The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 45

45. Kish Tree Leaves and Honey

December 15, 2023

[Beep!]

Bbi-Bbi soon fluttered its tail feathers. A faint scent of herbs emanated from the small bird as it landed on Rosette’s shoulder.

“Did you find all the right leaves?”

[Bbit!]

“Okay, good job.”

Rosette placed the leaves Bbi-Bbi had selected into a small bag and closed the lid of the tin case.

Joshua put the tin case back into the display case.

“Then, let’s go.”

Rosette and Joshua retraced their steps back to the drawing room. On the way, Joshua quietly whispered again.

“If Mother asks if you saw anything, just say you looked at the library. All the books you’d recognize are there, so just make up some titles.”

“Yes.”

“Then, go in first.”

As they entered the drawing room, Ophelia, who was chatting amiably with Isabel, smiled brightly.

“Rosette, did you enjoy looking around?”

“Yes!”

“What did you see?”

“I saw the library.”

“The library?”

“Yes!”

Rosette sat down on a chair, smiling brightly.

She was worried Ophelia might ask, ‘What did you see there?’ but fortunately, she didn’t ask for details. Instead, she asked something else.

“You seem to like books.”

“Yes! I like them very much!”

“Then, would you like to come and read with me often?”

“May I?”

“Rosette.”

Isabel called out Rosette’s name reprovingly, using ‘Rosette’ instead of ‘Rose’.

Rosette tensed up.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

As she bit her lip and watched Isabel’s reaction, Isabel said to Ophelia.

“Although the Imperial Palace library has more books than any other place, I can’t allow her to take up Your Majesty’s time.”

“Take up my time? Not at all. I would rather you come and spend time with me. Wouldn’t you, Rosette?”

“Me too!”

Rosette, who had unknowingly shouted brightly, lowered her voice at Isabel’s stern expression.

“I’d like to, but…”

“Then that’s settled, isn’t it?”

At that moment, Joshua, who had been waiting quietly, tapped Rosette’s foot under the table. It was a signal that the library didn’t matter, and she should act according to the plan.

Rosette, momentarily startled, quickly understood his intention and stammered.

“But, Your Majesty… I also want to have tea.”

“Tea?”

Ophelia smiled and asked back.

“Rosette.”

Isabel called her again.

‘I know this isn’t polite, Sister.’

But she had no choice if she wanted to find a clue to the poisoning. Rosette muttered with a heavy heart.

“Yes, tea.”

“This tea has caffeine in it. Would you still like to try it?”

Rosette watched Ophelia pick up the teapot and muttered.

“I want to choose a new tea. I want to choose it myself.”

Isabel frowned, but Ophelia didn’t seem displeased at all.

“Is that so? Then what kind of tea would you like?”

Joshua, who had been listening quietly, interjected.

“The young lady hasn’t been sleeping well lately.”

‘Me?’ Rosette’s eyes widened.

Isabel also asked, puzzled.

“Is that so, Rose?”

“No, that…”

Rosette looked at Joshua’s expression and nodded.

“Yes.”

“It must be because of growing pains. It’s often like that when you’re growing. I also haven’t been sleeping well, so I have a few teas that are good for sleep.”

Ophelia instructed a maid to do something.

Soon, the maid brought five tin cases. Among them was the problematic navy blue tin case that Joshua and Rosette had seen earlier.

Ophelia opened the tin cases herself and handed them to Rosette.

“Try smelling them. I hope there’s a scent you like among these.”

Rosette, exchanging glances with Joshua, chose the navy blue tin case.

“I’ll have this one. It has a sweet scent, so it makes me feel good.”

“Really? I like this tea too.”

Joshua interjected again.

“I’ve never seen this tea before. Did you receive it as a gift?”

“Yes. Gritta gave it to me.”

“Gritta, the maid who came in not long ago?”

“Oh, you know her. It’s not that recent; it’s already been half a year.”

“I see.”

Joshua smiled meaningfully.

“Then Gritta would be able to brew this tea best. How about asking her?”

“Should I?”

Ophelia rang the bell. Soon, Gritta came inside.

“Did you call, Your Majesty?”

She bowed and greeted, then momentarily flinched when she saw the navy blue tin case on the table.

She quickly regained her composure, but Rosette, who had been watching her closely, realized.

‘That person is an accomplice.’

Joshua probably made such an absurd request to Rosette to confirm this.

“Can you brew this tea?”

“This tea?”

“Yes. The young lady hasn’t been sleeping well lately because of growing pains.”

“That… I understand.”

Gritta answered somewhat reluctantly and soon began to prepare the tea. Rosette could roughly guess what she was thinking.

‘She must have thought it was unsettling to feed it to me, but it’s a relief that I didn’t add honey.’

However, Joshua’s plan didn’t end there. He gestured to Gritta.

