Chapter 114
In this atmosphere, only Nella fidgeted nervously, biting her lip.
I paused before drinking my tea and asked Nella:
“Princess Nella, why aren’t you drinking?”
The scent of Earl Grey filled the Lily Palace. Nella stared at the teacup before her and swallowed hard.
The deep reddish-brown tea seemed like the color of death.
“Princess Nella.”
Nella heard Ashella’s gentle voice as she fidgeted, unable to bring herself to drink the tea.
Nella remained silent, glancing nervously at the white flowers decorating the table.
The other noblewomen were giving Nella strange looks. First, she had behaved rudely at a tea party she’d been invited to, and now she was causing more problems even after Ashella had mercifully forgiven her.
There was no way the nobles would view Nella’s behavior favorably.
‘This is impossible!’
Nella bit her lip firmly. She absolutely could not drink this Earl Grey now. Especially since she hadn’t taken the antidote today.
As she struggled to find a way out of this predicament, Ashella pressed her again.
“Princess, why aren’t you drinking your tea?”
At that questioning voice, the expressions of the other noblewomen grew increasingly cold.
Their eyes seemed to say, “Please stop causing problems,” and Nella felt a surge of indignation.
‘What is Silver Lily thinking! Does she plan to kill everyone who came here?’
The fact that Silver Lily was alive in the first place made no sense.
She was so shocked by this fact that she hadn’t even properly considered why the woman was still alive.
In the midst of her confusion, the Earl Grey before her only muddled her thoughts further.
‘No, that’s impossible. Silver Lily couldn’t possibly know about that…’
It was a strictly guarded secret. Very few people knew that inhaling the scent of Crea flowers, which closely resembled lilies, while drinking Earl Grey tea produced a reaction similar to consuming deadly poison.
Had she not accidentally overheard Lu tribe slaves talking about it one day and conducted her own investigation afterward, she would never have known this information.
She had struggled to find much documentation on it.
What was certain was that there was no preventative measure besides drinking mint tea beforehand.
Mint was one of the teas that Silver Lily rarely drank.
Knowing Silver Lily’s taste—that she mainly drank rooibos and occasionally Earl Grey—Nella had thought this would be easily resolved…
“Princess Nella, should I take this as disrespect toward me?”
Where had she gone wrong?
As her thoughts became increasingly tangled, Silver Lily and the other noblewomen continued to pressure her.
To drink the tea immediately.
It was a grave discourtesy to be invited to a tea party and stubbornly refuse to drink even a sip of tea.
Proper etiquette dictated taking at least one sip before setting the cup down; doing otherwise was tantamount to openly disrespecting the host.
Nella looked up and scanned Silver Lily and the other noblewomen.
They had already drunk their tea.
If Silver Lily was unaware of this secret, if this entire situation was coincidental, then Silver Lily would collapse again.
Moreover, whether they drank knowingly or unknowingly, it was clear the other noblewomen would soon collapse as well.
If she could just hold out a little longer, the situation would unfold on its own.
When the noblewomen collapsed, chaos would ensue. Then she could point to Silver Lily as the culprit.
Whether Silver Lily intended it or not, noblewomen dying at her tea party would be advantageous for Nella.
“Princess Nella! What on earth are you doing?”
With the other noblewomen constantly urging her, Nella couldn’t think more deeply.
Having barely gathered her thoughts, Nella slowly opened her mouth, trying to buy time.
“I… have a caffeine allergy.”
“Hmm? I understand you enjoy several cups of coffee daily, Princess.”
Before Nella could finish speaking, Silver Lily countered.
Nella was struck speechless.
The noblewomen began to whisper openly.
“Even for a princess, today’s behavior is really too much, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think she’ll escape the consequences for this.”
“Why is she being so stubborn? What harm would a few sips do?”
“Exactly. It’s not like anything would happen immediately. Is she so unwilling to yield to Lady Silver Lily?”
Nella felt sick from the noblewomen who were freely discussing her as if she weren’t present.
If they knew the truth, they wouldn’t speak like that!
Nella’s eyes distorted, cracking the mask of serenity that had covered her face.
She grew increasingly anxious. By now, someone should have shown a reaction—why was everyone still fine?
Nella scanned the noblewomen again.
They flinched at her crazed eyes and frowned.
“Princess, if you continue like this, I won’t be able to tolerate it any longer. I will formally hold the Balkyrino ducal family responsible.”
Silver Lily’s voice buzzed and lingered in her ears.
Time seemed to be moving excruciatingly slowly.
Nella bit her lip and looked at the flowers on the table again.
Just then.
