The statue of Terdeo was re-erected in the square, this time new. Fortunately, this time the security was tight, and no one damaged it for several days.
"Looks like Cersia sent some crayfish today."
Terdeo laughed in amazement as he looked at the enormous crayfish, which was too big to be called breakfast. The butler, who had prepared the crayfish in a way that was easy to eat and served it on individual plates, nodded gently and replied warmly.
"She sent it while visiting a port city on business, thinking of Her Highness the Duchess. She even sent it through a person early in the morning."
"Last time it was lamb, before that it was figs, and before that... what was it?"
"Beef."
Selphius replied and took a bite of the crayfish meat.
"Right, beef. ...Thanks to you, we get to indulge too."
Cersia always sent me the specialties of the regions she visited. I smiled and put a piece of the succulent crayfish meat in my mouth. It melted on my tongue, firm yet tender.
"Really delicious!"
I exclaimed in surprise. Covering my lips, I widened my eyes in amazement, and Rebecca, who was serving us, smiled and filled my glass with water.
"The chef prepared it so that you can enjoy it raw because it's so fresh! Please eat a lot, Her Highness the Duchess!"
Usually, when we had meals with the family, all the servants except the butler were sent out. But lately, Rebecca had been serving us to make our meals more comfortable. Eating delicious food from morning made me feel very good. Terdeo and Selphius were also enjoying breakfast today. I had a good feeling that everything would go well today.
'If every day could be like today!'
It was a perfect morning.
"......?"
Until just a moment ago.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, my tongue tingled. Sensing something was wrong, I stopped eating and frowned. I moved my tongue around in my mouth.
"Huh?"
The sensation was strange. It felt blunt, as if it wasn't my own tongue.
"What's wrong?"
Sensing something was off, Terdeo stopped eating and asked. My tongue, which had been moving bluntly, suddenly stopped. It happened in an instant. Before I could react, the sensation spread throughout my body. With a clatter, the fork and knife in my hand fell to the floor.
"Her Highness the Duchess?"
Selphius looked at me with wide eyes. This feeling was all too familiar.
'Oh, again? Why now? Who this time?'
I grumbled inwardly and quickly looked at the two of them. It seemed like I had drunk the blood of one of them, but there was no one bleeding visibly.
'My crayfish...!'
And I...
"Ugh!"
"...Phelshati!"
"Her Highness the Duchess!"
"Ah! Your Highness!"
I let out a short scream and then collapsed onto the table, fainting.
***
The sudden collapse of Phelshati turned the Laphireon mansion upside down. Rebecca ran to call a doctor, and Terdeo quickly moved the unconscious Phelshati to the bedroom. Phelshati lay on the bed, breathing heavily and in pain. Terdeo urgently checked his own body for any signs of bleeding, but found none.
"Selphius!"
After checking himself, Terdeo roughly called out to Selphius and thoroughly examined his body.
"I've already checked myself, Your Excellency. I'm fine."
This wasn't the first time for Terdeo. Selphius, too, immediately checked himself when Phelshati collapsed.
"It's not me."
Selphius approached the suffering Phelshati.
"Your Excellency, calm down. It's not like you."
"What?"
"Her Highness the Duchess always wakes up even after drinking our blood, which is much stronger than ordinary poison."
Selphius, who was sitting in a chair next to the bed, hesitated to hold Phelshati's hand.
"So, she'll wake up just fine this time too."
Selphius's hand, which had been hovering in the air, didn't touch Phelshati's hand. It was a child's innocent concern that if he touched her with his poisoned hand, she might feel even more pain. Terdeo, acknowledging Selphius's reasonable concern, ran his hand through his hair roughly. Phelshati's face was pale, visible even from a distance.
"Where's the doctor?"
"The maid has gone to call him."
"...The symptoms are exactly the same as when she drinks our blood. Are you sure it's not our blood?"
"Neither you nor I have any bleeding. It can't be us."
"Then was there a problem with the food?"
"...I don't know."
Selphius looked up at the angry Terdeo with a worried face. His lips trembled with anxiety.
"Even if there was poison in the food, we wouldn't feel it... right?"
