Chapter 4.

The Maid Who Poisoned Her Food

Essika frowned as she hung her wet dress near the window.

She had merely gone to wash herself.

For a martial artist, bathing in a lake was hardly anything unusual.

Of course, before awakening the memories of Yeongryeong’s past life, she had never washed herself in a lake.

At her family home, the Brigitte baronial residence, warm water had always been prepared for her.

But here……

They had always brought her water that was cold as ice and told her to wash with it.

Every time she washed with that water, she suffered from chills and frequently caught colds.

But she could not live without washing herself, so she had no choice.

‘The more I think about it, the more absurd the head lady’s petty and childish behavior seems.’

Essika continued thinking.

‘And because of her, I ended up meeting the Crown Prince.’

Lesvan Deon Lucene, with black hair and brilliant golden eyes, was the Crown Prince of the Turesian Empire.

Those eyes had somehow reminded Essika of a certain man.

“An eagle can never be happy in a cage, Yeongryeong.”

What if she had listened carefully to his words back then?

Essika smiled bitterly and shook her head.

They only had similar eyes.

She shouldn’t let it bother her.

‘In any case, I need to be careful. If I reveal my presence to a master at this stage, I’ll only give myself a headache.’

The moment their eyes had met, Essika had seen through Lesvan’s level of cultivation.

‘He must be a master comparable to the Extreme Demon realm.’

Lesvan possessed a naturally powerful martial physique, and he was hiding strength far greater than what he had revealed to the world.

‘Even if I returned to my prime, I don’t think I could beat him.’

For a martial artist, her current physical condition was no different from someone just beginning their journey.

Just as masters could recognize each other’s abilities merely by observing their bearing, drawing too much attention from him could make him suspicious of her for no reason.

Not only was Lesvan of extremely high status, but he had also been portrayed as an aggressive man in the novel.

Essika had a strong instinct that becoming entangled with him would be troublesome.

Fortunately, the Lesvan in the book spent very little time in the capital, Torres, because he was always at the forefront of conquest wars.

Once the capital was relocated to the conquered territories, his connection to the Klaus family would end as well, and he would soon forget this place.

‘Then I should eat.’

Essika opened the door.

A tray filled with various seasonal foods had been placed outside.

They must have been things Sella had reluctantly stolen from the kitchen.

‘Hmm?’

Essika’s cold blue eyes gleamed.

On a dark night, with the crescent moon slightly fuller than before, Kallian stood on the balcony of his room, holding a glass and enjoying the breeze.

Under the dark night sky, only Kallian’s violet eyes shone coldly and brilliantly.

It had already been ten days since Essika Klaus had left her room.

‘What on earth is she plotting?’

It was irritating to see her face when she came out, but her continued absence was unsettling in its own way.

The head lady had said that they needed to maintain friendly relations with the Brigitte family, and Kallian agreed with her.

He disliked seeing Essika flaunt her family’s wealth and act arrogantly because of it, however.

‘Is she planning to demand a divorce?’

Essika’s blue eyes had been filled with tears when she had lunged at him.

Kallian scoffed.

‘As if.’

The corner of his lips twisted arrogantly.

The Essika Kallian knew did not have the courage to demand a divorce.

“That woman thinks she can buy the honor of the venerable Klaus family with the pittance she brought as her dowry.”

She was merely a wicked woman who was always desperate to flaunt the wealth her family had given her and enjoyed using that wealth to torment those weaker than herself.

“There’s a pitch-black snake inside her. She’s a foolish snake that doesn’t even know how to use its fangs, so she isn’t dangerous. But she is certainly harmful, so even between husband and wife, there should be distance.”

His mother was difficult and strict, but she was very good at judging people’s character.

The impression she had formed when she first met Essika, which she had expressed with a frown, was not much different from Kallian’s own thoughts.

It had only strengthened his opinion of Essika.

‘I don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish by hiding in that room.’

The cold wind tousled Kallian’s hair.

‘But nothing in the Klaus Duchy will go according to your wishes.’

Kallian’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door.

