A Calculated Collapse
"Fortunately, this wine is sweet as juice and low in alcohol, so even Titania won't find it difficult to drink."
In contrast to her gentle voice, which sounded as if she were catering to a delicate child, Cleo's eyes flared with intense malice, sharp as arcing lightning.
"Besides, just look. Today's fabric is the very one Titania gave me as a gift. To think she would bestow her most precious gift upon me—neither the noble Empress nor her own birth mother. I hardly know how to repay such thoughtfulness..."
"Just being able to see Imperial Noble Consort Cleo looking so radiant is reward enough," Titania replied cheerfully. "Her Imperial Majesty must uphold her imperial dignity, and Imperial Consort Elaine remains unwell. The only one who can bring boundless joy to His Imperial Majesty is you, Consort Cleo, isn't it? I merely wished to be of some help to you!"
At Titania's bright reply, Cleo's gaze turned chillingly cold.
Everyone in the banquet hall raised their glasses. The Emperor shouted a brief toast. Goblets touched lips all around the room. Cleo kept her eyes fixed on Titania, who smiled delightfully as she drained her cup to the last drop. A fleeting twinge of regret brushed past Cleo.
I should have laced that cup with deadly poison!
With so many witnesses present, and given how tricky it was to tamper with her before she was safely escorted out of the Imperial Palace, Cleo had held back—a decision she now found somewhat regrettable. Of course, she hadn't left things entirely untouched. A mild laxative had been slipped in. Imagining Titania turning pale and rushing for the washroom brought a smug smile back to Cleo's face.
Moreover, once the crowd fully assembled, Elaine was scheduled to make a public petition to the Emperor. It would be framed as the heartfelt wish of a frail mother longing to leave for recuperation with her daughter. With any luck, today would be the very last time Cleo ever had to lay eyes on that wretched face.
Just then, a sharp crash echoed beside her as glassware shattered. The frantic apologies of a maid blended with the indignant bark of a familiar noble demanding who would take responsibility. Cleo's attention momentarily drifted to the commotion, but realizing it was nothing of consequence, she relaxed.
The real problem, however, arose elsewhere.
"Imperial Consort Elaine!"
"...!"
Cleo's eyes widened in shock. Elaine, who had done nothing more than pretend to wet her lips, slumped limply like a corpse.
"E-Elaine?! What is the meaning of this!"
The Emperor gasped in horror, catching Elaine in his arms and shouting frantically. But the disaster didn't stop there. Immediately following Elaine, the Empress collapsed with a soft thud. A startled Adrian rushed to his mother's side.
"Mother! Mother, wake up!"
"H-Her Imperial Majesty! The physician! Summon the imperial physician at once!"
"W-What is happening...?"
"Someone poisoned the wine!"
"That's impossible!" Cleo screamed without thinking.
It truly made no sense. She was the one who had orchestrated this entire banquet. Every single item and dish had passed beneath her personal inspection. She had been exceptionally meticulous regarding the glasses used for the toast.
To avoid causing a scene and to prevent any mix-up, she had scrutinized them with utmost care. The cup given to the frail Elaine had been little more than plain water, and the Empress had received an entirely ordinary goblet...!
Cleo snapped her head toward Titania. But the princess was stamping her feet in distress, circling Elaine with a face on the verge of tears. ...Could this not be Titania's doing? Confusion flooded Cleo's mind.
"Your Imperial Majesty! Are you unharmed?!"
"I-I am fine, but the Empress and the Consort are...!"
The imperial physician burst in in a frenzy. After quickly examining the two fallen women, he announced that their lives were not in immediate danger.
A priest, arriving a moment later, hastily cast healing prayers over them. Yet neither of them woke. Their breathing was even and their complexions remained healthy, making them appear merely fast asleep, but no matter how violently their shoulders were shaken, they did not stir. The atmosphere in the banquet hall plummeted into utter chaos.
Dread washed over the guests, each person terrified that whatever had struck down the consorts was lurking in their own drinks as well. The Royal Guards encircled the Emperor, drawing their guard with heightened vigilance.
Just then, Adrian shouted in an impassioned voice, "Your Imperial Majesty! Mother has been struck by a wicked scheme!"
Adrian personally lifted the cuff of the Empress's sleeve, exposing her hand. At a glance, it looked ordinary, but the tips of her fingernails were pitch black, as though steeped in deadly venom.
At that exact moment, Titania dashed forward and held up Imperial Consort Elaine's hand for all to see. The symptoms were identical. Trembling pitifully, Titania whimpered, "Y-Your Majesty, Imperial Consort Elaine's hand is the same... What do we do? What are we going to do?! Why won't they wake up?!"
