Chapter 20: Counterattack (1)

No noble refuses good food and good tea.

The nobles of the continent, in particular, were obsessed with tea. They prized fragrant tea above all else, and they often displayed their power by serving it to others.

Even Simon, who had lived as though on the battlefield itself, was not the sort to keep tea at a distance.

And yet, right now, he had a bad feeling about this.

‘If she had merely come to pay her respects, then the proper thing would have been for her to come earlier together with the other vassals.’

At such a late hour, the very fact that someone who was not even of Aldebaran blood had come to visit an honored guest was suspicious in itself.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It is nothing.”

“Could it be that the fragrance of the tea is not to your liking?”

The tea had already been brought in a pot. Steam still rose faintly from it.

“Of course not. Even if that were the case, if it were tea served by such a beautiful lady, I could drink any number of cups.”

“The Imperial Princess would be disappointed if she heard that.”

“Let it remain our secret alone.”

“Oh my.”

Simon smiled faintly and showed her favor. Jin answered that smile with one of her own.

“The vassals keep speaking of you, Young Master. They say you are an exceedingly humble and benevolent man.”

“That is kind of them.”

“To my eyes as well, you seem to be a very fine man. It makes me wonder whether we ought to have invited you to Aldebaran long ago.”

“But surely that is a thing for His Excellency the Marquis to decide. Besides, have not our Families been entangled for a very long time?”

“The past is like a mirror that shows the future. But if one does nothing except stare into the mirror, does that not mean there can be no progress?”

“Indeed.”

He could not help thinking that she was a formidable woman. To speak so lightly of forgetting the errors of the past and making a new beginning.

“Would you care to taste it before it grows cold?”

“Gladly.”

The maid lifted the teacups from the tray and placed one before Simon and one before Ranieri. Another was set before Jin, who sat across from them.

That was the end of the maid’s role.

Jin herself picked up the teapot. Its base was broad and rounded, narrowing as it rose upward.

The spout from which the tea flowed curved long and elegantly upward, heightening its visual beauty.

“That is a distinctive teapot.”

“I bought this as well from a merchant from the East. The same merchant who sold me the incense candles in this room.”

“Please introduce me to him sometime.”

“I would not have guessed you had such an interest in these things.”

Pourrrr―

Golden tea began to fill Simon’s cup. Then Ranieri’s cup was filled as well.

Finally, Jin poured tea into her own cup.

At that very moment—

Creak.

A tiny sound, exquisitely hidden beneath the sound of the pouring tea, reached Simon’s ears. It was thanks to the faint Aura he had drawn up.

“Ranieri. I suppose I ought to thank you.”

Unaware of what Simon was thinking, Jin continued smiling. Then, as though urging them to drink, she gestured lightly.

But Simon did not lift his cup.

“Do you remember what you said earlier? That putting poison into unattended food is too old-fashioned a method of poisoning?”

“I remember.”

Ranieri was just about to lift his teacup. But Simon stretched out a hand and stopped him.

“Young Master?”

“And what was it you said you would do instead?”

“......I said I would attempt it in a situation where suspicion could never arise. By sharing wine from the same bottle, for instance.”

At that, Ranieri’s hand stopped dead.

“Surely not.”

Wise as he was, Ranieri calmly let go of the cup and fixed his gaze on Simon.

“It is not only wine that can be shared from the same vessel, is it?”

“That is right.”

“I saw one once before. A teapot fitted with a very tiny mechanism. If you press it lightly, the device inside shifts, and the flow of the liquid changes.”

“I have heard of them as well. They are often used by assassins.”

At those words, Jin gave a start.

She quickly reached for the teapot, but Simon’s hand was faster.

Slash!

Something glinted in the light, and with a cracking sound, the teapot split straight down the middle.

Crash!

The pot broke apart, and tea spilled everywhere. Simon peered into the interior of the teapot, now split exactly in half.

“These bastards truly have not changed, no matter then or now. Faint old memories are coming back to me.”

The Ceres Family.

A thoroughly vile Family that liked to feign elegance on the surface, yet would stop at nothing and use any means to achieve its ends.

In his previous life, Simon had learned the Ceres Family’s vileness to the marrow of his bones while subjugating Aldebaran.

The head of the Family then had not been Jin, but the habits of a Family did not change so easily.

“Well then, Jin. There are two separate chambers inside this single teapot. Do you not find that odd?”

“......”

“You thought I would fail to notice such a trick? You underestimated the eldest son of Arcturus too much.”

His tone changed completely. Rising from his seat, Simon held the cross-section of the split teapot before Jin’s eyes.

“You put good tea in the inner chamber and poison in the outer one, did you not? Or perhaps the other way around.”

“That is slander!”

“Whether it is slander or not is something you will have to prove. Along with why you did something so liable to be misunderstood in a situation like this.”

“M-my lady! I shall—!”

The maid tried to run outside and call for the guards. But Simon moved faster.

Whish!

THUD!

“Eek!”

The maid’s legs gave way beneath her, and she collapsed to the floor. A dagger had embedded itself precisely in the door she had been trying to reach.

Had she moved only a little faster, the blade would have buried itself in the back of her neck.

“If either of you moves even a little, you die. I am genuinely angry right now.”

Ranieri locked the door from the inside.

At the same time, Simon threw aside the half of the teapot still in his hand, then shoved the teacup that had been before him toward Jin.

“Well then, my lady. Shall we see for ourselves whether it is fine tea or not?”