He turned around.

Yuri stood there, holding a tray, looking startled.

Yuri Anesis.

She had entered the ducal household as Essika’s maid, but she was completely different from Essika.

Her warm golden hair and red eyes gave her a lively air that seemed somewhat out of place in the rigid Klaus household.

After hesitating for a moment, she approached Kallian.

A faint scent of apples tickled his nose.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

At Kallian’s voice, Yuri’s eyes trembled slightly.

Come to think of it, his mother had recently appointed Yuri Anesis as head maid.

Yuri was diligent, but considering she was Essika’s friend, giving her such a position was unexpected.

“I…… just came from seeing Essika.”

Yuri hesitated before speaking.

“But Essika…….”

“I don’t want to hear about her.”

“But…… I think Essika has misunderstood our relationship because of the ring Your Grace bought for me. I want to clear up the misunderstanding, but she keeps pushing me away with harsh words, so I don’t know what to do…….”

“Yuri. Enough.”

Kallian cut her off with a cold expression.

“Ah…….”

Yuri raised a hand to her lips before speaking in a gloomy voice.

“I’m sorry. From now on, I have a duty to obey His Grace’s orders as the head maid of the ducal household, rather than as Essika’s friend…… I momentarily forgot my position.”

Yuri Anesis was fundamentally different from Essika.

Even when Essika was in the wrong, she stubbornly refused to admit it.

She had also repeatedly ignored the hierarchy and procedures of the ducal household and insisted on doing things her own way.

She would even slap people without hesitation, making Kallian’s life exhausting.

“Please forgive me. From now on, I won’t act against your wishes, Your Grace.”

Yuri looked at him with warm red eyes, carefully watching his reaction.

It was as though she were breathing warmth into his frozen heart.

After a brief silence, Kallian moved his lips.

“You really are foolish.”

“……Pardon?”

Kallian swallowed the words ‘How foolish you are to defend such a woman, even if she is your friend.’

Instead, he spoke in a low voice.

“And I’m a little disappointed as well.”

Yuri’s eyes trembled.

“It was a misunderstanding. To interpret that ring that way, I mean. I…… don’t think it was entirely a misunderstanding when I gave you that ring.”

At Kallian’s words, Yuri stared blankly at him for a moment before her cheeks turned red.

They were at the stage when the expressions of affection between two people who were beginning a relationship grew stronger with each passing day.

Soon, Kallian’s voice reached her.

“The weather is pleasant. Would you like to take a walk with me?”

Yuri gazed at Kallian shyly before lowering her head slightly in agreement.

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

After placing the tray of food outside the door, Sella slightly opened it to peek inside.

Someone inside suddenly grabbed her and pulled her in with tremendous force.

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Sella struck her forehead against the floor and squeezed her eyes shut.

“P-Please…… s-spare me…….”

Her body trembled violently.

Someone brought over a chair, crossed their legs, and sat down in front of her.

Then a low voice spoke.

“You’re trembling so pitifully. Do you know why I don’t feel sorry for you?”

“……M-My lady…….”

The person extended a foot and pushed the tray Sella had brought earlier toward her.

When Sella saw the untouched food, her face went pale.

“Eat.”

Then the voice whispered directly beside her ear.

Sella’s hands trembled violently.

“I said eat, Sella.”

Hearing her own name spoken felt like a death sentence.

Sella squeezed her eyes shut even tighter.

The person sitting in the chair reached out and grabbed a fistful of Sella’s hair.

Sella closed her eyes even more tightly, refusing to look at her.

“Countless people tried to mix deadly poison into my food. Yeongbin, Gabi, Lady Sogui…… There were even times when the resources of poison clans grew rich because of me.”

The chilling voice, impossible to identify as male or female, seemed to tighten around Sella’s throat.

“But as the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Cult Leader, my body was impervious to blades and immune to all poisons. Even gu poison, born from poisonous snakes, toads, and centipedes devouring one another inside a jar, could not dare approach my dantian.”

She had possessed countless enemies.

