Chapter 11: Eat It (End)

"Hello, Madame." Caellum nodded politely at the old woman while observing her.

Despite her unintimidating appearance, the hair on the back of his neck was standing up, and he had goosebumps all over his arms.

Who the hell was this woman?

"Ah, aigoo. The 13th prince is so polite to a little old lady like me. Calling me madame even though I'm just a little servant. Don't mind me, I just came to make sure my daughter has a good meal while on her shift." The woman said as she stopped by Zahra, who rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Mother. Enough."

"Don't mother me. Now, what was it that you were trying to hide from me with the little prince?"

The old woman asked, her eyes never once leaving Caellum's.

"It's nothing, mother. I can handle it." Zahra protested again, but they both ignored her.

"Is it truly nothing, your highness? Why don't you tell me what really happened? To soothe a mother's worry for her only daughter."

At the question, Caellum caught Zahra's pleading expression that immediately disappeared when the old woman glanced at her.

"I offered your daughter part of my meal, and she warned me not to eat it as it might make me sick. We were just discussing the details of how I might get another meal procured." Caellum cleanly sold Masha with no remorse, "And you don't need to call me by my title, Madame. Feel free to call me Caellum. May I have your name, please?"

"Ah, how polite. Quite unlike your other siblings. My name is Yaga Vishkanya. But you can just call me Yaga. I'm one of the many cooks in the palace kitchens. Your name has been on quite a few lips over the past few days, Your Highness. It's a pleasure to meet you in person." Yaga spoke calmly as she extended her hand for a handshake.

As soon as he heard the name, Caellum's brain quickly recalled one of the few people he remembered from his subordinates' rambling.

Yaga Vishkanya.

Poison maiden and assassin who became one of the 12th prince's loyal subordinates with an unholy thirst for vengeance against the evil organization that the 12th prince battled against in his journey to be a hero.

Caellum remembered his subordinates saying that she drank poison for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, bathed and slept in it, and used it to kill her enemies and harm her allies when they messed up.

At the time, he brushed it away since it was only a character in a novel, but meeting her in person was a completely different experience.

It seems that his instincts were right, even in a new body.

This was a very dangerous woman, and he absolutely did not want to touch her.

At all.

And if Zahra was her daughter, no wonder she knew that his food was poisoned.

It explained everything.

Her mother was a premier poison expert, and she probably grew up eating and drinking poison the same way her mother did.

Why the hell was the palace filled with so many people who liked to use poison!

First the queen, then his guard, now this monster?

Truly, his plan was right.

He needed to get out of this palace as soon as possible.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yaga."

Pushing down his feelings and making sure to keep his expression the same so he wouldn't give anything away, Caellum grasped the surprisingly soft hand firmly while doing his best to push down the urge to yank it away and double-check it to make sure it wasn't melting into a puddle.

Stay normal so the crazy poison assassin doesn't suspect anything.

"Aigoo. Such a polite young man. Even daring to shake this dirty servant's hand."

"I don't particularly think there's a difference between the hands of a servant and mine that would make yours dirtier. Perhaps the number of calluses, but that's just an indication of how hard a person worked, not a reflection of your cleanliness. There's nothing dirty about it. Your hands feel fine to me. Much smoother than mine are." Caellum replied before quickly pulling back his hand.

"Is that so?" Yaga gave him a bemused smile that Caellum chose to ignore as he turned to Zahra.

"Well, it was lovely to meet you both. I'll be heading to my room right away and leaving you to it. Thank you once again, Zahra, for being so helpful."

Tray held in both hands to mitigate any possibilities of another handshake, Caellum turned to enter his room.

Unfortunately-

"Where are you going, your highness? Weren't you hungry? I can hear your stomach growling from here. Please don't eat that food and have some of what I brought." Yaga's calm voice interrupted him.

Turning back to smile at her, Caellum declined with all of his heart and soul.

"No, it's okay. I'll use the moment to fast in solidarity with those who don't have food."

So please stop talking and let it go.

"Aish. I brought more than enough for both you and Zahra to eat. Don't you want to grant this old lady's wish to feed the hungry with the food I made personally? Or do you think I did something to the food? It couldn't be that you think I poisoned it, right? Do you think I would do such a thing?" Yaga asked even as her eyes flashed with a cold light.

"No…of course not," Caellum replied politely, even though he thought the exact opposite.

