After the failed mission during the naming ceremony, the Empress met with the apostle once again. This time, he warned her sternly: she could do anything she wao the child—but she must not kill her. The Empress was baffled by this restri. Why ’t I kill her?

  Though momentarily subdued by the apostle's words, her silence didn’t st long.

  A few months after the naming ceremony, the Empress summoned her trusted maid, Emily. “Emily, summon one of the new maids and give her this vial. This bck vial tains a mixture of hemlock bane and aitum.”

  Hemlock bane, a poisonous pnt found deep within the forests touched by the Abyss, resembled a lush green vine covered in thorns, adorned with striking red flowers. However, its beauty cealed a deadly nature. A ivorous pnt, it spat a potent venom at its prey. This venom, a dirty green liquid, became even more lethal when bined with aitum, or wolf’s baurning it transparent and doubling its potency. Diluting the co in water wouldn’t weaken its effect. The venom, on tact with the body, would cause the skin to melt away like wax. Only the applicatiestion of panacea—a rare medial pnt found exclusively in the coldest regions of the Empire—could teract its effects.

  The Empress’s eyes gleamed with malicious satisfa as she examihe vial. Emily, her mistress's expressioated before speaking. “But, Yhness, didn’t the apostle warn against killing the princess?”

  On the brink of losing her sanity, the Empress no longer cared whether the child lived or died. To her, eliminating a major obstacle to her ambitions outweighed the warnings of a mere apostle. The Empress smirked. “Oh, Emily, don’t be foolish. Haven’t you heard? The Archduke retly sent a few vials of potions made from panacea. As long as Agatha acts swiftly, the child will survive. But by then, our precious princess will have lost her charm forever.”

  Just days earlier, the Archduke had subdued a monster wave in the frozeern pins, sending his granddaughter a trove of exotic furs and rare potions. Among these treasures was the panacea—a rare, life-saving remedy the Empress po rely on, not out of mercy, but to ehe child survived with perma scars.

  Emily couldn’t help but pity the i princess, unwittingly caught in the crossfire of the Empress’s uing greed for the throne. Yet, Emily knew better: as long as the Empress achieved her ambitions, she cared little for who suffered—or who died—in her wake.

  Emily approached the group of maids who served the Empress, her gaze settling on the newer recruits—meraries discreetly hired at the Empress's request. Seleg one of them, she handed over a small vial.

  "Keep this with you at all times," Emily instructed in a hushed tone. "When I give the signal, mix this into the princess's bathwater. It's highly poisonous, so ha with care. And if you're caught..." Her voice turned cold. "You know what to do."

  Satisfied, Emily waited for the perfeent to execute the pn. Fortune seemed to favor them when the maid, who usually teo the princess, left her post to fetch supplies from the pantry. Seeing her opportunity, Emily deliberately deyed the maid with idle chatter, subtly signaling the merary to act.

  Sihe moment the princess was born, Alice had been her stant caretaker. She meticulously bathed her, ged her clothes, and fed her. Princess Agatha was often overwhelmed with paperwork and state matters, so Alisured the princess wouldn’t disturb her mother, who was already struggling to bance her duties and the demands of a newbore her tender age, the princess would behave as long as she could catch even a glimpse of her mother. In this way, both mother and daughter found small moments of happiness.

  Alice cherished her role, loving every sed of g for the princess. The little one was endlessly adorable, always smiling auring with her tiny hands. Her charm was such that eveher maids often found excuses to visit her.

  This was the first time sihe princess’s birth that Alice had left her aloh Agatha, even briefly. When the Empress’s personal maid uedly stopped her for idle chatter, Alice felt something was off. The sensation only deepened as she spotted an unfamiliar maid carrying the princess away—like scattered, puzzling thoughts suddenly fell into pce. Armed, Alice rushed to Agatha.

  “Princess Agatha, who is the maid that took the little princess?”

  Agatha looked up from her dots, fusioched on her face. “Wasn’t she sent by you because you were busy?”

  The bewildered expression on Alice’s face told Agatha all she o know—something was wrong. No further expnation was needed. Both women sprang into a.

  “Raechel, find Alexander!” Agatha anded her personal maid. Without hesitation, Raechel darted toward the training grounds to fetch him.

  As Agatha rushed toward her daughter, her mind couldn’t help but dwell on the moment when the maid approached her, ving her to leave the child. Agatha, known for her cautious nature, had trusted the maid due to her frequent presence around the pace. The maid’s familiar face had eased her doubts, but now that trust felt like a fatal mistake.

  Agatha and Alice quickly made their way to the bathroom, where they found the maid about to lower the princess into the bathwater. The tip of the princess’s toe was mere inches from the water when Agatha bellowed, “Stop!”

  The maid froze, her head snapping up to face the doorway. Agatha’s fierce expression and Alice’s frightened gaze seemed to faze her for a moment. But then the maid’s lips twisted into a maniacal grin, her eyes gleaming with madness. Without warning, to Agatha and Alice’s horror, the maid released her grip on the princess, letting her fall into the bathwater.

  But to everyone’s shock, instead of the expected ear-pierg wails of a terrified toddler, the room was filled with aed giggle.

