"J-Joel."
Bill approached with a pale face, hesitating as he came forward.
"Wh-why... the wine... there's nothing wrong with..."
"—Now."
Joel raised his head and ordered the servants.
"Lock the dining room doors! Let no one in or out!"
Startled by the commanding voice, the servants scrambled into action.
Kung.
The doors were fully locked, and the dining room became a perfect sealed chamber.
"……."
Bill and Fabri were at a loss for words at Joel's demeanor.
As the only person who could diagnose Dane's health, Joel's authority took precedence over everyone else's.
"His Excellency's..."
Joel declared to everyone with a grave expression.
"His mana is flowing backward. That's why he can't move."
"Mana flowing backward? What do you mean?"
When Bill asked, Joel explained quickly despite his mournful expression.
"You can tell from his violently racing heart and cold fingertips. It happens when mana fails to flow smoothly into the heart—the mana core—and reverses instead."
In the chilling silence, only Joel's explanation rang clear.
"Given a little more time, his blood vessels will turn blue and his body will completely stiffen. And the only one who could cause this..."
Joel withdrew his hands from Dane's body and slowly turned his head.
Toward Rose, whose eyes were wide open.
"...No."
The color drained from Rose's face as she met Joel's gaze.
"No! I—"
"The only one capable of such a thing is Madam, with her extensive knowledge of magical scholarship."
Joel's confident voice cut off Rose's wail-like scream.
"You mixed something into the wine that affects mana."
Joel glanced at the wine, then looked at Bill.
"When an ordinary person like yourself drinks it, there are no symptoms. It's a special poison that acts only on His Excellency."
The retainers' gazes, filled with shock and disbelief, focused on Rose.
"M-Madam..."
"This can't be."
Selma covered her mouth, and Fabri stepped backward.
"No! I didn't do this!"
Rose's piercing scream tore through the air of the dining room.
"Why would I do such a thing! What grudge could I possibly hold against His Excellency!"
Joel stared at Rose with a devastated expression, a mix of betrayal and sorrow. Then he turned his gaze toward the dining hall servant who had brought the wine.
"Who delivered this wine?"
"M-Madam's maid."
The servant trembled and pressed his head to the floor.
"Madam's maid delivered it, saying it was a gift prepared by Madam..."
"I had nothing to do with this!"
Rose's agonized scream pleased Joel all the more.
"This is a frame-up! That wine in the first place...!"
The desperate sight of trapped prey thrashing about.
Joel glared at the prey with a grim face.
"Madam, how dare you betray His Excellency's grace like this. You are no different from the previous wives."
"No, Joel. You know as well. I—"
Joel snapped his head away from Rose's contorting face.
"I never should have trusted Madam."
He groaned while clutching his forehead as if in pain.
The voice that followed was utterly resolute.
"Bind Madam at once and search her room from top to bottom."
Deureureuk!
Rose leapt to her feet with a deathly pale face.
"Don't come near me!"
At the desperate scream, the servants hesitated, unable to step forward.
It wasn't just them. Bill, Selma, and Fabri all looked back and forth between Rose and Joel with bewildered faces.
They were torn between wanting to believe Rose and panicking at the sight of Dane collapsed before them.
"What are you waiting for, hurry!"
At Joel's resolute command, the servants finally began to move.
"N-No... I didn't do it..."
Rose shook her head frantically as she backed away.
Tak.
Rose's back hit the wall. There was nowhere left to retreat.
"Joel, please..."
Rose's desperate gaze reached Joel, but he only clenched his teeth as if he felt betrayed by her actions.
"N-No. I didn't do it..."
Rose dropped her head and her shoulders heaved.
Watching her terror-stricken sobs, Joel was certain of victory.
'Got her.'
Now all he had to do was throw Rose into the dungeon and leave Dane unattended.
In a few hours, Henrik would storm in here and clean everything up. He wanted to leave this place as soon as possible and see his daughter.
"Forgive me."
The moment a servant's hand was about to touch Rose's shoulder.
"...Puhut."
A strange laugh slipped through Rose's lips.
"Hu hu..."
Then a faint murmur slipped between Rose's teeth.
"You've finally shown your true colors."
"...What did you say?"
"Ahaha!"
When Joel asked, Rose's laughter only grew louder.
Seuk.
Rose slowly raised her head. Not a single tear stained her eyes.
Ecstasy rippled within her vividly shining green eyes.
"You worked hard putting on that act all this time, Joel."
"What..."
Joel was startled and scanned Rose up and down for a moment.
'What does she know? What is she blabbering about?'
No, that was impossible.
His alibi was perfect. He hadn't left even a trace of evidence in his room linking him to Henrik.
Joel concluded that Rose could not possibly have caught him. She must have gone mad from being cornered.
"You're only now showing your true colors? I had no idea you were this kind of person."
