or rejected. I had not expected Illid to be absent even from an occasion like this.
“Now then, all matters brought by the ministers have been concluded. We shall now discuss the bills proposed by Their Highnesses the Archdukes.”
The ministers, who had been shifting uncomfortably, straightened in perfect unison. Since the proposals came from men who might one day become Emperor, they needed to pay closer attention than ever.
“Hmm…”
Yet the Emperor’s reaction was strange. Unlike the ministers, who had remained focused throughout the meeting, His Majesty now seemed bored. He half-closed his eyes and leaned lazily against the side of his throne.
“I am tired today. We shall end the audience here.”
“Pardon? Your Majesty, what do you mean…? Are you saying you will not hear Archduke Hellion’s report?”
The ministers’ eyes flew wide at the Emperor’s announcement. They coughed awkwardly and stole glances at Hellion, who sat to the Emperor’s left.
In the heavy silence that blanketed the audience chamber, the most bewildered person was none other than Hellion himself. Startled by the unexpected turn, I looked at him too. He was gripping the documents in his hands so tightly it seemed they might tear at any moment.
“Your Majesty.”
Hellion spoke, eyes fixed on the imperial throne.
“Whatever the reason for his absence today, it is Archduke Illid’s fault. The consequences of that fault should fall entirely on him. Why, then, must I suffer because of his circumstances? Is that not the true breach of fairness?”
A collective gasp rose from the ministers. It was not outright criticism, yet anyone could see that Hellion was laying the blame at the Emperor’s feet.
Since the death of the previous Duke of Regentera and the withdrawal of Marchioness Lilche from political circles, no one had dared show open displeasure toward the Emperor.
The central ministers who supported Hellion were naturally horrified, while those who backed Illid could not hide their shock.
The Emperor gazed down at Hellion in silence. Hellion did not avert his eyes. At last, His Majesty spoke slowly.
“We will speak later, Archduke Hellion.”
The unexpectedly mild response allowed the ministers to breathe again.
They had feared that Hellion, who had inherited his mother’s fiery temperament, might explode, but no such outburst came. He simply pressed his lips together and set the documents down beside his chair.
“You have all worked hard. You may withdraw.”
As His Majesty rose slowly from his seat, Ebony quickly approached and took his arm. Leaning on her, the Emperor left the audience chamber.
“Until next time, Duchess.”
As she passed me, Ebony hummed a little tune under her breath. She had been the only person smiling throughout the entire audience.
The ministers offered polite bows to the remaining Hellion before filing out of the chamber.
Hellion sat quietly, staring at the empty throne. I began walking toward him, then suddenly stopped.
I had no idea how to comfort him. The day he had asked me which of his two nephews I preferred came to mind. At the time I had thought little of it, but now it no longer seemed like something I could brush aside so easily.
The Emperor has chosen Illid as Crown Prince.
The same intuition that had flashed through my mind must have struck Hellion as well.
Illid would make a fine crown prince, but he was not overwhelmingly superior to Hellion. So why? For what reason…?
“Ishtel, let’s go. It’s been a while—shall we ask Molly to bake us some cinnamon pie?”
Zahr, who had approached without my noticing, gently laid a hand on my shoulder. As he pulled me away, my body spun away from Hellion.
That’s right. Nothing is certain yet. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
I did my best to push the swirling thoughts from my mind as I left the audience chamber.
“Your Highness, why are you lingering out here instead of returning inside?”
Aron Telia, who had been waiting outside the audience chamber, approached Hellion and asked. Hellion remained lost in thought for a moment before finally speaking.
“Not long ago, Labi accompanied Ishtel to the Southern mansion, didn’t he?”
“That is correct.”
“It seems the time has come for him to begin moving.”