The Villainess Hides Her Wealth

Chapter 10

Saying that, I looked at the employees of the ducal castle with sharp eyes. To see their reaction.

‘I have to consider all possibilities. I was complacent, I was careless, I lost my mother, and in the end, my life was taken.’

For now, no one had made a noticeably suspicious move at the mention of my investigation.
But it was too early to feel reassured.

Everyone had served my mother for a long time and was loyal to her, but Lilika was someone who could dig into a solid relationship as far as she wanted.
Unlike my mother, who was in the difficult position of the duchess, Lilika, who was kind to everyone, expanded her base.
Who could dislike Lilika, who was friendly and greeted the employees first?

“Ugh…”

Apart from the Primrose family, many people lived in the ducal castle.
Including the employees of the kitchen here, there were employees who managed the castle, gardeners, stable keepers, knights…

I took a deep breath and looked around. A mountain of cutlery and cooking utensils used to feed everyone.

‘I can’t overlook anything.’

As my momentum was unusual, I could see that the employees who were watching me were restless.

“Y-Young Lady. I don’t know what’s going on, but wouldn’t it be better to ask us?”

Clearly, scrutinizing all this tableware would require great stamina and mental strength.
I wasn’t just taking a look at it; I was looking piercingly at it while thinking it was related to my mother’s death.
I knew that it would be quicker to get another employee to investigate with me. But…

“No, you’re helping by not taking your eyes off what I’m doing.”

It was a situation where I couldn’t trust anyone.
If the person who was to help me pretended to check the tableware together and took it away, or if they made a mistake due to lack of attention, all my efforts would be in vain.

‘Of course, it’s usually not difficult to check it alone.’

I couldn’t let it slide.

Carefully observing every cutlery and cooking utensil would be a laborious task if I didn’t get help from anyone.
Even if I used all my might, it would be difficult to lift a large pot that was used to feed many people.
Just one look at it and it seemed too much for me to lift it on my own.
It was impossible to check every single thing, even the corners that couldn’t be seen well, to see if something had been hidden.

That’s why I had something ready.

Having lost my mother in my past life, I was out of my mind and couldn’t do anything.
So, what made me come back to my senses was the goal was to clearly confirm my mother’s cause of death.
I held on to my ‘blessing’, which I hadn’t even considered until then, with shining eyes.
I thought there must be a reason why this blessing came to me. I researched for a few days.

“At this rate, won’t the daughter die after the mother?”
“What are you researching? You can’t save a dead person. Not with that useless ‘blessing of growth’.”

Ignoring all kinds of gossip about me…
I experimented and experimented with plants that revealed contamination.
I grew plants that could identify lead poisoning over and over again, and improved them enough to make it easier for humans to sort out what is affected by lead…

‘Well. Although not long after I discovered the efficacy of the Viikos flower, I was killed by my father and brother.’

What I secretly raised in the garden this time was the result of my research from my previous life.
I couldn’t do anything then, but it was different now.
The day to experiment with the Viikos flowers had finally come.

‘It looks like a simple flower from the outside, but is it?’

Swish-

I threw a flower into one of the pots where food was being prepared.

“No!”
“That is for the Duke’s meal…!”

The people who were doing their best to stay there obediently flinched.
While working in the duke’s castle, the food should be thoroughly managed.
Seeing me suddenly throwing unknown flowers in there, they couldn’t help but react.

Then, when it seemed like the people were coming to stop me at any moment,

“Don’t interfere with what the Young Lady is doing.”
“Y-Yes! I understand!”

The butler, who was quietly staring at what I was doing, stopped the employees from trying to move from their place.

‘Is it because he came with me at my mother’s command?’

The butler was more obedient than I thought. I almost had to keep an eye on the servants so that they would stay still, but he saved me the trouble.

Swish-

Thanks to that, I was able to keep throwing the flowers with an expressionless face.
Then, when I had put the Viikos flowers in almost every boiling pot in the kitchen,

Crackle-

Deep-black smoke rose from one of the small pots in between the large pots. Immediately, a nasty smell filled the entire kitchen.

