Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: What's the Cause?
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"...What? Who got hit by what?"
Caught completely off guard, Roselia didn't bother hiding her bewilderment as she shot back the question.
"Elina was poisoned by Eternal Dream Grass. And the Empress used the poison... because of the fierce determination of the West's hegemon, Duke Lancaster."
"Wait, why would Elina get hit with that poison...? Sigh, anyway, Duke Lancaster?"
"Yes. They judged that the Crown Prince was neglecting state affairs, bewitched by a lowly maid. Above all, they were obsessed with the idea that the next Empress had to come from the Lancaster family."
"...This is insane."
Yes, if you summed up Elina's current plight in one line, she was the shrimp caught in the whales' battle.
Simply for drawing the Crown Prince's attention, she had been singled out as a sacrificial lamb in a massive power struggle.
"Just for political reasons... trying to kill an innocent child."
However, as she listened to Kairak's explanation, Roselia's mind whirled with complications.
'No, even so, this doesn't make any sense.'
Recalling the original story, the Empress had indeed attempted to use poison.
But back then, Crown Prince Damian had caught wind of it in advance and saved Elina by knocking the teacup out of her hands just before she drank.
That incident had triggered Damian's dark turn, leading to him crushing the West.
'Why didn't he stop it this time? There's no way Damian didn't know.'
Was it another butterfly effect? Or had Damian deliberately stood by?
Questions piled on questions, but that wasn't what mattered right now.
'Still, it's a blessing in disguise. The poison she got hit with is Eternal Dream Grass.'
Roselia inwardly cheered with relief.
Eternal Dream Grass was a horrific poison known for having no antidote until the moment of death.
But in the latter half, when the author revisited Lancaster's second poisoning attempt—where a maid who ate the grass in Elina's place—and developed an episode about saving that maid, who had been Elina's sole pillar keeping her will to live intact, the method to make the antidote was revealed.
'It was definitely made with Daybreak Pure Herb, right? Okay, with this, I can definitely negotiate.'
Roselia wiped the flustered look from her face and gazed at Kairak with a relaxed smile playing on her lips.
"Alright, I've got the situation. And it's turned out perfectly."
"...What do you mean? A person's dying here."
"No, that's not it. I mean I think I can help."
She confidently held up a single index finger.
"I know how to make the antidote for Eternal Dream Grass."
"...!"
Kairak's eyes flashed wide at Roselia's unbelievable declaration.
But suspicion soon clouded them.
Eternal Dream Grass was a rare poison that even the Empire's top physicians shook their heads at.
It was hard to believe a mere imperial princess knew the antidote.
Yet Roselia shrugged as if she'd anticipated that reaction.
"You look skeptical. But it's true. So from now on, you need to cooperate for real."
She leaned close to the bed and whispered softly in his ear.
"I already know about that guy who tried to kill you, Black Wing Order Captain Garneon, from Leonier."
"..."
"The most important thing is how you breached Kaltstein's ironclad defenses. And all the intelligence you've gathered on the Loen Imperial Family while hiding in the shadows. Tell the Duke everything, straight up."
Kairak licked his dry lips, hesitating.
Information was an assassin's lifeblood.
Each piece was worth its weight in gold.
That made him waver at the thought of spilling it all, but right now, he had something more precious than his life.
"Really... is there truly an antidote beyond the Elixir? You're not lying just to use me...?"
At his desperate question, Roselia thumped her fist against her left chest with a serious expression.
"Hey, I stake my heart on it!"
"..."
"If the antidote I make turns out fake, go ahead and pierce my heart with that dagger of yours. I swear I can save Elina."
Unyielding eyes. A voice brimming with conviction.
There wasn't a trace of deceit in the princess's demeanor.
Above all, wasn't she someone who saw through even the past she couldn't possibly know?
After a long silence, tension drained from Kairak's shoulders.
He let out a deep sigh and nodded.
"...Understood. I'll lay everything I know bare."
"Okay! Should've done that from the start."
Kairak took a moment to steady his breath, then began speaking slowly.
"First off, only a select few in our Camor Velpen Guild can awaken power through the 'Shadow Brand.' Activating it lets you temporarily merge your body with shadows. It slips past physical walls, of course, and even common detection spells or barriers recognize it as mere shadow flicker and let it through. That ability alone got us past Kaltstein's airtight security."
"Hmm, Shadow Brand, huh..."
Roselia nodded, thinking to herself.
'Yeah, it came up in the original too. The author was lazy about it—something like [Anyway, they succeeded in infiltrating with shadow powers! Ta-da, cool, right?]—so I didn't know the details.'
She'd thought it was a plot hole, but it had a systematic principle after all.
