Chapter 2
She looked at me like she was ready to eat me alive, her gaze full of raw, vicious intent.
That night, someone banged on my door.
Several fierce matrons stormed in.
"Isobel Harrison! How dare you poison Megan's powder! Come with us!"
They dragged me off without another word.
Megan's palace was ablaze with light.
She lounged on a plush divan.
Her expression was stormy.
Beside her, a cowering maid who crafted the fragrance knelt, shaking with fear.
"Isobel, we've caught you with the evidence! How do you explain yourself?"
The maid pointed at me, sobbing, "It was her! She made me add something to Lady Megan's powder!"
I let out a big yawn, not bothering to hide how bored I was.
The rush to get here had left me exhausted.
"Lady Megan," I said, barely bothering to sound respectful.
"Oh? Planning to beg for mercy now?" Megan sneered.
"No," I said, pointing at that little black box with the mother-of-pearl inlay on her vanity. "Been using what's inside for a long time, right?"
Her eyes flashed cold. "What are you trying to say?"
"That balm's made with Bellefleur Nectar from the Southern Frontier. Good for your looks," I said lazily. "But mix it with that Alpine Tonic you drink every day..."
I paused, letting it sink in.
I said, "The Alpine Tonic heats you up, Bellefleur Nectar cools you down. Put them together day after day, and you're basically brewing poison inside."
Megan shot upright.
"Nonsense! The royal physicians..."
"The royal physicians only checked the powder, not what you've been eating or drinking every day. They'd never guess those two things could react badly together," I said, spreading my hands.
I asked, "Lately, haven't you been sweating through the night, waking up with a heavy chest, and your periods... kind of all over the place?"
Megan's face drained of color, then darkened.
She clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white.
She stayed silent.
But her face said it all.
I let out a sigh.
"That maid who made the fragrance? She took five hundred silver coins from the one who's out to get you. All she put in the powder was some regular pollen. At worst, you'd get a rash. The real harm? You brought it on yourself."
The room went dead silent.
Megan looked like she'd been wrung dry.
She slumped back onto the divan.
She waved her hand dismissively.
"Get out... all of you!" she said.
The next day, Megan called in sick.
She locked herself in her rooms and didn't let anyone in.
The fragrance maid just disappeared, like she'd never existed.
My lunch got upgraded again.
There was even a delicate bowl of bird's nest soup, sent over by the Queen's orders as a reward.
Those peaceful days didn't last.
A bigger storm was coming.
Prince Andrew was reciting his lessons in the imperial study when disaster struck.
Out of nowhere, he started foaming at the mouth, his whole body shaking like crazy.
He dropped to the floor, out cold.
The palace doctors were in an uproar, scrambling to figure out what had happened.
But no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find a single trace of poison.
The King was furious.
He ordered a full investigation.
After all their digging, the trail somehow led right to me.
All the evidence pointed straight at me.
Then a young eunuch "confessed."
He claimed he saw me sneaking around the King's study a few days ago.
He even said I was burying something by the wall.
The imperial guards dug up the spot by the wall in my shabby little courtyard.
They unearthed a wooden figurine bristling with silver needles.
Andrew's birth chart was carved right into the wood.
Those were witchcraft and voodoo curses.
And this time, it was an attempt on a prince's life, punishable by death.
I was dragged before the King, chains clanking with every step.
They hauled me up to face the King.
Inside the Sanctuary Hall, the tension was thick enough to make one shiver.
The King sat on his throne, his face as cold as stone.
His expression was dark and unreadable.
The Queen was off to the side, quietly weeping, her eyes brimming with tears.
Megan had a cold, barely-there smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
All the courtiers held their breath.
"Isobel! Do you know what you've done?" the chief eunuch barked, his voice sharp as a whip.
I knelt on the icy tiles, the chill seeping straight into my bones.
The iron chains bit into my wrists, sending sharp jolts of pain up my arms.
"No," I replied coolly, refusing to flinch.
"Witnesses, evidence, everything's here! Still trying to talk your way out? That wooden doll is ironclad proof!" the chief eunuch barked, voice sharp as a whip.
I raised my head, chains rattling as I moved.
I met the King's gaze, towering above me on his throne.
He stared down at me, his eyes cold and unreadable.
His gaze was unfathomable, giving nothing away.
"Your Majesty." My voice cut through the dead silence of the hall.
"That wooden figurine wasn't arranged by me." I kept my tone steady.
I continued, "It's got a birth chart carved on it.
"But it's not even right."
The room went dead silent.
Megan shrieked, "Nonsense! Prince Andrew's birth chart..."
I named the exact day of Andrew's birthday.
"But the one carved on that doll was not right. It's off by one hour," I said.
A wave of stifled gasps rippled through the hall.
The Queen's sobs stopped.
The King's gaze sharpened.
The chief eunuch grabbed the wooden doll, the so-called "ironclad proof", and checked it with trembling hands.
His face instantly went pale as a sheet.
"This..." he stammered, voice shaking, completely lost for words.
"Just one hour off, and their whole destiny changes," I continued coolly. "Who'd try to frame someone and mess up the birth chart? That's just sloppy."
Megan's face went ghostly pale.
"You're just twisting things! Who's to say you didn't carve it wrong on purpose..." she shot back.