“I came to inform you of the results of the reinvestigation.”
“It’s my neck, not my leg.”
She tried to protest, but it was no use.
“Last time, you were fine and then suddenly collapsed.”
“What if you fall?”
“...”
Since the distance to the sofa wasn’t that far anyway, she just left it alone.
Ron’s face turned blank as if he had been dumbfounded when he saw the situation.
He thought he knew what she was thinking without her saying anything.
Feeling a little embarrassed, Karina pretended not to know and turned her eyes away. When everyone sat down, Ron calmed his expression and began his report.
“First of all, let me tell you the conclusion. The result was the same. The only peculiarity is the testimony of the maid, 'Jen', who was taken, hostage. I think it would be better for you to hear it for yourself.”
“I don’t know for sure, but she said that she has to take the antidote within three days of taking the poison.”
“A poison that requires you to take the antidote within three days?”
“Oh, no way.”
Karina’s eyes widened.
Karina knew about the poison.
There are no symptoms immediately after taking it, but after three days, it paralyzes the nervous system in the lungs, making it impossible to breathe on your own.
“Croana poison!”
This was information she had learned while researching the poison in the past to poison Lucia.
Croana was a poison that was mainly used to assassinate political opponents in the capital.
Croana, which was in the form of a white powder, could be expected to be effective even with a small amount, like a teaspoon.
It became colorless and odorless when mixed with water or other liquids.
That made it easy to carry around or hide, and because it was colorless and odorless, it was easy to secretly feed to a target.
Even when used as a poison, it left almost no traces on the body, making it a perfect substance for assassination that was incomparable to anything else.
Even if the purpose was not assassination, it was often abused to feed it to a specific person, catch them as a weakness, and use them as an antidote.
'Who would have thought I'd see this poison in the North?'
Even at this time, not many people knew about the substance called Croana.
It was originally a substance discovered by chance by a member of the capital while researching a new anesthetic for treatment.
If the poison was removed and mixed with other medicinal ingredients, it could be used as an effective anesthetic with fewer side effects such as addiction or hallucinations.
However, when it was revealed that if the poison was not removed and used as is, it would cause death from respiratory distress after a few days, it was used for a completely different purpose than its original intention.
'At this point, there must be few people who abuse Croana like this.'
Karina's agony deepened.
"That day when my friend said she went on an errand, I think she went to a village in the south. I found a southern pass in her coat pocket. That was the only time she was away long enough to go all the way to the south."
Jen took out the pass she had brought and placed it on the table.
'If it's a southern village, it's where the Lamberda family holds power.'
Naturally, Caroline's lover, Revals, came to mind. Karina naturally suspected Revals to be the culprit of this incident.
'Considering that his lover, Caroline, was framed for murder and he didn't do anything, it might have been intentional.'
And if they only looked at Lord Genon's death, it could be thought of as a simple silence, but it wasn't the death of a maid using Croana.
Croana at this time wasn't a poison that could be bought with money.
Money was one thing, but it was a poison that could only be bought with political interests aligned with the high-ranking nobles of the capital.
'Revals Lamberda has some kind of connection with the high-ranking nobles of the capital. How is that possible?'
It was more appropriate to say that the nobles of the capital and the north were hostile.
And the Lamberda family was just one of the many noble families in the north.
It wasn't even powerful enough to exert great influence over the capital.
"Whew."
Karina's sigh deepened.
Things were not going well and were getting more complicated.
'I asked Selena to investigate this case separately. Let's wait and not jump to conclusions until we hear the results.'
Karina steeled herself.
However.
"Is it a poison that kills you three days after ingesting it?"
Jeremiah asked.
"I'm not sure about that either..."
Jen's uncertain voice gradually grew quieter.
"I've never heard of such a poison,"
Ron answered, shaking his head.
Mikhail just sat there blankly as if he didn't know anything either.
It was obvious, but no one here except Karina knew about Croana poison.
'The investigation can't end like this!'
Karina was anxious that the reinvestigation would end like this.
That's why her unorganized words came out without her knowing it.
"Please investigate separately to see if there is a similar poison to what Jen just mentioned. It could be a new poison. There’s a little-known German capital in the north, so if we’re going to do it, we might as well go to the capital.”
“A new German capital?”
“A capital?”
