Chapter 142: 142

“Your Majesty! What’s wrong?”

Astelle supported Kaizen who suddenly fell to the floor.

Kaizen, leaning on Astelle’s arm, struggled to get up.

“I’m sorry… … I’m a little dizzy… … .”

He murmured helplessly as he struggled to get his focus. His eyes staring into the air have lost their vitality.

Eventually, Kaizen closed his eyes and lost consciousness.

“Your Majesty!”

Hearing a scream, a maid ran in and opened the door.

Astelle shouted, “Call the doctor!”

Since it was the first day of the harvest festival, the emperor’s doctor was outside the palace.

After waiting for dozens of minutes, the doctor came running.

The emperor’s doctor, who she met several times, jumped in and bowed to her.

“His Majesty suddenly collapsed.”

Kaizen was moved to the bed by the servants. He lay quietly as if asleep.

Looking at his calm face, there didn’t seem to be any signs of pain. He just looked like he was sleeping.

However, no matter how much she woke him up, he did not wake up and his breathing was weak.

‘Is it because he was overworked and tired?’

Or is it a simple disease?

Astelle looked at Kaizen lying on the bed and thought about this and that.

The doctor, who was examining the emperor, approached her.

“Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Did you find out what the disease is?”

The doctor was terribly pale. He was more like a patient than Kaizen lying in bed.

“It is not a disease. I think it’s poison.”

“… … .”

For an instant, there was silence in the room.

All the servants and maids also paused.

The emperor was poisoned.

It was such a serious matter that everyone was silent for a moment.

Astelle looked back at Kaizen and then asked again. “Can you detoxify it?”

“It’s hard to say for sure right now because we don’t know what kind of poison it is.”

Poison is not made from a single poisonous herb. It is made from a combination of several poisonous herbs. Poison from animals is also sometimes mixed. The efficacy of the poison also varied greatly depending on the preparation method.

“If you know the kind of the poison, can you detoxify it?”

The doctor looked at Astelle with a sad expression.

“Even if we find out what the poison is, it takes time to study how to detoxify it. If we don’t get an antidote right now… … It’s going to be difficult.”

“… … .”

Astelle seemed to never forget this moment.

He was a man who shook her life for such a long time.

The man who left her and then begged her to come back, and whom she married twice, might be gone forever.

In an instant, a lot of emotions poured out like a waterfall that made her dizzy.

However, everything went by and what was left in the end was a great shock and deep sorrow.

Astelle turned around, trying not to show her agitated.

“Sir Lyndon. Lock down the palace and restrict access right now. And no one should speak out about this.”

After she gave the order to Lyndon, she also assigned duties to the butler of the Empress Palace.

“Go to the butler of the Emperor Palace and tell him to arrest all the cooks in the palace and imprison them. Arrest His Majesty’s close servants and call them here right now.”

After a while, the emperor’s servants came running.

The butler is a middle-aged man who has worked in the Emperor Palace for a long time. As soon as he saw the emperor lying unconscious, he seemed to have noticed what had happened.

Astelle gave him a brief explanation to him and asked about the emperor’s food.

“The meals and drinks served to His Majesty have been inspected several times.”

“Did you taste it first?”

The butler replied, “The maid in charge of the tasting inspected it two or three times.”

The butler looked at Astelle without shaking and answered confidently.

But Astelle saw different emotions in his eyes: a gaze filled with suspicion as if facing a sinner.

‘Do you suspect that Kaizen was poisoned here?’

It couldn’t be, but Astelle couldn’t be sure either.

It’s less than an hour since she came back from the harvest festival.

What if Kaizen came here and ate something?

Just then, Hannah entered the bedroom.

“Hannah, did His Majesty eat something here? Maybe tea or alcohol… … .”

“No, he said he didn’t need anything.”

As Hannah said so, she looked intently at Astelle.

Astelle felt Hannah had something to say. Maybe it’s something that other people shouldn’t hear.

“Butler, go back and crack down on the maids and servants of the palace. Investigate whether any of them showed suspicious behavior.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“This must never leak. It must be kept strictly secret.”

The butler bowed his head and hurriedly went out.

Astelle left the room leaving the servants behind and entered the small break room with Hannah.

As soon as they entered the dimly lit room, Hannah approached Astelle.

“The Emperor had been in the Crown Prince’s room for a while.” Hannah’s low voice trembled slightly.

“He was with Theor?”

Kaizen came here every day to see Theor. He must have gone to see Theor while waiting for Astelle today as well.

“What were they doing?”

“The Crown Prince had a snack.”

The word ‘snack’ made her eyes dim.

“Where is Theor?”

“I’ve taken a look at the Crown Prince. He is safe.”

Maybe Kaizen had a snack with Theor.

But why is Theor fine?

“But… … the servant who served the Crown Prince has disappeared.”

“What?”

The emperor who was with the prince was poisoned. And immediately the prince’s servant disappeared.

It was suspicious for anyone to see.

“He might still be in the palace. Send other servants to find out where he went.”

