Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Experiment (1)
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“Are all of these poisonous herbs?”
“Not all of them, Your Excellency. Some are medicinal herbs.”
Joel’s face was filled with utter gloom as he replied.
“Sir Bill may lack knowledge of herbology and could be fooled, but I cannot. I recognized them at once and hurried to you.”
Fake loyalty for his lord’s health flickered in Joel’s eyes.
“Some of these herbs can be combined to create a powerful poison.”
He whispered of loyalty and concern, but hidden within was a wicked intent to frame his target.
“……”
I fell silent, pretending to be at a loss for words.
As I silently stared at the paper listing the purchases, Joel seized the opportunity and began to prattle on.
“I know full well how harmonious Your Excellency’s marriage to Madam is… But even so, I find myself compelled to say this. As your chief physician.”
“……”
“Could Madam be trying to feed you something? If nothing has happened so far, then all the more reason to be vigilant from now on.”
Joel was closely observing my reaction.
These were the natural words of a chief physician who had long served at my side. Any ordinary lord would heed them.
But.
“You, right now.”
I glared at Joel with a fearsome expression, like a doting husband utterly smitten with his wife.
“Are you daring to cast suspicion on my wife in front of me?”
“Your Excellency!”
Bill, who had been standing by anxiously, stepped forward.
“Sir Joel has loyally served House Schmichael since the previous Duke’s time. His only intent is to assist Your Excellency.”
Assist, my foot. Wonder when Joel had sweet-talked Bill into this.
I entertained crooked thoughts but outwardly raised my eyebrows as if deeply displeased by the situation.
“I didn’t know the two of you were so close. Defending him like this.”
“Your Excellency.”
Bill let out a quiet sigh.
“I vowed to be Your Excellency’s eyes and ears. How could I stand idly by after seeing this?”
He pleaded in a voice thick with earnestness.
“Madam is an exceptional magic scholar. If she were to use these herbs for ill intent, how would we even respond?”
“Madam is different from all the previous madams who entered this castle. She is pure and innocent.”
Joel, who had stepped back, spoke up again. At first, it seemed like he was subtly defending Rose.
“Which is precisely why there may be those seeking to exploit her for nefarious purposes. Your Excellency, please remain vigilant.”
But it circled back to the same point, fanning the flames to make me suspect my wife.
Here, I was the lord blinded by love for a woman, making poor judgments, while he was the loyal retainer striving to set me right.
“…Hah.”
I turned away sharply, as if I didn’t even want to speak. I gazed out the window at the sky, steadying my ragged breath.
Easy.
I didn’t even need to feign anger. Seeing Joel blather on with that contrived seriousness made my gut boil for real.
In fact, from Joel’s perspective, it didn’t matter if I took his words at face value. Planting the seed of doubt was the goal itself.
If I believed him, I’d drive Rose out, which would be a win for him.
And dragging Bill into it, no less.
He’d anticipated that the upright Bill would believe him and come straight to me.
Joel had deliberately used Bill’s mouth to create this scene. If trouble arose, he could trip up Bill or slip away unscathed himself.
Of course, he was also laying the groundwork so that if something happened to me later, Bill would suspect Rose first.
There was nothing more painful than being betrayed by someone so excessively clever.
Which is why my uncle targeted Joel.
Bowing to my uncle’s threats, Joel had devised a clever way to poison me. It was uniquely insidious and cunning, deadly only to me.
What is this thing called paternal love?
How could he stand before me so calmly after betraying his lord, all because his daughter was in my uncle’s hands? As long as she remained a hostage, Joel would continue deceiving me.
There was only one reason I hadn’t cast Joel out yet.
To lull my enemies into complacency. They needed to believe I hadn’t noticed, or they wouldn’t resort to other means.
A winning hand must be played at the decisive moment.
“…Withdraw.”
I turned back and stood before the desk. I waved him off with a subdued voice.
“I understand your intent. I’ll handle this myself.”
“Your Excellency, but—”
I seized Joel by the collar—his yap, rather—and yanked him close.
“Joel.”
I thrust my face close to his wide-eyed stare and growled coldly.
“Did you think I’d go easy on you?”
“I-I…”
Joel’s eyes trembled in disbelief.
