Fortunately, the amount of poison that Perdes consumed was small and would not be enough to kill a healthy person.
Instead, it caused a significant decrease in physical strength, muscle pain, and flu-like symptoms such as severe abdominal pain and high fever.
Aldor said that a body weakened by poison is prone to other diseases and that there are often cases of death from those diseases.
Just in case Aldor had misunderstood, I gave the medicine to my doctor and asked him to check if it was poisonous.
“There is poison in this.”
And... the results were no different.
“Can you make an antidote?”
“Of course. It just takes some time to check what herbs we have and order what we don’t have, but making the antidote itself isn’t difficult.”
It was a blessing in disguise.
“Let’s make an antidote right away. If you have the necessary ingredients, buy them no matter how much it costs.”
“Yes, Miss.”
“And you must keep it a secret from the other servants that Mr. Perdes took poison. Just say that he is not feeling well due to overworking himself recently.”
"All right."
After the doctor left, I was left alone in the bedroom with Perdes, and I stared blankly down at him.
Perdes, who collapsed in the morning, still could not wake up as the night deepened.
The attending physician said that there was no serious danger to his life, but I was still worried.
At the same time, I wondered why the Emperor had put poison in Perdes' medicine.
If he had been trying to kill Perdes because he thought he was useless, he would have killed him right away, not slowly poisoned him.
And the blame would have been placed entirely on Jack.
In fact, it was Jack who had given the medicine to Perdes, so from the Emperor's perspective, it was a perfect scenario without a single flaw.
But the fact that he gradually addicted instead of doing that meant there was another purpose.
What's more, I was concerned that they used a poison that was easy to detoxify.
It's almost as if he wants me to realize that Perdes is addicted and contact me.
“...You know I like Perdes, so are you trying to blackmail me with this?”
There was quite a possibility.
Because that's what happened in my second life.
When the Emperor told me to marry Chernosser, I made excuses that I couldn't do it because I liked Lord Aldor.
And to avoid suspicion, I married Lord Aldor.
Of course, the Emperor and Chernosser tried their best to change my mind, but I, who had already been severely treated in my first life, could not change my mind.
Then the Emperor sent an assassin to kill Lord Aldor.
He threatened me that if I didn't get a divorce, he would kill Lord Aldor.
Thinking back, it seemed like it was the same this time, but there were some differences.
First of all, the biggest difference was that, unlike Sir Aldor, Perdes was someone acknowledged by the Emperor.
'So, has the Emperor's patience reached its limit?'
So he's trying to kill Perdes and replace him with another Prince?
That doesn't seem to be the case, I had Chernosser's child in my first life about three years after I married him.
During this time, the Emperor did not attempt to kill Chernosser or poison him.
Then isn't the Emperor the culprit?
If the Emperor is not the culprit, then who is?
My head suddenly became tangled and complicated.
In times like these, I had to stay calm and solve them one by one.
To do that, I need to find out from the Emperor's side.
After reaching that conclusion, I immediately went to find Jack.
Currently, the only people in the mansion who knew that Perdes was poisoned were me, the attending physician, and Lord Aldor.
I didn't tell Jack just in case.
However, Jack, who noticed that something was seriously wrong with Perdes, was upset.
His cheeks were covered in tear stains as if he had already cried a lot.
"Jack."
“Yes, yes. Miss. Sniff. Go ahead.”
“Can you contact the Emperor?”
“Of course... Yes?”
Jack, who had been immersed in grief and was a little late in understanding what I was saying, asked in surprise.
“Are you asking me to contact His Majesty the Emperor?”
"Yes."
“Oh, you want to talk to His Majesty the Emperor yourself? Then, it will be revealed that I have confessed everything...”
“Not me.”
“Yes? Then who...”
Who are you? Who are you?
“Of course you.”
"Yes, yes?"
“So I’m asking, Jack, are you good at crying?”
***
A night when the moon is waning.
The ring connected to Jack's communication ring flashed. It meant that Jack had contacted the Emperor.
Today was not a regular report day.
But if Jack contacted him, it means there's something special to report.
Are they finally having a baby?
Yeah, they're been engaged for almost four months now, and it's time to have a baby.
Daimon received the call, his imagination running wild.
“Yeah, uh...”
[Your Majesty!]
Before Daimon could finish speaking, a howling and wailing sound was heard from the other side.
[What should I do, Your Majesty. Your Majestyyyyyyy.]
