“Yes, yes, you bastard. What are you doing?”
Byron opened his mouth with a pained voice. He was quickly out of breath, but his body, weakened by years of imprisonment, couldn't tear itself away from his brother.
Hiram glared at the loathsome being before him with bloodshot eyes.
He was already accustomed to his misdeeds. He thought there was nothing more to be disappointed about.
He tried to kill his biological father and kidnapped a child to use as a tool to kill her biological father.
But he never thought he would try to use his own daughter as a murder weapon.
“I should have killed you long ago. You’re worse than an animal.”
Hiram growled lowly, revealing his anger. He bitterly regretted having kept him alive in the name of upholding procedure and law.
"...What could have made our gentle younger brother so angry? Oh, it seems he didn't like the gift this older brother sent. You seem to have escaped by luck. Who do you think died? Your wife? Or your son? If you caught me, you should have killed me without hesitation."
Byron grinned viciously, even though his throat was choked, and it grated on his brother's nerves.
“Are you laughing? Do you think I can’t kill you?”
“Yeah. A gutless guy like you would kill me?”
“...”
Hyrum glared at him silently, his eyes burning with hatred and anger, then released his grip on his neck.
Byron, who was catching his breath while panting, rubbed the back of his neck and grumbled.
“Look at this. You’re so obsessed with morality that you can’t even kill the enemy who killed your precious family with your own hands…, ugh!”
But he couldn't finish his sentence because Hiram opened the lid of the oil lamp he had brought and poured the oil into his mouth.
"...Is it easy to kill a demon like you? I need to kill you agonizingly. Do you know what the most painful death in the world is? It's being burned alive. Experience it for yourself."
Hiram, who had drenched Byron from head to toe in oil, held a match in his hand with unfocused eyes. He looked ready to light a fire at any moment.
At those eyes that were completely taken by surprise, Byron only then slowly stepped back with a frightened expression.
“Oh, my dear. Calm down, yes? After all, we’re brothers.”
“...Brother? That’s funny. You’re only talking about brothers now. Don’t you think it’s quite late?”
As Hiram chuckled and struck the match against the matchbox, Byron squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating the excruciating pain of his flesh burning away.
"Well, yes. I could let you rest in peace, considering the affection we once shared. If you just tell me what poison your daughter used."
At his brother's words, Byron opened his closed eyes slightly. And he realized this was a bluff. Byron had no real intention of killing him, but was merely trying to extract information.
“My daughter? What nonsense are you talking about? I don’t even know what poison it is.”
Byron belatedly put on a show of generosity, but Hiram struck the match without batting an eye.
“...Really? That’s too bad. Then you should die.”
Death seemed to be approaching every moment. Byron screamed in fear.
“I, I don’t know! I really don’t know! How would I know what kind of poison that woman gave her...!!!”
“...”
Hiram, about to set Byron's body on fire, paused for a moment, looking down at him. He seemed to be assessing the truth of his words.
'You really don't know. You're a useless bastard.'
A selfish person like Byron, who only knew himself, would never lie in the face of death.
Hiram turned off the light with a contemptuous expression.
"Don't be happy you're alive right now. If something happens to my son, which I doubt you will, I'll tear your joints apart, one by one, while you're still alive."
He spat on Byron and left the prison. Left alone, Byron shuddered at the transformation of his brother, whom he had always taken for granted.
And then, as Hiram, heartbroken, visited his son's hospital bedside, he received the news he had been waiting for: the results of the poison analysis at the apothecary had arrived.
“They said it would take a long time, but the results came out sooner than expected.”
“Ah, that is... In fact, Princess Weishaffen compiled a list of things after observing His Highness’s symptoms and the appearance of the poison.”
The scholar from the Imperial Academy of Pharmacy opened his mouth with a look of discomfort. His pride was hurt by the young girl's words, but he had no words to say since the answer had already been revealed.
“Yeah, what kind of poison was it?”
But at the Emperor's subsequent questioning, the pharmacist's face paled. His expression seemed as if he were too afraid to speak.
