The Poisonous Princess Who Successfully Infiltrated the Enemy as an Employee - Chapter 66

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 66

I stood frozen, all words abandoning me.
In the dark pool of blood, a fragment of desiccated root writhed with obscene vitality.
I had no reason not to recognize it.
“Come now, Your Highness. Open your mouth.”
The same thing had been in that liquid the Guild member had forced down my throat, seizing my jaw with crude violence.
As I stared down at that horrifying scene, someone gripped my shoulder roughly and wrenched me backward.
“Step back, rookie!”
It was Aizen.
He pushed me behind him and muttered quietly.
“Damn it……!”
Fury and bewilderment blazed across his harsh features simultaneously.
He strode straight to the door and kicked it open, roaring.
“All of you out there!”
Aizen’s rough shout reverberated down the corridor.
“Get in here and seal this scene!”
“Yes, sir!”
At his single command, investigators poured in.
One of them checked Daisy’s pulse, while another scooped the root fragment from the floor into a glass vial.
The fragment writhed a moment longer inside the vial, then burst with a soft pop.
Black viscid fluid stained the interior of the glass.
It was strange.
Though the interrogation room thrummed with urgent activity, the scene unfolding before my eyes seemed to move with glacial slowness, as if time itself had nearly stopped.
Then Aizen, directing the investigators, gestured to a younger one.
“You.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Take this rookie outside.”
“……Yes?”
“Don’t you see the state of her? She’s about to collapse.”
Aizen glanced at me as he continued.
“For a new recruit, this is quite the shock.”
“Yes, sir!”
The investigator who’d received Aizen’s order approached me, took hold of my arm, and pulled me from the interrogation room.
Helvayne found in the Princess Palace maid.
I was dragged into the corridor without even registering it—my eyes fixed blankly on the floor.
‘So the Guild is involved in this incident?’
Or perhaps we stumbled onto it by chance while investigating.
No. It couldn’t be coincidence.
That maid who had just died—she’d coughed up Helvayne, the very substance the Guild used.
‘I thought they were merely a hired organization taking contracts from the Grand Duke’s enemies……’
But looking at how events were unfolding, that didn’t seem to be the case.
An assassination guild wielding Helvayne—someone was ensconced not just within the Grand Duke’s sphere, but within the Princess Palace itself, perhaps even beneath the Emperor’s nose, swallowing Helvayne with impunity. The probability was disturbingly high.
That meant the secret Guild whose name I still hadn’t uncovered might well be a tool of the Black Mages.
‘Or perhaps they shared the same roots from the beginning.’
My fingertips went cold.
Without thinking, I clutched at my sternum.
‘I could……’
I could become like her.
At any moment.
One wrong word, a single misplaced action.
I could end up like that maid, coughing blood and dying.
The terror of Helvayne—which I’d worked so hard to deny until now—suddenly became visceral, crawling across my skin.
‘Damn those Guild bastards!’
I ground my teeth audibly, my jaw clenching tight.
‘What did they make me swallow!!’
Those wretches weren’t worthy of a second’s worth of mercy.
I swallowed curses I couldn’t dare voice aloud, my fists trembling with barely restrained rage.
Shortly after, Aizen handed me a cup of water as I sat on a wooden chair in the corner of the corridor.
“Feeling better?”
I accepted the cup with both hands and nodded.
“Yes.”
When I nodded weakly, he must have thought I was discouraged.
Aizen spoke quietly, leaning against the wall.
“Most newcomers react that way. So don’t let it get to you. You held up pretty well for someone at your stage.”
Aizen scratched at the burn scar on his face. He seemed to be trying to comfort me.
In truth, it wasn’t that my spirit had broken or that I’d lost my nerve—but there was no good way to explain this anger, so I simply nodded.
“Yes.”
I took a few sips of water, then glanced up at Aizen cautiously.
“But… what was that thing that came out of the maid’s mouth earlier?”
“Hm?”
“That writhing thing. It looked alive.”
Though it burst and dissolved not long after.
“Mm.”
Aizen rolled his eyes and rubbed his rough chin thoughtfully.
“There’s no precise scientific name, nor any solid documentation on it. It only recently came to light. The Investigation Bureau calls it a ‘Parasite,’ but…”
He paused, thinking, then continued.
“In truth, it’s hard to classify it as a parasite at all. As you saw yourself, it looked like part of a tree root.”
“Yes, it seemed closer to a plant than a parasite, actually.”
“Exactly. If it weren’t for that writhing motion, we might have called it a Parasitic Plant instead of a Parasite.”
