The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 44

44. Attempted Poisoning (2)

“Why do you think so?”

Joshua asked, probing. Rosette replied with a slightly unsure tone.

“Actually, I’m not entirely sure. But think about it, Your Highness. These are people who used a poison with an unknown composition. Would they leave behind something that could expose them?”

“Keep talking.”

“Especially since Your Highness has been keeping a close watch. I suspect you’ve actually investigated, haven’t you?”

“That’s right. But I couldn’t find a suitable culprit.”

“That’s the problem.”

Rosette sighed.

“I can find the poison that harmed the Empress. But I can’t rest easy unless I find the real spy hiding in the Empress’s Palace. Just look at what happened to Dad. I thought there was only one spy, but there were actually two. I was careless and got blindsided.”

“You’re right.”

“Of course, I’ll find the poison first.”

“You are…”

“Yes?”

Joshua shook his head.

“It’s nothing. Let’s check the sleep incense that caused the problem first.”

Rosette was curious about what he was going to say but didn’t press him and quietly followed.

Joshua entered the apothecary [a place where medicines are prepared and sold]. There was a maid inside, but he chased her out with a single “Leave.”

“This is the sleep incense Her Majesty uses.”

Rosette opened the lid of the round, flat tin case he handed her and sniffed. It had a sweet, unique herbal scent. Looking inside, she saw various medicinal herbs mixed in, good for inducing sleep.

“Did the Empress originally use this sleep incense?”

“No, she originally used it since the Kingdom of Ivelin. But before the accident, I heard she changed it because the sleep incense wasn’t working well. So everyone concluded that the sleep incense was the problem.”

“I see.”

Rosette counted the days.

“I don’t remember exactly, but when exactly did the Empress fall ill?”

“June 14th.”

It was the end of May now. That meant the attempted poisoning was not far off. She had to uncover the real culprit quickly.

“Then I need to identify the poisonous substance first.”

Rosette placed the tin case on the table and summoned Bbippi.

“Bbippi.”

[Bbi?]

“You know a lot about plants, right?”

[Bbit!]

Of course! When it comes to plants, Bbippi is the one! Bbippi sat on Rosette’s shoulder and puffed out his chest.

“That’s right. See if there are any Kish tree leaves in here.”

[Bbit!]

Bbippi began to rummage through the herbs with his beak. But soon he shook his head.

[Bbii.]

“None?”

[Bbi!]

Rosette stated firmly.

“Then there’s nothing wrong with this sleep incense. We need to check something else. Was there any tea that the Empress drank that day?”

“Tea…”

Joshua scanned the glass display case. It had been a long time, but he had read the reports so many times that he could pick out a few tin cases.

“Her Majesty drank a total of three kinds of tea that day. She drank them in this order.”

He placed the tin cases in order. Rosette opened each one and asked Bbippi.

“Bbippi, can you check if any of these contain Kish tree leaves?”

[Bbit!]

Bbippi went into the first tin case but moved on to the second without any luck.

After a while, Bbippi tilted his head and went into the last tin case, rummaging through it.

[Bbit!]

Soon, Bbippi came out with a dark green leaf in his beak and placed it on the table.

The leaf, which was particularly small compared to the other herbs, was smaller than Rosette’s little fingernail. Yet Bbippi skillfully picked it out with his beak.

[BbippiBbit!]

In an instant, the leaves piled up on the table to about the length of a finger.

Rosette bent down and smelled the leaves.

A pungent, cool scent like mint. She had never smelled Kish tree leaves directly, but it was exactly like the description in the book.

“That’s right, Kish tree leaves.”

“What is this?”

“It’s a tree that grows in the Kingdom of Owen, south of the Empire. I heard that in the Kingdom of Owen, they use the fruit as a digestive aid. It doesn’t grow in the Empire.”

“They hid it by cutting it so small.”

Joshua carefully touched the dried leaves with his fingertips.

“If you look at it roughly, it probably looks like Evan flower leaves. Both are good for sleep, and they look similar.”

“Yes, Evan flower. Now that I think about it, my mother said that the tea she drank before going to bed contained Evan flowers.”

Joshua muttered, looking at Bbippi. Bbippi went back into the pile of herbs and found something.

[Bbit!]

“This is an Evan flower leaf.”

Bbippi placed the Evan flower leaf on Joshua’s palm and then placed the Kish tree leaf next to it.

Joshua looked back and forth between the two.

“They’re definitely almost indistinguishable. How can you tell the difference?”

“By the scent.”

“Scent?”

“If you smell the Kish tree leaves very carefully, they have a mint-like scent.”

Joshua picked up the Kish tree leaves and smelled them, then tilted his head.

“I can’t really tell.”

“The scent isn’t strong. You’ll smell it if there’s a little more.”

Joshua smelled what Bbippi had gathered earlier this time.

“Ah, I can smell it a little now.”

