The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 15

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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 15
She didn’t actually know the Duke. Of course she didn’t.
She’d never intended to claim such a thing—she’d simply planned to rattle off some random name and boast about her connections.
But she was in a tight spot right now, and wasn’t it better to use the Duke’s name than to be falsely accused and thrown out?
Threatening to escalate the situation as much as possible was one of the best defensive tactics her mother had taught her.
When Manager Park had once tried to quietly get rid of her mother after she’d discovered his misdeeds, her mother had invoked the CEO himself in her defense.
“……This.”
Ruben stammered, bewildered, for a long moment.
His frightened gaze flickered toward Bael, then back to Luciel.
He seemed to realize that nothing would come of pursuing this further, and after muttering a halfhearted curse, he slunk out of the room like a coward.
Silence settled over the chamber.
“……Cough!”
Bael convulsed with a fit of coughing.
[Warning: Life in Critical Condition]
The Status Window continued to flicker precariously.
No—it was beginning to wail an increasingly frantic alarm.
[!! Toxin Activation Progressing — Immediate Treatment Required !!]
‘How am I supposed to treat it if I don’t know what it is!!’
Luciel’s eyes darted urgently around the room.
[▼▼ Survival Time Decreasing Rapidly ▼▼]
[!! Current Condition Rapidly Deteriorating !!]
[⚠ No Time for Delay — Immediate Treatment Required or Death Will Result ⚠]
[!!!Warning!!!Warning!!!Warning!!!]
“Mana…… I have to stop the Mana…….”
In that instant, something caught her eye.
Clang—
Luciel acted on pure instinct, seizing the blade in Bael’s hand—the one through which Mana faintly flowed—and hurling it far down the corridor outside.
“Breathe. Deeply.”
“Exhale.”
The pallid Bael drew in a steadier breath.
Mercifully, as he seemed to find his equilibrium, the Status Window that had been roiling wildly in his vision settled.
‘Thank goodness.’
Luciel finally allowed herself to relax.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to just use your fists?”
“……Mana travels farther than a fist.”
As Bael grumbled and began to steady himself, Luciel consulted the Status Window again.
The window that had been flashing bright red had returned to normal, and the message read…….
“……What?”
Luciel’s eyes widened with astonishment.
“That was it……?”
She leaned in closer to the Status Window as if entranced.
“What is it?”
Bael’s question didn’t register.
“I found it.”
She whispered, trembling. At last, after days of searching, she had the answer.
[Toxin has left the area of effect. Please be careful not to contact it again.]
The Status Window’s message was unmistakable.
So that was it.
The reason Bael had remained exposed to toxin even when every other element was removed.
The reason he couldn’t escape the poison even after moving to a different territory.
Bael’s Rapier.
A precious heirloom inherited from his late father.
The poison flowed through it.
* * *
“Bael received that blade about two years ago. That’s when he began training with a real sword, I believe.”
Cain spoke.
His gaze flickered uncertainly toward Bael, who sat motionless on the bed, then back to Luciel.
Bael remained still, listening to the account without a word.
“It belonged to Bael’s father, Cedric, and the Duke was keeping it. I received it from him and passed it on to Bael.”
“Cedric’s blade…….”
Luciel murmured.
Cedric—the late Lesser Duke of Belleon—had been dead for just over ten years.
It was unlikely the Duke had injected poison into the blade during that time, so…….
“For ten years, no one wielded that blade. That much is certain. But…….”
He turned to Aila as if something had occurred to him.
“Do you remember the cause of death for Cedric and his wife, Siena, ten years ago?”
“I was in the territory at the time, so I didn’t see it myself. But I heard that within the span of two months, both of them became completely paralyzed.”
Aila answered in a grave tone.
“The progression was far faster than with Master Bael, but if we’re being precise, the symptoms were similar.”
“…….”
An uncomfortable silence filled the room.
Bael’s brow furrowed deeply as he seemed to work through something.
Cain closed his eyes, then opened them slowly.
