Chapter 3
Alyssa pulled out half a cold bread from her sleeve. "Here, I saved this for you. Have a bite to tide you over."
Vita took it and ate it slowly, one bite at a time.
The bread was hard, and it made her teeth ache.
Vita thought, 'Why is Lady Lila picking on me? I'm just here serving coffee and preparing ink. How could I possibly bother her? Oh, right. She made soup for the king herself today. When I smelled it, that scent hit me again.
'Underneath the sweetness, there was a layer of bitterness. It was like... the bitterness of wormwood mixed with other herbs. Back when I was little, I used to follow...'
Vita's train of thought suddenly broke off. She rubbed her temples, her head aching.
Some memories were fuzzy.
When Vita was just a kid, someone seemed to have taught her how to tell different herbs by their smell.
But that memory was like ink blurred by water, hazy and impossible to read clearly.
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Study, Orion set down the bowl of soup he was holding.
He hadn't taken a single sip of the soothing tonic Lila had sent over today.
Vita's words, "Like the bitterness of wormwood mixed with other herbs," kept circling in Orion's mind.
Orion thought, 'Wormwood on its own isn't toxic. But what if you mixed it with something else?'
Orion remembered now. For the past six months, he had been feeling dizzy, his eyes dry and strained.
At night, his heart would pound and sleep was nowhere to be found.
The physicians told him it was just exhaustion from overwork.
Orion believed them at first. But now, he wasn't so sure anymore.
Orion called for Aron.
"I'm here, Your Majesty," Aron answered.
"Go summon Dr. Bernard. Have him bring... No, forget it. Don't go there. Instead, find a civilian doctor from outside and bring him in. Don't let anyone find out," Orion said.
Aron answered and quickly left.
Orion stared at the bowl of soup, his gaze growing colder with every passing second.
A sudden clarity hit him. In this palace, anything handed to him could be a dagger hidden behind a smile.
But that maid's words were honest and unvarnished, untouched by any pretense.
When she said the soup was bitter, he believed her without question. Even if she didn't realize what it meant herself.
Vita was framed on a rainy day.
She was heading to the Imperial Study for her shift, walking through the corridor, when two of Lila's attendants approached her.
One was Sienna Manning, the other Selena Manning.
Sienna gave her a smile and stepped aside to let her pass.
Vita didn't think much of it and walked on.
When she got to the Imperial Study, Vita found something in her sleeve she hadn't noticed before.
It was a gold hairpin studded with rubies.
Vita stood frozen, paralyzed with shock. Before she could react, the door to the hall was pushed open.
Fred stormed in, four servants right on his heels. He said loudly, "How dare you, Vita.
"Lady Lila's phoenix-tipped gold hairpin is missing, and someone saw you passing by Drogten Hall. Search her, now."
Two servants grabbed Vita's arms and fished the hairpin right out of her sleeve.
Fred held up the hairpin, his face gleaming with smug satisfaction, like a cat that just stole a fish.
"Well, well, caught red-handed. Drag her out and give her twenty lashes," Fred ordered.
Vita shouted, "I didn't steal it. Someone slipped it into my sleeve."
Fred shot back, "Who'd believe you? The proof's staring us right in the face."
"Attendants, take her away," Fred added.
"Hold it." A cold voice rang out from behind the imperial desk.
Fred shuddered, spun around, and dropped to his knees. "Your... Your Majesty..."
Orion stood up from behind the stack of memorials. He walked over to Vita and looked down at her, his gaze cold and unreadable.
Vita's eyes were red, but she fought hard to keep the tears from falling. She thought, 'I didn't steal it. I really didn't.
'Sienna slipped it into my sleeve when she brushed past me in the corridor.
'She touched my sleeve. But nobody will believe me. I'm just a servant girl. Who would ever believe someone like me?'
Orion caught every word, clear as day.
He turned to Fred. "Summon Sienna Manning," Orion ordered.
Fred's expression shifted. "Your Majesty, Sienna serves Lady Lila directly."
"I said, summon her." Orion's voice was icy and left no room for argument.
When Sienna was brought in, she looked calm and gave a polite bow.
Orion watched her in silence.
Sienna knelt there for half a cup of coffee's time, sweat starting to bead on her forehead.
Orion suddenly spoke, his voice cold and certain. "Earlier in the corridor, you touched Vita's right sleeve."
It wasn't a question. It was a statement.
Sienna's fingers clenched tightly at the hem of her dress. "I... I was just stepping aside to let her pass, and I accidentally brushed against her."
"Accidentally?" Orion picked up the gold hairpin. "The hairpin was stolen from Lady Lila's dressing table, and somehow it ended up in the sleeve you happened to touch while making way. Sienna, are you really trying to insult my intelligence?"
Sienna's face went ghostly pale. Her lips quivered, and she dropped to her knees, kowtowing hard. "Your Majesty, I swear, I..."
"Who put you up to this?" Orion's voice was icy.
The hall fell into a heavy silence. Sienna stubbornly clung to her silence, refusing to confess.
Orion didn't ask again.