“...That was the venom of the Retilus monitor lizard. I, I am sorry, Your Highness.”
At the words of the pharmacy scholar, Hiram staggered and shook his head.
The venom of a giant lizard native to the Retilus jungle in the southern part of the continent.
Because it was the deadliest of poisons for which there was no antidote.
"That's impossible. If a few drops of that poison could kill a person instantly, Winfred would have already passed away before the doctors arrived."
The Emperor denied it in a tearful voice.
"That... It seems like she didn't directly poison the tea, so His Highness only ingested a very small amount. So the symptoms seem to have developed slowly... If the symptoms have already begun to appear, there's nothing you can do. I apologize, Your Majesty."
Was I going to let time pass like this and then have to send my seventeen-year-old son away? It was a story he didn't want to believe.
That was when.
Aila, who had been sitting quietly beside Winfred and holding his cold hand, opened her mouth.
“...There is an antidote.”
It was a quiet, yet determined tone of voice.
“What do you mean, Princess?”
The pharmacist opened his mouth with a slightly bewildered expression.
He wanted to laugh at the little girl and say, "What does she know?", but he barely managed to hold back, thinking that she was the daughter of a noble Duke.
However, Aila looked at the Emperor with an expression that was completely unshaken by the scholar's words, mixed with sarcasm that he could not quite hide.
The director of the pharmacy school sighed at the sight and gave an additional explanation.
"There is no antidote to the venom of the Retilus monitor lizard. I don't know how Princess acquired knowledge of toxicology, but as far as I know, no one has ever survived its poison."
It wasn't easy to say such things in front of the Emperor, but there was nothing he could do because the young Princess kept spouting nonsense.
Aila closed her eyes, trying to calm her trembling body.
At this point, it was poisoned with no antidote. However, she was someone with memories of the future.
A deadly poison with no antidote, yet leaving no trace. While its difficulty in obtaining was a drawback, its numerous advantages made it a favorite among Byron's camp.
However, shortly before Aila entered the Duke's household, the antidote was discovered and was no longer in use.
It wouldn't be that far in the future. It was certain that within a year, or even a few months, an antidote to the venom of the Retilus monitor lizard would be discovered.
The problem was that Winfred only had sixteen hours left.
'So I have to remember. What Cloud said to me.'
Aila frowned and squeezed the memory.
At that time, she had heard Cloud's words and thought it was a very interesting prescription. Why, why did she find it so interesting?
And a moment later, Aila retrieved the answer from the depths of her memories.
“...Is that true, Aila?”
Hiram asked in a desperate voice, as if he had found a last ray of hope in the midst of despair.
“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s rattlesnake tail grass. The components of rattlesnake tail grass have a neutralizing effect.”
“What do you mean, Princess? Rattlesnake tail grass is the most poisonous of all poisonous plants!”
At Aila's answer, the director of the academy raised his voice and interjected, as if to say, "What kind of nonsense is that?"
That's right. Rattlesnake tail grass was also a highly toxic plant capable of killing a human. That's why Aila found Cloud's words so intriguing. Treating poison with poison.
“If you don’t believe me, I’ll try the poison myself. Then we can see if it works!”
Aila clenched her fists and shouted.
There was no research showing that rattlesnake tail grass could counteract monitor lizard venom, so it was understandable why he was skeptical. So, shouldn't she prove it, even if it meant using her own body as a test subject?
'...Oh, right.'
The director of the academy, who had dedicated his life to pharmacy, clicked his tongue inwardly. It occurred to him that a woman who called herself a court lady couldn't tell the difference between what was right and what wasn't, and was acting so rashly.
They said she had lived her entire life as a commoner, so he wondered if that was why she couldn't tell right from wrong.
But the atmosphere was flowing strangely.
“...Your Majesty, please trust my daughter just once. If necessary, I will drink poison to prove it to you.”
Roderick, who knew that Aila had regressed, intervened, wrapping his arm around his daughter's shoulder.
