Chapter 17: Until I Have a Proper Hand (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 17: Until I Have a Proper Hand (4)
Yes. There was definitely something wrong with his body.
"At first, I brushed it off, thinking it was because I hadn't been going outside," Calian murmured. "After the pain in my heart started, I thought it might be a mana issue. I even worried there was something wrong with my heart itself."
It seemed none of those were the case.
"Then this must be the antidote."
"Indeed. I had to make it in a hurry, but I have confirmed its efficacy. By the time you finish this, you will be completely cured. I will begin guiding your magic then."
Calian's gaze remained fixed on the pouch of medicine.
Alan quietly observed him before beginning to explain in a calm, detached tone, as if discussing a third party's medical case.
"It is a deadly poison called Tacrimosa. It's made by mixing several poisonous herbs with the blood and venom of a snake called the Crimosa. If a prince who was perfectly healthy yesterday suddenly died, it would arouse suspicion, so they likely wanted to make it look like you were slowly falling ill. However, since the power of blessing would cure most poisons, they must have been feeding you small, continuous doses of this lethal poison."
How utterly cruel.
Calian was only fourteen.
His only crime was looking like Freya.
"To achieve that, the poison had to be odorless, tasteless, and non-reactive to silver, all while mimicking the symptoms of an illness. It also had to be easily obtainable in large quantities to be administered over a long period. The poison that fits all those conditions and matches your symptoms is precisely this one."
Calian lowered his head again without a word.
Alan continued his explanation. The information he was sharing was what he had wrung out of the mages residing in Teinansha after camping out at the Mage Association all day yesterday.
"Without the power of blessing… no matter how small the dose, you would have coughed as if you had a lung disease and died vomiting blood within a week. Constantly healing such a potent poison must have strained your heart. That is why it felt as though your healing abilities had vanished, and why your body rejected mana when you tried to use it. Your heart was already exhausted to the point of collapse, so when you tried to force it to use its power, it had no choice but to scream in protest."
As Calian tried to close the medicine pouch, he fumbled, and it slipped from his grasp. A few pills spilled onto his lap. He quickly gathered them and put them back inside.
His fingers trembled as he did so.
It wasn't from fear. It was rage.
Calian was definitely assassinated. But it wasn't the poison that killed him. And since he couldn't use mana from the very beginning, it's not like I changed the timeline and got poisoned because of it. This means they were poisoning Calian in the original past as well.
The realization sparked another question, igniting an uncontrollable surge of fury.
"……Why?"
Clutching the pouch tightly, Calian looked up at Alan.
Why would they strangle a child who was already dying?
Alan's shoulders flinched.
For a brief moment, he had seen the sheer killing intent that filled those crimson eyes. Though it vanished a second later as if it had never been there, it was not a look a young boy should be capable of.
"I apologize, Master. I didn't consider that possibility at all."
At Calian's words, Alan tried to shake the memory of that gaze from his mind.
"……It is not only the blades you see that are sharp. Sometimes, the unseen ones are far keener."
Calian engraved Alan's words deep into his heart.
A Sword Master was immune to poison. Because of that, he had let his guard down. Bern had survived battlefields rife with every assassination attempt imaginable, yet he had been careless here.
I was so fixated on the fact that he was strangled that I never even suspected poison.
Despite the obvious symptoms, the possibility hadn't crossed his mind.
It was a massive blunder, one that he, of all people, should never have made.
"Am I severely poisoned?"
"To my eyes, you looked like you had one foot in the grave."
Calian let out a soft chuckle. Feeling his mood lighten slightly at Alan's bluntness, he asked, "If I take the poison and the antidote at the same time, will my condition still worsen?"
Alan's face contorted. "Please do not do that. It might slow the process, but it will still be dangerous."
"How much would it be delayed?"
"I am not a healer, so it is difficult to say for sure. Perhaps ten days, perhaps fifteen."
Calian wore a satisfied expression. "If it can be delayed that much, that's plenty. I will take them together."
"Are you seriously saying you're going to gulp down both poison and medicine?"
Calian couldn't quite tell if Alan was being insulting, informal, or polite.
"Yes. If it were a simple physical ailment, it would be one thing, but since it is poison, I must be cautious. I'm not in a position where I can suddenly refuse to drink it."
Seeing the worry in Alan's eyes, Calian continued. "I believe it's the tea I drink every morning. I haven't consumed anything else so consistently. However, I have always drunk it in front of everyone. I do not suspect the maids, but we cannot overlook even a one-in-a-million chance."
Perhaps, just perhaps.
The Calian of the past might have realized he was being slowly poisoned. He might have refused the tea.
If Silike had realized Calian knew, she might have sent an assassin to finish off the already dying child. Silike was certainly capable of that.
If I refuse the tea now, they will immediately resort to other methods. And since my situation is different from the past, I won't be able to predict how they'll try to kill me next.
As Calian organized his thoughts, Alan spoke up. "Your Highness. If you are worried because we lack evidence to catch the culprit, do not be. We have already gathered proof that the Brissen Trading Company imported a massive number of snakes over the past few months under the pretext of using their hides. Even now, the Mage Association is investigating this from multiple angles."
