Episode 19: Poisonous Web, The Wavering Queen
"This is absurd! You mean even the wheat farms in the southern capital have all fallen into the hands of the Castillo Merchant Guild?!"
Minister of the Interior, Marquis Morte, slammed his hand on his office desk and threw down his papers. Although he had intended to strangle Castillo on the Emperor's orders, the grain distribution networks of the Imperial faction merchants were instead completely drying up due to the ruthless 'capitalist bombardment' by Liliana, who had taken office as the acting head of the guild.
Faced with Liliana's offensive offering double the market price in cash, the nobles' subcontracting merchants and farm owners signed exclusive contracts with Castillo without looking back. For the Minister of the Interior, who had to distribute relief food to the Imperial Palace and the capital's slums next month, it was a crisis of attrition.
"Marquis, if things continue like this, we cannot escape the wrath of His Majesty the Emperor."
While the Chief Merchant turned pale and trembled, Vivian, clad in a thin silk gown, glided in like a snake and massaged the Marquis of More's shoulders.
"Marquis, please do not worry about the mere financial antics of that fallen noble girl."
"How can I not worry! Castillo has monopolized the capital's food supply, so we have run out of flour for the Imperial Relief Festival ceremony just around the corner!"
"Hoho, the merchant guild has ignorantly spent money to stockpile grain... what will happen if that grain turns into 'inedible, rotten trash' overnight?"
A venomous whisper escaped from between Vivian's red lips.
"In any case, that massive amount of grain is likely stockpiled in the huge Warehouse No. 3 on the outskirts of the capital. Tonight, I will unleash the mercenaries I used to employ in the back alleys and spray 'poison mixed with the saliva of Black Death rats' onto that pile of grain."
The Marquis of Morte's eyes snapped open.
"You mean releasing poison?"
"Yes. It looks fine on the outside, but if the Imperial quarantine officers conduct a surprise inspection tomorrow and examine the grain, deadly poisons will be detected. If accused of attempting to poison the people, the Castillo Merchant Guild will be shut down immediately, and Liliana will meet her end at the guillotine. On top of that, the grain in that warehouse will be confiscated for dirt cheap and become your property, Marquis."
"Oh...! Framing Castillo for treason and getting the food for free. That is a brilliant plan!"
A vile ecstasy spread across Marquis Morte's face. Vivian smiled seductively while nestled in the Marquis's arms, but her blue eyes gleamed with a vicious, murderous intent toward Liliana.
'Liliana von Werner. How dare you, a bitch, try to rise above me without knowing your place? By tomorrow morning, you will be crawling on the cold prison floor, treated like a murderer!'
***
That night, the office of the Acting Merchant Head at the Castillo Merchant Guild headquarters. Liliana was completely absorbed in stamping the mountain of grain purchase contracts.
Beside her, the large-dog knight, Kian, stood with his hands clasped, fidgeting anxiously as he refilled her empty teacup with warm black tea.
"Ah, young lady, it is already past midnight. Please, get some rest."
"Thank you, Kian. But I have to deliver the food stocked at Warehouse No. 3 in the capital to the slums and the Imperial Palace early tomorrow morning. I will rest once I finish settling these ledgers."
Just as Kian looked at Liliana with worried eyes, the office door burst open with a loud bang, and a low-ranking official from the merchant guild rushed in, his face pale with fear.
"D-Deputy Master! Something terrible has happened!"
"What is it?"
Liliana put down her pen and rose from her seat.
"My Lady, the Imperial Capital Defense Force and special inspectors from the Ministry of the Interior have surrounded Warehouse No. 31. Claiming to have received an anonymous tip alleging impurities in the food supplied to the Imperial Household, they are making a huge fuss, demanding to open the warehouse doors immediately and conduct a full inspection!"
"What? The Ministry of the Interior's inspectors at this hour of the night?"
Liliana's pale green eyes turned cold. The Ministry of the Interior was under the jurisdiction of none other than the Marquis of Morte. The fact that they, having lost the grain competition during the day, had stormed in with an army in the middle of the night was a clear trap.
"Young Lady, this is dangerous! They are surely trying to extort the grain by making unreasonable demands!"
Kian immediately gripped his sword hilt and blocked Liliana's path. However, Liliana did not lose her composure.
"No. Blocking the Imperial Household's official inspectors by force would be giving them a pretext for treason. Kian, prepare the carriage immediately. I will go to Warehouse No. 3 myself."
2:00 AM. In front of the Third Great Warehouse on the outskirts of the capital, shrouded in pitch-black darkness, hundreds of Imperial Capital Guards stood in layers, holding torches. Beside the commander of the defense force stood the arrogant Marquis Morte, accompanied secretly by Vivian, clad in a thick cloak, observing the situation.
'My mercenaries have already breached the roof and spread poison everywhere.'
Beneath her cloak, Vivian wore a sinister smile, certain of victory.
Clop, clop!
