Chapter 97
A mastermind?
Sylaria had thought Grizelle’s attempt to kill Elenia was simply due to personal grudge.
Because things weren’t going the way she wanted.
She had assumed Grizelle turned her arrows toward Sylaria, trying to harm her family.
But it seemed Euclid saw things differently.
If there was someone behind the scenes, who could be manipulating Grizelle to do such a thing?
Arendtert? Or…
‘No, first we need to move somewhere else.’
Sylaria glanced at Elenia and looked around.
Nearby, servants were busily cleaning up the room Grizelle had ransacked. Though they were workers from the First Prince’s Palace, she couldn’t be completely at ease.
Especially with such a sensitive topic, she had to be careful. There was no telling whose ears might be where. That’s why Euclid had spoken quietly, wasn’t it? Just because she was shocked didn’t mean she should foolishly raise her voice.
“Let’s go to my room and talk.”
At Sylaria’s whisper, Euclid nodded slowly. After asking Cyan to handle the cleanup, he took her hand.
All the way to their private space, Sylaria fell into troubled silence.
Setting aside the talk of a mastermind, the fact that Grizelle had truly tried to kill Elenia was shocking.
‘Was it Grizelle’s doing in my past life too?’
The reason Elenia had left the world much earlier than the physician had predicted. She had agonized countless times over what it could have been.
If her lifespan had naturally run out, there was nothing to be done. But it had been too unnatural, too early a death.
As if someone had intervened.
Then who on earth had killed Elenia?
Sylaria had considered Arendtert the most likely suspect. From the beginning of their marriage, he had shown his annoyance at taking in and caring for Elenia.
So he might have schemed such a thing to rid himself of a bothersome burden. That would be just like him.
The fact that he kept Elenia’s death a secret even after she died also made sense if it was to perfectly cover up his crime.
But seeing Grizelle today, the thought occurred to her that Arendtert might not have been the culprit.
Could it have been Grizelle herself?
Had Grizelle from her past life killed Elenia?
‘Stop thinking about it. What good will dwelling on something unknowable do?’
Sylaria shook her head. The truth about Elenia’s death in her past life was unknowable. So even though it pained her, she shouldn’t speculate recklessly.
But the human heart doesn’t organize itself so neatly. Even though she knew it in her head, she couldn’t easily cut off the thoughts.
The fear that Elenia might have met an unhappy death somewhere she didn’t know, while she was unaware.
The fear that she might have died unjustly because of her, for the reason of being her sister.
It was difficult to think rationally.
“Are you okay, Sylaria?”
Euclid, who had entered the bedroom at some point, wore a worried expression. Sylaria blinked and slowly nodded.
Leave the past life to the past life. And do what can be done now. Comforting herself that way.
“I’m fine. Can you continue what you were saying earlier? Why do you think there’s someone behind Grizelle? She could have acted alone.”
“Because the poison Grizelle Willoughby used isn’t something easily obtained.”
Sylaria’s brow furrowed at Euclid’s words.
“Do you know what it is?”
“I know it well.”
Euclid smiled bitterly. Standing by the window, he looked out at the peaceful-seeming garden and spoke.
“Because it’s a poison the Empress likes to use.”
“…!”
“A white powder with no smell or taste. At a glance it looks like sugar, but the moment you put it on your tongue, you cough up blood and collapse.”
Sylaria’s heart beat rapidly as she listened to Euclid’s explanation. She looked at him intently. He was staring fixedly at the garden, as if recalling something.
“Willoughby used enough to cause instant death, but if it were the Empress, she would have used it more carefully. She would have made the target die slowly over several days. Like with my mother.”
Sylaria unconsciously covered her mouth. Euclid’s mother, the former Empress, had left the world due to an unexplained illness. The reason why she, who had been healthy, suddenly collapsed coughing up blood still hadn’t been revealed to this day.
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