Jeremiah and Mikhail each asked back.
“..."
Jeremiah and Mikhail looked at Karina with meaningful eyes.
Karina momentarily realized, “Oops .”
She broke out in a sweat, thinking that she had spoken too obviously.
But she pretended not to know, putting an iron plate on her face.
“Yes. And if there is a similar poison, please proceed with the reinvestigation.”
“...”
Jeremiah, who had been silent for a moment, ordered Ron.
“Ron. Let’s find out if there is a similar poison to the one I just heard about.”
“Yes, I understand.”
That was the end of her meeting with Jen.
Jen bowed her head with tears in her eyes, saying how grateful she was to Karina before leaving the room.
After returning from the flower shop, Aiden and his siblings prayed for Karina’s safe recovery every day.
And yesterday, they heard the news that Karina had woken up.
He was finally relieved after hearing that news.
‘They said she still needs to rest.’
They were waiting for Karina, who had fully recovered, to come see them.
Aiden, who had stopped by the flower shop with a much lighter heart and had finished work, took care of the children first.
“I’m home.”
Aiden took off his coat and hung it on a chair.
“Oh, brother. Come quickly. You came early today?”
Naina came out of the room and confirmed that Aiden was there.
“How’s Mitchell?”
After the orphanage moved and the environment improved, Mitchell’s condition improved a lot.
However, his condition would suddenly worsen like this every now and then.
“He got better after he took the medicine.”
Mitchell had suddenly started to have a fever last night and was groaning. Aiden was on his way to the flower shop to tell them about Mitchell’s condition and get some fever reducers.
“I brought some fever reducers just in case. I’ll check on him later and give him some if he needs it.”
“Yes.”
Naina took the fever reducers.
“By the way, don’t you have to go to Uncle Roberto’s?”
Uncle Roberto was the owner of a pottery workshop.
This was one of the places the flower shop connected him to, so he could help out.
It wasn’t hard work, so the other kids, including Aiden, went regularly to run errands and received small amounts of money.
“Only Dino and Philip went today.”
“You only sent them?”
Aiden made a worried expression.
“The other kids are all out, and Mitchell is sick and I can’t leave him alone.”
Naina said with a shrug.
“Don’t worry too much. I’ve done errands before so I know how to do them, and Dino will take good care of Philip.”
Aiden nodded at Naina’s words.
“It’s almost time to come over,”
Naina muttered quietly.
“Then I’ll go out and check if the kids are coming.”
“Yes.”
Aiden put his coat back on and came out.
When he looked again, there was quite a bit of snow around him.
‘We should at least shovel the snow.’
He thought, worried that the kids might slip and get hurt because of the snow.
Aiden picked up the snow shovel he had left in the corner.
At Ron’s visit, Karina got up to move to the sofa with the table.
Jeremiah and Mikhail supported her on both sides.
Thanks to this, Karina’s eyebrows twitched as she was held by Jeremiah on one arm and Mikhail on the other.
Jeremiah and Mikhail supported her on both sides.
Thanks to this, Karina’s eyebrows twitched as she was held by Jeremiah on one arm and Mikhail on the other.
“It’s my neck, not my leg.”
She tried to protest, but it was no use.
“Last time, you were fine and then suddenly collapsed.”
“What if you fall?”
“...”
Since the distance to the sofa wasn’t that far anyway, she just left it alone.
Ron’s face turned blank as if he had been dumbfounded when he saw the situation.
He thought he knew what she was thinking without her saying anything.
Feeling a little embarrassed, Karina pretended not to know and turned her eyes away. When everyone sat down, Ron calmed his expression and began his report.
“First of all, let me tell you the conclusion. The result was the same. The only peculiarity is the testimony of the maid, 'Jen', who was taken, hostage. I think it would be better for you to hear it for yourself.”
When Ron went to the front of the room and opened the door, Jen, who had been waiting outside, came in.
“Hello, Your Highness. ”
Jen came into the room, greeting me politely.
Jen came into the room, greeting me politely.
“Welcome.”
Karina greeted Jen.
“Come and sit here.”
Karina was the first to offer her a seat. Jen sat down in the seat opposite Karina. Then she bowed deeply and said,
“Your Highness. I was so grateful back then. I thought I would die as a hostage, but thanks to you, I was able to escape safely. I sincerely thank you.”