“Your Majesty, you don’t believe me, do you?”
The director wiped away his cold sweat as the situation went against his expectations and asked.
“...Is there any other way now? Of course not.”
“That, that’s true, but...”
“If it’s already the worst-case scenario, what’s the harm in trying?”
Hiram clenched his fist and opened his mouth. It was a declaration that he would do as Aila suggested.
“If something goes wrong, I won’t hold you responsible, so go quickly and get the essence of the rattlesnake tail grass.”
“...Yes, Your Majesty.”
Perhaps lacking the courage to disobey the imperial decree, the director hurried to the Imperial Pharmacy Academy located within the palace grounds.
And about an hour later, the director, who had searched the entire warehouse of the academy and found the essence of the rattlesnake tail grass, hurriedly returned to the Crown Prince's Palace.
“Here it is, Your Majesty.”
The director handed the small vial to the Emperor with an anxious expression, and Hiram turned to ask Aila.
“What should we do now?”
“You can dilute it in water and feed it to him. I’ll do it.”
Aila, who had received the vial, carefully prepared the antidote. Fortunately, Cloud had mentioned the proportions in passing.
The antidote was quickly completed, and now only one step remained: breaking the spell placed on Winfred's body.
The problem was that once the spell wore off, the poison would start spreading again, and he would suffer from not being able to breathe.
“...Shall I really let it go, Your Majesty?”
The royal wizard asked uncertainly, questioning whether it was truly appropriate to use an unproven treatment on the Crown Prince.
Even though two people offered to prove it by drinking poison themselves, Hiram spoke firmly, as if he already had firm faith in them, without needing to do so.
“There’s no other way to decipher it. Let’s solve it.”
The wizard, with an anxious expression, lifted the spell he had placed on the Crown Prince's body.
Then, Winfred, who had been in a deep sleep as if dead, began to gasp for breath and cry out in pain.
“Win, drink this. If you drink this, you’ll feel better in no time.”
Aila brought the cup containing the antidote to his mouth.
Byron opened his mouth with a pained voice. He was quickly out of breath, but his body, weakened by years of imprisonment, couldn't tear itself away from his brother.
Hiram glared at the loathsome being before him with bloodshot eyes.
He was already accustomed to his misdeeds. He thought there was nothing more to be disappointed about.
He tried to kill his biological father and kidnapped a child to use as a tool to kill her biological father.
But he never thought he would try to use his own daughter as a murder weapon.
“I should have killed you long ago. You’re worse than an animal.”
Hiram growled lowly, revealing his anger. He bitterly regretted having kept him alive in the name of upholding procedure and law.
"...What could have made our gentle younger brother so angry? Oh, it seems he didn't like the gift this older brother sent. You seem to have escaped by luck. Who do you think died? Your wife? Or your son? If you caught me, you should have killed me without hesitation."
Byron grinned viciously, even though his throat was choked, and it grated on his brother's nerves.
“Are you laughing? Do you think I can’t kill you?”
“Yeah. A gutless guy like you would kill me?”
“...”
Hyrum glared at him silently, his eyes burning with hatred and anger, then released his grip on his neck.
Byron, who was catching his breath while panting, rubbed the back of his neck and grumbled.
“Look at this. You’re so obsessed with morality that you can’t even kill the enemy who killed your precious family with your own hands…, ugh!”
But he couldn't finish his sentence because Hiram opened the lid of the oil lamp he had brought and poured the oil into his mouth.
"...Is it easy to kill a demon like you? I need to kill you agonizingly. Do you know what the most painful death in the world is? It's being burned alive. Experience it for yourself."
Hiram, who had drenched Byron from head to toe in oil, held a match in his hand with unfocused eyes. He looked ready to light a fire at any moment.
At those eyes that were completely taken by surprise, Byron only then slowly stepped back with a frightened expression.
“Oh, my dear. Calm down, yes? After all, we’re brothers.”
“...Brother? That’s funny. You’re only talking about brothers now. Don’t you think it’s quite late?”