That was true. The only good thing about being cursed with poison in our blood was that we couldn't feel even the most lethal poison. This situation was a result of that. Terdeo bit his lip hard and kicked the desk violently.
"Damn! Where the hell is the doctor?"
Just as Terdeo finished speaking, the sound of footsteps running up the stairs was heard. Terdeo ran out of the bedroom and scolded the doctor who was climbing the stairs.
"You're too slow!"
He then roughly grabbed the back of the doctor's neck and threw him next to Phelshati.
"J-Just a moment... Your Highness..."
"Do something now."
Intimidated by Terdeo's murderous aura, the doctor hastily pulled on medical gloves from his bag without even greeting him.
"I'll examine her."
The doctor carefully examined Phelshati, who was breathing faintly and in a critical condition. He started to look at Terdeo for cues.
"C-Cough. Her Highness the Duchess... is..."
"Shut up and examine her."
The situation didn't look good. Terdeo cursed the doctor under his breath and signaled the butler.
"Uncle Phineas should be in the capital due to the recent bulletin. Find him and bring him here."
"Yes, I understand."
It was an absurd order to find someone whose whereabouts were unknown, but the butler nodded and quickly left the bedroom. Confirming that the butler had left, Terdeo called out to Selphius.
"Selphius."
"Y-Yes?"
Selphius, who couldn't take his eyes off Phelshati, replied with a worried face.
"Go downstairs and make sure no one disposes of the food and ingredients from this morning."
"That's already taken care of. I've called the knights to prohibit entry to the kitchen and ordered the chef not to run away."
Terdeo looked at Selphius with a surprised expression and lightly patted the child's head.
"You're better than me. I'm glad I didn't send you to the countryside."
Even with Terdeo's rare praise, Selphius didn't feel happy.
"Is Her Highness the Duchess going to be okay...?"
"The doctor will diagnose her. And the butler has gone to bring Uncle Phineas. Let's wait and see."
"...Is Uncle in the capital?"
"Given how he neatly handled the recent bulletin, it's likely that Lady Gloria is in the capital. And if Lady Gloria is in the capital, Uncle Phineas must be there too."
"Is Lady Gloria in the capital too?"
"Most likely. But only Lady Gloria can handle the Laphireon family's affairs so neatly."
The doctor, who had been watching the two of them converse, cleared his throat and approached.
"Your Highness..."
"Speak."
"Her Highness the Duchess seems to have been exposed to poison."
Of course. It was the expected answer, but hearing it from the doctor made it feel worse. Terdeo gritted his teeth.
"We need to detoxify her before her condition worsens... To do that, we need to identify the poison. The current symptoms are too primary... That is..."
The doctor's long-winded explanation made Terdeo's red eyes flash with madness.
"Get to the point."
"That is..."
"In one sentence."
"We need more time."
Terdeo let out a bitter laugh. As his hand moved towards the hilt of his sword, the doctor hurriedly explained.
"Since the only symptoms are paralysis and sudden unconsciousness, it will take time to identify the poison... That is, the secondary symptoms need to appear to clearly identify the poison...!"
"So, you're saying..."
Terdeo finally drew his sword. The doctor's pale face was reflected in the blade, which gleamed in the chandelier's light.
"You're going to wait for the Duchess's condition to worsen until the poison's characteristics are clear?"
"That's not what I meant, but..."
"If the Duchess dies, you'll just report that she died from the poison, right?"
"That's not..."
The doctor was too busy following the sword's movements with his eyes to give a clear answer. Seeing the powerless doctor, Selphius said,
"I'll go look for Uncle too."
"Do that."
As soon as the order was given, Selphius ran out of the bedroom. The doctor looked at him enviously. If he could, he would have run out of the bedroom too. How could he save the Duchess, who was almost certainly beyond saving, as ordered by the Duke?
"What are you doing?"
"Y-Yes?"
Staring at the open bedroom door, Terdeo tilted his head slightly.
"Go save my wife."
The sword in his hand seemed to say that if he failed to save the Duchess, he wouldn't leave the bedroom alive. The doctor