Chapter 8: Eat It (2)

"Not eating? Don't want to eat poison but want to feed it to me?" Caellum asked the servant with a raised brow as he shook the plate again.

 

Masha stared at him with wide, shaking eyes and sweat pouring down her face.

 

Her previous cocky expression was gone, and she looked as if she were about to pass out, piss her pants, or a combination of both things.

 

Caellum wasn't moved.

 

After all, people who knowingly do wicked things should get punished with wickedness in return.

 

And if there was one thing he knew how to do, it was be wicked.

 

"Eat. It. Special order from the kitchen, right? Take a bite. Prove to me that it's not poisoned. Then you can take it away." Caellum wanted to hold the tray out to her, but, feeling his arms begin to tremble, he held back and placed the tray back in his lap.

 

Masha didn't say a word, her expression alternating from fear to a vicious one.

 

How cute.
It was like a little pup baring its teeth.

 

Seeming as if she had made a decision, Masha held out her hand.

 

"Give me the tray."

 

"No."

 

"Give it! Now!"

 

"Take it if you dare."

 

As if she mustered up her courage, Masha stomped over and easily snatched the tray from Caellum's hands.

 

He didn't even bother fighting and let her, after all, only he knew how much his body ached.

 

"I'm leaving!"

 

Seeing the servant smirk triumphantly at him, Caellum began rolling up his sleeves as he spoke. 

 

"Masha, was it? Before you go, I actually have something to confess, and you'll probably want to hear it. You think I ate the missing pastries, right? Job well done? Well, that's a lie. I gave it out. Want to guess who?"

 

At the childish question, Masha froze in her steps, even though she didn't want to hear a word Caellum would say.

 

She wanted to run away. 

 

Right now, it felt as if a snake were coiling around her, slowly strangling her, but there was nothing she could do but listen to the amused words of the young boy in front of her.

 

"Who?"

 

"You see, I'm quite a generous person, so I gave 2 to the guard outside and 2 to another person. Let's verify that right now, so you know I'm not lying."

 

With slow steps, Caellum walked to the door, opened it, and poked his head out.

 

Making eye contact with the guard, he asked, "Hey, how was the pastry? Tasty?"

 

"It was good! Best thing I had all day! I liked it."

 

"Oh, did the stuff I put out get picked up and taken to the right person?" Caellum asked while winking repeatedly at the guard.

 

After a second of confusion, the guard seemed to remember what Caellum had asked and nodded.

 

"Uh, oh yeah. He took it away."

 

"Thanks."

 

"Of course, your highness!" the guard said enthusiastically as he winked back.

 

Although the response was a bit clumsy, it would do.

 

Shutting the door, Caellum went back to sit on the rickety chair, avoiding the maid who had fallen to her knees on the floor.

 

"You heard it from the guard, but feel free to question him later. Would you like to guess who I sent the other pastries to? The hint is I spent the majority of the day with him."

 

Caellum boldly sold out the 9th prince with no hesitation.

 

After all, that was one of the reasons he made the prince give him a public palace tour.

 

He needed to imprint his relationship with Emrys into people's minds.

 

And as expected-

 

"The…the…the 9th prince?" Masha asked slowly as if she couldn't believe what was happening.

 

"Ding ding ding, correct. I'm glad your brain is working well. I specifically sent a message telling him about a kind maid named Masha who not only brought me more snacks than I asked for, but also went out of her way to get me the things I needed to make my room more comfortable. Aren't you happy? The 9th prince knows your name."

 

"No! You're lying!" Masha fell to her knees and began sobbing while Caellum laughed quite happily.

 

"Why would I lie? Do you want to accompany me to the 9th prince to ask? I certainly don't mind, and even though I'm in confinement, what's the worst that can happen? More days being confined? Shall we go?"

 

As Caellum made to stand up, Masha began sobbing, snot and tears pouring down her face as she crawled toward Caellum.

 

"P-please!"

