Ash continued.

“I also know Liria. I’ve seen her a couple of times. She was a beautiful woman. Beautiful, pure, and perfect. Even in my eyes, she looked that way. But Liria couldn’t endure it either. If she were a woman who could endure it, she wouldn’t have lived in the Duke’s residence, and if she had stayed in the capital, she might not have died like that.”

“I don’t know much about Lady Liria, but from what you’re saying, it seems like she was a very sensitive person.”

Ash agreed.

“That’s right. She was a woman who occasionally shed tears even if a flower withered.”

Meiana’s shoulders lightly lifted.

“I am not that kind of person. As you can see, I am fierce, sharp, and don’t tolerate being attacked.”

“That’s the problem. When you were just a maid caring for Ariante, there was no problem with you acting that way to protect her. But if, by any chance, you become the future Lady Valteminster, then it could be a significant problem. Among the nobles in the capital, there are, of course, good people like me, but there are many others who are not. Annoying.”

Meiana, who was about to say that the Duke was not a particularly good person either, closed her mouth quietly. Anyway, it wasn’t the time for a lengthy argument with Ash…

“Thank you for your concern. However, I will handle that issue myself.”

Ash chuckled.

“I don’t believe big people can handle things well on their own.”

“If you don’t believe it, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Excusing herself, Meiana headed straight towards Cedric’s study before Ash could say anything else. Ash, who stood still as if lost in thought for a moment, muttered somewhat absurdly.

“Cedric, why are there only strange people around you? Are you spreading some weird charm?”

It was a tone that seemed unaware that he himself was at the core of those ‘strange people.’

Meanwhile, entering the study, Meiana looked at Cedric, who was standing there absentmindedly, with an anxious expression. He turned his head towards her at almost the same time, and when their eyes met, he quickly grabbed her hand.

“Why are you here now? Did Ash say something strange to you?”

“He always says strange things, nothing new. But why did you call me? Is something urgent?”

“Look at this.”

Cedric pointed to the desk. Three flasks were standing side by side on the edge where the sunlight tilted into a rhombus.

Meiana was captivated for a moment by the suspicion that there was a brightly decorated mark on the neck of those flasks, written with ‘Drink me!’… The three flasks exuded such a dangerous atmosphere.

Just the fact that there were no labels indicating what kind of potion they held made it suspicious.

At that moment, Meiana’s gaze stopped at one of the flasks. There was something she had seen somewhere. As she reached out towards the bottle, Cedric, blocking her arm, said.

“Be careful.”

Meiana laughed briefly and looked at Cedric.

“Are you afraid I might suddenly decide to drink this?”

Finally, a somewhat awkward smile appeared on Cedric’s face. The heart that had been tense all along felt a little softened.

“Do you have a guess as to why I asked you to come?”

“Because of these flasks, of course… Did Lord Gémero bring them to you?”

“Yeah. Is there something familiar among these?”
There was nothing more to see; it was already within Meiana’s sight… She didn’t hesitate for a moment and picked up the dark amber bottle placed on the far left. Among the bottles of similar size and shape, the reason it caught Meiana’s eye was the stopper.

The ashen bottle had a cork stopper, and another dark amber bottle had a yellowish rubber stopper protruding upward.

But the last one Meiana picked up had a flat, black-painted rubber stopper. And another one…

As Meiana raised the bottle above her eyes, Cedric hesitated again, as if trying to stop her.

However, Meiana, carefully pressing the bottle’s mouth, checked the bottom. As expected, there was a pattern engraved on the bottom, just as she had thought.

Strange indentations that meandered inside the bottle when exposed to light… It was because of the concave pattern engraved on the bottom. There was no pattern on the other amber bottles, and the ashen bottle had a hibiscus flower drawing engraved darkly and thickly on the cork.

“I have seen these potion flasks, my lord.”

“Is it the same as when you substituted for Ariante’s food, and Jocelyn collapsed after drinking?”

Meiana’s fingertips trembled lightly as she lowered the potion flask.

“Yes, it’s the same bottle.”

“Was that bottle discarded?”

“No, I have it.”

Cedric breathed a sigh of relief. On one hand, he believed that she had the potion flask all along, but still, he was uncertain. What happened at that time must have been a shock not only to Ariante but also to Meiana.

Cedric said, “Jocelyn probably found poison to eliminate Berbo and Liria at the Negrion herbalist. At the time, the circumstances of the two’s deaths were too strange… ”

“Was poison detected?”

In response to Meiana’s question, Cedric frowned slightly.