As Hiram chuckled and struck the match against the matchbox, Byron squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating the excruciating pain of his flesh burning away.
"Well, yes. I could let you rest in peace, considering the affection we once shared. If you just tell me what poison your daughter used."
At his brother's words, Byron opened his closed eyes slightly. And he realized this was a bluff. Byron had no real intention of killing him, but was merely trying to extract information.
“My daughter? What nonsense are you talking about? I don’t even know what poison it is.”
Byron belatedly put on a show of generosity, but Hiram struck the match without batting an eye.
“...Really? That’s too bad. Then you should die.”
Death seemed to be approaching every moment. Byron screamed in fear.
“I, I don’t know! I really don’t know! How would I know what kind of poison that woman gave her...!!!”
“...”
Hiram, about to set Byron's body on fire, paused for a moment, looking down at him. He seemed to be assessing the truth of his words.
'You really don't know. You're a useless bastard.'
A selfish person like Byron, who only knew himself, would never lie in the face of death.
Hiram turned off the light with a contemptuous expression.
"Don't be happy you're alive right now. If something happens to my son, which I doubt you will, I'll tear your joints apart, one by one, while you're still alive."
He spat on Byron and left the prison. Left alone, Byron shuddered at the transformation of his brother, whom he had always taken for granted.
And then, as Hiram, heartbroken, visited his son's hospital bedside, he received the news he had been waiting for: the results of the poison analysis at the apothecary had arrived.
“They said it would take a long time, but the results came out sooner than expected.”
“Ah, that is... In fact, Princess Weishaffen compiled a list of things after observing His Highness’s symptoms and the appearance of the poison.”
The scholar from the Imperial Academy of Pharmacy opened his mouth with a look of discomfort. His pride was hurt by the young girl's words, but he had no words to say since the answer had already been revealed.
“Yeah, what kind of poison was it?”
But at the Emperor's subsequent questioning, the pharmacist's face paled. His expression seemed as if he were too afraid to speak.
“...That was the venom of the Retilus monitor lizard. I, I am sorry, Your Highness.”
At the words of the pharmacy scholar, Hiram staggered and shook his head.
The venom of a giant lizard native to the Retilus jungle in the southern part of the continent.
Because it was the deadliest of poisons for which there was no antidote.
"That's impossible. If a few drops of that poison could kill a person instantly, Winfred would have already passed away before the doctors arrived."
The Emperor denied it in a tearful voice.
"That... It seems like she didn't directly poison the tea, so His Highness only ingested a very small amount. So the symptoms seem to have developed slowly... If the symptoms have already begun to appear, there's nothing you can do. I apologize, Your Majesty."
Was I going to let time pass like this and then have to send my seventeen-year-old son away? It was a story he didn't want to believe.
That was when.
Aila, who had been sitting quietly beside Winfred and holding his cold hand, opened her mouth.
“...There is an antidote.”
It was a quiet, yet determined tone of voice.
“What do you mean, Princess?”
The pharmacist opened his mouth with a slightly bewildered expression.
He wanted to laugh at the little girl and say, "What does she know?", but he barely managed to hold back, thinking that she was the daughter of a noble Duke.
However, Aila looked at the Emperor with an expression that was completely unshaken by the scholar's words, mixed with sarcasm that he could not quite hide.
The director of the pharmacy school sighed at the sight and gave an additional explanation.
"There is no antidote to the venom of the Retilus monitor lizard. I don't know how Princess acquired knowledge of toxicology, but as far as I know, no one has ever survived its poison."
It wasn't easy to say such things in front of the Emperor, but there was nothing he could do because the young Princess kept spouting nonsense.
Aila closed her eyes, trying to calm her trembling body.
At this point, it was poisoned with no antidote. However, she was someone with memories of the future.
A deadly poison with no antidote, yet leaving no trace. While its difficulty in obtaining was a drawback, its numerous advantages made it a favorite among Byron's camp.