“Cough, cough!”
“What on earth is this?”

It was noisy for a moment in the kitchen, but sensing that something was weird, the voices of the people stopped.

It wasn’t the smell of food burning or using the wrong ingredients.
The people were silent as they felt the strange smell that pricked their noses and saw the smoke that felt somewhat dreary.

“… I see. It was that one.”

Since I was the only one expecting this, only I reacted calmly.
I walked through the smoke and checked the interior of the pot. Inside the pot where I threw the flowers was such a mess that it seemed that a bomb had exploded.

“… What is this pot used for? Who uses it?”

When I looked at them with a strange eagerness, the servants immediately pointed to one person.
A maid who had stepped forward hesitantly replied. It was a familiar face.

“I-I’m the one who uses it. I’m using it to boil syrup for the desserts.”

I was silent for a moment, not answering right away.

“You said you were making syrup.”
“Y-Yes, Young Lady. Is there something wrong…?”

The innocent look of not knowing anything she had on her face couldn’t be any more ridiculous.
I raised the corners of my mouth coldly, thinking about the kitchen maid who would have heated the pot at a high temperature to make syrup.

“Everyone was watching what I was doing. You must have seen clearly that I did not bring any pots or take away any tableware.”
“Sorry? Yes… That is correct. But why is there a problem…”

When the other employees were puzzled because they didn’t know the reason, only the butler who had stepped back came up in front of me and bowed his head.

Yeah, he was a quick-witted man at times like this. He wasn’t in charge of being the duchy’s butler for decades for nothing.

“Young Lady, what is your command?”
“Butler. Take that servant.”

He found out exactly why I had brought him here.

“The one who tried to assassinate the Duchess.”

***

I thought I would be furious if this happened. But was it because it was something I had already guessed to some degree, or was it because my anger had reached its limit? Rather, my head had turned cold.

I spoke coldly to the shivering maid who was kneeling in front of me.

“I asked who made you use a lead pot to make the syrup for my mother’s dessert.”

The butler and kitchen employees, who were overwhelmed by the fact that the Viikos flowers had caused a strange reaction in only one pot, immediately called the knights when I accused the maid.

I had discovered a lead pot, so I inspected all the remaining utensils just in case, but that was the only thing related to lead.
It was obvious that it was only for my mother.
If wine was boiled to make syrup, how much lead would have dissolved at such high temperatures?

My mother didn’t like syrupy desserts so much that she would eat them every day. But it was the best for killing people. If you consume it steadily, in a way that isn’t noticeable… it will be enough to die from lead poisoning in a few years.
Lead poisoning, which was not a rare cause of death for noble women who used a lot of makeup.

“Y-Young Lady… I didn’t do that on purpose.”
“The fact that you can’t use cooking utensils made from lead must have been sufficiently taught to you when you entered the duchy.”
“That… I didn’t know this was made of lead.”

The maid trembled but did not immediately admit her guilt. She also didn’t beg to be spared. She opened her mouth a few times, but shut it immediately.

The fact that she only said that everything was a misunderstanding was definitely suspicious. Even though she was trembling, she was overly calm for someone who had done something that almost killed the duchess of a noble family.

‘There’s something. It’s suspicious.’

Realizing that, I glanced at the butler. He seemed to be thinking the same as me.
I didn’t know about me, but the butler, who was loyal to my mother, shouted harshly and reprimanded the maid.

“It is deplorable that this person was allowed to work in the kitchen. You are being brought here on charges of trying to murder the Duchess of Primrose!”
“W-What? I never intended to do that!”
“I can’t believe you’re denying it to the end. Young Lady, will you allow me to interrogate this person with the knights?”

I nodded.

“Let me hear the truth from this person’s mouth at all costs. The reason why she made syrup using a lead pot, not any other. Or if there is someone behind her targeting the duchy!”
“I-I made a mistake. I’ll tell you the truth!”

Only then did the maid quickly speak, as she stuck her head to the floor. And then, with her final words, she threw a bomb.

“This pot was given to me by Lady Lilika!”

——