Chapter 44: 44

Apparently, the talk about Lina becoming Sir Savalier’s fiancee is turning into a reality.

Several days earlier, her majesty, the queen contacted me for a tea party and I was thinking of finding the right excuse to refuse her again, but because the letter also spoke of Sir Savalier’s attendance, I couldn’t refuse it anymore.

Maynard was also called, and it feels like his majesty will come too.

Because it’s starting to look like Lina and Savalier’s engagement was being finalized, my mood today was as heavy as the skies outside. It looks like it could rain any time soon.

The talk about Lina being the true saintess is growing larger and larger, and I do not know when will I be sent back to the Ducal mansion.

Because of the possibility of rainfall today, we had to do the tea party indoors. 

This castle has many drawing rooms for reception, but for now, we’ll use the room on the first floor that looks out to the courtyard.

The room has a huge glass door that faces the courtyard, which makes the enthralling garden’s fountain visible from a distance.

When I came to the Salon, his majesty, the king; her majesty the queen; the two princes, Maynard and Savalier; Sir Berland and Sir Orpheus; and finally, Lina and her father, Count Wagner; were all already in attendance.

Count Wagner’s hairline is looking like a desolate forest that crowns his square face. His sharp and glinted eyes followed me as I made my way inside the room.

‘My deepest apologies, your majesty. Have I made all the honored guests, wait?’

It appears that I came last, so I apologized to her majesty, the queen, the tea party’s principal, but she denied it and merely beckoned me to a seat.

Therefore, I made my way towards the seat next to her majesty, but Maynard quickly stole me by the hand and placed me next to him. Queen Lisette seemed upset about this.

Sandwiches and sweets lined up on the table.

His majesty, who looked very much like his son, Maynard, was displeased by the lack of strawberry sandwiches, but Queen Lisette giggled at him and called him a child.

Meanwhile, Lina linked arms with Sir Cavalier with an ecstatic smile on her face.

Maynard asked me what I would like to eat, but unfortunately, I do not have the appetite for anything.

I reverted my attention to dear brother, Orpheus, but his displeasure was plainly displayed across his face. Sir Berland was elbowing him by the side, muttering something, and if I were to guess, it’s something along the lines of, ‘shut it, you’re in his majesty’s presence!’ 

‘May I ask why lady saintess, who is not at all related to these matters, must be forced to graced us with her presence?’

Count Wagner started the tea party with that question, his eyes fixed my way.

Even if you ask me that! I don’t know either! Ask the party’s principal!

Or so I thought, but I can’t really bite at him now, so I responded with a troubled smile instead.

‘Oh my, Aily is my dear friend, you know?’

Her majesty said with such an alluring smile, but I sensed something dark forming behind it, which made me avert my gaze. I felt like she was saying something like, ‘Got any complaints, you punk!?‘, but I must be seeing things.

The thoughtless king only said, ‘Lisette is so adorable today too’ boldly displaying his affection in front of everyone.

I can’t deal with this. I want to go home already!

In the first place, why must I be here? Maynard and My dearest brother don’t seem to be reliable enough for an explanation, so I turned my attention to Sir Berland, but I could only read, ‘bear it’, from his voiceless response.

Count Wagner coughed deliberately to break the ice and spoke once more.

‘I came here today to inquire of my daughter’s engagement with Sir Savalier.’

or so he declared.

I did not hear anything about this!

The troubled expression of Maynard told me that Count Wagner is not speaking nonsense.

Why was I not told of this? Rather, am I really needed here!?

I glared at Maynard sullenly, but he only grasped my hand tightly. His fingerprints obsessively dug at the back of my hands.

…Is there a good reason for my being here?

I suppose it can’t be helped then. I’ll watch over the whole thing in silence.

As I regained my composure, Maynard looked at me, relieved.

His majesty alternated his gaze between Savalier and Lina and began talking.

‘We are severely grateful for Miss Lina’s curing of our son’s poison.’

‘I am unworthy of your words, sire. This humble servant merely did what must be done.’

‘Mhm. Furthermore, your healing prowess is quite marvelous, Miss Lina.’

‘Not at all, sire… If compared to her ladyship, the saintess, I am nothing…’

Lina turned her eyes my way as she said those things and my stomach immediately electrified in vexation.

‘I was regretfully thinking that I impudently went and did something unnecessary in the presence of the saintess, but his majesty’s words relieve such worries.’

What regretfully, are you talking about? You shoved me out of the way with all your might.

‘Thank goodness, nothing dire happened to Sir Savalier, I was… really scared back then.’

Lina looked up to Sir Savalier with tears in her eyes, and the prince responded to her with a smile.

‘Father, Miss Lina saved my life.’

