Chapter 18
(18) I Will Protect Your Majesty (10)
As soon as Heraith returned to the palace, he changed his clothes and headed straight to the private training grounds.
He had only swung his sword a few times when…
“Your Majesty, Consort Yi is requesting an audience.”
A servant guarding the training ground informed him.
Consort Yi… who was that again? Ah, Calliope of the Viscount Rhiannon family.
Calliope was the most foolish of the four imperial consorts but had a remarkable knack for taking action. She would likely be the first among the consorts to strike at Eleanor.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to meet Calliope and see what she was up to.
‘But I doubt Eleanor Snow would need anything like that.’
Eleanor had stayed cooped up in the Tulip Palace, yet still managed to foresee the events likely to unfold during the New Year’s Festival. There was no way someone like her wouldn’t see through Calliope’s transparent schemes.
“Tell her to go back. I have no reason to see her.”
He gave a cold reply and had only just resumed training with his sword when Oscar appeared.
Since he had anticipated Oscar’s visit, Heraith didn’t lower his sword as he acknowledged him.
“It’s about… the date,” Oscar began.
“Did you enjoy it?”
According to plan, it shouldn’t have been enjoyable—or boring, either. It was simply a public outing meant to show how he was handling potential threats.
But Eleanor had been delighted as she tried on dresses in the boutique, asking what Heraith thought.
“Yes,” Heraith replied, remembering how warm Eleanor had been.
“I enjoyed it.”
He found it surprisingly easy to say that it had been pleasant.
Oscar blinked in confusion and cleared his throat.
“I see. If Your Majesty enjoyed it, then I am… deeply honored.”
“Why would you be honored? It was Eleanor Snow who brought me joy.”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
Heraith lowered the sword he had been swinging throughout the conversation. Oscar quickly handed him a towel. He wiped the sweat running down his neck and asked,
“Have you found anything?”
He had given Oscar separate instructions to prepare for the New Year’s Festival.
“Yes. I’ve had reliable people investigate, but they’ve found no suspicious activity.”
He wasn’t disappointed—he hadn’t expected much to begin with. The enemies were likely preparing a grand scheme over a long period of time. There was no way it would be uncovered so easily.
“It would be best if we could learn something before it begins.”
“There’s nothing we can do.”
“Also… voices questioning Eleanor Snow’s presence in the palace are growing louder. When do you plan to announce her as the next empress?”
The moment that announcement was made, a storm of blades would rain down on Eleanor. Though Eleanor seemed to be waiting for that moment, Heraith wasn’t yet sure she could withstand such a storm.
“After the New Year’s Festival.”
That’s why he wanted to confirm Eleanor’s abilities with his own eyes.
‘Stay hidden in the Palace. I’ll protect you.’
He needed to confirm the source of that confident attitude to feel at ease.
‘At ease?’
The thought struck him as absurd. Why was he so worried about Eleanor’s safety? He didn’t even fully trust her.
Forcing the radiant image of Eleanor out from his mind, Heraith said to Oscar,
“You may go. Have Eyo come to me for a moment.”
***
After being turned away at the door, Calliope ground her teeth.
‘He went on a date with Eleanor Snow!’
He’d been willing to leave the palace with Eleanor, so of course she assumed he would spare a little time for one of his consorts.
She had gone to great lengths to dress up for the occasion.
‘Why is he so cold to me? Don’t tell me he really has feelings for Eleanor Snow? No—it hasn’t even been that long since they met! She only came to the palace a month ago!’
Irritated, Calliope tore off her jewelry and took her frustration out on her maids.
“What are you doing? Can’t you see I’m trying to get ready?”
The maids, well used to her temper, flinched and quickly began preparing her bathwater.
Throughout her bath, Calliope hurled curses at Eleanor. Then she remembered having Cecily poison Eleanor’s facial tonic and smirked.
‘Yes, today will be the last time that wench walks around flaunting her face. If she’s already used it and washed up, the uproar should be starting any minute now… why is it still so quiet?’
The maids could barely breathe as Calliope suddenly started chuckling mid-rage.
Freshly bathed, Calliope hummed as she applied the tonic to her face and headed to bed.
She couldn’t stop smiling, imagining Eleanor’s pretty face ruined beyond repair.
‘She was holed up in the Tulip Palace anyway. With her face in that state, she’ll never show herself again. Then I can visit her bearing a “gift”… huh? Why is my face burning?’
It felt like someone was scraping her skin with sharp nails. She touched her cheek without thinking and screamed in pain, springing up from the bed.
“Aaah! What’s going on?! Why is this happening?!”
She ran to the vanity and looked into the mirror.
The reflection made her scream like she’d seen Death itself.
“AAAAAAHHH! What is this?! What’s happening to my face?!”
Her skin was melting. The red, raw flesh looked scraped with stone, and blood seeped from the wounds.
Calliope rushed to the bathroom and shoved aside a maid who was cleaning the tub.
Thud!
She didn’t care whether the maid groaned or not. She plunged her face into the bathwater.
The warm, scented water made her feel as if her face was being peeled off, but she endured it.
‘Why…?’
She surfaced, gasping for breath, then dunked her face again.
‘Why was that poison in my tonic?’
She recognized the symptoms. How could she not?
Before entering the palace, she had used the same poison several times on annoying noble girls or disobedient maids.
The pain was like being scrubbed with coarse stone.
Peeling skin.
Bleeding wounds.
Exactly the symptoms caused by the poison mixed into Eleanor’s facial tonic.
‘Did Cecily betray me? How dare she…?’
Punishment could wait.
Since she washed it off right away, she wouldn’t be scarred for life, but she’d have to live looking hideous for some time.
Calliope, who had been soaking her face in the tub, rose slowly.
The maids froze in confusion, then gasped quietly when they saw her face.
“Who just screamed at the sight of me?”
Calliope bared her teeth and glared.
“Who was it?!”
No one answered.
She approached a maid and slapped her hard across the cheek.
Smack!
The maid whimpered. The others flinched and lowered their heads.
Calliope didn’t stop. She slapped her three more times, then glared at each maid in turn.
“I’ll remember each of your faces. If word of this gets out in the palace—you, your families, all of you will die.”
“We—We would never… We won’t tell anyone, Your Highness! We swear!”
The maids bowed deeply and chorused their pledges.
“Good. I’ll trust you. You! Go quietly and call a doctor.”
One maid rushed out, and the others resumed cleaning, nervously eyeing Calliope.
Calliope glared at them, then returned to her room and picked up the bottle of tonic.
It was still clear and fragrant with roses. Nothing seemed unusual.
It was a poison with no color or scent. If you tasted it, it might feel tingly or bitter, but who drinks tonic?
‘Cecily…’
She wanted to drag her over and strangle her on the spot, but as a maid assigned to the Tulip Palace, she couldn’t be summoned at will.
‘How did Eleanor Snow manage to win her over?’
A colorless, scentless poison. A poison not ingested but applied to the skin. There’s no way Eleanor figured it out on her own.
‘I’ll never forgive you, Cecily.’
***
Meanwhile, Eleanor was looking down at a half-complete map of the imperial palace she had drawn while sneaking around in secret.
She had to avoid being discovered, so only about half of it was finished.
“Calliope applied the tonic. The physician said the scars will last at least six months.”
Caron quietly reported, standing behind Eleanor.
“It was her own poison, so she probably reacted quickly. Even so, six months. That must’ve been some potent stuff. Calliope will surely suspect Cecily betrayed her.”
