Chapter 18

# 18

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Charlotte was angry but let Maki do as she pleased.

She couldn't bring herself to say that she hadn't managed to bring the juice, thinking of how Nabiya had been so delighted with the apple juice.

"…Thank you for taking care of it."

Charlotte, with a dejected look, quietly expressed her gratitude and rolled up her sleeves.

"Bianca has a lot of meals to prepare, right? I'll help."

Maki's malicious smile deepened at her servility.

"You don't have to go that far."

Despite her words, she didn't stop Charlotte from offering to help.

Charlotte briskly brought the trays and plates needed to serve the food, making it easier for them to work.

When Charlotte tried to move the juice glass, Maki snatched it away.

"I'll do this."

Actually, it wouldn't have mattered if Charlotte had just moved the glass, but as the saying goes, "The thief's own feet betray him." Maki felt as if their deed would be exposed, so she put the juice directly on the tray and had Laura carry it.

Laura pouted when she had to carry the tray with four glasses of juice.

"My arms will fall off."

"What's so heavy about carrying it for a moment?"

It wasn't an exaggeration; Maki had forced the generous amount of apple juice into five glasses, using large cups, making it almost as heavy as ten glasses.

Laura grumbled unhappily.

"…It really is heavy."

At that moment, Maki, noticing Charlotte's strange gaze, felt uneasy and pretended to be busy.

Charlotte sliced the bread for Nabiya and Bianca and spread butter on it.

Seeing Charlotte prepare the meal normally, Maki relaxed and moved slowly.

'There's no way the young lady will wake up and take the meal at this hour.'

So, she only planned to pretend to work.

When Charlotte showed signs of leaving with the tray, Maki, who had been fiddling with the salad, smiled and said,

"Let's help each other like this more often, Charlotte."

Charlotte nodded reluctantly with a sullen expression.

"Sure."

As soon as Charlotte left the kitchen, Bianca's maids burst into laughter.

"If the young lady finds out you drank the juice, you'll get scolded and won't be able to say a word, will you? Oh, how amusing."

Laura giggled, and Annie chuckled, glancing at the door.

"The chef said she was going to see the doctor, but she still hasn't come back. Maybe the medicine we put in the wine really is strong."

Maki had mixed a stomachache medicine into the wine the chef was drinking to make her leave.

Laura praised Maki, sticking out her tongue.

"Indeed, Maki, you're scary. You're really talented in this kind of thing."

Maki shrugged.

"This is nothing."

They raised their glasses of apple juice, their share.

"Mmm, sweet! It's a shame to give this fake the apple juice. We should have mixed it into the soup."

Laura smacked her lips regretfully, but Maki shook her head.

"No way. Charlotte is so perceptive. We would have been caught."

"Tch."

They loafed around, and when the servants they had sent away to rest while the chef was gone started to return, they quickly prepared Bianca's meal.

Maki said as soon as they left the kitchen,

"The medicine should be taking effect by now."

Annie was surprised.

"Already? We were too slow. Let's hurry upstairs."

"Yeah. If we dawdle, we might miss the show…"

Laura, who had been agreeing with Annie, suddenly stopped talking. Her face turned pale.

"What's wrong?"

Maki asked, puzzled, and Laura, without answering, bent over.

Crash!

The tray she was holding tilted, and all the food spilled onto the floor.

Naturally, Bianca's share of the apple juice was also spilled.

"Ah! What are you doing, Laura! How much did the young lady look forward to the apple juice today!"

"Ugh."

Laura, trembling, curled up and clutched her stomach.

Maki, initially speechless, gradually became alarmed.

"What's wrong with you!"

"My stomach, my stomach…"

Laura, unable to bear it any longer, hurriedly left.

"Laura!"

Annie called out fiercely to Laura, who had fled after causing the accident, but there was no response.

"Maki, what do we do! What will we tell the young lady? We should have saved some for ourselves!"

Maki's expression changed.

"Surely not…"

She muttered in disbelief and asked Annie urgently.

"Annie, did Charlotte approach Laura earlier?"

"Charlotte? No, they didn't even talk."

But from Laura's reaction, it was clear she had drunk the juice mixed with the stomachache medicine.

Maki, furious, glared at the spilled food and raged.

"When did you switch it? Charlotte, you thieving wretch!"

* * *

Knock knock.

"Miss, it's time for your meal."

Charlotte arrived at the Emerald Room and gently woke Nabiya, who was already sound asleep.

"Mmm…"

Nabiya blinked sleepily.

Charlotte helped Nabiya sit up and held a spoon of soup to her mouth.

"Finish the soup, then take your medicine and go to sleep."

Nabiya obediently ate the soup as Charlotte fed her, still half-asleep.

Perhaps because she wasn't fully awake, even this care felt dreamlike.

When Nabiya had eaten half the bowl, she no longer wanted to eat. At that moment, Charlotte put down the bowl and offered her the apple juice instead.

"Here's the apple juice, Miss."

Nabiya, hearing the word "juice," woke up.

'She really brought it.'

Nabiya, with a dazed expression, held the cup with both hands.

The cup contained a golden liquid. Even before drinking, the sweet smell made her mouth water.

"Thank you."

"This is nothing. Please drink it quickly."

Nabiya carefully touched the cup with her lips.

'This is my first time drinking apple juice.'

While she had rarely eaten apples or baked apples, she had never tried apple juice before.

Nabiya took a sip.

'Wow…'

How could it be so sweet?

Nabiya blinked several times, feeling as if her tongue was melting.

"How is it?"

Charlotte asked with anticipation, and Nabiya, with a slightly hoarse voice, replied,

"…It's delicious."

So this is what apple juice tastes like.

The rich apple juice, perhaps mixed with honey, was so sweet it made her feel drowsy.

Nabiya took another sip and offered the cup to Charlotte.

"Let's drink together."

Charlotte, surprised that Nabiya would offer her the juice, looked flustered.

Then, touched, she carefully took the glass.

"Thank you, Miss."

To Charlotte, this juice was a bit expensive but not rare.

However, she knew how precious this juice was to Nabiya. To offer it so readily…

'Good thing I brought it.'

Charlotte pretended to drink, then returned the untouched juice to Nabiya.

Nabiya, fighting off sleep, slowly drank the juice.

With no classes and sweet juice to drink, it felt like a birthday.

'What a special day.'

As Nabiya savored the juice, she suddenly realized the cup was quite unusual.

'This doesn't seem to be for serving juice.'

The cup was so heavy that Nabiya had to use both hands to hold it.

"It must have been heavy to carry this all by yourself, Charlotte."

Charlotte, recalling the earlier situation, shook her head.

"The cup was the work of Bianca's dedicated maids. I didn't plan to use such a heavy cup for the young lady… I suspected they had done something to the juice, so I switched it with theirs."

Charlotte wondered who had drunk the juice she had switched.

It would be best if Maki had drunk it.

'How could I not notice something was wrong with the juice, given how suspicious they were?'

Charlotte was certain that Maki had mixed a stomachache medicine into the juice, given her character.

Laura had no patience and was small and weak.

If they made Laura carry heavy things and prepared the meal slowly, what would happen?

'Of course, she would put the tray down somewhere and massage her sore arms and shoulders.'

Charlotte deliberately took a longer route to carry the food.

Fortunately, they had used the same type of cup, making it easy to switch the juice.

"I see."

Nabiya, without needing further explanation, could picture the situation in her mind.

Such childish and despicable tactics were typical of Maki.

"So, someone drank the juice that had been tampered with."

"Seems so."

Nabiya got out of bed and poured the medicine she needed to take into the cup.

The golden color of the juice changed strangely.