Sister I am the Queen in This Life [Novel] Chapter 153

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Suspicion
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The maid's accusation immediately sent a stir through the room. Countess Rubina shrieked in a piercing voice.

“That’s a blatant lie! It’s all lies! That girl has been my maid for two years at most!”

She knelt before Leo III, repeatedly touching her forehead to the floor while pointing at the prostrated maid.

“You! Even if I had a secret plan, how could a novice maid, not even a confidante, possibly know of it? Do you think you can just spew whatever nonsense comes to your mind?”

But the maid, though trembling, answered clearly and precisely, as if she had prepared her words in advance.

“There is physical evidence, Your Wise Majesty. There are two types of arsenic from Countess Rubina’s room. The one in the white bottle is indeed Salvarsan, which the countess uses on her sores. But the one in the blue bottle is arsenic for poisoning!”

Indeed, the royal guards had confiscated two bottles of arsenic from Countess Rubina’s room.

With the alchemical techniques of Etruscan, it was impossible to distinguish arsenic from Salvarsan using a simple sample. The reaction was identical.

However, feeding it to an animal or a prisoner would quickly reveal the truth by the speed of their death. Countess Rubina's face went pale, and her entire body trembled like a leaf.

She was caught.

But even with her pallid face, she did not yield and cried out.

“No! It really wasn't me! I truly did not do it!”

Countess Rubina went so far as to push aside the prostrated maid, throwing herself down in her place to clutch at Leo III’s trousers and plead.

“Your Majesty! If I intended to poison Her Majesty Queen Marguerite, wouldn't I have done it long ago, not now?”

She sobbed, tears streaming down her face.

“If I had wanted to become queen, I would have made my move when our Cesare was young, still an infant in swaddling clothes, and when Her Majesty Queen Marguerite, who had no heir, was with child!”

Countess Rubina did not soften her stance in the slightest, insisting on her innocence.

“Your Majesty! Why would I, in my old age, harbor such ill intentions toward Her Majesty the Queen for the sake of wealth and glory! It was not me! It truly wasn't!”

She pleaded her innocence so pitifully that anyone would have been moved, but the eyes of the enraged Leo III saw nothing.

“You vile wench! You don't even know what’s important! How dare you deny it when the evidence is so clear? I have kept you by my side for nearly thirty years, but I never dreamed you were such a venomous villainess!”

Though his words condemned the attempt on his wife's life, what truly angered him was Countess Rubina’s mention of Salvarsan in a public place.

‘The king's health is a state secret!’

Leo III roughly summoned the captain of the guard.

“Guards!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Throw that wicked wench into the dungeon at once!”

“As you command!”

Two guards on each side rushed forward and seized Countess Rubina by the arms.

“Your Majesty!”

Countess Rubina stared at Leo III with a look of utter bewilderment. But Leo III glared back at her, his face filled with fury.

“Get out of my sight and into the dungeon!”

At their lord's roar, the guards, as if to put on a show for him, dragged Countess Rubina even more roughly out of the luncheon hall. The countess's screams and the chaotic clatter of the soldiers' boots echoed loudly down the corridor.

The king’s mistress, a woman who had captivated an era, Countess Rubina, was imprisoned in the dungeon. It had all happened in an instant.

Amid the stunned silence, people began to gather in small groups around Queen Marguerite to offer her comfort, while a few of the more ambitious approached Leo III to praise His Majesty's wisdom and decisiveness.

Before the crowd could swarm him, the captain of the guard quietly asked Leo III.

“Your Majesty, what shall be done with the maid?”

“Hmm.”

Having given it no thought, Leo III grunted for a moment. The king’s secretary, Sir Delphiano, who stood beside him, summarized the situation for him.

“Your Majesty. While the maid deserves credit for confessing, she is also one who knew of the plot to assassinate Her Majesty the Queen and cooperated until now. It would not seem just to release her without any punishment.”

Caught just as he was thinking of letting the clever maid go for having solved a nagging problem, Leo III groaned. But the fate of a mere maid was not something he, the king, needed to ponder for long. Clever was clever, but a person of low birth paying for their sins was another matter entirely.

“Then send her to the dungeon for now. We will think on it later.”

“It shall be done.”