However, shortly before Aila entered the Duke's household, the antidote was discovered and was no longer in use.
It wouldn't be that far in the future. It was certain that within a year, or even a few months, an antidote to the venom of the Retilus monitor lizard would be discovered.
The problem was that Winfred only had sixteen hours left.
'So I have to remember. What Cloud said to me.'
Aila frowned and squeezed the memory.
At that time, she had heard Cloud's words and thought it was a very interesting prescription. Why, why did she find it so interesting?
And a moment later, Aila retrieved the answer from the depths of her memories.
“...Is that true, Aila?”
Hiram asked in a desperate voice, as if he had found a last ray of hope in the midst of despair.
“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s rattlesnake tail grass. The components of rattlesnake tail grass have a neutralizing effect.”
“What do you mean, Princess? Rattlesnake tail grass is the most poisonous of all poisonous plants!”
At Aila's answer, the director of the academy raised his voice and interjected, as if to say, "What kind of nonsense is that?"
That's right. Rattlesnake tail grass was also a highly toxic plant capable of killing a human. That's why Aila found Cloud's words so intriguing. Treating poison with poison.
“If you don’t believe me, I’ll try the poison myself. Then we can see if it works!”
Aila clenched her fists and shouted.
There was no research showing that rattlesnake tail grass could counteract monitor lizard venom, so it was understandable why he was skeptical. So, shouldn't she prove it, even if it meant using her own body as a test subject?
'...Oh, right.'
The director of the academy, who had dedicated his life to pharmacy, clicked his tongue inwardly. It occurred to him that a woman who called herself a court lady couldn't tell the difference between what was right and what wasn't, and was acting so rashly.
They said she had lived her entire life as a commoner, so he wondered if that was why she couldn't tell right from wrong.
But the atmosphere was flowing strangely.
“...Your Majesty, please trust my daughter just once. If necessary, I will drink poison to prove it to you.”
Roderick, who knew that Aila had regressed, intervened, wrapping his arm around his daughter's shoulder.
“Your Majesty, you don’t believe me, do you?”
The director wiped away his cold sweat as the situation went against his expectations and asked.
“...Is there any other way now? Of course not.”
“That, that’s true, but...”
“If it’s already the worst-case scenario, what’s the harm in trying?”
Hiram clenched his fist and opened his mouth. It was a declaration that he would do as Aila suggested.
“If something goes wrong, I won’t hold you responsible, so go quickly and get the essence of the rattlesnake tail grass.”
“...Yes, Your Majesty.”
Perhaps lacking the courage to disobey the imperial decree, the director hurried to the Imperial Pharmacy Academy located within the palace grounds.
And about an hour later, the director, who had searched the entire warehouse of the academy and found the essence of the rattlesnake tail grass, hurriedly returned to the Crown Prince's Palace.
“Here it is, Your Majesty.”
The director handed the small vial to the Emperor with an anxious expression, and Hiram turned to ask Aila.
“What should we do now?”
“You can dilute it in water and feed it to him. I’ll do it.”
Aila, who had received the vial, carefully prepared the antidote. Fortunately, Cloud had mentioned the proportions in passing.
The antidote was quickly completed, and now only one step remained: breaking the spell placed on Winfred's body.
The problem was that once the spell wore off, the poison would start spreading again, and he would suffer from not being able to breathe.
“...Shall I really let it go, Your Majesty?”
The royal wizard asked uncertainly, questioning whether it was truly appropriate to use an unproven treatment on the Crown Prince.
Even though two people offered to prove it by drinking poison themselves, Hiram spoke firmly, as if he already had firm faith in them, without needing to do so.
“There’s no other way to decipher it. Let’s solve it.”
The wizard, with an anxious expression, lifted the spell he had placed on the Crown Prince's body.
Then, Winfred, who had been in a deep sleep as if dead, began to gasp for breath and cry out in pain.
“Win, drink this. If you drink this, you’ll feel better in no time.”
Aila brought the cup containing the antidote to his mouth.
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