Cleo gnawed on her lower lip.
Now I see what she's playing at...
Since Cleo was the supreme organizer of this banquet, Titania intended to pin every ounce of blame on her! Did she truly think Cleo would fall for such a transparent trick?
"Your Majesty! For such a terrible, ominous incident to occur at a celebration! This cannot be overlooked. We must secure the cups and search the perimeter at once—"
"Your Imperial Majesty!"
Titania dropped to her knees before the Emperor. An alarm bell rang in Cleo's mind. Whatever that girl was trying to do, she couldn't be allowed to proceed!
"Princess! In such an urgent crisis, what insolence is this before His Imperial Majesty!"
"Imperial Father, please save Mother!"
Tears brimmed in Titania's eyes. The Emperor, dazed by the sudden swirl of chaos, came to his senses at her desperate appeal.
"W-What do you mean by that? Save her?"
"For them not to awaken even after being examined by both physician and priest means this is undoubtedly a curse! If we cannot discern the cause immediately... frail Consort Elaine will..."
Titania wept, fat teardrops rolling down her cheeks in heavy streams. It was such a sorrowful spectacle that every onlooker felt a pang of pity.
Cleo ground her teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
That bloody curse excuse again! A curse isn't some universal cure-all! Does she think she can stage a farce and just screech 'curse' to get away with it?!
Yet the sword hanging at Titania's waist—which she had not forgotten to wear today—glowed with a brilliant golden luster. Having witnessed that very sword reduce demonic beasts to ash before his very eyes, the Emperor's gaze sharpened at her words.
"Titania, do you suspect what caused this?"
"You remember the gift I presented to Your Imperial Majesty, don't you?"
"Ah, yes."
"If they consume the leaf of the World Tree preserved within that sacred paten, both of them should awaken. Whatever afflicted them, the divine aura concentrated within that leaf is potent enough to purge anything. However, that was a precious gift offered for Your Imperial Majesty's long life and health..."
Titania stole a hesitant glance at the Emperor's expression. For a brief second, the Emperor looked reluctant to part with such an invaluable treasure, but in the next instant, he projected a grand, booming voice.
"How can you even say such a thing! How could a husband hesitate when it comes to saving his wives? Guards, bring the sacred paten at once! Save my Empress and my Consort!"
"We obey your imperial command, Your Majesty!"
Before long, the sacred paten arrived. The priest, still waiting on standby, retrieved the World Tree leaf submerged in holy water and crushed it finely. A fragrant, soothing scent wafted in every direction. As the crushed leaf was placed into each of their mouths, a reaction manifested almost immediately. The Empress's eyelids twitched.
"Mother!"
Adrian called out to her with raw emotion. Nobles murmured among themselves about what a touching sight it was to see a son so devoted to his mother. Titania was not to be outdone. Clutching Consort Elaine's hem, she sobbed with choked breaths, looking the very picture of heartbreak.
At last, both women regained consciousness.
By then, the pitch-black stains at their fingertips vanished in an instant. After the priest and physician conducted a meticulous examination and declared there were no lingering ailments, a collective sigh of relief swept through the hall.
"How fortunate... How truly fortunate that Her Imperial Majesty and dear Elaine are both safe. My heart was in my throat... Elaine, are you truly all right?"
Cleo approached Elaine, feigning wiping tears from her eyes, and grasped her hand. The invalid's fingers were cool and dry. Cleo leaned close and whispered to Elaine.
"Can you still proceed with the plan?"
Instead of answering aloud, Elaine nodded. Seeing the emotion reflected in Elaine's eyes, Cleo felt a wave of certainty.
Yes, there is no way Elaine betrayed me. Everything that just happened was an opponent's dirty trick. Whatever method they had used to neatly knock out two people and wake them up again, without definitive evidence, no one could pin the blame on anyone based on suspicion alone.
After all, the main objective of today's banquet was Elaine's convalescence petition.
Whatever Titania's ultimate goal had been, after suffering such an ordeal, if Elaine requested to leave the Imperial Palace for rest and asked to bring her daughter along for comfort, there was no chance the Emperor would refuse.
You've dug your own grave! Cleo thought with triumphant confidence as she slowly opened her mouth.
"Your Majesty, if you would hear me for a moment—"
At that very instant, the Lord Chamberlain rushed into the hall.
He whispered frantically into the Emperor's ear, causing the monarch's eyes to widen in shock. When the Lord Chamberlain asked how to proceed, the Emperor nodded with a bewildered expression.
An ominous premonition seized Cleo.
Was everything not over with what just occurred?