  The maid’s face paled as she turo look at the child, who was happily swinging her hands and ughing ier. fusion and terror etched across her face as she stared at the princess lying in the poisoned water. Did I mistakenly grab another vial instead of the poison? No, that’s not possible—I’m sure I took the right one!

  Desperation drove her to reach out and touch the water, hoping for firmation. The moment, an ear-pierg scream erupted from her lips, eg through the pace corridors. It was this sound that greeted Prince Alexander as he arrived, apanied by a frightened Raechel and a visibly weary Frederick.

  As soon as Alexander saw the maid clutg her melting hand, his expression turo one of icy resolve. Without a sed thought, he drew his sword and swiftly amputated her disiing limb to prevent further damage.

  Just as he was about to reach for his joyfully pying daughter iub, Agatha’s sharp voice rang out, breaking the haze ency.

  “Stop! Don’t touch her!”

  Stop! Don’t touch her!” Agatha’s voice rang out, sharper this time. In a blur of movement, she dashed to her bedside table and snatched a small gss vial from its hiding spot. Without hesitation, she downed one pill, her hands trembling, and thrust the vial at Alexander. “Make her take one. If she doesn't, she won’t survive. I want her alive.”

  Alexander quickly tried to fore of the pills into the maid’s mouth, but the maid summoned every ounce of strength left to refuse. Iruggle, Alexander noticed a unique symbol on her wrist—one he reized. Meanwhile, Agatha turned her attention back to their daughter. Kneeling beside the tub, she gently scooped up the giggling princess, cradling her in her arms.

  Looking at her unharmed and cheerful child, Agatha couldn’t hide her amazement. A smile tugged at her lips, her voice trembling with a mix of relief and awe. “My little cupcake, you’re truly extraordinary.” Turning to Rachel, she anded, “Call for the royal physi.”

  Agatha, her gaze locked on the maid, turo her husband. "It seems you have some work to do."

  Agatha carefully handed her daughter to Alice, then crouched beside the n maid and took the y vial from the floor. “Frederick, keep this safe and be careful. It’s Hemlock Bane.”

  Frederick, who had witnessed many things in his years as a close attendant to the first prince, was shaken by the sheer malice behind such a heinous act. Carefully, he ed the vial in a cloth and sigwo guards to take the maid to the underground dungeon. While being dragged away by the guards, the maid shouted gleefully, "What do you think? Just because she was saved today doesn’t mean she won’t die tomorrow."

  Agatha’s expression grew serious as she turo her husband. “We ’t let this happen again. This time, she was saved by sheer luck. But what about the ime? What if we’re not so fortunate?”

  Alexander’s eyes hardened with determination. “It won’t happen again,” he said firmly.

  Moments ter, the royal physi, Raphael, rushed into the room, his expression filled with urgency. “Yhness, what has happened? I was in the middle of something when I was summoned in such haste.”

  First Prince Alexander g the old royal physi. “ you examihe princess and ensure she’s unharmed?”

  Raphael’s eyes softened as he looked at the perfectly healthy toddler, sitting tentedly in her mother’s arms with a sweet, i expression. “What could possibly be wrong? She looks perfectly fine.”

  Alexander pressed him further. “You won’t know unless you check.”

  With a relut nod, Raphael carefully examihe child, searg for any sign of illness or distress. After thh examination, he sighed with relief. “Yhness, the little princess is perfectly healthy.”

  But Alexander wasn’t vinced. He rubbed his thoughtfully. “That ’t be right... Are you absolutely sure?”

  Raphael looked at him, clearly affronted. “Yhness, are you doubting me? I’ve served as the royal physi for years. I was the one who cared for you during your childhood illnesses. Have I ever made a mistake?”

  Alexander sighed, scratg his in frustration. “It’s not that I’m questioning your skill, Raphael. It’s just... the princess fell into a bath ced with Hemlock Bane.”

  The royal physi froze as though struck by lightning. His eyes widened, and his face turned ashen. “What?” he whispered, his voice trembling as he turned from Alexao Agatha and then to the little princess. “Are you saying the child was fully submerged in water poisoned with Hemlock Bane?”

  Agatha’s heart ached as she observed the royal physi’s shocked expression and heard him mutter, “No… I don’t believe it.”

  “Yhness,” Raphael said, his tone filled with disbelief and urgency, “No one survive exposure to Hemlock Bane. Did you give her panacea?”

  Alexander shook his head. “No, we didn’t.”

  Raphael stared at the princess one more time, his mind struggling to process the impossible. “This ’t be. If what you’re saying is true, the little princess… she should’ve succumbed.”

  Agatha’s gaze was full of worry as she looked at the physi. “Is there no expnation for this?”

  “I o iigate further,” Raphael said, his voice almost hollow. “There might be a resistance, but I must firm it. I’ll go to the royal library. If there’s any clue, it’ll be there.”

  With that, Raphael hurried off, leaving the family to pohe impossible.

  Alexander gazed at his daughter with a tender smile. “Little cupcake, you tio amaze your mom and dad every day.”

  Without another word, he turned and strode out of the room, his attendant hurrying to follow him as he made his way to the underground dungeohe maid was being held.