“I see.”
I drew a long breath and released it slowly.
‘That one who gave me Helvayne said it was a poison plant…’
But seeing that the Investigation Bureau, which had examined Helvayne before me, classified it as a Parasite rather than a Parasitic Plant, it occurred to me that circumstances might suggest it wasn’t a poison plant after all.
‘Perhaps that Guild bastard deliberately called it a poison plant.’
To confuse me, to keep me from learning the truth about this.
If such cunning calculation was indeed at play, then those Guild scoundrels were truly vicious and ruthlessly manipulative.
‘No wonder I couldn’t find it no matter how many medicinal herb texts I combed through…’
If the Guild was connected not only to Marquis Bientra but also to Black Mages, I would need to examine books on magic as well as herbal texts.
The suddenly widened scope made me furrow my brow without thinking.
Aizen, glancing down at me, spoke.
“Your work ends here for today.”
“What?”
“I’ll handle the remaining servants and maids myself. You go back and rest.”
I shook my head firmly.
“No. I’ll stay through to the end.”
“Newcomer.”
Aizen’s scarred face hardened as he looked down at me sternly.
“You’ve already pulled an all-nighter on your first day and seen a corpse. That’s enough. If you let ambition run away with you, you’ll exhaust yourself before we even find the real culprit.”
……
“Go inside and get some sleep. That’s an order.”
Faced with his weighty consideration, I could only nod, admitting defeat.
“Very well. Please, continue with the remaining investigation.”
“Good. Get some rest and clear your head.”
I bowed to Aizen and made my way toward the Separate Palace with heavy steps.
Anyway, I needed to check whether Varcan had returned from outside.
The moment I reached the bedroom in the Separate Palace, I deactivated the Appearance Alteration Magic Tool.
“Ahh…”
I had forced myself to hide my exhaustion in front of Aizen, but now that I was in this safe space, the tension drained away and my joints ached.
That’s when it happened.
Knock-knock.
Someone rapped on the bedroom door.
‘What? Has Varcan already returned?’
I hurried to the antechamber and opened the door to find a familiar knight waiting. It was Alexis.
“Please, come in.”
“Thank you.”
The moment we sat across from each other at the antechamber table, I asked.
“Has Your Highness already returned?”
“Not yet.”
“Then why are you still here……?”
“His Highness ordered me to remain in the Separate Palace.”
“Ah…….”
“And this as well.”
Alexis pressed a heavy wooden box into my hands.
“His Highness instructed me to deliver it to you.”
When I opened it, I found medicinal herbs purchased from two of the seven herbal shops on the list I’d given him.
I looked between the box and Alexis.
“……Medicinal herbs?”
“Yes.”
“No, I mean. Just the herbs. That’s all?”
“…….”
Alexis tilted his head at my words.
“Is something amiss?”
“……Besides the herbs, there was nothing else? No other message, no other items?”
“Correct.”
“…….”
My mind went into turmoil.
‘What is this man doing?’
Had he actually gone at the exact time I specified?!
With the precise map I’d given him and the paper with the exact time written on it—he’d really just bought the herbs and sent them over, nothing more?
If he’d gone at the appointed time, there’s no way he could’ve avoided seeing what was supposed to happen near those herb shops…….
I’d entrusted this to Varcan in good faith, but unease was creeping up my spine for some reason.
Truth be told, the materials for the antidote were already here in the Imperial Palace.
I’d sent him out not for the herbs themselves, but hoping he would handle whatever was supposed to happen near those locations…….
‘Two locations must have failed…….’
Well, even for Varcan, not everything could go perfectly.
There were still five more locations left, so I could only hope that at least three of them would succeed.
“I have something for you too.”
I quickly gathered my thoughts and handed over the scented herb I’d brought from the Princess Palace to Alexis.
“A scented herb, is it not?”
“That’s right. It’s evidence from the Princess Palace. For now, please keep it safe, and when the Grand Duke returns, make sure to hand it to him without fail.”
“Understood. I shall keep it secure.”
“Then I’m counting on you.”
After Alexis withdrew, I washed up in the warm water Celine and Ena had prepared.
I asked them to wake me in two hours, sent Celine and Ena back to their quarters, then took out the sedative I’d kept in the drawer and drank it.
Then I sat on the sofa, staring into the empty air, and murmured softly.
“Sibi-ho, come out.”
Darkness rippled, and Sibi-ho slowly materialized.
Sibi-ho, who had been hanging upside down from the ceiling corner like a spider, descended silently to the floor and flopped onto the sofa across from me.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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