‘No. If I make a wrong move now, it could lead to an even bigger problem.’

As Guesta was about to eat the soup, Tree opened his mouth to stop him, but soon changed his mind and swallowed the words that were about to jump out of his throat.

‘If I confess now, not only would I be punished, but it could also cause trouble for his Lordship.’

Whether to end this incident with Tree alone or to involve Guesta was entirely up to Empress Latrasil.

Moreover, it was a problem even if Empress Latrasil treated this incident as Tree’s unilateral mistake.

Ranamun was the eldest son of Duke Atraxil, and Guesta was the son of Chancellor Rhodes.

The relationship between the two families was already bad. The Rhodes family gave drugged soup to the Atraxil Duke’s child?

The moment this incident blew up, it was terrifying to even imagine how the two families would clash.

Moreover, no one among the Rhodes’ servants treasured Guesta as much as Tree did.

It wasn’t because the loyalty of the other servants was lacking, but because Tree had been raised from childhood to serve and protect Guesta as a companion and bodyguard.

Unless a considerable amount of time was spent to train such a person, Tree was certain that no bodyguard like him could emerge.

What if he was forced to leave Guesta’s side because of this incident? Could the already weak and quiet Guesta really endure in the harem?

The crazy Prince Klein was grinding his teeth, watching the situation, and Ranamun would also come to hate Guesta because of this incident, right?

So it couldn’t happen.

‘I must never leave his Lordship’s side.’

Even if eating that soup would make him impotent for a year, it was not a threat to his life or a permanent impotence.

Tree calculated that being impotent for a year would be better than what would happen if he confessed to being the perpetrator, bowed his head, and just looked down at the tip of his shoe.

‘I’m sorry, my Lord.’

[This is the time separator]

After the consorts each took two sips of soup, there was still some left, so Latil ordered all the servants and other court ladies to eat it.

Everyone was reluctant to eat, but they had no choice but to eat the soup, and they couldn’t swallow it, only shedding tears.

[What if I die after eating this? No, Ranamun didn’t die, did he? I won’t die.] [XX, which XXX did this and why are we… If you fall into my hands…] [Oh, it’s not tasty. It smells rotten. Isn’t it rotten? It doesn’t seem burnt but rotten.]

Among them, a few who were particularly frustrated and weakminded were even heard expressing their true feelings. Latil naturally excluded such people from the suspect list.

‘The real culprit is strongwilled.’

However, because everyone had eaten the soup, the real culprit could not be caught.

‘But one thing is certain. The drug in the soup does not have a permanent effect. So the culprit would have eaten it themselves.’

Regardless, the real culprit wanted to bury this issue even if it meant becoming impotent, and Ranamun also didn’t seem keen on catching the culprit, so it was hard for Latil to delve further into the matter.

Having no choice, Latil made a promise for the future and waved her hand at the consorts and court ladies, signaling them to leave.

When everyone left, the room became quiet in an instant.

“Your Majesty.”

Seonaught quietly called Latil, but Latil shook her head, wanting to be alone.

“Let’s talk later, Sir Seonaught.”

Seonaught licked his lips a few times, then gave a small nod.

“Yes.”

When Seonaught cleared his space, Latil was left alone in the room, looking down at the empty bowl on the barren table.

Suddenly, she felt a sense of emptiness.

In the past. That is, when her father was alive, before Hyacinth betrayed her, when her brother had a solid position as a successor, and when all she had to do was look at Hyacinth.

Latil had never felt this way before.

Latil was always hopeful for the future. The air was always soft like cotton fluff, and life was a mix of soft yellow and pink.

Walking on the laidout red carpet with Hyacinth. That was Latil’s life.

So, Latil was confused.

She wondered now if her longing for that period was due to nostalgia for a time without heartache, or longing for Hyacinth.

“Sigh.”

What did it matter?

Latil rubbed her eyes and stepped out of the room, slipping out of the harem.

Having caused quite a scene, she figured whoever the culprit was would lay low for a while.

However, as she was exiting the harem and heading back to the main palace, a familiar figure appeared in the distance.

Squinting, she saw Tasir standing among the garden bushes. And standing next to Tasir was….

‘Hyacinth?’

Despite being dressed like a member of the Karisen envoy, it was obviously Hyacinth, his face obscured by a deeply pulled down hat.

Latil furrowed her brows and stared intently in their direction. What was Tasir doing with Hyacinth?

[This is the time separator]

“Whew, I didn’t know what to do, it was so heavy. Thank you for your help.”

Tasir was in the middle of thanking Hyacinth.