275 - Side Story: Felicia's Perspective - Behind the Tea Party 2
"First, send a messenger to the Markov house."
After seeing Christina out of the room, it was a gracefully busy rush. Christina had not shown much in the way of symptoms, but there was still a possibility she had eaten the poisoned cake. We needed to inform Basilia of that and have her take an antidote, and the cake that seemed to have the most poison clinging to it had been brought back home. Retrieving a gift once given to a guest would be an embarrassment, but it would be too late if something happened. This was not a problem we could pretend not to know about or play ignorant about. All cakes that might have poison on them needed to be recovered.
"Detain Christina's maid and the cook who brought the cake. Also investigate the tools used for cooking and the area around the kitchen. Christina had been gathering various things for the tea party, had not she. Send someone to the pantry as well."
"There should have been a dog in Christina-sama's room. Shall I borrow it?"
"A dog's nose is reliable, but I do not want to take it away from Christina's side."
I did not know who the target was, but since poison had been brought into the detached palace, it was better not to separate the dog from Christina. What should be prioritized for protection was not the life of this princess. It was Christina. Anyone from the royal family with a Royal Peerage could replace a princess with one, but for now, Christina was the only reincarnator who could read Japanese. With the secret arts that the Wise Woman of the Valley had safeguarded now lost, I could not afford to lose Christina, who held the key to reviving those secret arts.
...And personally, I have grown fond of that child, you know.
Ruminating over whether there was anything else I was missing, I mobilized the knights and maids. I only needed at least one guard to protect me. The rest would work as my hands and feet, running about in my place since I could not leave the detached palace.
...This time, I am going to get my hands on the evidence.
As I was listening to the report from the maid who said she had carried the cake from the garden where the tea party was held, the guard who should have been with Christina came to the guest room. I found it odd that he would leave his charge Christina, but I listened to what he had to say. Rather than spending time scolding him, it would be better to finish the business at hand and return the knight to Christina's side.
"Christina-sama said she noticed something strange about her hot milk, so I came to confirm with the maid who prepared the honey."
"Something strange about the hot milk, you say? And is Christina all right?"
"Christina-sama herself noticed the strangeness after taking a sip. I think a small amount entered her body, but she spat most of it out."
Since he said he had confirmed she took the antidote before coming to report, I first praised his efficiency. If he had said he prepared the antidote but had not confirmed that Christina actually took it, I would have kicked him out.
"Valerier, explain about Tina-sama's hot milk tonight."
"...Tonight's hot milk for the young lady, due to my carelessness, I ran out of the usual honey, so the one used is from a different production region and flower type. That must be why the young lady noticed the strangeness."
Her smooth delivery did not seem like she was lying, but on the contrary, it was so smooth it looked suspicious. It felt as if she had prepared the answer in advance, making everything seem dubious.
...But then again, there is a dog by Christina's side.
If poison had truly been administered, the dog should have reacted before Christina even put her mouth to it. Watching the maid bow her head, saying she had caused a stir due to her own insufficient explanation, I gave instructions to my own maids. We had obtained testimony for now, but that did not mean we could be completely at ease.
"If Christina sensed something strange, then investigate that honey."
"But the honey is..."
I raised my hand to stop the maid Valerier, who insisted it was nothing more than perfectly ordinary honey. When it came to Christina, there was no such thing as being too careful.
"It seems today's detached palace has become a rather interesting situation. We must thoroughly investigate every single suspicious thing down to the smallest detail."
"Is that why you had Christina-sama take an antidote before dinner?"
"Yes. A crude poison was planted in the cake that Christina made for me."
I added that I had already confirmed Christina was not the one who planted it. I had suspected Christina for a moment, but even if it was said that she made the cake, there was no way Christina herself would do the work. From what I heard, it seemed she herself had done no more than draw a picture of a horned owl. The work of cutting the problematic sponge and spreading the jam was all done by the cook.
"Felicia-sama, could you lend me one of the Silver-White Knights? I want to send an urgent message to Lady Basilia, but Christina-sama does not have enough guards."
"I have already sent a messenger to the Markov house. If all goes well, should they not be returning soon?"
Just as we were saying that, the knight I had sent as a messenger to Basilia returned. Hearing the knight's report, I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the worst possible outcome had been avoided.
"So Shestin took the cake away from Basilia."
"It seems they noticed because Isekod tea leaves had also been placed in the box containing the cake."
"Oh my, that is an interesting development."
Christina apparently had not been able to identify the type of tea leaves, but the leaves placed in Basilia's gift box seemed to have been an antidote. That meant there were two things I now knew.
"So the target was either me or Christina. Going so far as to put in an antidote, what a considerate culprit."
Since the antidote was added for Basilia, the target was not Basilia. Perhaps the culprit panicked when the poisoned cake ended up in Basilia's hands. A person who would administer poison could not be called virtuous, but it seemed they were not willing to involve unrelated parties.
"...So then, which of the maids was it who put the antidote in the gift box?"