She had reached a realm where she could tell whether food was poisoned simply by its color.

“And no one who ever poisoned my food survived.”

“……Sob…….”

“Under the circumstances, tearing your flesh and bones apart would be inconvenient. Therefore, I’ve decided that you will atone for your crime by eating it yourself. Eat.”

She grabbed Sella by the hair and slammed her head downward.

Right before Sella’s eyes was the salad she had poisoned.

If she ate it, she would undoubtedly roll her eyes back and die.

Sella clasped her hands together and desperately begged for mercy.

She already knew that Essika had discovered what she had done.

“Please…… please spare me. My lady, please.”

“Come to think of it, I dislike being called ‘my lady’ as well.”

Essika frowned and lifted Sella’s head by her hair.

Their eyes met.

Sella’s face was immediately filled with shock.

“M-My lady……?”

The woman staring at her with cold blue eyes devoid of even a shred of mercy was none other than Essika Klaus, the owner of this shabby room.

“You knew who I was, yet you called me ‘my lady’?”

Come to think of it, Essika had never once claimed that she was someone else.

The idea that she was an assassin who had threatened the Duchess and was hiding in her room had merely been Sella’s own assumption.

‘She really is the Duchess…… but…… she’s different.’

Like a herbivore standing before a predator, Sella instinctively understood.

The woman before her, who had detected the poison in her food and calmly tried to slam her head into it, was not the Duchess she knew.

That expression was unmistakably the face of a vicious beast.

But she could not die like this.

“M-My lady…… why…… why are you doing this to me……?”

Sella trembled as she questioned Essika.

“You…… you weren’t like this before.”

But Essika answered with icy eyes without even twitching an eyebrow.

“Are you referring to the foolish woman I used to be—the one who worried about the opinions of worthless creatures like you, who weren’t even worth calling vermin?”

Her voice was as sharp as a blade.

Sella’s entire body flinched.

Essika Klaus had been young and easy to bully.

She had supposedly bought the position of Duchess of Klaus with money, yet no one respected her, forcing her to tremble even before maids like Sella.

But now……

“You committed the grave offense of repeatedly bringing me food fit for the trash.”

Her voice was cold as frost and as threatening as a blade pressed against Sella’s throat.

“Yet even after I gave you another chance by having you bring me better-quality food, you threw away the opportunity to earn my forgiveness. How dare you…….”

Essika tightened her grip.

Pain shot through Sella’s scalp.

With a grip far stronger than anyone could have imagined from those delicate wrists, Essika held her so firmly that Sella could not even turn her head.

The killing intent in those eyes made it difficult for her to breathe.

“You poisoned my food and tried to kill me.”

“My lady…… please spare me. Please forgive me……. Sob…….”

Tears streamed from Sella’s eyes.

They were tears born of genuine fear.

She had only intended to kill the assassin because the assassin knew her secret.

“You’re already a dead woman. If the crime of a mere maid attempting to poison the Duchess of Klaus becomes known, your family won’t be allowed to die peacefully either.”

Sella’s trembling body flinched again.

The laws of the Empire were severe.

Even if Essika was an unwanted Duchess whom no one loved……

If Essika ate the poisoned food and died, and the truth became known, neither Sella nor her family could escape the death penalty.

And even if Sella died now, there was no guarantee that her family would be safe.

Essika already knew all about her crimes.

She had even counted the people whose lives she could easily take.

“Waaah…… I’m sorry. I’m sorry, my lady…… please…….”

Sella sobbed uncontrollably as she begged for forgiveness.

“Please…… spare my family…….”

She did not know what had happened, but the Essika Klaus standing before her was not the former mistress she knew.

Her eyes were even more brilliant and intense than those of the head lady, whose gaze could send chills down one’s spine even in midsummer.

She inspired an instinctive terror like a lion that had returned alive from hell.

Belated regret surged through Sella’s heart.

“Please, if you give me just one more chance…….”

With tear-filled eyes, Sella pleaded with Essika for one final act of mercy.

“I’ll live for you from now on, my lady.”