For me, constantly under threat of assassination, Joel’s position was unique and irreplaceable. That I wouldn’t just listen but cast him out like this seemed to shock him.
…Once I secure them.
I thought of the children from Arsil Orphanage, who were surely scurrying about, and reined in my anger.
“Don’t even think of acting on your own without my permission.”
“……”
“If you do anything to my wife, you won’t know what I might do.”
“…Understood, Your Excellency.”
Joel replied with a stiff face, his words strained.
I had imprinted on him that my love for my wife ran deep—and that touching her recklessly could be dangerous.
“……”
Joel held his tongue. He instinctively sensed that provoking me further would turn the arrows of blame on him.
Thud.
I released him, and Joel staggered back before straightening and bowing.
“I… shall withdraw.”
Bill, who had been watching with a tense expression, bowed as well.
Thud.
The door opened and closed, and the two vanished. I silently counted inside.
‘1, 2, 3…’
After counting to a hundred,
Bang!
I flung the door open forcefully and strode into the corridor. Startled servants bowed in a flurry.
“Your Excellency.”
“Escort me to Madam.”
“Yes.”
I didn’t hide my displeasure and walked with deliberate roughness.
Letting the servants see me like this, gossip in shock, and word reach Joel’s ears.
That I was off to interrogate Rose—enough to invite misunderstanding.
I strode into the spacious laboratory. Beyond the many bookshelves and devices of various sizes, I caught sight of red hair swaying.
“Madam.”
“You’ve come, Your Excellency.”
Rose whipped her head toward me. At that moment,
“Oh.”
I let out a low exclamation of admiration.
Rose had her red hair tightly pinned up and was wearing a white coat. It felt entirely new, different from her usual look.
“What’s that on your face?”
Most striking of all was the pair of glasses perched lightly on the bridge of her nose. With that outfit and glasses, she truly looked the part of a magic scholar.
“Ah, I need them for precision work during experiments.”
Rose quickly removed the glasses and set them down.
“Why take them off?”
“They make me dizzy if I wear them too long. They magnify things greatly.”
Rose turned fully toward me, revealing something in her other hand.
Flash. The knife blade glinted. Narrow but sharply honed enough.
To kill a person.
“Need something to stab?”
I nodded toward the knife, and
“Eek!”
Rose hurriedly set it down as well.
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s for experiments.”
“Misunderstand what?”
“Nothing.”
Rose shook her head vigorously and led the way.
“Come this way first?”
“Mm.”
Rose’s laboratory had changed quite a bit since I last saw it.
“Something seems different.”
“Yes, I rearranged it like my old lab at the Academy. I’m used to that setup; it’s more comfortable.”
Rose let out an “ah” and began rambling.
“Of course, this place is much larger and has the latest equipment. I just made the layout the same. I’m not saying the Academy is better—”
“I know.”
“…Yes.”
Rose stood before a large table covered in small machines and tools. Beside it was a big instrument panel and a chair connected by tangled wires.
A chair that looks made for human experimentation.
Blissfully unaware of how close my guess was to the truth, I slowly approached and stood before Rose. She looked up at me hesitantly.
“Right, you said you’d tell me when I came. What’s the reason you called me here?”
“Yes, I did.”
Rose seemed slightly tense but not searching for words. She had clearly prepared what to say.
Let’s see what she comes up with.
In the original story, Rose hadn’t used such a grand laboratory. She’d set up a modest one with her things from the Academy.
‘Please, just once, look at my research. Your mind will change.’
She’d tried to impress Dane with her achievements as a magic scholar, betting he’d take interest since he knew mana stones well.
But things were different now.
Anersen had already verified her skills, and she’d become the owner of this grand lab without needing my approval.
So she’d come up with another excuse.
“I…”
A few types of herbs lay on Rose’s table. She fiddled with them as she hesitantly opened her mouth.
“Do you know that I… studied herbology too?”
“Did you?”
“Not in depth. But I needed the knowledge.”
Rose glanced at my eyes before continuing.
“It was because of my mother.”
“I heard she passed suddenly.”
“Yes. I couldn’t believe it at first. She’d been so healthy. But then she started ailing little by little…”
Rose’s eyes grew distant, lost in memory.
“She was gone before we could do anything. We tried every remedy, but nothing worked.”