Alan had uncovered an impressive amount of information in a single day.
"Thank you. We can keep that as our trump card. However, that alone won't be enough to bring down Silike. We must find another way."
It was truly remarkable that Alan had even gathered evidence. Unaware of just how many mages had been mobilized to dig up that much information, Calian simply grinned.
"Until we find a way, Silike must not know that I've realized the tea is poisoned. I've been drinking it in front of all the maids. Since there's no way to discard it without being seen, I must continue to drink it, even if it means taking the antidote alongside it."
He added, "Furthermore, if it's revealed that there was something wrong with my morning tea, Yan and the other maids will be harmed. They've been serving me poison for so long—they won't escape unscathed."
"The baby elephant should be fine, though," Alan murmured quietly.
Calian glanced at him. "Pardon?"
"It is nothing. But how can you trust that attendant so implicitly?"
In response, Calian raised a hand and pointed to his own face. "He can't lie. It's written all over his face."
He then looked down at his right palm. There was a small but distinct scar, a mark left from the incident with Franz. He recalled Yan holding that hand and crying like a child.
"And… I just trust him."
Alan nodded silently.
Calian continued, "Since this wasn't a poison meant for a single day, Silike must have considered the possibility of being caught. The fact that she went ahead with it means she has a foolproof way to escape blame. She even went so far as to openly declare her intent to kill me to my face."
He recalled Silike's attitude during the dinner with Viscount Lennon Brissen. It was clearly the demeanor of someone who had nothing to fear.
"If I make a clumsy move, I won't catch Silike and will only lose my own people. Instead, she will corner me, claiming I framed her. If that happens, it will be difficult to defend myself when the assassins are sent or when I'm exposed to another poison."
Alan let out a deep sigh.
"So, until I have a winning hand—or at least a way to force her to abandon poison completely—I'll take them both. After that, I can manage to block whatever visible blades come my way."
Alan stared at Calian with a complicated expression.
Calian smiled brightly and picked up one of the antidote pills. "Then, I shall take it gratefully."
He popped it into his mouth and swallowed without hesitation. Seeing this, Alan knit his brows. "Did I not tell you to suspect everything you eat? What if that was the actual poison?"
"Then there is nothing I can do. It would mean my master did not trust me as much as I trusted him. And if so, is it not my fault for failing to earn your trust?"
Alan let out a dry chuckle. "You certainly have a silver tongue."
"These words are from the very mouth that won over Alan Manasil. What did you expect?" Calian replied with a proud look, as if he had just received a grand compliment.
Alan fell silent for a moment, watching Calian, before asking, "Very well. What else would you have me do?"
Simply being shown a way to survive was more than enough, but Calian still needed Alan's help. He replied in a quiet voice, "Tomorrow evening, please take me outside the royal palace just once."
It was something Alan could easily do. He nodded. "I will take you out as many times as you wish."
*
Rattle.
He tossed the medicine pouch lightly into the air and caught it, the antidote pills rattling inside.
After Alan left, Calian was breaking his promise to Yan for the very first time. He hadn't touched his lunch, lost in deep thought while merely toying with the pouch.
Knowing that Calian's conversation with Alan was related to his health, Yan watched him with anxious eyes but stood by his side without a word.
Rattle.
The medicine pouch in Calian's hand made another sound.
"……Yan."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Are there any events within the next ten days that the nobles will attend?"
"Since all official events with the nobility were suspended for a month before the festival, there are quite a few scheduled for the near future."
That was fortunate. Calian nodded. "What are they, specifically?"
As if recalling the schedule, Yan lowered his gaze for a moment to organize his thoughts. Then, he began listing them, starting from the nearest date.
Schedules outside the royal palace and events held within poured out of him in a steady stream. Listening to Yan, Calian's face grew weary.
There are so many!
Calian raised his hand slightly to stop the explanation. "That's enough. That's plenty. Thank you."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Calian was pondering a way to make Silike abandon her use of poison. A method had crossed his mind while talking to Alan. It was the only thing the current Calian could attempt within ten days. That was why he had told Alan he wanted to go outside the palace, and there just so happened to be an event with the nobles that fit the timing perfectly.
However, it was a rather risky method.
That was why he had hesitated for so long.
To take your opponent's hand, you must first wager your own.
Suddenly, the words of Bern's father—Devlan, the current King of Secritia—flashed through his mind.
To think I'd remember your words at a time like this, Father.
Thanks to that memory, Calian finally decided to take the risk. He was about to stand up when he glanced at Yan.
Seeing the look on Yan's face, which practically screamed, 'Won't you please eat something?' Calian smiled and sat back down. He placed the pouch from his hand onto the table.
The rattling sound echoed once more.
Naturally, Yan's eyes followed the pouch. Knowing Yan must be extremely worried, Calian offered an explanation, leaving out part of the truth.
"It's medicine. I'll be cured by the time I finish it, so don't worry. But about this…"
When Calian paused, Yan, catching his drift, spoke up first. "Yes. I won't speak of this to anyone else. Do not worry."
Calian couldn't decide if Yan was being quick-witted or just dense. He grinned and finally began his late meal.