“Well……. it seems to have been burned for several years.”

“Who, why, do you know why it was burned?”

“I don’t know that much. Managing the imperial residence is entirely the authority of the chief chamberlain.”

Elodie nodded slightly. There would be no fool to blatantly use poison on the emperor, so it wouldn’t be easy to find the culprit.

“A few years.”

That meant he had been exposed to poison for at least a year.

Then the culprit would be someone who could expose the unseen poison little by little, steadily, for a long time without anyone noticing.

Elodie recalled the original story.

Even when Estel became engaged to the first prince, Adenmir was still a prince. This meant the emperor’s life was safe for about three more years.

The problem was after that. The emperor who had been bedridden died, causing a struggle for the throne.

“When was that?”

The exact moment was not mentioned. Originally, the main content was the healing of Estel’s family, so political relationships and the emperor were not of great importance.

Anyway, it looked certain that the emperor’s death was not from a chronic illness but from poisoning.

Elodie looked up at Adenmir, who was waiting for her to speak.

“It seems that His Majesty has been exposed to poison for a long time and is now intoxicated.”

“If the fragrance is the cause of intoxication, why am I fine? Moreover, the chamberlain who resides in the bedroom is fine too.”

“That’s the ‘catch’ I mentioned.”

She was sure the smoke was poisonous. She had confirmed its toxicity by inhaling it herself, just like a poison detector.

However, the toxicity itself was not that strong, judging from the mild dizziness accompanied by a headache.

It would be a level of toxicity harmless to ordinary people.

So even if exposed steadily, it would have been all right.

But the fact that the emperor’s health had deteriorated is[dash].

“When poisons meet, they can cause a greater reaction.”

What caught Elodie’s eye, glancing around, was the emperor’s medicine bottle on the table.

The medicine bottle was empty as the emperor had already taken the medicine, but a few drops were left.

Without hesitation, Elodie approached and poured the remaining medicine into her mouth.

“……Princess!”

Watching what she was trying to do, Adenmir was startled and grabbed Elodie’s wrist.

“Spit it out.”

Adenmir put his hand to Elodie’s mouth, but she had already swallowed the medicine.

When the heartburning pain came, Elodie knew for sure.

“This is it.”

The pain was not that great because she had only consumed a small amount.

Adenmir laughed in disbelief as Elodie giggled, knowing her guess was right.

“You’re laughing now? Spit it out quickly.”

“But…… I’ve already swallowed it.”

“Ha. Why did you eat that, anyway? You should have had it investigated.”

“If an investigation would have revealed it, it wouldn’t have come up as His Majesty’s medicine in the first place. Eating it directly is certain. Especially since I’ve already inhaled the fragrant smoke.”

“You don’t have to do that as a princess.”

“It’s okay. I’m used to[dash].”

Ah.

Elodie, who had realized her slip of the tongue for a moment, answered, avoiding Adenmir’s gaze.
“There’s no need to worry about the poison, as I have a tolerance for it.”

“Tolerance? Why would a princess have something like that?”

“It’s just my constitution. Um, what should we do now?”

Adenmir silently looked down at Elodie, who was obviously changing the subject.

‘It’s familiar….’

Furthermore, she has a tolerance.

Adenmir, who had trained his poison tolerance from a young age, knew better than anyone how much of a terrible price one had to pay to develop such resistance.

Even if she was the noble lady of the Ferdia family, having tolerance was not common.

At that moment, what flashed through Adenmir’s mind were the numerous medicine bottles he had seen in Elodie’s bedroom.

When he had taken one of the bottles with the lid open to the royal pharmacist, he had said so.

“It’s poison.”

It was poison.

Furthermore, that poison was a deadly toxin that could destroy the respiratory organs with just one drop.

Familiarity. Tolerance. And the fact that she possessed poison.

Something seemed almost graspable but still vague.

Adenmir gave up deep thinking. Elodie Ferdia was the kind of woman who became more enigmatic the more he knew her.

He sighed and let go of Elodie’s arm that he was holding.

“Princess, please don’t do reckless things.”

It felt like his life was shortening.

Wasn’t she suddenly clamping her mouth shut, and wasn’t she drinking the poison without hesitation?

He didn’t know how many times his heart had dropped.

Anyway, fortunately, Elodie’s condition looked okay, even though she said she had taken a small amount.

Adenmir glanced around the Emperor’s bedroom, which had brightened in an instant.

It was a strange feeling, as the place was always dim.

Looking at the Emperor’s face that seemed dead in the bedroom, Adenmir realized that the Prince’s complexion looked more relaxed than usual.

‘Is it an illusion?’