Chin in hand, she continued her questions with keen interest.
"Got it, infiltration method clear. One more thing. Those knights you ran into on the way in—you didn't kill them, right?"
"...Yes."
"Not because your skills were lacking. If you'd wanted, you could've slit their throats silently. So why just knock them out and move on? That's awfully merciful for an assassin."
At her sharp point, Kairak gave a wry smile.
"Well, it was a sort of... insurance."
"Insurance?"
"This is Kaltstein we're talking about. If I'd failed and gotten caught, killing one of their knights would've left no room for negotiation—they'd execute me on the spot. I had to survive somehow to get the Elixir... no, the antidote. So I wanted to avoid any killing that might provoke the Duke."
"Oh ho."
Roselia let out an admiring exclamation at the absurd reason.
He definitely wasn't a dumb villain.
He was rational enough to suppress his pride and killer instincts for his goal.
This guy's usable on our side for sure.
She clapped her knee in satisfaction.
"Great! I get your sincerity. This much info should convince the Duke."
Roselia stood, brushing off her skirt.
"Well, I'll be off then. The antidote I promised—we'll report to the Duke and start production right away, so don't worry too much."
"...Can I really trust you?"
"I staked my heart, didn't I? And you've heard the rumors—Kaltstein takes care of their own without fail. You're on our ship now."
"...I see."
Before leaving the room, Roselia turned back with a wink.
"You did well, Kairak. Rest easy for a while."
Click.
The door shut, leaving the room in heavy silence once more.
Kairak stared blankly at the ceiling.
His body was still restrained, but it felt like one crushing weight had lifted from his mind.
'...Guess I have to trust her.'
He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.
For the first time in the darkness, a faint light seemed to glimmer ahead.
That evening, after hearing Seria's declaration of being my official consort.
As usual, we'd all finished dinner together, and now I had called Leonier aside for some one-on-one time.
"So, what are you curious about?"
"Didn't you say you've lived through a previous loop? I was wondering if you knew the cause of the sudden monster surge in Winter Forest."
Two days ago, I'd received two new reports from Viscount Dordeo.
One said they'd received all supplies intact this time, no shortages.
The other... the monster numbers, which I'd hoped were thinning, had started increasing again—they'd need more reinforcements.
"Ah... Winter Forest."
Leonier gave a strange look, like she knew something, peering straight at my face.
Her eyes mixed pity, embarrassment, and a hint of anger.
"Yes... definitely, the same thing happened in the previous loop. Right at this time."
Leonier fiddled with her teacup, squinting as if dredging up memories.
"Mm... Viscount Dordeo requested support back then too... and in the end, you, Seria, and two battalions of knights headed straight to Winter Forest. You joined the Viscount for a massive subjugation and started investigating the cause."
"I see."
So, me going there personally was set in stone, huh.
I nodded and cut to the crucial point.
"Then what was the cause uncovered back then? There had to be a reason the monsters surged and went berserk so suddenly."
"Well..."
Leonier fell silent at my question.
She averted her gaze with a troubled expression, clearly agonizing over whether to speak.
Much as I wanted the answer fast, this concerned the North's safety.
I waited patiently without pressing her.
A moment later, she sighed softly, as if resolved, and spoke cautiously.
"Um... don't freak out. The cause... it was because of something the late Emperor planted."
"The late Emperor...?"
"Yes. To check the North's Kaltstein power and keep harassing them endlessly, he secretly transplanted and planted flowers deep in Winter Forest."
"...Pardon? Flowers? You're saying all this monster chaos is over some flowers?"
"Not ordinary flowers. A rare plant from the now-extinct Forest of Chaos..."
Leonier paused dramatically, then blurted out the name with a flushed face.
"It was because a colony of Succubus Lilies—flowers that stimulate monsters' nerves and forcibly induce mating season—had bloomed fully."
"......Pardon?"
"The flowers' scent spread through the entire forest on the wind, forcibly waking monsters that should have been hibernating and driving them into a frenzy. Their aggression spiked from the breeding instincts."
"Uh... um, wha... what?"
My mind blanked white for a second.
The crisis threatening the North's borders, where knights were shedding blood to hold the line... the cause was...
The late Emperor's petty scheme and flowers that put monsters into heat.
Speechless, I just stared at Leonier in a daze.
My jaw hung slack, refusing to close.
About 30 seconds of gawking later, I snapped out of it and asked for confirmation one last time.
"Ha... so, to confirm."
I rubbed my dry face, letting out a hollow laugh.
"Even though relations soured a bit since my great-grandfather's time, the Emperor of this Empire—guarded with my ancestors' lives—is saying he sprinkled monster aphrodisiac in the forest just to screw over the North?"