“One hypothesis might hold.”
He looked at Luciel.
“If the poison in question spreads along the flow of Mana, as you said, and if we consider that in an adult body—especially one as trained in swordplay and Mana as those two were—Mana flows far faster and stronger…….”
Cain exhaled heavily and turned back to Bael.
“……It’s poisoning by design. Death by poisoning—but not aimed at you. At your parents.”
Bael spoke softly, as if reading off the words.
He showed no signs of severe injury or shock. Rather, he revealed almost nothing of his feelings.
In his pale blue eyes, a hidden fury flickered—barely visible, like a shadow beneath water.
“It’s not a hypothesis.”
Aila spoke with a bitter expression.
“We should consider it proven that the source of the toxin was the Rapier.”
It had been five days since Luciel, uncertain but convinced enough to act, had separated the blade from Bael.
In that time, he had improved visibly.
His legs, rigid for years, had regained enough flexibility to bend halfway.
When Cain had channeled Mana through his own blade as a conduit, Bael had even managed to bend and straighten his legs several times.
Luciel nodded.
As for her, certainty had come easily.
The Status Window had given her the answer the moment she flung the blade into the corridor.
She had run the experiment several times out of an abundance of caution, bringing the blade back into the room and removing it again, but the conclusion remained the same.
The poison paralyzing Bael lived in the blade.
Every time he trained with it, channeling Mana through the sword multiple times a day, he was knowingly—or unknowingly—injecting himself with poisoned Mana.
Just as his parents had, long ago.
“It was clearly intentional. The question is who orchestrated this.”
A brief silence descended at Cain’s words.
“You said Cedric wielded that blade his entire life?”
When Aila asked, Cain nodded.
“Had I suspected the blade even once…….”
Aila’s expression was anguished, though no one could have blamed her.
It was a blade that Cedric Belleon had used his whole life, kept secure by the Belleon Family Duke himself.
Who could have imagined poison flowed through it?
“If the paralysis progressed rapidly…… is it possible the blade was altered in some way beforehand?”
“I can’t say with certainty. But.”
Cain paused, then drew a deep breath.
His expression suggested he had already reached a conclusion.
“A maid who worked under Cedric for many years mentioned something: about half a year before Cedric’s death, his younger brother Osborne borrowed the blade for training purposes. She said so at the time.”
“……!”
Both Aila and Luciel’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“Later, he claimed the Emerald ornament had been lost and had it replaced with a Blue Mana Stone of greater value. The fact that the blade’s jewel was swapped is something the Duke himself has mentioned, so it’s likely true.”
“A Blue Mana Stone, you say…….”
“It’s a stone specialized in accelerating the flow of Mana through the body, both inward and outward.”
Aila answered in Cain’s stead, a bitter smile playing at her lips.
“An excellent instrument for assassination by Mana.”
Cain fell silent for a moment, then spoke again.
“But I can’t be certain.”
“Why not?”
“If the maid’s account is accurate, that stone was merchandise handled by Melina’s trading company, and it was Debron who delivered the altered blade.”
“……So it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where the problem originated.”
As Aila spoke, Luciel exhaled deeply.
She knew the Belleon Family siblings weren’t particularly close.
She also knew that all three who still lived harbored their own ambitions.
Power, wealth, prestige.
All three desired it all.
But one of them had poisoned their own flesh and blood.
And for ten years afterward, had watched their nephew’s body slowly paralyzed by the same toxin without lifting a finger.
“……That’s good news.”
Bael broke the long silence.
“What?”
“I’ve always wondered. What actually killed my parents, and whether the same would happen to me.”
Cain’s eyes widened as he spoke, and Bael continued.
“You once said that an enemy in the light is less frightening than one lurking in darkness.”
“…….”
“None of these three are unexpected, and none of them were people I cared for. By that measure, this isn’t bad news.”
Bael dissected the situation with remarkable composure and logic.
“What matters now.”
His gaze turned to Aila.
“Can I recover?”

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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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