Chapter 64

Rathil believed in Gestah. He was not the type to slip someone a drug. However, Rathil did not trust human nature. No matter how kind a person was, they were not immune to anger, and no matter how kind they were, they had their own interests. Gestah had been insulted by Klein several times, so perhaps he made this choice in a moment of anger or to defend himself.

'Maybe someone who follows Gestah did it, or perhaps another concubine who wanted to benefit from the chaos did it.'

The more he thought about it, the more people who could be the culprit came to mind.

'What to do.'

After much deliberation, Rathil called his head chef and gave him a secret instruction.

"Boil the mushroom soup and then cool it down. Make it look like it was made a few days ago, not just now."

"Should I make it taste a bit off?"

"That would be good. But don't make it actually spoiled."

"I can make it taste off without spoiling it, Your Majesty."

Eventually, the head chef brought the 'mushroom soup that looked like it had been made a few days ago.' Rathil tasted it and nodded.

"Good. It tastes like garbage. This will do."

Was that a compliment...? The chef was a bit taken aback but bowed in gratitude and left.

"What are you going to use that for?"

Sable, one of the concubines, didn't understand what Rathil was doing and asked, but Rathil, instead of explaining in detail, smiled and shook his spoon.

"I need to confirm something."

* * *

"Did you hear about it?"

"About the soup?"

"Yeah. The soup that was supposed to go to Lord Klein, but Lady Ranamon ate it, and there was something in it."

"Was it poison?"

"Maybe a laxative?"

"I don't know. Anyway, after Lady Ranamon ate it, she felt unwell. The drug in the food was quite strong. Luckily, she only took a couple of sips, so most of the soup was left. The Emperor got angry when he found out and took the soup back."

The palace servants in the harem would gather and whisper to each other whenever they had a moment to rest. The rumor spread so widely that even those who didn't usually socialize with others eventually heard about the soup.

"But why did the Emperor take the soup?"

"Maybe to investigate what was in it? He needs to know to treat Lady Ranamon, right?"

"Can you really tell by investigating the soup?"

Trie, Gestah's attendant, naturally overheard this conversation. Unlike others who were merely curious, Trie was filled with fear.

'Lady Ranamon took the drug? And the Emperor took it back?'

Ranamon was the eldest son of the Artaxi family, a distinguished noble, and Emperor Latrasil, though he treated the concubines leniently, had a terrifying reputation. Upon ascending the throne, he had exiled his father's favorite concubine and did not immediately execute his half-brothers who challenged him for the throne. Emperor Latrasil often appeared gentle, but he could cut someone down with a single stroke if they made even a slight mistake. Knowing this, Trie couldn't help but be terrified when the Emperor, in a fit of anger, took the bowl of drugged soup.

'It's okay. There's no evidence. Even if they find out what drug it was, that's all it will be.'

* * *

"Did you spread the rumor?"

"Yes, the whole harem is buzzing about it."

However, Rathil, Ranamon, and the people gossiping about the mushroom soup probably didn't know that the source of the rumor was Rathil himself.

"Wouldn't it have been better to call them in one by one and interrogate them?"

The head attendant, who had spread the rumor as Rathil ordered, didn't think it was a good method and cautiously asked Rathil. It was inevitable. The head attendant didn't know exactly what the 'drug' in the soup was. If he had known the truth, he would have understood why Rathil wanted to handle the matter quietly, but Rathil didn't tell the head attendant the story for Ranamon's sake.

"Because the person involved doesn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"Still, I'm worried that if you handle it quietly, the same thing might happen again."

"We'll deal with it when it happens."

Rathil lightly patted the worried head attendant on the shoulder and asked him to do something.

"Call the concubines to the festival room, except for Ranamon, Duke Sablé."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Oh, and one more thing."

* * *

About thirty minutes later, Rathil, after pondering what reason he could have to visit Karisen, decided that the concubines must have gathered by now and slowly walked to the harem. As expected, all the concubines and their attendants were gathered in the room. Klein looked as expressionless as usual, and Klein was yawning. Gestah seemed uncomfortable with the crowd, while the High Priestess was laughing and joking with Tahir. The High Priestess had quickly become close to Tahir after healing him. On one side of the room, a long table held something covered with a round silver lid. Rathil carefully observed the expressions of the attendants before deliberately making noise as he walked to the head of the room.

"You have arrived, Your Majesty."

Upon seeing Rathil, the concubines and attendants greeted him simultaneously. Rathil lightly waved his hand to dismiss the formalities and, once the room was quiet, put on a stern face and spoke firmly.

"Some of you may have heard, but someone put something in the soup that Ranamon was supposed to eat."

