Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Experiment (2)
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“What a shame.”
Rose pointed at something on the table with her finger.
“That's the first magic tool I ever developed.”
It was a small rectangular glass plate designed to hold a mana stone. Several symbols were etched at one end of the plate.
“It's a reaction tool. Drop blood on it, and it only changes to a unique color if specific components are present.”
“Ho.”
“That's when I realized it.”
Rose fiddled with the glass plate as she gazed at me.
“No matter how healthy someone looks on the outside, the inside can be completely different. Whether it's their mind or their body.”
“Are you saying that's the case with me?”
I asked in a lowered voice, and tension crept across Rose's face.
“That my body might have something wrong with it?”
This was the first time I was voicing the possibility that I might have been poisoned. Would Rose be able to say it now, after she hadn't been able to during the wine bottle inspection?
“It's not certain.”
Rose took a short breath and began speaking in a calm voice.
“Your Excellency is an incredibly tough and exceptional knight. I've seen it myself, so I know better than anyone.”
It was an obvious fact, but hearing it from Rose made me feel pretty good. If anyone else had said it, I would've dismissed it as flattery.
“If Your Excellency were an ordinary noble, I wouldn't harbor these suspicions. But you're in a very unique situation.”
She clasped her trembling hands lightly together, but her eyes fixed on me showed no hint of wavering.
“Your Excellency's birthday is less than a month away. Your enemies will be getting impatient, thinking they need to settle things quickly. They won't hold back on their methods.”
Her persuasion was armed with logic, not emotion.
“That's why we need to suspect and double-check everything. That's why I'm telling you this.”
Rose declared gravely without avoiding my eyes.
“Now is precisely the time to thoroughly examine Your Excellency's precious body.”
“...Madam's words sound like...”
I probed her deliberately, as if interrogating.
“You're suspecting the people of Schmichael Castle. That one of them harbors ill intentions?”
“I can view the things Your Excellency and the castle folk take for granted in daily life from a different perspective. Because I'm an outsider.”
Even with my sharp tone, Rose didn't falter.
“Fabry always tastes every ingredient himself and even samples the dishes made as precautions. All the tableware is silver. So, suspecting the kitchen is pointless.”
“How do you know that?”
“He attends me constantly and shares stories. Even little anecdotes from the kitchen.”
I was surprised at how close she'd gotten to Fabry. No wonder they were always chatting with smiles all over their faces.
“Head Maid Selma has to get my permission every time because I hold the storeroom keys. Her ledgers are impeccable. No double books, of course.”
“Thorough.”
“She checked with me whether the merchants delivered the ingredients properly and in good condition. That clears the merchants from suspicion too.”
Rose answered fluidly, as if she'd anticipated my questions. She'd clearly been diligently investigating and analyzing everyone in the castle over this short time.
“And... Chief Physician Joel.”
Her eyes darkened as she mentioned him.
“He examines Your Excellency and runs poison checks. If he lies about your condition, no one would suspect a thing.”
Rose looked at me as if seeking agreement.
“I've found a few recent suspicious circumstances. And Your Excellency commissioned an investigation into it yourself.”
“That's not enough to suspect him.”
“Exactly. That's why I said it's not certain.”
Rose moved toward the chair beside the table. It was the experimental chair that had caught my eye earlier.
“That's why I brought Your Excellency here. We need solid verification.”
Her slender fingers slowly traced the armrest of the chair.
“It's a magic tool that analyzes the seated person's body and detects specific components.”
“Hm.”
“I improved and installed the circuits from the glass plate. I could only make it thanks to Your Excellency's full support.”
Rose swallowed once and pleaded with me.
“Please allow me to examine Your Excellency's body with this.”
“......”
Right now, Rose was asking for tremendous authority from me.
A lord's body can't be touched casually except by verified physicians like the chief. Harming a lord's body is a grave crime.
That's why she was pleading so earnestly with that tense expression.
“An examination, huh...”
Instead of answering, I stepped toward the chair.
I sharply examined the tubes connected to the chair, the surrounding gauges, and the complex tools. As if they weren't entirely trustworthy.
Finally made it this far.
But inwardly, I was cheering.
In the original story, Rose used this magic tool to figure out what poison I'd been afflicted with. It served the dual purpose of demonstrating her research.
And after analyzing my body, Rose's investigation would enter a new phase. She'd uncover a crucial clue threatening my life.
“It looks like some kind of torture chair at first glance.”
I pointed at it, feigning reluctance.
“What's this on the armrests?”
“It's a misunderstanding, Your Excellency. As if I'd ever torture you.”
Rose answered with a perfectly composed face.
“It's just to secure the subject's body during the examination.”
A flicker of scholarly zeal and strange madness passed over Rose's eyes as she spoke.
...Must be seeing things.
Rose and madness? They really didn't go together.
I pushed away the fact that her gaze resembled Andersen's, hollowed out from three sleepless days and nights.
“Let's give it a try. No harm in being thorough.”
I agreed readily, and joy flushed Rose's cheeks.
“But earlier, Joel told me something interesting.”
She stiffened at my follow-up.
“What story?”
“He said among the items Madam recently purchased, there were poison herbs.”
Rose merely raised one eyebrow slightly.
“Poison herbs.”
“Mixed in with medicinal herbs, apparently. Some can become poisonous with the right combination.”
There was no surprise at being caught. As if she'd expected this, Rose replied calmly.
“I figured word of what I bought would reach Your Excellency's ears. Bill serves you faithfully, after all. So...”
Rose dipped her head slightly. She moistened her lips, parched from tension,
“...Did you come to interrogate me?”
She looked up at me again. A faint tremor lingered in Rose's eyes.
“Who knows.”
I took a step closer to her, intent on missing no subtle change in her expression.
“What do you think?”
“......”
Our probing gazes tangled deeply and relentlessly. Rose and I stared at each other for a moment, betraying no emotion.
She can make that face too.
It was strangely novel that Rose could mask herself with a blank expression. Not her radiant smile, her wistful tears, or her blushing shyness.
“...If I may venture a defense,”
A faint smile touched Rose's face at last. She seemed to have already guessed my answer from the question.
“If I really meant to buy poison herbs, I wouldn't have used such an obvious channel.”
“......”
“I'd have hidden them where Your Excellency's eyes couldn't reach. So, where do you think those poison herbs are now?”
I smirked and nodded toward her side.
“Right in front of my eyes, it seems.”
Various herbs were openly spread out on the table. The very ones Rose had been slicing with the experimental knife earlier.
“Exactly.”
Rose admitted it readily.
“I have to finely chop them to insert into the examination magic tool.”
Her large green eyes held no fear or dread. They were simply serene.
She's not shaking.
If this was an act, Rose's talent was extraordinary. So it had to be the confidence only the innocent could show.
“The fact that you came here even after hearing Joel's words lets me guess Your Excellency's intentions.”
Rose spoke with conviction, as if she knew me inside out.
“If you truly suspected me, you wouldn't bother with this tedious back-and-forth.”
She was right.
Questioning someone already guilty just gives them time to make excuses. Punishment is the only option left.
So this time was merely to gauge Rose's thoughts.
Shk.
Rose picked up the experimental knife next to the herbs. She held it out to me.
“Will you stab me, Your Excellency?”
Her whispering voice caressed my ear.
I felt the sweet resonance seep into my heart and hid a wry smile.
It was too bitter for honey, too sweet for poison.
They weren't wrong to warn me.
Bill and Joel's warnings were half right, half wrong. I had no reason to suspect Rose.
But in this moment, I felt Rose's very existence becoming a poison to me.
I'd always been wary of cherishing anything precious or pouring affection into someone. Yet somehow, a little squirrel had nestled into a corner of my heart.
“......”
I silently took the knife she offered. Then I looked at Rose's neck.
Her red hair was casually tied up, letting a few strands trail down her nape. The red threads stood out vividly against her white skin.
Instead of driving the knife in there, I found myself wanting to press my lips to it.