Of course, I think you've poisoned it.

Even though I was half-listening to those chatty subordinates of mine, I still remember everything about you.

That's how much of an impression you left.

Poison maiden. Poison maiden. Poison maiden.

At some point, you turned an entire battlefield into a melted field of acid that couldn't be crossed by normal means.

I absolutely do not want to ever eat a single meal made by you!

"Then eat. Here. I'll take this, and you and Zahra can share."

Before Caellum could even blink, the tray was snatched from his hand, while the tiered food box that Yaga had previously carried was in Zahra's hand.

What kind of crazy speed was this?

"Make sure you eat well, your highness."

Meeting the old woman's happily curved eyes, Caellum smiled back even though he was cursing up a storm internally.

He absolutely didn't believe in such a thing as karma, but it was quite poetic that yesterday he had forced a maid to eat something poisonous, and today, he was being forced to eat something made by a poison master.

Thus was life.

"It would be my honor to enjoy a meal made by you."

Glancing back at Zahra, who had an apologetic expression on her face, Caellum took the full sandwich she handed over, sniffed it surreptitiously before taking a bite after Zahra took hers.

It was…surprisingly delicious.

Let's hope it stayed that way and wasn't secretly burning a hole in his stomach lining.

"How is it, your highness?" Yaga asked with an expectant smile.

"Good. It's the best thing I've eaten in days." Caellum replied honestly.

"I'm glad. Please make sure to eat more. And I'll eat this since I don't believe in wasting food."

As Caellum watched, Yaga took a large bit of bread from the tray of food that he previously held as if it were the most delicious thing in the world

The very food that had the exact same garlicy and acrid smell as the meal yesterday, which Caellum correlated with poison.

Remembering how sick it made him, and the guard that was still out of commission, Caellum made a resolution.

Yes. Let's avoid this person from now on.

Both the mother and the child.

After forcing down the sandwich, Caellum declined to eat anything else, citing an overly full stomach.

"Thank you for the meal once again. I'll head to my room now."

"Are you sure you don't want to take a snack for later?" Zahra asked as she downed another sandwich in two bites.

"I'm sure. Thank you for the food once again. Have a good night."

Nodding politely to both of them, Caellum quickly went back to his room and shut the door.

He was briefly tempted to throw up what he had just eaten, but the fear of having Yaga possibly overhear him and decide to melt him with poison held him back.

Instead, he sat on the bathroom floor with the water running and began revising his plans.

Originally, he planned on using his confinement to gather information in the palace.

But if this crazy person was here and her daughter was his guard, he needed to move up a couple of things.

*********

And right outside his door-

"What have I told you about getting involved with the royal family, Zahra? Let things play out without interfering!" Yaga immediately scolded her daughter as she listened for movement inside the 13th prince's room.

From the sound of his breathing despite the running water, he was most likely sitting beside the bath rather than in it.

Funny kid.

"Mother, it's fine. He doesn't suspect anything. He probably thinks I have a good sense of smell like him. Besides, look at how weak he looks. He can't do anything. Now stop bothering me. I need to look good for my superiors so I can finally be knighted this time around." Zahra rolled her eyes as she got back into position against the wall.

"If you think that that little brat doesn't suspect anything, then I've raised you to be more innocent than I thought," Yaga said, recalling the 13th prince who was no longer out here.

As bruised and banged up as he appeared, those eyes were those of a dangerous animal who had killed before and had no issues doing it again, not of a 17-year-old prince who grew up neglected in the palace.

That politeness was a front, and she could tell he suspected something and was wary of her.

And that wariness had only increased once he heard her name.

Did he know something? Had he heard something from that trader who had gotten him cinnamon?

Or did the 9th prince discover something and share it with him?

There were too many questions and not enough answers. It seemed that she needed to investigate him a bit more.

And additionally-

Yaga glanced at her daughter standing at attention before smacking her across the stomach.

"Ow! Mother!"

"Knight. Knight. All you talk about is being a stupid knight! No sense of self-preservation. That brain of yours is already a tincan, and you don't even have the armor yet. Aish."

Yaga began to regret the fact that she had raised her daughter to be so innocent that the child was able to trick her.

"Isn't it your fault that those are the skills I learned? Go away. I'm on duty. And stop bringing me food."

"No."

"Mother!"

Not responding, Yaga glanced at the 13th prince's door once more before vowing to keep a closer eye on her.