‘I see. Does that mean you consent to the count’s proposal?’

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The Count’s proposal?

Does this mean that the engagement was endorsed principally by Count Wagner?

Endorsing his daughter to the 2nd prince right after getting broken off by the 1st prince, the count must have the nerves of steel.

Savalier responded in affirmation, his smile not leaving his face.

‘Yes, father. Please do go forward with it. But still, to think that poison was in the champagne I just casually took, and on top of it, there are as many champagne bottles there, but only that one had poison. It feels as though they specifically aimed for my life.’

‘Surely, the culprit must have been aware of his highness averseness of strawberries.’

Lina calmly replied with her hand on her cheek.

Strawberry? Certainly, I do recall that Sir Savalier hated strawberries since childhood. The champagne glasses at dance parties always come with strawberries, but they also prepare those without them, especially for Sir Savalier’s use. The culprit made use of that knowledge and put poison on the glasses without strawberries, specifically. Huh? This reminds me, I remember something being in the Champagne glass that his majesty held that day. What was that again?

Hmmm?

Something is clicking in my mind and I cannot make anything quite of it.

‘I see. So they aimed for my life by putting poison in champagne glasses without strawberries.’

‘That must be so. The culprit must have known that his highness will use the ones with cherries.’

Right! It was the cherries! I saw those red berries in the champagne glass that his highness rocked with him.

Sir Savalier has a habit of rocking the champagne glass before drinking. I asked him before why and he said that he was not quite fond of carbonated drinks.

Prince Savalier took a piece of cherry at the table and casually put it in his mouth.

‘There’s only one glass with cherry amongst the ones prepared by the waiter after all.’

‘That is right, sir. All others had strawberries in them.’

‘You’re right, Lina. I’m impressed that you remember it well.’

After chewing on the cherry, Sir Savalier put a napkin near his mouth and placed the seeds there, then he folded it twice and placed it on the table.

After that, he took a champagne bottle at the top of the table, and after putting a single cherry on one of the glasses, poured it into the glass and offered it to Lina.

‘That’s right. My champagne glass had a cherry in it that day. By the way, Lina…’

After Lina received the glass from him, Prince Savalier smiled at her and continued,

‘How did you know that my champagne glass had a cherry in it?’

‘Sir?’

Lina’s eyes stared in wonder while I tilted my head in puzzlement.

I mean, that’s something anybody can tell—wait,

My eyelashes twinkled me into thinking.

The seat of Sir Savalier and Lina was far from Sir Maynard’s and my seat.

Because of the many attendees, they’ve put two refectory tables together, hence, there is a considerable distance from one end to another.

I turned my attention towards the Champagne glass that Lina was holding and harbored a bad premonition.

Pink-colored champagne filled the glass that she held. That’s right, the glass that Sir Savalier held that day also had pink champagne in it.

Even from my seat, the pink-colored liquid obscures the cherry from sight, and I remember not being able to tell clearly what it was.

I inadvertently grasped back Maynard’s hand tightly.

‘Lina. I remember you sitting quite far from both Aileen and me. How were you able to tell the cherry in my glass from such a distance?’

The eyes of Sir Savalier who responded with a smile were rigid and cold.

They froze the smile on Lina’s face and caused shivers in the hand holding the glass.

‘Y-Your highness! My daughter has a very great eyesi—’

Everyone was holding their breaths as Count Wagner asserted in a flustered voice, but Sir Savaliers severe glare prevented him from continuing his words.

‘After that, I inquired from the person in charge of the party’s menu. I asked whether he instructed the staff to put a cherry on my glass. He denied it. He said that he had them prepare an empty champagne glass instead as always. So this time, I went and asked the server who gave me the glass instead. I inquired why there was a cherry in the champagne glass that he gave me. This is what he said,’

Prince Savalier elegantly brings the tea cup near his mouth and spoke as if he was just having an ordinary tea party. It made things even more chilling.

‘According to the server, the count lady told him that it would be a pity for a prince to drink a flavorless drink, then put a cherry in the glass.’

All the life in Lina’s face was erased.

The count lady who had been fair-skinned in the first place had now turned into a pure white like that of winter.

‘By gouging out the seeds from the cherry and replacing it with a poison, you can easily dissolve it in the drink. Even more so because I have the habit of shaking the glass before I drink. Fufu, what’s the matter? You look so pale, Lady Wagner. Ah—that champagne is my present to you, why don’t you give it a taste?’

At this moment, I swore from the bottom of my heart not to make an enemy of the second prince.

As I suddenly began trembling at the events transpiring before me, Maynard immediately secured me under his embrace, but my mind has melted into a pure white void to respond to it.

That was when Lina’s screams reverberated throughout all the corners of the drawing room.

 

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