Slap!

Her head snapped to the side.

A perfectly manicured hand struck Roanne’s gaunt cheek without mercy. Before Mokyeong could even turn her head back, another blow came flying.

Slap!

Her other cheek began to sting as well.

The ring on the Empress’s finger had scraped across her delicate skin, drawing blood, and Mokyeong could taste its saltiness inside her mouth.

“How dare you act on your own? When did I ever tell you to kill the Prince this way?!”

Mokyeong kept her head bowed as she ran her tongue over the torn flesh inside her cheek.

A slap to the face.

When was the last time she had allowed someone to hit her without fighting back?

Just as a long-buried memory threatened to surface, Mokyeong dismissed the thought without hesitation.

More importantly, something about what the Empress had just said felt strange.

‘……Dead?’

That could not be true.

She had only managed to examine Carden briefly before losing consciousness. The poison he had ingested was not the kind that killed instantly.

She could not be certain, as she was not familiar with every poisonous plant in existence, but when she last checked, Carden had not been dying.

“……Has His Highness truly passed away?”

“What?”

The Empress’s face twisted in disbelief.

“You poisoned him, yet you dare ask me that?”

“I did not give him that poison. I have never poisoned His Highness.”

The Empress’s eyebrows shot up furiously.

“Do you think it matters now whether you poisoned him or not? The Prince ingested poison and died while alone with you. And who was it that placed you by his side?”

When Mokyeong did not answer, the Empress stepped closer, met her gaze, and spoke.

“It was me.”

Her cold violet eyes gleamed viciously.

“Because of you alone, I am now in danger of being suspected for something I did not do. When did I ever tell you to kill the Prince immediately? Do you truly think I would handle matters this foolishly?”

The Empress’s voice grew sharper with every word.

“I spent the past two years painstakingly waiting for the right moment……. And because you acted on your own, all that effort has gone to waste!”

Two years.

Mokyeong turned those words over in her mind.

At that moment, fragments of Roanne’s memories surfaced abruptly.

She recalled being handed a small vial by one of the Empress’s maids in secret. The instructions were to mix a few drops into Carden’s food or tea each day. These doses became more frequent whenever he was about to depart on an expedition or hunting trip.

However, unable to poison the prince, Roanne had swallowed most of the poison sent by the empress herself.

‘No…….’

Only then did all the pieces fall into place.

For the past two years, the Empress had intended to gradually poison Carden and ruin his health before killing him when the right opportunity arose.

Yet Roanne had been the one who consumed most of that poison…….

‘Then the Empress has no idea.’

She did not know that Carden, whom she believed she had spent two years poisoning, was actually perfectly healthy.

‘That makes this even stranger. There is no way the Prince could have died from a mere sleeping poison.’

After grinding her teeth for some time, the Empress pulled a black vial from inside her clothing and tossed it in front of Mokyeong.

“I have no need for excuses. You will pay for this with your life. Drink it.”

Mokyeong did not need to ask what it was.

Poison, undoubtedly. Since the Empress knew about Roanne’s constitution, it would be extraordinarily potent.

“If you die here, I will announce that you took your own life because you could not bear the guilt of poisoning the Prince. Only then can this matter end as a crime you committed entirely on your own.”

In the end, she intended to place the entire blame for the attempted assassination of the Prince on Roanne and sever all ties to her.

When Mokyeong silently stared at the vial, the Empress sighed and continued in a slightly gentler voice.

“If you die quietly, I will forgive House Oult’s debt to House Desart.”

Her life was valued at one hundred million gold coins.

Should she consider it an honour that she was not being sold for less?

Mokyeong suppressed a bitter smile as she picked up the vial that the Empress had thrown at her.

Impressed by her obedience, the Empress’s gaze softened slightly.

She was a woman who did as she was told, cowered when threatened, and ultimately bowed her head whenever her family or house were mentioned.

That was likely the Roanne the Empress knew.

Mokyeong removed the stopper.

The moment the sweet fragrance of the poison reached her nose, her eyes widened.

‘Azure-Scaled Viper Venom?’

It was a poison Mokyeong knew extremely well.

Extracted from a venomous snake with blue scales, it was potent enough for a single drop to burn through the esophagus and stop the heart.

‘This exists in this world as well?’

Mokyeong brought the vial closer to her nose without realizing it.

The fragrance was unmistakable. It was pure, too.

At that moment, an image of the Oult Mountains appeared in her mind, conjured from Roanne’s memories.

Countless poisonous plants and creatures.