“On the other hand, Evan flower leaves just smell like ordinary grass. So the doctor probably couldn’t tell the difference. It’s not well known, and the method of distinguishing them isn’t easy.”

“But how did you know?”

“I’ve read a lot of books.”

Rosette, who had been excited, suddenly looked depressed. It was because she was reminded of the past again.

There was nothing Rosette could do at the Dallas estate. All Marquis Dallas made Rosette do was study.

He never saw Rosette playing, and if she showed even the slightest sign of laziness in his eyes, he would whip her right away.

To avoid him, Rosette was always in the library except when she was taking classes. Because Marquis Dallas didn’t scold her there.

Elisha, who had harassed Rosette in various ways, also didn’t go near the library, so she could avoid meeting her.

‘Also, reading books made me feel better.’

Books were the only channel through which Rosette, who was confined to the mansion, communicated with the outside world.

In particular, she was very interested in plants. It was thanks to Bbippi.

She studied plants not only in the Ernhardt Empire but also in the neighboring Kingdom of Ivelin and the Kingdom of Owen.

“Besides, I became more interested after reading about the Kish tree in Marquis Dallas’s documents. Anyway, that’s not important now.”

“That’s right. The fact that this came out means that a spy was already moving. The problem is who put it in.”

“Who gave it to her? We should suspect the person who gave it to her first.”

“I don’t know. I was told that they didn’t check who gave it to her because they thought this tea wouldn’t be a problem.”

He smiled self-deprecatingly.

“Do you know how sloppy the work was?”

“Then we need to figure that out first.”

Joshua, who was thinking about this and that with a blank face, changed the subject.

“So what’s wrong with these Kish tree leaves?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Rosette continued to explain.

“They say you shouldn’t eat Kish tree leaves with honey. Kish tree leaves are hardly ever eaten as tea, so there’s really no reason to eat them with honey.”

“What happens if you eat them together?”

“The heart stops slowly. If it’s a healthy person, it might just make them feel a little unwell, but it’s poison for someone with a bad heart like the Empress.”

“……”

“Probably that day, she drank it with honey. It’s not a poison that shows symptoms right away, so she collapsed around the time she went to sleep.”

“Wait a minute. What did you just say?”

“Yes?”

“What shouldn’t you mix Kish tree leaves with?”

“Honey. In honey…”

Rosette, who was about to explain in detail, closed her mouth when she saw Joshua’s expression, which had hardened to a frightening degree.

Her skin tingled with the murderous aura he was emitting. Fortunately, the murderous aura wasn’t directed at her, so she wasn’t being strangled.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“Can you prove that?”

“Yes. I know that there are research materials related to that in the Kingdom of Owen. They say that people with bad hearts should never eat them together.”

“I see.”

He glared at the Kish tree leaves that Bbippi was still collecting.

[Bbii?]

Bbippi, feeling the fierce gaze, fluttered and hid in Rosette’s hair.

“So, why…”

“Ha, it’s not that I didn’t know.”

“……Yes?”

Joshua’s eyes flashed.

“I knew but pretended not to know.”

“You knew and pretended not to know?”

“Yes.”

“Could you explain in a little more detail?”

“I’ll talk about it after things are settled. First, you.”

[Bbit?]

Bbippi tilted his head when Joshua called him.

“Make sure to pick out all the Kish or Kish or whatever it is inside.”

[Bbiit!]

Why should I! Who are you to order me around!

Bbippi flapped his wings threateningly in anger. But because of his small body and cute face, he didn’t look threatening at all.

[Bbii…….]

When Joshua didn’t move, Bbippi squeaked sadly. Rosette comforted Bbippi and said.

“You can’t order him like that, Your Highness. Bbippi is my friend. You have to ask him.”

“Whether it’s a request or whatever, just get him to do it.”

Rosette, who was about to argue, whispered quietly to Bbippi after seeing Joshua’s serious expression.

“Bbippi, I’ll give you a lot of biscuit crumbs when we get back to the mansion. Can you pick out the Kish tree leaves?”

[Bbit!]

While Bbippi was excitedly entering the tin case again, Joshua said to Rosette.

“If we throw this away, the spy will be suspicious, so I’m going to filter out only the problematic leaves and put them back. Is that okay?”

“It’ll probably be okay.”

“And when you get back, tell Her Majesty that you want to drink tea.”

“Yes? Me?”

“Yes.”

“M-me? How dare I say that to the Empress?”

“Do as I say. Weren’t you going to cooperate?”

Rosette bit her lip and replied.

“Okay. What’s next?”

“Say you want to choose the tea yourself. Then I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Th-that… Yes.”

There were many things she wanted to ask, but she couldn’t say anything. Rosette asked something else instead.

“Was I helpful?”

“Yes. I don’t know yet because I have to investigate more, but thanks to you, I got a clue.”

“Then I…”

“I’ll talk about that after everything is resolved.”

“Yes.”

Rosette drooped her shoulders dejectedly.