13. The Knot (1)

‘So it ends like this.’

It was a thought she had released, as though bringing things to a conclusion.

Could it not end there like that?

Perhaps that was just her one-sided contemplation, Saena smiled wryly.

Shortly before Elizabeth’s sentence was carried out,

A suspicious circumstance was discovered.

“Hm? You? Aren’t you Amy?”

Before going to bed, Saena came out after washing. Outside was a maid she hadn’t seen usually.

“…Yes.”

Amy. The very maid they had brought from Delvon to the Kramer townhouse after discovering evidence she had been bribed by Elizabeth.

As Saena sat on the stool in front of the vanity, Amy and another maid naturally approached and skillfully began drying her hair with towels.

“Where’s Tasha?”

Tasha was in charge of attending her bath, but since Saena didn’t particularly like being attended to in the bath, she only handled drying and arranging hair after bathing.

“She suddenly got a stomachache so she switched with me.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Hmm…. A stomachache.

Though slightly suspicious, it was also something that could certainly happen.

Saena quietly observed Amy working through the mirror. She just silently did her work, showing no particularly suspicious signs.

Meanwhile, the two maids had mostly finished drying her hair. Then one held a comb while Amy brought the perfume oil bottle to put in her hair. The usual one.

Pop, when she opened the cap, the familiar scent wafted strongly.

‘…No, is it different?’

It seemed similar yet different. Actually, it was closer to the realm of intuition rather than smell.

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

“Hold on.”

Seeing Amy’s pupils shake slightly, Saena turned her body.

Just then Darielle entered, making it seem like she stopped because of her.

“Darielle.”

Saena greeted her with a smile.

“Madam.”

“Yes. What is it?”

“I have urgent news.”

“Really?”

She seemed to know what it was about.

“You two go out for now and come back later.”

“…But we haven’t put the oil in your hair yet.”

“We can do it later.”

The maid bowed and left. Amy hesitated briefly but had no choice but to leave.

“After the last contact, today seems to be ‘that day.'”

After confirming all maids had left, Darielle spoke in a low voice.

It was indeed about Amy.

Though the maid herself didn’t know, she had been under surveillance inside and out since day one.

They had already put a tail on her when she requested permission for an outing a few days ago. The person secretly following reported her seeing someone enter a general store pretending to be a customer and slip something into her pocket while passing by her side.

Though they hadn’t seen what it was, Saena now seemed to know.

‘Something in that perfume oil.’

Actually, Amy had been bait cast out just in case, but she hadn’t expected something would really bite.

“She visited Tasha at noon saying she received food from home and wanted to share.”

And several hours after Amy left, Tasha suddenly came down with diarrhea.

The situation after that was as now. The conclusion was obvious.

—She’s really sharp, isn’t she? She’s packing her bags now. Looks like she’s trying to run away.

Yolly appeared.

“Kya–?”

Startled by his sudden appearance, Darielle let out a strange scream and stared at Yolly as if entranced.

‘Was this her first time seeing Guardian Spirit Yolly?’

Saena found Darielle’s dumbfounded expression cute, seeing it for the first time.

“Darielle. She’s trying to run away just now.”

But she needed to tell her what needed to be said.

“Ye-yes?”

“They say she’s packing her bags now.”

“…Gasp!”

Having returned to reality, Darielle spun around.

“I’ll tell the knights!”

With that she disappeared with a whoosh.

—She’s an interesting one.

“Right? She’s quite a delightful child.”

Saena nodded at Yolly’s observation.

“By the way, what’s in that?”

Saena asked, pointing at the perfume oil bottle.

—Poison.

“Really poison?”

—Yes. Not even diluted, seems like a concentrate. At this concentration, even someone applying it could get poisoned.

To apply perfume oil to hair, the maid’s palms would naturally get covered in it. What made her trust putting suspicious liquid in something that would obviously get on her own hands?

Even a maid could surely deduce that something secretly mixed in without the owner’s knowledge couldn’t possibly be good for the body, wasn’t she suspicious at all?

—They probably told her washing hands right away would be fine.

Well, having it applied to hair would mean constant exposure to poison all day for the recipient, so that’s different. They must have whispered some persuasive lies.

—But not that amount.

Even if the maid died from poisoning the next day after applying this oil, Elizabeth wouldn’t have cared at all.

One maid’s life meant nothing if she could achieve her goal.

“…How did she manage to contact the outside?”