Just then, Castillo's carriage arrived, having broken through the encirclement. Stepping out of the carriage under Kian's impeccable escort, Liliana stood in front of Marquis Morte, maintaining her unwavering dignity even before the hundreds of soldiers.
"What are you doing, Marquis? To surround another merchant caravan's warehouse with armed troops without a warrant!"
"Hoho, the Acting Head has arrived in person."
Marquis Morte vilely stroked his beard.
"I have received critical intelligence that deadly poison has been mixed into the grain destined for the Imperial Household. The safety of the people and the Imperial Family is at stake, so I must open the warehouse doors immediately and conduct an inspection."
"Our grain has undergone rigorous quality control. Deadly poison? That is a preposterous exaggeration."
"We will know whether it is a preposterous exaggeration or not once we open the doors! Commander of the Guard, what are you doing! Drag that woman out and smash the warehouse doors right now!"
At Marquis Morte's shout, soldiers approached, aiming their spears at Liliana.
Srng!
Kian drew his greatsword, emitting a blue glow, and perfectly defended Liliana's path, but the disparity in troop numbers was too great. A single armed clash threatened to brand the entire Castillo as a traitor.
"Sheathe your sword, Kian. If we are innocent, we just need to open the door."
Liliana bit her lip and grabbed Kian's shoulder.
'This is the merchant caravan my mother entrusted to me. I cannot back down here. They must have set a trap, but I must prove it.'
Liliana stood firm and personally unlocked the massive iron door of the warehouse.
Creak-Bang!
Raising a cloud of dust, the heavy door of Warehouse No. 3 swung wide open. As the light of a torch illuminated the interior, tens of thousands of sacks of premium wheat and food supplies were seen piled high like mountains.
"Quarantines! Go in immediately, tear open the grain sacks, and spray the reagents!"
At the command of the Marquis of Morte, quarantine officers in white gowns swarmed in and began randomly tearing open sacks of grain with knives. As the wheat grains poured out in a shower, the officers dropped a silver-tinged detection reagent onto them. If there were no poisons, the reagent would remain transparent.
Liliana clenched her hands tightly and watched the results with bated breath. Vivian, snickering from beneath her cloak, waited for the moment Castillo would collapse. And one second later. The silver reagent dropped onto the spilled grain began to turn a chilling, fatal red, as if it were soaked in blood.
"M-Marquis! It's red! The entire grain is coated with a lethal dose of deadly poison!"
At the officer's urgent shout, Liliana's pale green eyes trembled violently in shock. The food warehouse, which they had believed to be perfectly under control, had been thoroughly contaminated by the machinations of a rat.
"Hahaha! Deadly poison! Did you see that, Lady Liliana!"
Marquis Morte let out a triumphant roar. Vivian threw off her cloak and hurled a mocking, vicious laugh at Liliana's face.
"A mass poisoning attempt this is blatant treason! Captain of the Guard! Make that vulgar, murderous woman and her bodyguard kneel and bind them immediately!!"
At Marquis Morte's shout, the sharp tips of the guards' spears drew right under Liliana's chin. Kian growled like a beast and gripped his greatsword tighter. Liliana's shoulders, which had been stiff with shock just moments before. But in that desperate moment, a small, deflated laugh escaped from between her red lips.
"...Heh."
It was not the deranged laughter of a terrified person. It was the relaxed mockery of a perfect predator who had confirmed that the prey had walked of its own accord into the very center of the deepest trap.
"L-Liliana? Are you out of your mind?"
In the split second Vivian stood beneath her cloak, her face hardening in panic, Liliana gently pushed away the spearhead aimed at her with her bare hands and took a step forward.
Her pale green eyes no longer wavered. A chillingly clear murderous intent, resembling her mother-in-law, Eleanor, was vividly formed within them.
"Thank you for your hard work, Marquis. And Vivian."
Liliana snapped her fan shut and pronounced the verdict in a voice that resonated clearly.
"I had bought ten thousand sacks of rotten flour, on the verge of disposal, for a pittance, and it was quite a hassle to get rid of them. To think you would personally add the poison of a grandiose treason, 'Attempted Poisoning of the Imperial Family,' to that pile of garbage."
"W-what ?"
The color drained instantly from the triumphant face of Marquis Morte.
"This means the real food supplies in Warehouse No. 3 were already smuggled out to the safe basement in the early evening, before you even hired those back-alley rats."
A cruel and dazzling arc formed on Liliana's lips.
"Now, shall I bring in the 'real witnesses' who claim you poisoned my warehouse in the name of the Imperial Household?"
Liliana snapped her fingers elegantly. With that signal, dozens of black shadows began to emerge from the deep darkness surrounding the warehouse, dragging out the bloodied back-alley mercenaries Vivian had instigated to release the poison. The girl, whom they had thought was prey, was now clearly gleaming the blade of a ruthless, meticulously tuned guillotine in the darkness of the night.
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