One noblewoman set down her teacup with a clink and said coldly:
“Princess Nella, why are you ruining the atmosphere of this tea party? And I simply cannot understand why you keep glaring at those lilies.”
At those words, the others nodded and sent questioning glances toward Nella, demanding an explanation.
‘What should I… what should I say here?’
In this confusion, her breath quickened and her brain felt like it was screaming.
“Excuse me, I’ll go wash my hands for a moment.”
A noblewoman quietly whispered to the person beside her that she was going to the restroom and stood up.
And after taking just a few steps.
Like straw crumbling, the noblewoman collapsed to the floor with a thud.
“My lady!”
“Kyaaaa! Lady Grandel!”
“Goodness!”
Some screamed in horror, while others rushed to Lady Grandel.
In the hall that instantly became chaotic, only Nella was curling up the corners of her mouth.
‘Success!’
She’d heard that the speed at which the poison took effect varied from person to person. Lady Grandel had shown the fastest reaction.
Since everyone had entered not long ago, they would have inhaled the Crea flower scent for only a short time. Therefore, the effect had manifested later than she’d expected.
But this confirmed it.
She absolutely must not drink the Earl Grey before her.
“My goodness! Please wake up, my lady!”
“Lady Grandel!”
“What should we do!”
“Summon the imperial physician immediately!”
Nella felt relief and joy at having her suspicions confirmed.
So she failed to notice. Despite differences in reaction speeds, the other noblewomen were suspiciously unaffected.
Nella, who had been cornered until just now, was intoxicated by the sense of liberation from the pressure.
So, forgetting that she should exercise restraint, she arrogantly smiled and spoke.
“Hmph, calling the imperial physician won’t help.”
At Nella’s sudden scornful remark, the noblewomen’s gazes turned to her.
Nella momentarily froze, realizing her slip of the tongue.
But it was already too late.
“What do you mean by that, Princess? That calling the imperial physician won’t help!”
It was the noblewoman who had earlier questioned why Nella kept glaring at the ‘lilies’.
Nella grimaced at the sharp retort.
Now that Lady Grandel had collapsed like this, Silver Lily was finished. The nobles wouldn’t let this go.
From how the situation was unfolding, it seemed Silver Lily didn’t know about the interaction between Earl Grey and Crea flowers, but no one would believe that.
The only important fact would be that a noble lady had died at Silver Lily’s tea party.
Having completed this thought, Nella leaned back comfortably against her chair and said:
“Lady Grandel is dying right now. Because of Silver Lily.”
Folding her arms and looking at Ashella, Nella was relentless.
“What are you saying, Princess? That Lady Grandel is dying because of me? That’s an accusation I cannot ignore. More importantly, the imperial physician! Is the imperial physician far?”
Silver Lily, busy asking her maid about the imperial physician, truly seemed to know nothing.
Completely reassured, Nella snorted and shouted even louder.
“Do you think the imperial physician can save her? This is a poison that’s almost unknown!”
Nella lifted her chin as if she were somebody important and ordered a nearby maid.
“You there! Bring mint tea. It’s late, but if we give Lady Grandel the tea now, she might still survive.”
“What? B-but…”
As the maid hesitated, unsure whether to obey the princess’s command, Silver Lily quietly nodded.
“Bring it as the princess says. And quickly summon the imperial physician.”
“Yes, yes! Lady Silver Lily!”
As the maid quickly left the hall, Nella rose to her feet, feeling everyone’s eyes on her.
“This is exactly why I didn’t drink the Earl Grey. As they say, ignorance leads to suffering… tsk.”
Nella picked up the teacup containing Earl Grey and approached the white flowers decorating the table.
The noblewomen held their breath, watching Nella’s actions.
“This flower looks like a lily, but it’s called a Crea flower. It’s a rare plant that grows in the ancient lands of the Lu tribe…”
Nella began slowly pouring the teacup over the flower.
The reddish-brown Earl Grey trickled down, soaking the white Crea petals.
“When it meets Earl Grey, it produces a deadly poison. Because the poison is gaseous, it can’t be detected in the body, but when it directly touches the petals, they turn black like this and rot…”
Everyone’s gaze turned to the flower petals.
The snow-white petals were staining with the color of Earl Grey.
And then, seconds of waiting.
Silence swept through the hall once more.
The first to speak was Ashella.
“So, how is the color supposed to change, Princess?”
The flower showed no change. It was just a white flower stained reddish-brown.
Nella, who had claimed the flower would turn black and rot, could only blink her purple eyes in bewilderment.
And at that moment, the hall doors opened and the imperial physician rushed in frantically.
“L-Lady Silver Lily! I heard you collapsed again…!”