 

"What's wrong? You said it wasn't poisoned, right? That it was specially made? There should be no issue. It's not like the 9th prince will die from eating it. It's just snacks. Right?"

 

"P-please! P-please help me!"

 

"Why are you crying? Help you with what? You're free to leave, and you can take the tray with you." Caellum replied unconcernedly.

 

Masha sobbed even harder and began hugging Caellum's legs as she wailed.

 

No matter how he tried to free himself from the servant's grip, she was like a sticky octopus that refused to let go.

 

"No! Please-. Help me! I'm sorry! I'll give you the money back! I'll run errands! Please, help me! I can't die! I don't want to die for poisoning the 9th prince! It wasn't me! You have to tell him it wasn't me!!!"

 

"Shhh shhh shhh. Calm down. Otherwise, I won't help." Caellum shushed her while patting her head gently.

 

Slowly, Masha's cries dwindled to little hiccups and sniffs.

 

When she calmed down, he shifted his legs, and she finally released them, while staring at him with her red, swollen face.

 

"Please help me, your highness."

 

So it's your highness now?
Funny girl.

 

"I don't mind helping, but you need to help me first understand? Otherwise, krrrrr." Caellum pretended to slash his neck, and Masha began crying again. 

 

"So let me ask once again, is it poisoned? If you say no, then all I can say is enjoy your last night of living. If you say yes, I can find a way to help you."

 

"….I don't know if it's poison, but maybe it is. It could just be seasoning, yes seaso…"

 

Hearing the bullshit excuse he had used on the King being used by someone else, Caellum burst out laughing, causing the servant to freeze mid-word.

 

Meeting her eyes, he asked again. "Is it poisoned. Yes or no. If no. Get out. I hate repeating myself."

 

"…yes."

 

"With what poison?"

 

"…I don't know."

 

Seeing her avoid his eyes, Caellum shrugged.

 

"Very well, get out. It was nice to meet you, but I doubt that I'll see you again once the 9th prince, his mother, and the king get their hands on you. Make sure you spend the money I gave you quickly so you enjoy something before you go."

 

"No, please! It's true! I don't know what it's called!" 

 

"I don't believe you."

 

"It's true!" Masha cried as tears began falling down her face once again.

 

She didn't understand why this was happening to her!

 

It was all supposed to go smoothly; all she had to do was sprinkle the powder she'd been given onto the hot food, deliver it to the prince, make sure he ate it, and then report back for her payment.

 

But now she had been discovered, the poison had been sent to the 9th prince, who was now aware of her name, and she would probably die if she gave away information that she shouldn't.

 

Seeing the servant weep, Caellum just waited until she got tired of crying before continuing his questioning.

 

"If you don't know what it is, then what does it look like?"

 

"I don't know."

 

"Then leave."

 

"It's a white powder! It's like salt! It's supposed to be undetectable once it's sprinkled on hot food. That's what they said!"

 

"That's what who said? Who gave it to you to put on my food? Is there any left?"

 

Masha snapped her lips shut while staring down at the ground, but Caellum didn't bother pressuring her.

 

Even if she didn't tell him, he already had a suspect in mind.

 

This nonsense was more than likely orchestrated by the person who orchestrated the king's poison incident.

 

The issue was why?

 

There was no benefit to him being poisoned.

 

Unless this was just part of the regularly scheduled program for Caellum's life.

 

Was that why his body hurt?

 

But even if it was standard, wouldn't it be stupid to do so right after dealing with an attempt to poison the king on the same day?

 

Was the queen really that stupid?

 

Or was somebody taking advantage of her?

 

There were too many unknown factors here.

 

"Then let's skip past it. Is the poison supposed to kill me?"

 

"…I don't know…"

 

"The guard and the 9th prince have eaten 2 pieces of pastry each. Are they going to die immediately? Think carefully because your life depends on it after all."

 

"….no…it shouldn't. It wouldn't, right? Right?" 

 

As the maid began sobbing while clinging to his leg, Caellum pushed her away while thinking through various scenarios before pointing at the tray of food on the ground.

