Chapter 19

# 19

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"Miss...?"

Charlotte called out in surprise, as if trying to stop her.

But Nabiya merely placed the juice, which she had completely ruined, on the side table.

She was actually quite disappointed that more than half of the juice was still left. Still, she had felt a moment of happiness, as if she had been dreaming.

It was an extravagance beyond her reach.

Charlotte looked back and forth between the juice and Nabiya with a bewildered expression.

Was Nabiya mixing medicine into the juice out of some strange taste? The juice must have tasted quite terrible.

If the medicine was bitter, it would have been more effective to take it separately...

Bang!

The door opened without a knock.

Charlotte turned to the uninvited guests with a face half puzzled and half angry.

The person who entered was the butler Linden and Maki.

Charlotte asked them with an unpleasant expression.

"What is it?"

Linden scanned the room silently with a displeased look.

His gaze immediately fell on the cup on the side table.

"What's this?"

Linden pointed at the cup and asked Charlotte. Charlotte couldn't speak up right away.

Maki said calmly but with a determined look.

"It's the same cup we used. We thought one was missing, but it was here."

Charlotte rebutted with a cold expression.

"That's strange. You even put it on the tray yourself and told me to bring it to Miss. Why are you changing your story now?"

Maki shook her head.

"Look, Butler, she's trying to frame me. It's despicable."

Linden interrogated Charlotte with an irritated look.

"Charlotte, even if it was for Miss, you know this goes against the master's wishes, don't you?"

"Butler, this is..."

Maki cut her off before she could respond.

"Not only that, but she even mixed a stomachache medicine into our juice out of some grudge! Didn't I tell you about Laura earlier?"

She was covering up everything she had done by blaming it on Charlotte.

Maki muttered with a pained expression.

"If Miss Vivian had drunk it instead of Laura..."

It was a terrible thought, even just to imagine. If Vivian had drunk the juice with the stomach medicine, not only the dedicated maids but also the kitchen staff might have lost their heads.

Linden wouldn't have been able to avoid the fallout either.

"How dare you commit such a despicable and cruel act within Agnes!"

But in the end, it didn't happen.

'Tsk, because of Maki, I can't just let this slide. I'll have to demote Charlotte to the laundry maid and get rid of her.'

Linden planned to cover up the incident to avoid being reprimanded by Nikan.

"Your disloyalty is clear just by going against the master's wishes. You are now a laundry maid..."

"Ugh..."

At that moment, a faint groan was heard.

Everyone's gaze shifted downward.

Nabiya, already small, had curled up even smaller, resting her forehead on her knees.

"Miss!"

Charlotte rushed to Nabiya in shock.

Maki's eyes darted around, and she closed her lips. Something felt off.

Linden frowned when Nabiya, who had been unnoticed, suddenly groaned.

Why is she doing this? Just as he was wondering, Nabiya lifted her head, which had been bowed low, with a distorted expression.

Her face and neck were flushed red, and her eyes were sunken from lack of sleep, making her look genuinely ill.

Charlotte glanced at the juice with a worried look, seeing that Nabiya really did seem to be in pain.

'It's definitely not the juice, so why...?'

Then, the image of Nabiya mixing the medicine into the juice flashed in her mind.

'Ah.'

A smile flickered across Charlotte's lips and disappeared.

She glared at Maki with a very angry expression.

"Maki! You gave me the juice with the intention of doing this!"

"W-What...?"

Maki was taken aback.

The juice with the stomach medicine was clearly drunk by Laura, so why was Nabiya affected?

The medicine was only mixed into the one cup she had given to Charlotte, so both of them shouldn't have had stomachaches.

'How dare you try to deceive someone!'

Maki regained her composure and said to Linden.

"She's just acting because she's cornered. The juice is fine. It's clear she was targeting Miss Vivian by putting the medicine in just one cup!"

Maki began to frame Charlotte as if she had intended to kill Vivian.

Charlotte burst out laughing inwardly.

'Maki, you seem quite flustered by Miss Nabiya's actions.'

She had made a fatal mistake.

Charlotte asked with a look of incomprehension.

"Why just one cup with the stomach medicine? You didn't even know what was in the juice."

Maki's face hardened.

Linden also stopped interrogating Charlotte.

The atmosphere suddenly became strange.

Maki rebutted desperately.

"Well, of course the juice you took would be fine, right?"

Charlotte supported the groaning Nabiya with a look of resignation.

"Sigh... Butler, it's important to get to the bottom of things, but Miss might get seriously ill if we keep this up."

"Hmm, that's true."

Maki's heart raced as Linden suddenly took a neutral stance.

"I'll drink it to see if it's real or fake!"

Maki snatched the juice from the side table, fearing that Charlotte or Nabiya might spill it.

"Charlotte!"

Charlotte glared at Maki with a very displeased look, and Maki smiled thinly.

'Hmph, look at her. She must be scared her lie will be exposed.'

Maki drank the juice in one go.

"Ugh!"

She spat out the juice, which tasted nothing like apple juice, in disgust.

'What is this...?'

Maki was at a loss, completely unprepared for this situation, and stared blankly at the juice.

What is this? Could it really have the stomach medicine in it?

Then why is Laura still locked in the bathroom? Charlotte said coldly to Maki.

"Our Miss has never tasted apple juice before, so she wouldn't know what it tastes like."

"N-No... Charlotte..."

"But from your reaction, it seems clear that this isn't apple juice."

Linden, who had been silent since he sensed something was off, changed his attitude.

"Maki, we need an explanation for this."

"But, Butler, Laura is clearly suffering from the juice with the stomach medicine..."

Charlotte pressed her hard.

"Where is that juice? You must have framed me with solid evidence, right?"

Maki broke out in a cold sweat.

She had fallen into her own trap.

If she hadn't escalated the situation to this point, she could have easily backed out.

Just the fact that Nabiya drank the juice without permission should have been enough to make things awkward!

"Perhaps there was some spoiled fruit mixed in the juice. I must have overreacted."

Maki tried to brush it off as a problem with the juice itself.

She then redirected Linden's attention to Nabiya.

"Miss Nabiya seems to have only drunk a little, but it would be best to have the doctor check her condition."

Nabiya was still hugging her stomach and curled up.

Linden glared at Maki, who had almost gotten him into trouble for nothing, and decided to wrap things up.

The master had been on edge lately due to a series of incidents, and it would be a headache to report another problem today.

"Tsk, Maki, you go and bring Doctor Hans. If you cause any more trouble, it won't end here!"

Maki gritted her teeth in anger and bowed.

"...Yes, I'm sorry."

A spasm was visible at the corners of her mouth.

Bang.

As Maki closed the door and left, Charlotte picked up the apple juice that had been placed back on the side table.

Nabiya straightened her curled body, slipped into bed, and said.

"Pour that into a flower pot."

Charlotte shrugged and replied.

"Yes. I was just wondering which one to use."

It was a decent breath.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled.