Chapter – 08
The Chairman’s face flushed red, and in a suppressed voice, he spoke to the trainee physician.
“Bring what Her Highness instructed.”
“Yes, yes!”
The trainee dashed off to the apothecary, and the Chairman let out a frustrated sigh beside me.
“Your Highness, you must be prepared in case Your Majesty’s prescription is wrong. The weight of a life is never light.”
“True. But if my prescription is correct and you are wrong, what will you do then?”
“I trust in the skills I have honed over the years.”
The Chairman spoke as if he truly had confidence in himself.
He claimed he had never heard of the poison I mentioned, yet where he got such confidence, I had no idea.
‘That arrogance will be his downfall.’
Thanks to it, I could clearly see a path to getting what I wanted.
I suppressed a smile and spoke to the Chairman.
“If it turns out I am wrong, I shall publicly apologize to you.”
“More importantly, you should apologize to this knight. Even though he is healthy, the saetrium in his body will generate poison, you see.”
The Chairman stubbornly maintained that he was acting for Ares’ sake. At first glance, he really did seem like a physician concerned for his patient.
“Very well. Then what can you do?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you are wrong and I am correct, I asked how you would atone for the disrespect you showed me.”
The Chairman blinked rapidly for a moment. Apparently, he had momentarily forgotten that in this situation, he was being disrespectful to the Crown Princess.
I stared him down, and he rolled his eyes before answering.
“…I will do whatever Your Highness desires.”
“Good. I look forward to it.”
The Chairman nervously bit his lower lip. His confidence seemed to be waning.
‘The Chairman, brought in by recommendation, has skills like this? This is highly unusual.’
Once this incident was settled, I would have to investigate this matter further.
“Your Highness, here it is!”
While I was sparring verbally with the Chairman, Jened brought my medicine bag.
I took out the blood-drawing syringe I always used and sprayed the needle with the antiseptic.
I could hear the tense swallowing from the onlookers. Without hesitation, I pierced Ares’ forearm with the needle.
“If you jab like that…!”
Someone gasped, but I slowly pulled the piston.
The dark red blood gushed into the syringe, sloshing inside.
“Goodness… such a thing.”
Clearly, the blood was far from clean.
After drawing all the blood, I handed it to the physicians.
“Take it for a detailed examination.”
“Excuse me? What kind of test are you referring to?”
“Surely you aren’t saying you don’t even have a system for blood analysis?”
In the Imperial Palace’s medical chambers, they didn’t even have that basic capability? I clicked my tongue in disbelief.
Then, a physician hesitantly spoke from the corner.
“Physician Vamid knows how to run the tests.”
Vamid—a name from the Yalon Kingdom.
I recalled Yulion mentioning that there were physicians from the Yalon Kingdom in the Imperial medical chambers.
“Then have Physician Vamid perform the tests. Jened, go with them.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I sent Jened along to prevent any tricks in the middle.
Just as the physicians left, the trainee who had gone for the herbs returned running.
“Your Highness, I’ve brought the saetrium!”
I took the herbs and instructed the nearby physicians.
“Grind it finely and dilute it in water.”
“Yes, yes!”
Although flustered, the physicians expertly prepared the diluted saetrium solution.
Meanwhile, I issued additional instructions to the other physicians and lifted Ares’ eyelids to examine his eyes.
‘His pupils are extremely dilated. Too much time has passed.’
“Bring the amandam. Also, paraffin and lute!”
“Yes? Ah, understood.”
The physicians scattered to gather the requested materials, and I first poured the prepared saetrium solution into Ares’ mouth.
‘A precise detoxification is needed.’
Since he was a sturdy knight, he had endured the poison for quite some time. The toxins had probably made him visit the bathroom frequently as his body tried to expel them.
But now, he had reached his limit. If I didn’t treat him properly, he would certainly die.
“Your Highness! The herbs you requested are here!”
The ordered ingredients were stacked before me. I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath.
Poison target. Detox principle. Procedure. Mixing ratios.
I visualized everything in my mind and opened my eyes.
“Phew… let’s start with the lute.”
I muttered to myself out of habit, combining the ingredients according to my plan.
“Your Highness, urgent report!”
A page hurriedly sought out Yulion.