"What..."
[Boohoohoo, what should I do! Hey hey!]
Daimon's forehead became tense as he kept choking on Jack's mournful sobs.
“Truly.”
[Your Majesty, I, huft huft, I...!]
“I told you to calm down!”
Eventually, Daimon took off his mask of a good Emperor and screamed.
Only then did things calm down and the other side became quiet.
Hoo. Daimon took a deep breath to calm his mind, then asked in a much calmer voice.
“Yeah, what’s going on? Seeing you crying, I don’t think it’s a good thing.”
[Yes, yes. This is not good. This is a big problem.]
“Don’t get excited and tell me what’s going on step by step.”
[That's it, so, Lord Perdes broke the medicine that His Majesty gave him again.]
Jack stuttered a little awkwardly, but Daimon thought it was because he had been crying until just now and ignored it.
By the way, did Perdes break the medicine again?
He broke it once before?
“Is that intentional?”
[Oh, on purpose! Absolutely not, ugh!]
Jack suddenly screamed in pain.
Upon hearing that, Daimon had a reasonable suspicion that Jack might have broken it and turned it over to Perdes.
[What should we do now, Your Majesty? Will you send me some new medicine?]
“No, that’s enough. Stop giving him the medicine now.”
Judging from the fact that they haven't had a baby yet, the medication doesn't seem to be working.
Daimon, not wanting to receive any more of these annoying calls, decided to stop drugging Perdes.
***
[No, that’s enough. Stop giving him the medicine now.]
With those words, the communication was cut off. It was the Emperor who unilaterally cut it off.
Still, just in case, Jack held his breath and waited until the red light Pura was emitting completely disappeared.
Jack was fiddling with his side, feeling like it was sore from where he had stabbed him earlier.
Eventually, when the light completely disappeared, he gasped and muttered like someone who had been underwater for a long time and then surfaced.
“The Emperor is not a criminal.”
If the Emperor was the one who poisoned the medicine, he should have asked Jack if Perdes was dead when he cried.
Also, when Jack said he broke another bottle, he would have said he would send him a new one right away.
If he were planning to poison Perdes, then what?
But Daimon's actions were completely unexpected.
That means he is not the culprit.
Then who is the culprit?
“Hey, Miss.”
While I was thinking about it, Jack cautiously called out to me.
“Is he okay, Mr. perdes?”
“Yeah. He hurts a little now, but don’t worry, he’ll be okay soon.”
"Thank God."
Only then did Jack let out a deep breath of relief.
“Then I will go and see Lord Perdes.”
"Yes."
Then I should go to my doctor and ask how long it will take to make the antidote.
Late at night when the moon is high.
It was too late to go find someone.
Since it was such an important matter, I knew that the attending physician would be up all night preparing an antidote, so I walked towards the attending physician's laboratory without hesitation.
I didn't meet anyone on the way from the third floor to the first floor doctor's office.
It was natural since the employees were already in bed.
Ta-da-dak-
But what are these urgent footsteps?
It was the sound of footsteps as if someone was chasing them.
It also seems like he's running because he needs to go to the bathroom.
Anyway, it was clear that the sound of suspicious footsteps was strange.
I followed the footsteps, holding my breath.
The footsteps led into my private garden.
My private garden is a place that only those I have given permission to enter, and the only people who have been given permission are Perdes, the gardener, and Lord Aldor.
Except for Perdes, who is lying unconscious.
Then I thought it would be either Lord Aldor or the gardener, but surprisingly it was neither of them.
“I guess I can just bury it here.”
I thought I saw a face vaguely revealed in the moonlight, but I couldn't quite remember who it was.
That means I haven't seen him often, so he probably isn't a servant of the Duke's residence.
Then who is it?
“Whew, that’s hard.”
Who the hell is digging here?
I watched from a hidden position as the unidentified man dug.
The man who had been digging the ground for a while looked around and then buried the items he had brought in the ground.
And after looking around once more, he quickly entered the mansion.
I waited for the footsteps to fade away and then approached where the man had buried the object.
As someone who does related work, he buried it perfectly so that there was no trace of digging the ground.
This makes me more suspicious.
Since I didn't have a shovel, I dug the ground with my hands.
My fingernails broke and my hands got dirty because of it, but I didn't care.
I had an ominous feeling that the object the man had buried might be related to Perdes's collapse, so I continued digging.
When the box covered in dirt finally came into view, I opened it right away.
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