CH 27

At the words of Marquis Wayne, the knight leader, the everyone in the venue gasped.

To calm the masses, the king clapped his hand. Stiffly, he asked Marquis Wayne.

“…Is it the drug that is forbidden in this kingdom?”

“Grace confirmed that it’s indeed the forbidden drug.”

When Marquis Wayne replied, the king turned towards Grace.

“How did you learn about this?”

“…I’m honored to be able to talk to you, Your Majesty. I overheard Lady Violet talking about the poison in her room. She was attempting to murder both Baroness Mia Abazn and His Highness Aldam Neonhart.”

“Hmm… are you certain?”

“…Yes.”

“Alright. Then, Duchess of Samaria, do you have anything to say regarding that?”

Towards His Majesty’s words, everyone grew silent. They were awaiting my reply.

Thus, I announced in a loud voice—

“—That isn’t poison.”

After bowing to Marquis Wayne, I received the vial and drank the liquid in it.

At that moment, Grace’s eyes widened in astonishment. The same happened to His Highness and the others.

After glancing at them, I declared to the venue.

“It’s actually a brandy. I usually drink it when I can’t sleep. As for the story you overheard, that was merely a horror story I told to Luria.”

I smiled while presenting the vial before myself. Grace’s face turned deep blue as she began to tremble.

My brother, who saw that situation, hid Grace behind himself and glared at me.

“Violet!! You must’ve replaced the contents!!”

“…But, I don’t even have any terrifying poisons in the first place?”

“That’s a lie! You must’ve hidden it somewhere!”

When my brother shouted that, Marquis Wayne shook his head.

“I searched the mansion with my elite team, but I couldn’t find any poison. However, I did chance upon something suspicious…”

“W-what is it? As I thought, it must be the poison! There’s no doubt about it!”

“No, it’s a piece of paper explaining how to use the poison. I found it inside Duke Sagius Samaria’s room. Not to mention, the handwriting is definitely his. You’re the one who has the poison—Duke Sagius Samaria!”

The moment Marquis Wayne said that, the knights behind him began to step forward. They approached my brother and Grace.

Of course, upon seeing the knights’ swords, they were taken aback. In a blink of an eye, they were restrained and laid on the ground.

When I saw that state of their’s, the corners of my lips raised involuntarily.

Fufu.

Thanks to Luria and the others who had been monitoring Grace, I had replaced the vial of poison with one I had prepared in advance.

The vial containing the poison was firmly etched within my memories, so reproducing it wasn’t a problem.

I threw the vial I had in my hand towards my brother’s face. He glowered at me

I concealed my burst of laughter by concealing my mouth with my hand.

What do you think?

How does it feel having the sister you loathed the most looking down at you on your most humiliating moment?

I’m sure you can’t stand it.

When I was happily staring at my brother while thinking so, my parents, who were accompanied by the knights, arrived as according to plan.

“Sagius…”

Recognizing his father’s voice, my brother desperately reached out towards his parents while being pressed down on the floor.

“I didn’t do anything—! Violet must’ve imitated my handwriting and planted that paper in my room—!”

My parents only stared at my older brother without any attempt to receive his stretched-out hand.

As they stared at my brother, their gazes were gradually filled with anger.

“…You didn’t do anything? I’ve read all the letters in your room. How loathsome of you…”

“No way, you were trying to kill us for the sake of that whore…”

“Ah…”

When my brother heard my parents’ words, his face turned deep blue.

Marquis Wayne said to my brother and Grace.

“Duke Sagius Samaria, and Grace—I hereby come to arrest you.”

The two were seized with ropes by the knights. The students who testified to the lie of Baroness Abazn earlier were also rounded up by the knights in the same way as my brother.

By the way, Baroness Abazn was still burying her face inside His Highness’ chest because I told the knights to not capture her in advance.

I grinned and stared at Baroness Abazn—

—we still had yet to reach the halfway point.

“…Therefore, stay with me until the end.”

I then called out to His Highness who was wavering in doubt.

“…Your Highness, do you finally understand the current situation?”

“S, so… instead of Violet, it was Sagius all along…?”

“Fufu, despite your lovesickness, you can still understand that much. Good. So, who brought the poison into our kingdom? By the way, it obviously wasn’t my brother.”

While saying that, I turned to Count Kayes who had been silent since earlier.

His Highness, who followed my gaze, soon found Count Kayes. His eyes widened.

“…That’s a lie.”

“Unfortunately, it isn’t. Count Kayes requested Minerva to import it.”

As soon as I said that, Minerva, whose body was tied up with a rope, was thrown before His Highness.

At that moment, Count Kayes immediately tried to escape. However, upon realizing that he had been surrounded by knights, he collapsed.

Then, two people appeared before Count Kayes. The venue was immediately in an uproar—

—because they were none other than Count Rustal and his daughter, the Countess of Rustal.

“H, Hilda…? B-but how…?”

While staring at Count Kayes with cold eyes, Countess Rustal responded.

“‘How’, you ask? Well, I understand where you’re coming from. After all, I was supposed to have been killed by the mercenaries you and Minerva hired, while my father is supposed to be suffering from heavy injuries. Unfortunately for you, we faked it to ensure that you and the others—the true culprits behind this all—were caught.”

“T-that’s…”

Count Kayes lowered his face after he had muttered that.

When she sensed my glance, Countess Rustal bowed to me.

She then said, “Thank you for granting my request. I really wanted to take part in catching these great sinners.”

“Fufu, if I hadn’t heard that the plan had succeeded, I’d have believed that you were dead. Thankfully, I only wasted a letter.”

“I didn’t think that the plan would be put to work so quickly…”

Countess Rustal said that and then glared at Count Kayes as if looking at something dirty.

I was sure that to Countess Rustal, even the air Count Kayes breathed was filthy.

Well, as for me, he was less than dirt.

“Count Kayes, you once asked me—‘Do you have no heart!?’ Then, what are you, who can convict or murder people without hesitation?”

Upon hearing that, Count Kayes tensed up, but he never answered.

Count Rustal glared at Count Kayes.

“…We’ll have a conversation between men later.”

“Don’t kill him, okay.”

“Of course, I’m different from him.”

Count Rustal answered while smiling, then he turned to greet Marquis Wayne.

“I’ve accomplished my mission.”

“You did well.”

Marquis Wayne proceeded to salute His Majesty.

“Your Majesty, I thereby am apprehending Minerva and her companions on suspicion of bringing poison into this kingdom.”

“You did well. Minerva and her companions are guilty of many crimes. Thus, I shall punish all the aristocrats connected with her.”

The moment His Majesty declared that, the entire venue went into an uproar. Some of the aristocrats tried to flee the scene.

However, since the doorway was completely surrounded by the knights, the aristocrats of His Highness’ faction understood that they couldn’t escape and surrendered.

Immediately afterwards, Count Kayes and the aristocrats of His Highness’ factions were bound and gagged. When I saw their numbers rolling on the floor, I narrowed my eyes.

“…They’re wriggling like earthworms.”

When I muttered that, Luria shook her head and replied.

“Milady, that’s offensive to the worms. They at least bring benefits.”

“Indeed. Then, we have to get rid of these useless pests.”

I smiled at His Highness who had become pale, and Baroness Abazn who was still weeping against His Highness’ chest.