Previously, when Gestah was hit by a flying stone, Rathil had gathered the concubines and palace servants to scold them. Because of this, the concubines and servants had already guessed that Rathil might talk about the soup incident when they came here. However, when Rathil openly brought it up, everyone's expressions darkened. Throwing stones was dangerous, but putting an unknown drug in food was truly terrifying. No one knew how Rathil, who had executed his half-siblings in a fit of anger, would react.

"Tahir."

When Rathil suddenly called Tahir, he tilted his head in confusion.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Come and open this lid."

As Tahir walked to the table and opened the lid, the onlookers gasped. There was a bowl of soup inside. Since the rumor about the soup had already spread through the harem, everyone assumed this was the soup that Ranamon had left uneaten. This was exactly what Rathil intended. Tahir looked at Rathil with a 'What is this?' expression, clearly unsure why he was asked to open the lid. Instead of explaining, Rathil signaled to an attendant waiting outside the door. The attendant brought silver spoons and laid them out on the table. There were five spoons. Tahir looked at Rathil with a 'Surely not?' expression.

"Take two spoonfuls each."

People murmured even more at Rathil's words.

"Your Majesty, there's...!"

One of the servants watching mustered the courage to speak, but closed his mouth immediately when Rathil gave him a blank stare.

"There's what?"

"It's... well..."

"Do you know what's in there? I don't."

If the servant had contradicted him, he might have been suspected of putting the drug in the soup, so he shrank back and retreated. Rathil turned back to Tahir.

"Take two spoonfuls."

Rathil then scanned the room, warning everyone.

"It's fine. Ranamon took two spoonfuls and didn't die."

Despite saying it was fine, his words were anything but, and people's faces turned pale with fear. They didn't know Ranamon's current condition, so they couldn't easily guess what 'not dying' meant. They also thought, 'Since we don't know who poisoned Ranamon, the Emperor might be punishing everyone to vent his anger.'

"..."

But Tahir, after a moment of thought, smiled faintly and took two spoonfuls. As he put down the spoon, Rathil turned to Karain.

"Next. Karain."

Karain approached without hesitation, took two spoonfuls from the bowl, and stepped back.

"Klein."

Klein looked indignant, as if thinking, 'If the rumor is true, I could have been a victim too, why?' but he ate as ordered. He glared at Rathil the whole time. After Klein stepped back, the High Priestess took her turn, and after she stepped back, it was Gestah's turn. Gestah, like the other concubines, approached without much reaction and picked up a spoon. Rathil sharply looked at Gestah's attendant and the other servants while Gestah was taking the soup. * * *

Trie felt Rathil's cold gaze more intensely than anyone else. Whether it was because the Emperor was really looking at him or because he felt guilty, Trie was so nervous that he could hardly breathe, fearing that the person next to him could hear his heartbeat. Was it really the soup he had drugged? But the circumstances in the rumor pointed to him. The soup tray, intended for Klein, ended up with Ranamon because the servants had switched the menus. Trie clenched his fists, blaming himself for how things had turned out. If Klein had taken the drug as planned, things wouldn't have escalated like this. Because the tray ended up with Ranamon, the drug in the soup was immediately discovered. How could things get so tangled?

'Damn. What should I do...?'

Trie tried to stop his fingernails from reaching his lips and watched as Gestah slowly brought the spoonful of soup to his mouth. In reality, it was a normal speed, but to Trie, it seemed unbearably slow. Everything except his vision seemed to move in slow motion, and he could even see the dust and wind in the air.

'No, this can't happen. What should I do? My lord can't eat that.'

The moment Gestah put the soup in his mouth and closed his jaw, Trie couldn't bear it any longer and spoke up. * * *

A few days ago. The commander of the Holy Knight Order, Baihua, received a report that a suspected black mage had been captured in a small village with poor transportation. However, since Emperor Latrasil was away at the time, Baihua had to leave the palace without reporting to the Emperor. He could report to the Emperor later if necessary, but he needed to verify the captured black mage first. Black mages were not rare in the past, but now most of them had either disappeared or gone into hiding, making them hard to find. Most people never saw one in their lifetime, and when a black mage appeared, it often turned out to be a prank or someone falsely accused. Therefore, even though Baihua had come to the small village, he didn't expect the black mage to be real.

"What's going on?"

However, from the village entrance, Baihua realized that this was not going to be easy. The eerie silence was oppressive. The two Holy Knights he brought with him also frowned and looked around.

"It's too quiet."

"Even for a small village... this is unusual."

Even in a quiet village, there should be some ambient noise. The sounds of birds flying between trees, insects in the grass, and other natural sounds should be present. But there was nothing. Moreover, there were no people around. Even in a rural area, people wouldn't stay indoors all day.

"I'm not sure if we should enter."

One of the Holy Knights muttered, and Baihua nodded cautiously.

"Yeah, it's a bit unsettling."

"We need to find the knights who reported capturing the black mage. If something dangerous happened, they would have left a mark."

"Let's check the area around the village first."