That was more curious.

Elizabeth was currently imprisoned.

Yet she desperately contacted outside, and ordered Saena’s murder.

She must have realized it was their side that interfered with her scheme at the masquerade ball.

Knock knock.

Just then came a knock.

Looking back to see who it was, Constantine was leaning against the open doorway. When his eyes met Saena’s, he walked inside.

“You’re here?”

“They say they gave her one last chance to meet family.”

“What?”

Constantine approached with a slightly subdued look and slowly pressed his lips against the boundary between her forehead and hair before pulling away.

“House Valdez briefly entered the capital.”

…Wait. So Elizabeth ordered my assassination during her final family meeting? And her family agreed to it?

‘Are they insane?’

Unable to comprehend, Saena opened her mouth.

“…Is this it?”

Constantine asked her while picking up and examining the perfume oil bottle on the vanity.

“Hm? Ah, yes. It seems to be undiluted poison concentrate, so be careful.”

Was that subdued expression because of this? He must have come after receiving a report. Looking at the bottle with an extremely cold expression, he closed it again with the cap and tucked it away.

“…Why are you taking that?”

“Would you rather keep such a dangerous thing?”

“Well, no….”

His expression looked dangerous so she had to ask.

It felt like he would pour that oil down someone’s throat right away if the person who ordered the poisoning was in front of him.

Though he wasn’t the type to act rashly when angry, she still felt worried. Perhaps sensing her concern, Constantine’s rigid face softened into a smile.

“Don’t worry. I’ll dispose of it properly since it’s dangerous.”

True, it would be terrible if someone used it by mistake after leaving it around.

“I’ll handle the maid as well.”

“…Handle?”

The word seemed strange for a moment so she asked again.

“…I mean interrogate her. We don’t know if she received other orders besides this oil.”

“Ah, that could be true.”

“So you rest. You can sleep first if you’re tired.”

Saena was about to say okay when she suddenly felt something strange.

When she felt a sudden chill like when he suffered Caligo’s side effects, Saena reflexively grabbed Constantine’s arm.

“…Saya?”

She felt his arm’s temperature with her palm then traced up to his chest and neck. She could feel muscles twitching along her touch.

“…Saya, why…”

“Ah, you’re not cold. I suddenly felt a chill so I wondered if you were hiding the fact that you’re sick again….”

Constantine caught her hand checking his neck temperature. Then he pressed his lips to her palm.

“…Constantine?”

His languid downward gaze was intense.

‘…Suddenly?’

He would sometimes give such incomprehensible looks at unpredictable moments, but Saena didn’t quite understand.

The slow hand wrapping around her waist and his steady gaze were insistent as if asking permission. Her waist was already pressed against him and his head was coming down.

—Ah, this bastard again without warning…!

Yolly spat out a single curse and disappeared. As if to fill his absence, Constantine invaded her mouth.

“Mm, nn….”

Before she knew it, pushed back by him in confusion, the bed hit the back of her knees. As her knees buckled and she collapsed, he trapped her and focused on kissing for quite a while.

“I take it back.”

Haa. When her lungs started aching from the intense breathing, he pulled away.

“Rest, but don’t sleep and wait.”

He whispered softly, savoring the tender skin near her ear, before standing up. Even as he rose, his lips lingered, planting gentle kisses as if unwilling to part.

“I’ll return as quickly as possible.”

Watching his back disappear in long strides, seeming impatient, Saena couldn’t help but smile.

Her mind that had been troubled with thoughts of Elizabeth and poisoning was somehow fine now.

The fact that she wasn’t alone was too clear.

Saena lay down and closed her eyes with a long smile.

* * *

Before being expelled from the imperial capital, Elizabeth had to drink medicine.

It was medicine to forcibly harden the womb, to carry out the imperial family’s punishment that she would never be able to have children.

Of course, she heard it would involve tremendous pain.

‘Aaaaaaah-aaagh!!’

Her body that had writhed in pain until passing out was thrown outside the castle without treatment.

A special carriage without any insignia carried her out. It was a carriage used for transporting prisoners. And that carriage headed straight for her place of exile.

She heard the exile location was quite far and treacherous. They said it would take over a month just to travel there by carriage.

That journey would undoubtedly be incredibly arduous.

From the pain of the womb-hardening medicine, to the humiliation and insults from poor meals and the treatment of the guard, to shackles binding her body like a slave—none of it would be easy at all.