"That's rich coming from you."
Rose peeled herself off the wall and straightened her back. A fierce gaze shot from her squared shoulders toward Joel.
"Shouldn't it be you who needs to show their true colors?"
"A scheme to stall for time with nonsense."
Joel glared at Rose with contemptuous eyes, as if she wasn't even worth talking to.
"There's no time for this! We must treat His Excellency at once!"
While maintaining the mask of a physician concerned for his lord's health.
Ttoktak.
Rose, instead of answering, began to elegantly approach Joel. With each step, the servants faltered and cleared the way.
"I had no idea you had such deep expertise in magical scholarship."
A thin smile spread across Rose's face.
"Mana reversal—a theory that hasn't even been published in academic circles yet."
"...!"
Joel barely kept his dismay from showing on his face. He realized that in his certainty of victory, he had hastily mentioned mana reversal.
"Academic circles? Are you idly discussing theory when His Excellency's life hangs by a thread?"
He erased his momentary wavering and instead clicked his tongue as if pitying Rose.
"I speak from thousands of pulse readings gained through real clinical experience as His Excellency's personal physician."
And glaring at Rose, he drove the nail in completely.
"A specialized magical affliction that acts only on His Excellency—this alone is proof that you are the culprit! Who else but a Magical Scholar like you could accomplish such a thing!"
Suddenly, people began to stare toward Joel with ashen, frozen faces. Joel didn't notice that their gazes were aimed beside him.
"Yes, that's right. Only a Magical Scholar like me could do it."
Rose's smile didn't waver in the slightest as she answered. Joel was momentarily flustered by her steadfastness, but he continued to press her.
"Are you confessing your crime right now? Administer the antidote to His Excellency at once—"
"Antidote?"
Rose stopped in front of Joel. A dangerous fragrance emanated from her gorgeous, flower-like smile.
"Why would an antidote be necessary?"
The next moment.
"That's correct."
A voice that had no right to be heard rang out.
"...!"
Joel's face turned deathly pale, as if he'd seen a ghost.
"I was never poisoned."
Dane, who had risen at some point, was staring at him.
"Your Excellency...!"
Bill and Selma collapsed to the floor,
Chaenggang!
Fabri dropped the tray he was holding.
"Joel."
Dane's face was serene, and even his breathing was steady. He didn't look like someone who had been collapsed on the table, unable to move, just moments ago.
'H-How...?'
This was impossible.
When mana reversal occurred, someone with as much mana as Dane was actually hit harder.
The mana erupting from the heart and the mana flowing back in clashed violently, completely destroying the body.
It typically ended in death when the person could no longer endure it.
'Where did it all go wrong?'
Joel's mind could not comprehend this situation.
He had confirmed the candles were being used properly, and had even verified the early symptoms of mana reversal recently.
So he was certain that Velvet Wisph had accumulated in Dane's body...
'...Could it be?'
Even amid his confusion, Joel plastered joy over his face.
"Your Excellency! You're awake!"
He hurriedly took a step toward Dane.
"This is a miracle! You overcame the mana reversal on your own!"
While the others watched with confused faces, Joel meticulously feigned concern for Dane.
"Please don't move, Your Excellency. Let me check your pulse, just in case."
"……."
Dane gave no answer.
Joel took Dane's wrist, thinking it was the exhaustion of someone who had just overcome mana reversal and risen.
'Huh...?'
Joel's expression turned strange as he felt Dane's pulse. The symptoms that had been so clear just moments ago had vanished without a trace.
Dane's body was profoundly calm. Powerful mana flowed evenly throughout his entire being.
"Why...?"
This was impossible. How could anyone normalize reversed mana on their own?
Unless something was administered the moment the symptoms were confirmed, or something was given beforehand...
"Is something wrong, Joel?"
Rose's laughter-laced voice came from behind him.
"Bewildered that the symptoms suddenly vanished?"
Joel released Dane's hand and turned to look at Rose. His perfect mask began to slowly crack.
Could it be, could it be....
"Symptoms like that are easy enough to fabricate."
Rose stood at an angle and let her smile hang. It was a cruel smile, the kind one wears while watching trapped prey.
"That's why you fell for those fake early symptoms."
"What did you say...?"
Joel felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
"Fake... early symptoms...?"
Deopseok.
Dane seized Joel's wrist. Joel's eyes went wide.
"Your Exc—"
"All of those special candles of yours have been thrown out."
While Joel was held in Dane's grip, unable to move,
"Candles made with Velvet Wisph—what a vicious method. You steadily and covertly accumulated poison in His Excellency's body."
Rose took one more step toward him.
"I've already secured the brewery's trade records with you. You've been going there secretly, steadily, for a long, long time."
"…!"
The retainers' eyes went wide. They all stared at the three people, unable to even draw a breath.