“You should sit down too.”

“Yes? Me?”

“Yes. Explain what kind of tea it is while drinking tea together.”

“How dare I…”

Gritta was flustered, but Ophelia welcomed Joshua’s suggestion.

“Yes, do that. It would be good to get to know the young ladies on this occasion.”

Unable to refuse Ophelia’s words, Gritta brought a chair and sat between Isabel and Rosette.

“Then, excuse me, Your Majesty.”

Ophelia smiled and introduced Gritta to the three children.

“This is Gritta, my maid. Come to think of it, she’s quite young. You said you’re twenty this year, right?”

“That’s right, Your Majesty.”

“When the two young ladies debut in society, I want you to take good care of them.”

“Yes. I would be honored.”

Gritta diligently conversed and began to brew the tea. She put the problematic tea leaves into a large teacup that could sufficiently serve five people and poured hot water.

“It should be brewed for about 3 minutes as it is. You can brew it longer. This tea doesn’t taste bitter even if you brew it for a long time.”

“I see.”

Joshua, who had been listening to the conversation, suddenly instructed the attendant waiting behind him.

“Bring some honey before we drink.”

Gritta reacted before the attendant.

“Ho, honey? Why suddenly honey…”

Rosette answered for him.

“I like sweet things. I want to drink it sweet.”

“Then, how about putting in sugar? This sugar is also a precious sugar imported from the southern part of the empire.”

“Give me honey instead.”

Joshua was firm.

Even in the short time it took for the attendant to get the honey, Gritta was restless.

Around that time, Ophelia, sensing something strange, asked.

“Gritta, what’s wrong? Is there something wrong?”

“No, Your Majesty. I’m not feeling well.”

“Oh dear. I guess I called you for nothing. How about you go and rest?”

Gritta swallowed hard, looking at Rosette.

“No, it’s nothing. I’ll stay here.”

When even Isabel started to look strange, following Ophelia’s lead, Gritta had no choice but to pour honey into Rosette’s teacup. Then, she placed a strainer over the teacup and poured the tea.

The tea leaves were filtered by the strainer, and only the tea was poured into the teacup. The color of the tea was a subtle yellow, resembling a full moon.

Rosette carefully stirred the tea with a teaspoon, mixing it with the honey. Then, she slightly turned her head and looked at Joshua’s expression.

He was watching Gritta’s reaction with a stern face.

‘What kind of reaction will Gritta show?’

Not everyone dies from eating Kish tree leaves and honey together. [The Kish tree is a fictional tree, and its leaves are poisonous when combined with honey.]

But Rosette was still a little girl. There was a high possibility that something bad would happen. Even if she didn’t die, there would be aftereffects.

‘I think I know why the Prince is doing this.’

He must be testing Gritta’s conscience.

Circumstantially, Gritta was a spy in the Imperial Palace. Joshua was trying to see if Gritta would stop Rosette, who was eight years old, from drinking the tea that might kill her.

‘I wonder if someone who tried to kill the Empress will belatedly care about her conscience…’

Rosette was half in doubt as she lifted the teacup. Bbi-Bbi chirped anxiously in her ear.

[Bbi… Bbi-Bbi.]

‘Rosette, do you really have to drink that? What if I didn’t remove all the Kish tree leaves?’

[Bbit…!]

‘Rosette, don’t eat it!’

‘It’s okay, Bbi-Bbi. I trust you. And…’

The Prince won’t let it happen.

The Prince definitely will.

It was the moment Rosette mustered her courage and brought the teacup to her lips.

“Wait a moment.”

Joshua pressed down on Rosette’s hand holding the teacup, lowering it. The teacup hit the saucer, making a jarring sound.

“I want to hear your tasting review before that. Why don’t you try it first?”

Gritta trembled at his words.

“Me, me?”

“Yes. It’s the tea you gifted.”

“I’m okay…”

Gritta looked around with a face asking for help.

‘It’s not 100 percent certain that she’ll die if she drinks it, but it must be unsettling.’

Rosette glared at Gritta with determined eyes.

‘She didn’t take any action even though I was about to eat it.’

Rosette had wondered if Gritta was in a similar situation to her past self.

She wondered if someone was forcing her to do this.

But she didn’t stop the young Rosette from eating it.

In Rosette’s mind, Gritta was already branded as a bad person.

“What are you doing? His Highness the Prince is personally asking you.”

Isabel, who had roughly grasped the situation, crossed her arms with a cold face. Ophelia also sensed something was wrong and didn’t say anything.

Joshua took action himself. He roughly poured tea into a teacup without a strainer, added plenty of honey, and stirred it roughly.

“Drink.”

It was now a complete command.

“I’m…”

“I said drink.”

Joshua smiled crookedly.

“Is there a reason why you can’t drink it?”