“I fail to see why I should. This is all a misunderstanding! There is nothing in that tea......”

“Why are you talking so much? If that is true, then just drink it.”

“You are being rude.”

Simon let out a short, incredulous laugh.

Even if there had truly been nothing in the tea, the fact that she had tried to serve a guest using a teapot like this was already a problem.

“Ranieri. While I was collapsed with Burning Fever, it is not as though the meaning of the word ‘rude’ changed, is it?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“And before whom do you think you are using a word like that? You ought to be grateful I have not cut off your head on the spot.”

“I-I will drink it! If I do...... you had better apologize properly.”

Simon smiled in a cruel way. As he flicked his hand toward the door, the dagger that had been embedded there flew back into his grasp.

Smack!

The short blade came to rest against Jin’s throat.

As though drawing a line, the edge slid perilously down toward her back. It passed over her shoulder and cut the fastening cord that bound her dress.

Snip.

Then another one was cut.

If just one more were severed, her shameful parts would be exposed.

But the blade was not aimed at the last remaining cord. It was aimed at her heart.

“Of course you would choose drinking over throwing your life away. Because what you mixed into it was not a lethal poison, but a drug that can control a person. You served tea, and then your guest coughed blood and died...... Something so obvious would not suit your Family at all, would it? More likely it is the sort of drug that causes the internal organs to melt away unless the antidote is taken at fixed intervals. You make me into a puppet that way, and then use me to seize and shake the Arcturus Family. That was your plan, was it not?”

Jin trembled violently.

He had seen through everything.

She could not believe this reality. Only minutes ago, she had been certain of success.

Then Ranieri offered a quiet word of advice from behind him.

“There is no use making her drink it as it is. The lady would know how to prepare the antidote.”

“Not a perfect antidote, she does not. I know a thing or two about the Ceres Family. Call it the side effect of being obsessed with efficacy. Is that not so?”

Jin said nothing.

Her silence was an answer in itself.

At that moment, a scene from the past flashed through Simon’s mind. Soon, a cruel smile spread across his lips.

“Ranieri. You carry poison on you, do you not? The secret of the Betelgeuse Family.”

“......How did you know?”

“How I know grows tiresome to explain every time.”

Ranieri took a small wooden box from inside his clothes. When he opened it, a transparent liquid in a tiny glass vial came into view.

Even at that moment, Ranieri found himself wondering whether he had ever spoken of this drug before.

“It is a drug with effects similar to the one you just described, Young Master. Unless the antidote is taken at fixed intervals, the body begins to rot from the legs upward.”

“Just as expected of a loyal vassal of Arcturus. You have my respect.”

Ranieri tossed the vial, and the colorless, odorless poison was opened and mixed into the teacup.

Simon offered the cup to her once more.

“Drink every last drop.”

A chill crawled over Jin’s skin. It felt as though a devil itself had taken human form.

If she dragged things out any longer, it seemed the blade would pierce her heart.

In the end, Jin slowly drank the tea.

“......Urgh!”

“Do not be so dramatic. Ranieri, how often must the antidote be taken?”

“Every fortnight.”

There was no longer any need to lock the door, nor any need to control Jin.

“So then, what shall we have this woman do every fortnight?”

Startled, Jin hurriedly pulled up the dress that had begun to slip. Then she retreated, trembling all over.

“Ah, do not misunderstand. I will not make you do anything unsightly. You are still a noblewoman, after all. I cannot very well have you attend me at bath.”

“What do you think of this, Young Master? We have her provide Aldebaran Family secrets at regular intervals. As head of the Ceres Family, she should be quite capable of doing so.”

“I like it.”

Even just off the top of his head, several things came to mind. The Aldebaran Family’s sources of income and expenditure. Their military strongholds. The business secrets of the Aldebaran Merchant Company, and so on.

“For now, let us start by seeing which member of the Imperial Family Aldebaran is paying bribes to.”

“T-that......!”

Watching Jin’s vague reaction, Ranieri advised quietly,“Young Master, perhaps you should take an Oath of Loyalty first. It seems the lady has not yet properly grasped her position.”

“That would be wise. You heard him, did you not? The poison you just drank is a secret of the Betelgeuse Family. In other words, there is no antidote without my permission.”

She had no choice.

Lamenting her own foolishness, Jin lowered herself onto one knee. In humiliating fashion, she bowed her head.

“I, Jin of the Ceres Family...... swear eternal loyalty...... to my new lord......”

“Now that it has come to this, work hard. Think of it as having gained an opportunity instead. Who knows? If you do well enough, I may even give you a complete antidote.”

A smile curved one corner of Simon’s mouth.

Of course, he had no intention whatsoever of giving her an antidote just because she did well. At least, not yet.

“More importantly, are you close with Imperial Princess Mercedes?”

“We have no dealings whatsoever.”

“If you lie, you die. It will not end with your limbs rotting away.”

“I-it is true! I really have never had dealings with her!”

Jin cried out in despair.

“And this enormous plan was conceived by the Ceres Family alone?”

“Not even the Aldebaran Family knows. It was done entirely...... by my own judgment.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, yes! I swear it on my life!”

Simon stared at her for a long while, as though testing her, before finally nodding.

It did not seem that she had any connection with Imperial Princess Mercedes.

“Good. We can take Aldebaran’s secrets slowly over time...... Ah, right. If we conclude a Peace Treaty with our Family, what can Aldebaran offer in return?”