Karina smiled slightly after receiving Jen’s thanks.
“I was the grateful one. I never thought that someone would step up for me in that situation.”
She was sincere. Jen looked at Karina with a surprised look at her unexpected words. Karina immediately changed the subject and brought up the story she had wanted to ask.
“By the way, you were close with that dead maid?”
Jen was not too flustered by this question, perhaps because she had been told in advance before coming here. However.
“That’s...”
Jenn looked at Jeremiah and Ron, who were next to Karina.
“It’s okay. I just want to hear the story.”
Jen, who had been moving her lips several times, opened her mouth with a solemn expression as if she had made up her mind.
“My friend would never commit suicide. The truth is...”
This was the content. Jen and the dead maid were childhood friends. They were close, so they shared many secrets with each other. However, unlike usual, the dead maid recently acted strangely as if she was scared, and the night before she died, she cried, saying that she might die now. When Jenn fiercely asked what was going on, she said that she had gone out to run an errand and was offered a drink, but it seemed to have been poisoned. The maid, who had been crying for a long time, soon gathered her courage, saying that she could live if she did as they told her. She also said that what she had said that day was an absolute secret, and that she had been promised several times not to tell anyone. And the maid was found dead the next day.
“That’s all.”
“So you’re saying that there are absolutely no witnesses or evidence for what you just said?”
Jeremiah, who had been listening quietly, said.
“Yes...”
Jen made a gloomy expression.
“That’s why I was going to go to my hometown this time and personally check the farewell letter my friend wrote to his family. Since we’re from the same hometown, we always send letters together. But I couldn’t go because I got caught up in the hostage situation...”
Jen muttered the rest of the story quietly.
“But the maid said, ‘I think I ate poison’? If she ate it, then she ate it, but what do she mean by 'I think I ate it'?”
Mikhail, who was standing next to Karina, asked with a look of incomprehension. After hearing his words, Karina also became suspicious.
“If she had been poisoned, she should have shown symptoms, like paralysis or something,”
Jeremiah added. Ron, who was looking at her as if she had such symptoms, shook his head and said,
“There was no trace of poison in the dead maid’s body. There were no reports of suspected poisoning.”
Jen answered calmly again.
“I don’t know for sure, but she said that she has to take the antidote within three days of taking the poison.”
“A poison that requires you to take the antidote within three days?”
“Oh, no way.”
Karina’s eyes widened.
Karina knew about the poison.
There are no symptoms immediately after taking it, but after three days, it paralyzes the nervous system in the lungs, making it impossible to breathe on your own.
“Croana poison!”
This was information she had learned while researching the poison in the past to poison Lucia.
Croana was a poison that was mainly used to assassinate political opponents in the capital.
Croana, which was in the form of a white powder, could be expected to be effective even with a small amount, like a teaspoon.
It became colorless and odorless when mixed with water or other liquids.
That made it easy to carry around or hide, and because it was colorless and odorless, it was easy to secretly feed to a target.
Even when used as a poison, it left almost no traces on the body, making it a perfect substance for assassination that was incomparable to anything else.
Even if the purpose was not assassination, it was often abused to feed it to a specific person, catch them as a weakness, and use them as an antidote.
'Who would have thought I'd see this poison in the North?'
Even at this time, not many people knew about the substance called Croana.
It was originally a substance discovered by chance by a member of the capital while researching a new anesthetic for treatment.
If the poison was removed and mixed with other medicinal ingredients, it could be used as an effective anesthetic with fewer side effects such as addiction or hallucinations.
However, when it was revealed that if the poison was not removed and used as is, it would cause death from respiratory distress after a few days, it was used for a completely different purpose than its original intention.
'At this point, there must be few people who abuse Croana like this.'
Karina's agony deepened.
"That day when my friend said she went on an errand, I think she went to a village in the south. I found a southern pass in her coat pocket. That was the only time she was away long enough to go all the way to the south."
Jen took out the pass she had brought and placed it on the table.
'If it's a southern village, it's where the Lamberda family holds power.'
Naturally, Caroline's lover, Revals, came to mind. Karina naturally suspected Revals to be the culprit of this incident.