Mountains where outsiders dared not set foot carelessly.

If the Azure-Scaled Viper existed here, there could be any number of other poisonous creatures and plants that she was unaware of.

Things that had already gone extinct in the Central Plains, or that she could have searched for her entire life without ever finding, might be thriving somewhere within those mountains.

‘It is a treasure trove.’

The thought made Mokyeong’s heart pound wildly despite herself.

“……What are you doing?”

It was the Empress’s icy voice that brought Mokyeong back to her senses.

Ah, right!

Now was hardly the time to revel in the scent of poison.

She had to survive before she could return to Oult.

Mokyeong instantly changed her expression, threw herself flat on the ground, banged her forehead against the floor and cried out.

“Your Majesty! I am grateful for your merciful offer, but please consider the solution I have devised as well!”

The Empress narrowed her eyes at Mokyeong, who had suddenly prostrated herself.

“……A solution?”

“I am not afraid to drink the poison Your Majesty has given me. But even if I die now, will that truly clear you of the accusation that you attempted to assassinate His Highness?”

Mokyeong slowly lifted her forehead from the floor.

She had struck it so forcefully against the rough stone that beads of crimson blood had formed where the skin had been scraped away.

“Everyone already knows that Your Majesty was the one who sent me to His Highness’s side. If I die, their suspicions will not disappear. On the contrary, some may believe I was silenced.”

The Empress’s gaze shifted subtly. Mokyeong did not miss her reaction.

“But what if I prove my innocence instead?”

“…….”

“The moment it is revealed that I did not poison His Highness, Your Majesty, who placed me by his side, will also have grounds to prove that you had nothing to do with this incident.”

Silence briefly descended upon the cell.

“Therefore, please grant me an opportunity, Your Majesty.”

The Empress quietly looked down at the woman prostrating herself before her.

She seemed unfamiliar.

Her face undoubtedly belonged to Roanne Oult, and her voice and body were exactly the same.

Yet her eyes were different.

‘Did she always have eyes like that?’

The Empress had known Roanne for more than just a day or two.

She had summoned her to the court of her family, House Desart, where she was treated like a servant for three years. Then she installed her as Princess Consort and used her as an extension of herself for a further two years.

Five years in total.

The Empress prided herself on knowing Roanne better than anyone else.

Roanne would weaken whenever her family was mentioned and cower whenever someone shouted at her. If the Empress so much as slapped her, Roanne would bite her lip to hold back her tears and lower her head.

To confirm this, the Empress stepped closer to Mokyeong.

“Your mother in Oult is still bedridden, is she not?”

Mokyeong’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“And your younger brother is in a monastery. You certainly have many burdens to bear.”

Those words would have drained the color from the old Roanne’s face.

But the woman before her merely gazed at her for a moment before tilting her head slightly.

“That is why I have remained loyal to Your Majesty until now.”

“…….”

“However, my loyalty and taking the blame for a crime I did not commit are two entirely different matters, are they not?”

The Empress’s gaze turned frigid.

Mokyeong suppressed an inward scoff.

‘She is testing me.’

The Empress had deliberately targeted Roanne’s greatest weaknesses.

Her mother, her younger brother, and her family.

All to observe her reaction.

Pretending not to notice, Mokyeong gave her a faint smile.

After staring at her for some time, the Empress abruptly reached out.

She seized Mokyeong roughly by the chin.

“You.”

The Empress pulled Mokyeong’s face closer.

“Are you truly Roanne Oult?”

Mokyeong’s gaze flinched and wavered, but only for an instant. Fortunately, the Empress seemed to interpret it as nothing more than fear.

“Can a person truly change this much in a single day?”

Instead of answering, Mokyeong quietly bit her lip.

Sometimes, a determined gaze conveyed far more than a hasty reply ever could.

A faint sneer curved the Empress’s lips.

“Hmph. It seems the prospect of death has driven you mad.”

Releasing Mokyeong’s chin roughly, the Empress turned away.

“Do not try anything foolish. The simplest solution would be for you to die here and now.”

She was just about to walk away.

“His Highness is not dead.”

The Empress stopped abruptly.

Gazing at her back, Mokyeong continued.

“If His Highness ingested the same poison I did, then he is still alive.”

The Empress slowly turned around.

For the first time, an emotion other than irritation or contempt appeared in her icy violet eyes.

“……Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

Once again, Mokyeong let her clear, unwavering gaze speak in place of any desperate plea.

“Please give me a chance. I will prove it to you.”

The Empress narrowed her eyes as she studied Roanne.