Sir Delphiano and the captain of the guard bowed and withdrew. The captain gestured to his men with his chin. At his signal, the guards rushed forward again, this time seizing Countess Rubina’s maid and escorting her to the dungeon.

‘Something is very wrong….’

Amid the bustling crowd, Ariadne stood perfectly still like a statue, observing the entire situation.

The maid was led away quietly by the guards. Unlike her mistress, who had been dragged away screaming, she showed no sign of resistance.

‘Even if the maid accuses Countess Rubina here today, she can't escape the crime of having cooperated with the countess all this time.’

The maid had nothing to gain by exposing Countess Rubina.

‘If she thought the King would pardon her sins as a reward, she should have been shocked and struggled when they came to take her away.’

The maid was led to the dungeon with a composure unfitting of her station, as if she had known this would happen all along.

‘In my past life, no such maid ever appeared.’

It was extremely, extremely unnatural. All the evidence pointed directly at Countess Rubina, but the way it had all come to light felt utterly contrived.

“Well, today’s luncheon is over!”

While Ariadne was lost in thought, Leo III announced the dismissal to the noblewomen in a harsh tone.

“Palazzo Carlo will continue its investigation to rigorously interrogate the arrested criminals and reach a just conclusion! And you, the respected great nobles of San Carlo, will take special care to ensure no idle talk circulates outside these walls before a conclusion is reached! I will hunt you down to the very end!”

With that, Leo III, clearly displeased, stormed out of the luncheon hall. Sir Delphiano, who had been trailing behind him, called out in a loud voice.

“It seems we cannot host any more guests today, so we wish you all a safe journey home!”

After saying his piece, Sir Delphiano hurriedly followed Leo III out of the hall.

As soon as Sir Delphiano’s words ended, servants and maids rushed in to clear the hall. Except for the noblewomen clustered around Queen Marguerite, the rest of the guests were politely escorted by the servants to their family carriages.

The moment Leo III left the hall, Countess Marquez, who was standing nearby, grabbed Ariadne’s arm, her face filled with astonishment. Marchioness Cibo stood beside her.

“Lady de Mare! How on earth did you know that Countess Rubina had Salvarsan?”

While learning the exact rumor was difficult, laundering the source of information one already knew to be true was not very hard at all.

Ariadne pretended to share a secret, lowering her voice to speak to the two ladies.

“When I was volunteering at the Rambouillet Almshouse, I had the opportunity to speak at length with a few of the common folk.”

“Common folk?”

“Just because they are in the almshouse now doesn't mean they were all from the lowest class of paupers. Some had worked as maids in the palace, though rarely, and even more had acquaintances who had.”

“My goodness!”

Having a good idea of what Ariadne was about to say, Countess Marquez covered her mouth with both hands. Marchioness Cibo, who still hadn't caught on, stared blankly at Ariadne.

Ariadne turned her upper body toward Countess Marquez and nodded.

“It was a story that circulated among the menial servants of the royal palace. It wasn't something one could mention in an official setting, but I was lucky.”

Countess Marquez and Marchioness Cibo seemed shocked by the fact that household servants, and menial ones at that, not even ladies' maids, could spread such stories.

It had never occurred to them to think deeply that people other than nobles were capable of intellectual activity beyond simple labor.

Countess Marquez burst out in frustration.

“I must go home at once and ensure everyone keeps their mouths shut!”

Marchioness Cibo chimed in.

“Indeed! How could such a story circulate among menial maids?”

“They have completely forgotten their duties as servants!”

They were nobles to the bone. Even though they knew they had escaped a political crisis thanks to a servant's wagging tongue, they were still enraged that the lower classes had overstepped their bounds.

Ariadne offered a silent prayer for the servants of the Cibo and Marquez households, whose work atmosphere was about to take a turn for the worse. *My apologies. It couldn't be helped.*

After Countess Marquez and Marchioness Cibo, eager to go home and interrogate their servants, quickly left the luncheon hall, Ariadne looked around with a lingering sense of unease. The area around Queen Marguerite was swarming with people.

‘I got held up and missed my chance.’

The noblewomen who had been distant with the Queen were now flocking to her to get in a word of blessing or comfort before leaving, hoping to make a good impression.