After Hannah went out, Astelle tried to see Theor.

But Hannah came back a few minutes later.

“Your Majesty! The Duke of Reston is here.”

When she heard the word ‘Duke’, she thought for a moment that Fritz is here.

She wanted to go out to meet her brother right away, but Hannah’s anxious eyes caught her eye.

Astelle stopped on the spot.

“Is my father here?”

Hannah nodded.

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Her confused mind cooled down.

Immediately after the emperor was poisoned, a servant disappeared, and her father came to her.

All of this could never have been a coincidence.

 

***

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The Duke of Reston was waiting for Astelle in the drawing room.

Upon entering, Astelle saw the cozy light of the fireplace and the back of her father, who was sitting in the chair.

She hadn’t seen him in a while, but her father had not changed at all.

“How do you educate the maids? A guest has arrived, and the tea is not even brought out.”

“Father.”

Astelle walked slowly to her grumbling father.

“What did you come here for?”

Astelle’s voice sounded stern as if interrogating a criminal.

However, the Duke replied in his usual calm tone. “I came here immediately after hearing that the emperor was unconscious.”

“Who did you hear that from?”

No one has yet been informed that the emperor fell down from poisoning.

A scornful, contented smile appeared on the Duke’s lips.

“How did you get in here? I have ordered the palace to be locked down.” Astelle asked again, unable to wait for his answer.

“I came in before you gave the order.”

As soon as Astelle learned the emperor had fainted from poisoning, she immediately ordered the palace to be locked down.

Less than an hour had passed since she ordered the gate to be locked and restricted access.

It was impossible to come here from the mansion after hearing the news within that short time.

This means that the Duke knew before Astelle, that the emperor was poisoned.

Astelle turned around.

“Where are you going?”

“I will order them to arrest you.”

Her father’s laughter was heard from behind.

“What do you think will happen to you and the Crown Prince if I die as an emperor assassin?”

“Are you admitting that you are the culprit?”

“I am.”

The Duke of Reston was smiling very brazenly.

Astelle desperately wanted to hit her father.

“Did you poison Theor’s food?”

At Astelle’s question, the Duke of Reston raised one eyebrow.

“Is that possible? What if our precious prince is in danger? Only the emperor’s drink was poisoned. To be precise, I put it on ice.”

That’s how it happened.

“Do you have the antidote?” Astelle asked again, holding back the rising anger.

“Is there such a thing?”

It wouldn’t be a lie.

Even if there was an antidote, her father would have gotten rid of it.

“The Emperor will die anyway. All we have to do is take care of the rest.”

The Duke of Reston tapped the armrest with his finger and continued speaking without feeling guilty, “Fortunately, your brother is the Minister of the Home Affairs, and the commander of the Guards Division is quite close to you.”

He went on to name a few people.

It was the name of the ministers close to the emperor.

“They are all on our side, so rest assured.”

“… … .”

Astelle was horrified.

In other words, half of the emperor’s ministers were aware of this and agreed.

When the emperor dies, the young crown prince legally becomes the emperor.

It couldn’t be stopped by anyone.

“Isn’t that good for you too?”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you were resenting the emperor. When he dies, you will enjoy power and freedom as the empress dowager.”

“… … .”

In fact, when she remarried because she had no other choice, she wanted to get away from Kaizen. But not in this way.

“If I were you, I would imprison the emperor’s doctor.”

knock knock.

Before Astelle could say anything, a knock was suddenly heard.

Theor, wearing a robe over his pajamas, came in.

“Mom!”

“Theor?”

The servant who came after him bowed his head as if in trouble.

“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is worried… … .”

Theor ran to Astelle and then paused.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

Astelle quickly erased her serious expression.

“Theor, what’s wrong?”

“Rowell is gone.”

Astelle belatedly realized that it was the name of Theor’s young servant.

“He went somewhere else for a while. Go back to your bedroom and sleep.”

Astelle remembered Hannah had brought in the young servant, who had been working in the empress dowager’s palace for a long time.

She said he was a sincere person and could be trusted because he was a distant relative of the family who has a relationship with the duke.

He may have been her father’s spy since he was in the empress dowager’s palace.

When Astelle turned her gaze away, Hannah looked at them both with painful eyes.

She seemed to feel guilty about what happened.

“Hannah, it’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

The Duke of Reston rose from his seat and approached Theor.

“Our Crown Prince. You’ve grown a lot.”

Theor moved closer to Astelle.

The Duke gently stroked Theor’s hair.

“You will thank this grandfather of yours later.”

Theor only stared at the Duke, not knowing what he meant.

There was tension in the red eyes resembling Kaizen. Instinctively, he sensed that something was not right.

Even though Theor was young, he was quick to notice that the atmosphere among the adults was strange.

Astelle pulled Theor into her arms and warned the Duke. “Go back to the mansion, father.”

As he hugged Theor, reality came to her again.

If Kaizen dies, Theor becomes emperor.

Astelle made her decision while hugging Theor.

I need to call Gretel right away.

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