âThe meeting has been extended and the royals arenât yet at the ballroom.â
It seemed like Rumein had helped Calian. Calian gave a subtle nod.
He then smelled the Ranieri as he opened the door, and smiled.
The only people who did not attend the royal meeting and at the same time was invited to the feast was Silike and Calian. Since this was a feast that started right after the royal meeting ended, it would start late if the meeting ended late.
That was how Calian got some time to speak with Silike â all by himself.
A servant approached and put down a cup of coffee. Calian said.
âPlease give us some space before the others come.â
The servant nodded and everyone else left.
Silike stared at the sight of everyone leaving since she did not know what was happening and fanned herself as usual.
Calian, seeing that, shook his head.
âLetâs not deceive each other.â
At those words, Silike froze for a second. Then, she nodded and put down her fan on the table.
âSure thing.â
Both Calian and Silike were staring at each other. Although they both seemed calm, they actually werenât. An impounding silence blasted throughout the room. The second hand of the clock ticking away inside the ballroom sounded like thunder.
Silike spoke first.
âWhy are you looking at me like that?â
Calian frowned slightly and held a coffee cup in his hands.
âI told you to not deceive me.â
Calianâs red eyes moved away from Silike and now looked at the coffe.
âBut it didnât mean we should do away with our respect.â
Suddenly, Silikeâs facial expression changed.
Because Calian was of Royal blood, Silike should not have done away with her respect. Calian was talking about that.
âYou have grown much.â
Silike was still not showing respect.
Calian, having drunk his coffee in a leisurely manner, smiled and spoke.
âThatâs not hard to do⊠is it?â
Then he added with a deep voice.
âSilike.â
Silikeâs beautiful face showed anger. Calian was shocked to see that, and Silike bit her lips.
âBad lineages are so disrespectfulâŠâ
âI think I just told you that you are not showing respect.â
Calian, after cutting Silikeâs words, spoke again.
âIf you talk about lineage, what about Viscount Brissen?â
Silikeâs eyes turned thin and sharp. She was doing that because she knew that she couldnât get rid of Calian there and then.
âAnyways, thereâs something I want to talk about, Silike.â
Silike, being called by her name again, didnât feel like talking with Calian. That was why she stood up.
â Thud!
Calian put down his coffee cup loudly.
âTea.â
Calianâs eyes darkened.
He was looking into Silikeâs worst.
âI would like to tell you to stop. The scent of the tea is too strong to drink.â
Like Ranieri.
Silike slowly slid back into her seat.
To what she heard, Calian had been drinking the tea up to this morning. Thatâs why she didnât think Calian knew about the poison. But it seemed Calian knew that she even made the dosage of poison higher.
âHe knew it.â
It would seem clear why Calian had drunk the poison.
If it had been let out that Calianâs tea had contained poison, Silike would have killed Calianâs maids and servants for trying to kill him. That was because just even handing him the tea would be considered a crime.
Calian was worrying about that.
Silike smiled and spoke.
âYou say such weird things.â
Calian smiled and spoke.
âYou donât know about it.â
âYes, I donât know about it.â
Calian tapped his coffee cup. Then he took out what he had come with. On the table lay some sugar that looked exactly the same as the substance he came with.
Calian spoke slowly.
âI thought about a lot of things. Whether to use the evidence I got out of Lennon. Or to just capture Lennon and torture him. Or to go into the safety of Alan. Or to tell this to the king. Or whether I should just poison my brothers.â
Silikeâs eyebrows twitched. Calian ignored that and spoke again.
âUsing poison wasnât very striking to me, and for the other ones, you would just squirm out of the situation. Thatâs why I decided that I would bring your card to my side, so that you canât do this again.â
So that Silike couldnât use poison ever again.
âThen I would have to use something as a bet, but the only thing I have right now is a strong heart. So I decided to put that on bet.â
Calian showed Silike what he held. Silike, naturally, looked to see what it was.
âPoison. It doesnât react to silver, and itâs not one that kills so it wonât be found. Well⊠maybe I should phrase it as medicine since it can save lives in an interpretation.â
Silikeâs hands, which were on her lap, slightly grabbed onto her dress because she coudlntâ figure out Calianâs intentions. Calian spoke again.
âAfter you eat this, your heart will stop. It makes people seem as if they are dead, although they are still alive.â
It was the poison that Secretiaâs spies used to save themselves from danger. Of course it was not used only in Secretia, so even if Silike figured out what the poison was, she couldnât draw links between Calian and Secretia.
Calian, looking at the substance as if he was viewing something with awe, spoke again.
âOf course, it wonât work on me. Even if I eat it, the Power of Blessing will prevent my heart from stopping.â
Something that wonât have any use.
Calian responded to Silikeâs curious eyes.
âHowever, it will stop the detoxification process.â
Like how a mere cut on his hand wouldnât heal.
The Power of Blessing ignores weaker poison.
Calian couldnât have been in a more peaceful disposition.
âThen in the time the Power of Blessing gets rid of this poison, the weaker poison I drank every day through my morning tea will disperse throughout my body.â
The poison he took in in the previous days wouldnât kill him.
âI wonât die, but I will suffer a bit.â
He would make sure that his heart wouldnât stop then he would start the detoxification process.
âHowever, things would get a bit more bothersome for Silike.â
A plop sound came from inside Calianâs coffee cup.
âSo, the thing is, if you agree to not send tea from tomorrow, I wonât drink this. Iâm a bit tired of being sick.â
Silike figured out what Calianâs intentions were.
Even if he didnât die, there would be signs of being intoxicated. If he fell down and coughed up blood, then everyone would suspect it to be because of poison. Also, people wouldnât be able to figure out how much poison he took in, so they would think it was an amount that couldnât be cured with the Power of Blessing.
Furthermore, Silike was the only person in the ballroom with Silike.
âYouâre trying to put blame on me by saying that I gave you poison.â
âI wouldnât say it would be putting blame on you. Also, why are you saying this to me? Youâre the one who wants to do away with me the most.â
Silikeâs slightly grinned.
It was like if she had put a foot into a kidâs sand castle. At that happy feeling, Silike spoke in a relaxed voice.
âDo you have your evidence ready?â
At those words, Calianâs eyes widened.
Calian stirred the contents of his coffee cup slowly with a spoon. Then he responded to Silike.
âIâm not trying to get rid of you right now. Of course, Alan is here, but what will I do if the full of Brissenâs army comes?â
âYou know well.â
Silike laughed and responded, and Calian laughed too.
âIâm just trying to stop you from playing with poison, so I donât need any proof. This time, Iâm just going to go the extent where people will always have an eye on you. Fetters are sometimes stronger when they cannot be seen.â
**just a side note to the editor: the word fetters in here does not have a literal meaning (as in cuffs or legcuffs) but rather some kind of a figurative meaning, in that the fetters is a thing that holds and restricts Silike**
Assumptions couldnât bring someone to court. Silike was one of the people who knew that too well.
âYou canât hold me in with fetters like those.â
Fetters that canât be seen.
Silike had never experienced that kind of thing.
âYou know it was constantly done.â
Silike committed countless crimes and was sitting here, drinking her coffee peacefully.
She then smiled like a pure child.
âI wonder who knows that the person who killed your mother was meâŠ!â
Silike whispered like a bird tweeting away in the early morning.
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