'Considering that his lover, Caroline, was framed for murder and he didn't do anything, it might have been intentional.'
And if they only looked at Lord Genon's death, it could be thought of as a simple silence, but it wasn't the death of a maid using Croana.
Croana at this time wasn't a poison that could be bought with money.
Money was one thing, but it was a poison that could only be bought with political interests aligned with the high-ranking nobles of the capital.
'Revals Lamberda has some kind of connection with the high-ranking nobles of the capital. How is that possible?'
It was more appropriate to say that the nobles of the capital and the north were hostile.
And the Lamberda family was just one of the many noble families in the north.
It wasn't even powerful enough to exert great influence over the capital.
"Whew."
Karina's sigh deepened.
Things were not going well and were getting more complicated.
'I asked Selena to investigate this case separately. Let's wait and not jump to conclusions until we hear the results.'
Karina steeled herself.
However.
"Is it a poison that kills you three days after ingesting it?"
Jeremiah asked.
"I'm not sure about that either..."
Jen's uncertain voice gradually grew quieter.
"I've never heard of such a poison,"
Ron answered, shaking his head.
Mikhail just sat there blankly as if he didn't know anything either.
It was obvious, but no one here except Karina knew about Croana poison.
'The investigation can't end like this!'
Karina was anxious that the reinvestigation would end like this.
That's why her unorganized words came out without her knowing it.
"Please investigate separately to see if there is a similar poison to what Jen just mentioned. It could be a new poison. There’s a little-known German capital in the north, so if we’re going to do it, we might as well go to the capital.”
“A new German capital?”
“A capital?”
Jeremiah and Mikhail each asked back.
“..."
Jeremiah and Mikhail looked at Karina with meaningful eyes.
Karina momentarily realized, “Oops .”
She broke out in a sweat, thinking that she had spoken too obviously.
But she pretended not to know, putting an iron plate on her face.
“Yes. And if there is a similar poison, please proceed with the reinvestigation.”
“...”
Jeremiah, who had been silent for a moment, ordered Ron.
“Ron. Let’s find out if there is a similar poison to the one I just heard about.”
“Yes, I understand.”
That was the end of her meeting with Jen.
Jen bowed her head with tears in her eyes, saying how grateful she was to Karina before leaving the room.
***
After returning from the flower shop, Aiden and his siblings prayed for Karina’s safe recovery every day.
And yesterday, they heard the news that Karina had woken up.
He was finally relieved after hearing that news.
‘They said she still needs to rest.’
They were waiting for Karina, who had fully recovered, to come see them.
Aiden, who had stopped by the flower shop with a much lighter heart and had finished work, took care of the children first.
“I’m home.”
Aiden took off his coat and hung it on a chair.
“Oh, brother. Come quickly. You came early today?”
Naina came out of the room and confirmed that Aiden was there.
“How’s Mitchell?”
After the orphanage moved and the environment improved, Mitchell’s condition improved a lot.
However, his condition would suddenly worsen like this every now and then.
“He got better after he took the medicine.”
Mitchell had suddenly started to have a fever last night and was groaning. Aiden was on his way to the flower shop to tell them about Mitchell’s condition and get some fever reducers.
“I brought some fever reducers just in case. I’ll check on him later and give him some if he needs it.”
“Yes.”
Naina took the fever reducers.
“By the way, don’t you have to go to Uncle Roberto’s?”
Uncle Roberto was the owner of a pottery workshop.
This was one of the places the flower shop connected him to, so he could help out.
It wasn’t hard work, so the other kids, including Aiden, went regularly to run errands and received small amounts of money.
“Only Dino and Philip went today.”
“You only sent them?”
Aiden made a worried expression.
“The other kids are all out, and Mitchell is sick and I can’t leave him alone.”
Naina said with a shrug.
“Don’t worry too much. I’ve done errands before so I know how to do them, and Dino will take good care of Philip.”
Aiden nodded at Naina’s words.
“It’s almost time to come over,”
Naina muttered quietly.
“Then I’ll go out and check if the kids are coming.”
“Yes.”
Aiden put his coat back on and came out.
When he looked again, there was quite a bit of snow around him.
‘We should at least shovel the snow.’
He thought, worried that the kids might slip and get hurt because of the snow.
Aiden picked up the snow shovel he had left in the corner.
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