Chapter 217 217. Infectious Disease, Part X
Chapter 217. Infectious Disease, Part X
Translator: Khan
Editor: Aelryinth
Killian nodded, appreciating Maribel's cleverness, and ordered her to hand over the painkillers to Dr. Paulo. When Dr. Paulo went into Julietta's bedroom with Vera and Phoebe, Marquis Anais stood up and tried to follow.
"Marquis Anais, please sit down. I think it'd be better to leave for the doctor to devote himself to treatment. I'll tell you why I told you to gather in the meantime."
Despite the Prince's order, Marquis Anais kept an uneasy eye on the bedroom. After a moment of hesitation, he finally went to the sofa at Killian's command.
As everyone sat down, Killian said that it was the fourth day of Julietta's fall and that the "Blue Blood Disease" did not seem to be an infectious disease. After talking about the part where Phoebe and Duchess Kiellini's hair had turned white and the rat the doctor had experimented with, he began reviewing the documents that Adam had brought.
"That's right, Your Highness. There aren't many cases yet in Austern, so it doesn't seem to be defined, but the report from Bertino is accurate. This report characterizes this epidemic: the hair of most of those who died turned white."
Adam handed over to Killian a bunch of papers that he was holding. The fairly thick report detailed the findings that had been investigated. It said the epidemic appeared to have started from "Manol," Bertino's most famous restaurant. The common thing among those who had fallen into the epidemic was that they ate at the restaurant.
About a hundred and thirty people of the total of more than a hundred and fifty visitors had died, and it said that the hair of not everyone had turned white. Of the twenty people who had survived the disease, the hair of only sixteen of them had changed color, and the rest of them had recovered without any problems.
Killian raised his head from the documents he was reading. "The documents make me more confident in what Dr. Paulo said."
"In the end, the Duke of Kiellini tried to kill Julietta. He killed my sister, Katarina."
While Killian was explaining, Marquis Anais, who had been making repeated sighs, exploded with anger as if he could not forgive him.
"How could the Duke of Kiellini, who is confined in Tilia, have been able to do this?" Oswald asked in surprise.
Killian replied, "I don't know how he did it, but I immediately thought of someone who could join hands with the Duke of Kiellini."
"Is it Prince Francis? I'm sure. Anyway, Your Highness turned out to be a Prince of the main line of descent, but he wasn't agitated at all. He must have been planning all this." Adam clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
"Would they find out that Julietta was a fake if my brother and Francis had joined hands?" Simone asked in a trembling voice, turning pale.
Killian said without agitation. "I'm sure he wouldn't disclose that because of the magic of the oath. He would not have revealed it because if I were to die, all the magic would be nullified.
"That's what I think. He could handle everything with poison, and he doesn't have to reveal what he had done. After Julietta died, he'd have tried to put in Regina as his adopted daughter, just as Your Highness planned. It was the only way to protect the Kiellini family."
At Maribel's words, Simone's tense shoulders finally relaxed.
"It's clear that there's a spy in the Kiellini mansion. But how did they poison the people in the capital and in Bertino?" Oswald tilted his head as if he had no idea.
"I just saw Marquis Marius in front of the Baden Shop on the Eloz Street."
At the words of Maribel, Adam, who was taking notes, asked back, "Marquis Marius? What does Count Baden have to do with this?"
"What items does the Baden Shop deal with?" Maribel asked as Adam pulled out his notebook and tried to recite the items handled by each family.
"They mainly sell tea leaves, herbs, flour, fruits, and fish."
"Why did Marquis Marius drop by there?" Marquis Anais asked
Maribel added, "It's clear that he didn't want others to recognize him. He was wearing normal attendant's clothes."
"Isn't he trying to move Count Baden to take possession of the Tilia Territory and revolt with the Duke of Dudley?"
Killian interjected when Oswald came up with a worst-case opinion, "It's not impossible if Duke Kiellini, Duke Dudley, Count Baden, and other supporters of Prince Francis join together. If the goal was not only to kill me, but also to close Bertino's Magic Square, it was a complete success. It takes time if Bertino's reinforcements have to move overland, and they are more likely to be blocked by the knights of Baden, and it won't be easy to get to the capital."
"That's a big deal. We don't have time to be like this. We need to get the knights ready, and I need to get them from my territory up. I'll call the Marquis Rhodius in Tilia, too."
Killian stopped when Oswald stood up as if he were about to bounce out. "Sit down. We shouldn't act like we've noticed it now. If they think they can kill me, they won't risk it. Rebellion would be the last method, in case they failed to kill me."
Killian couldn't do anything until Julietta was confirmed safe. If Francis knew and plotted this, it meant that he had correctly grasped Killian's weakness.
Killian looked back at the people who were watching him and ordered, "For now, Francis should not know that we have noticed that the epidemic is a poison. Don't trust anyone in the Kiellini mansion and keep quiet about the condition of the princess. What if, uh, Dr. Paulo was going to..."
Killian's words were cut off for a while and then followed, as if to represent his feelings of agitation. The rarely seen reaction of their lord made the men's faces gloomy.
"Even if he succeeds in treating Julietta, no one should know about it except for those here. Let the house doctor of the Kiellini family return. Tell him that the doctor I brought in will treat her. We'll discuss Francis's work again once we have a clear treatment."
Knowing that it was a poison, not an epidemic, did not solve everything. There was no antidote and there was no way to know who was being poisoned at this time, and how they released the poison between people.
"By the way, where do you use the painkillers that Mrs. Grayson brought? Does Julietta suffer a lot?" Marquis Anais asked, his sunken eyes looking straight toward the bedroom of Julietta.
"The doctor said that the woman who Maribel had brought to replace Julietta's body survived the poison of the Kiellini family, and it seems to be due to the painkillers she brought today."
The Marquis frowned when Killian said Maribel had tried to replace Julietta's dead body. His daughter's past was so painful, he was squeezing his heart as he listened. But he couldn't avoid what had happened due to his mistake.
"So, are you saying that Phoebe survived because of the painkiller? I thought she was saved by throwing up the poison."
When Maribel said that, Killian replied with a stiff look. "It's not sure yet. But I believe the painkiller is an antidote. No, I want to believe it." Killian's last words were almost whisperingly low.
It had been three or four hours since the doctor began to treat Julietta, but no one in the parlor left. The atmosphere of explaining the situation or discussing the solution also became quiet as Killian remained silent.
For four days now, Albert had been in a stew and was anxious to death, as his precious Prince had taken nothing but water to wet his throat.
Albert was worried about Killian's safety and ended up following them to the Kiellini mansion, but he was stunned to find out that it was Julietta lying in the bedroom as Princess Kiellini. She had taken away the Prince's heart in spite of her hideous appearance, but now that she appeared with such dazzling beauty, he had no choice but to understand His Highness. Albert lost his fighting spirit before he could fight.
As His Highness was already engaged, he would pretend not to listen and say that it was time for him to retire, even though he had tried to stop him before.