Yulion lowered the pen he had been holding and turned his shoulders. His neck was stiff from the morning’s work.
“What is it?”
Even as he asked, he assumed it wasn’t serious. If it were truly dire, the page wouldn’t have simply delivered an urgent report.
“Your Highness, the Crown Princess’ bodyguard knight has collapsed at the medical chambers!”
At this, Yulion’s calm expression faltered, and he jumped to his feet.
“What… suddenly?!”
“But that’s not all—Her Highness the Crown Princess is personally treating him.”
“I’ll go immediately.”
Before the page could even finish, Yulion threw on his coat.
He sighed at the swirl of questions in his mind. Why was Ares, normally a paragon of strength, collapsed? And why was Lohiriel treating him herself, in a chamber filled with other physicians and even the Chairman?
Rushing to the medical chambers, Yulion immediately located the center of the commotion.
Nearly all the physicians were gathered, gaping at the scene.
“Your Highness!”
“Greetings, Your Highness!”
At Yulion’s arrival, the physicians bowed. The crowd naturally parted, forming a path to Lohiriel.
“Ares… what happened?”
His trusted knight and close friend, Ares Wolfgang, lay unconscious and bleeding. And standing over him, treating him, was none other than Lohiriel, his wife.
It seemed she had prepared medicines on the spot, as herbs and tools were scattered around.
“Your Highness…!”
The Chairman, startled by Yulion’s arrival, came forward to greet him. Yet his expression was oddly nuanced—anger, distress, and unease mixed together.
“You came just in time. Her Highness insisted on treating him herself…!”
Despite the commotion, Lohiriel didn’t lift her head once, fully concentrating on the treatment. She directed the nearby physicians and held a syringe in hand.
Before long, a translucent green liquid filled the syringe.
‘She looks incredibly skilled.’
Yulion didn’t know much about medicine, but he could tell Lohiriel moved more competently than anyone. Her focus was remarkable. Even amid the chaos, she treated Ares without faltering—a scene reminiscent of their wedding day incident.
‘She is more amazing the more I see her.’
He had heard rumors of Princess Kashian preparing poisons, but never of her saving lives. While nobles sometimes pursued medicine as a hobby, it rarely went beyond that. Had he not witnessed her saving Hemion Martin, he would have stopped her immediately. But having seen her that day, Yulion decided to trust her once more.
“Your Highness, truly, you will not stop her?”
The Chairman asked once more, but Yulion shook his head.
“Be quiet. She’s concentrating on the treatment.”
Already, Lohiriel had inserted the needle into Ares’ arm. Her motion was fluid, the injection practiced.
With a calm expression, though her tension was evident, she swallowed hard. The dark green medicine slowly flowed into Ares’ body.
“Phew…”
Lohiriel exhaled softly. Only after removing the needle and applying a cotton swab to stop the bleeding did she finally lift her head.
“Yulion?”
Her blue eyes, wide with surprise, met his. She slowly rose to her feet, her snowy white hair cascading over her shoulders, catching Yulion’s gaze.
“Lohiriel, what happened?”
“Sir Ares suddenly collapsed. He’s been poisoned. I’ve administered the antidote, so he should be fine soon.”
Lohiriel’s hands checked Ares’ forehead, her touch weary. Yulion approached silently.
“When will he wake up?”
“That depends on his stamina. He might regain consciousness today if he’s lucky, but it could take up to a week if he’s weak.”
“A week?”
“Yes, but the detox is working. Look—his color is returning.”
Indeed, Ares’ pale face gradually regained its natural hue.
The Chairman muttered beside them.
“No matter how good the antidote, if he was truly poisoned, waking within a day is impossible…”
He glanced at Ares and twitched his lips. Yulion, instead of responding, rubbed his face with his palm.
“I don’t understand… Ares was poisoned suddenly. Do you know what type of poison it is?”
Lohiriel checked his temperature again, noting any additional herbs needed for the physicians.
“The exact results will be known soon.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had the blood tested earlier. If he is poisoned, it will be detected in the blood.”
“When will the results come?”
“As soon as the presence of poison is confirmed, the results will be brought immediately. Ah… there they come.”
Lohiriel’s gaze shifted toward the corridor. A physician was running urgently, carrying something.
“The… the results are in!”