They had all instantly concluded that with Countess Rubina gone, Queen Marguerite's era was about to begin.

‘There’s no way I can get through that crowd right now…’

In her haste, Ariadne looked for another way to get a message to Queen Marguerite. Just then, she spotted Lady Carla.

Normally, Lady Carla would have been furious, declaring, ‘This is an event of the Queen’s Palace, yet Sir Delphiano has declared the luncheon over on his own authority.’ But now, her face was pale as she kept her lips tightly sealed, helping the servants clear the tables.

“Lady Carla.”

Ariadne called out to her. Lady Carla, looking unwell, spun around.

“Oh, you startled me. It’s you, Lady de Mare.”

Ariadne expressed her concern over Lady Carla’s particularly poor complexion.

“Lady Carla, are you all right? You look very unwell.”

She took out a handkerchief to wipe her forehead as she replied.

“The assassination of Her Majesty the Queen… I was so shocked…”

‘Well…’

Lady Carla had followed Queen Marguerite from a foreign land to the Kingdom of Etruscan. She had no other family of her own in this country; she lived looking only to Queen Marguerite.

‘If anything were to happen to the Queen, Lady Carla would truly be lost.’

It was no wonder she was shocked. Ariadne took Lady Carla by the sleeve and gently pulled her away from the servants clearing the tables, lowering her voice to a whisper so others wouldn't hear.

“Lady Carla. Please watch over Her Majesty the Queen with special care for the next few days.”

“What?”

Ariadne firmly gripped the startled Lady Carla's shoulder to keep her from showing her surprise. Lady Carla quickly composed herself and listened intently.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Is Countess Rubina truly the sole mastermind behind the plot to assassinate Her Majesty?”

“Surely not…! Then who on earth…! Our Queen has never earned the resentment of others!”

“I don’t know that much. But there are a few suspicious points.”

Ariadne glanced around before urging Lady Carla.

“For the time being, please pay close attention to the food and drink Her Majesty consumes. It must not be touched by any outsiders.”

The palace servants had nearly finished clearing the tables and were now on the verge of ushering the guests out. Most of the people near the exit of the luncheon hall had already left, and it seemed Ariadne’s turn was not far off.

“Palazzo Carlo will surely have its own security, but please do not let anyone other than her closest confidants near Her Majesty, and keep a close watch for anyone suspicious.”

After a moment's thought, Ariadne added.

“Please be sure to tell Her Majesty the Queen that the situation is serious and that she should not let her guard down for the time being. Do you understand?”

She didn't want Queen Marguerite to worry needlessly, but there was a clear difference between the Queen being aware and cautious herself, and her servants simply scurrying about while she remained oblivious.

Lady Carla looked extremely surprised. She pressed her lips together and nodded firmly.

“Lady de Mare.”

A palace servant who had approached them called her name.

“Thank you for attending the palace luncheon today. Please proceed to your family carriage.”

It was a dismissal. Ariadne glanced toward Queen Marguerite. A dozen or so noblewomen still formed a barricade around the Queen.

Even if she asked the palace servant to let her say her goodbyes before leaving, her request would fall on deaf ears.

“Lady Carla, please don't forget what I told you.”

“Don’t worry, Lady de Mare.”

Lady Carla gave a firm nod, her expression resolute. She was the Queen’s closest confidante, chosen by the Queen herself and by her side for over thirty years. If Ariadne couldn't trust her, there was no one she could trust.

Only after hearing Lady Carla’s reassurance once more did Ariadne turn and follow the palace servant.

‘Please… let nothing happen…’

***

“Count Cesare! We have a problem!”

“What is it?”

In the early afternoon, Cesare was lounging on a rattan deck chair on the terrace of the de Como estate when he answered with an irritated tone. The deck chair was an exotic item imported from the Moorish Empire.

“I haven't even had my wine for the day yet. What, does my mother want to see me right now?”

He seemed none too pleased to be interrupted just as he was about to start his day with sparkling wine.

“Oh, my lord. That’s not the problem.”

The male servant from Palazzo Carlo, who often acted as a messenger from Countess Rubina to her son, recounted the event, fidgeting with anxiety.

“Countess Rubina has been sent to the dungeon!”

“What?!”

Count Cesare shot up from his seat.