 

At this point, he had to be on guard about everything.

 

Giving the maid a bright smile, he simply said, "Eat 2."

 

"Wha-? No!"

 

As she stared at him, dumbfounded, Caellum sighed before explaining. 

 

"I'm going to eat the poison. The 9th prince already ate the poison, and the guard ate the poison as well. If we don't die, we'll at least feel sick, and people will get suspicious and investigate. They'll find out that you delivered the food and see that you're the only one who didn't get sick. Don't you think that's suspicious? I would, and I would immediately torture you to find out what you know. At the very least, if you eat some and also get sick, you can claim plausible deniability with your only crime being stealing the food of a prince. Even if the other party claims you added something, you can say you didn't know it was poison since you ate it. But if you don't want to, I don't care. I'll attend your funeral once I'm well."

 

When Caellum laid it all out for her, Masha realized that she might be screwed.

 

She couldn't afford to offend the 9th prince, and the guard had already verified Caellum's words.

 

She was trapped.

 

All because of this loser prince.

 

Glaring at Caellum through teary eyes, she wanted to rip the smile off his face.

 

"As I said, you don't have to. I'm not forcing you."

 

You are!!! You are forcing me!

 

With tears in her eyes, Masha choked down the two delicious-smelling pastries while cold purple eyes stared at her.

 

"Excellent. Then let's make a deal, you and I. When you leave, go report to whoever you report to. And tomorrow evening, come report to me what you told the other party, as well as the gossip for the day. Ah, if they ask you to poison me again, do your best to save some. Okay?"

 

"But-"

 

"I'm not asking. Or is it that I should allow the 9th prince to kill you for poisoning him? Don't forget he knows your name already."

 

"….no."

 

"No, what?"

 

"No, your highness," Masha replied bitterly.

 

"Good. Now that we understand each other, I need you to help me with something else."

 

"Help you?"

 

"Yes. Get rid of everything in this room. The mattress, the desk, the wardrobe. All of it."

 

"By myself?" Masha asked incredulously as she glanced around the entire room.

 

Even if there wasn't much, the things left looked heavy.

 

How was she supposed to move it all by herself?

 

Also, wasn't she now poisoned? Was he really going to make her do work?

 

She gave Caellum a pitiful look, but he only continued smiling as he tapped the desk.

 

"Otherwise? Go get things to break down everything in this room into small pieces and drag it out for disposal. Make sure you personally dispose of it yourself. After that, you're free to go. But as I said earlier, if you don't want to, you don't have to. You can leave at any time and not come back."

 

The remaining threat was silent.

 

"…I'll do it."

 

"Good girl."

 

Although she gave him a bitter look while replying through gritted teeth, Masha quickly got to work.

 

She returned with a hammer, sharp scissors, and a cart, and began diligently disassembling the items in the room and taking them away for disposal while Caellum monitored her condition.

 

By the time everything was cleared out, leaving nothing in the room but Caellum, who was sitting on the wooden floor, the sun was about to rise, the guard shift had changed, Masha had vomited four times, was covered in sweat, dust, and dirt, and her limbs were shaking.

 

When Caellum asked about her condition, she reported a list of aches and pains, but most importantly, she didn't die just felt like it.

 

That was good enough for him.

 

Satisfied with the work she had done, Caellum placed another gold coin in her hand and told her he expected her in the evening.

 

"I'll be sure to bring your dinner! Have a good day, your highness!"

 

As Masha bit the coin and let out a little cheer before staggering away, Caellum couldn't help but laugh.

 

Greedy and a little stupid.

What a combination.

 

Satisfied with his day's experience, Caellum ate a single pastry, sent the rest down the drain with water, sat down on the bare floor, and waited for the effects of the poison to kick in.

 

Soon enough, he became feverish, his body began cramping, his stomach began heaving, his heart began racing as if it were going to explode, and he began throwing up.

 

Everywhere.

 

Doing his best to withstand it, he just waited to see who would be coming to see if he was dead.

 

And soon enough-

 

Knock knock.