I had expected Anatoli’s side to take action after being provoked this much.

So, every day within the limits of my magical power, I checked the comments.

Even today was no exception.

Anatoli is seriously crazy. She used poison on a monster, and now she’s drugging kids too, hahaha.

What if someone else eats those cookies with the poison? She’s really lost her mind, hahaha.

I’ve never seen such a villainess in my life.

Wow... she’s really using poison.

└We don’t know if it’s poison!

└Then what kind of drug is it?

└It hasn’t been revealed!

The development is really irritating. How long do we have to watch Anatoli? Using drugs on kids is crossing the line. What if the other kids see it and follow?

└How would kids even get poison...?

└There are poisons easy to get even on the market.

└Knights probably have easier access to those ^^; Maybe knights should be divided by age groups too...

Erilot~ Don’t eat the chocolate cookies ㅠㅠㅠ

‘Ah, so it’s chocolate cookies.’

Of course, the strong taste of chocolate would perfectly mask the drug’s flavor.

At that moment,

“Astra Countess.”

Rumelisa Paante, laughing among the noble ladies, approached me.

“Hello, Lady Paante.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“It’s the Paante Marchioness’s party after all. I’ve been really looking forward to it since receiving the invitation.”

“That’s wonderful!”

Rumelisa smiled brightly and took my hand.

Since the Lily Garden party, Rumelisa seemed to have grown very fond of me.

She took me around and introduced me to kids my age.

Since this was a noble ladies’ party, there were few children.

“This is Erilot Astra of the Astra Count house!”

“A Count house...”

“The second Count house.”

“Oh, Daymond Astra’s daughter...! Nice to meet you, Countess.”

“Nice to meet you.”

They were good kids.

This wasn’t a battlefield like Serengeti from my first life or the novel.

“My lady, this juice is delicious.”

When a girl said that, other young ladies all turned to look at her.

“No, not that lady... not that lady either, and not that one — the lady I meant—”

Rumelisa laughed and lightly placed her hand on my back.

“You mean Astra Countess? Hmm, that’s a bit long to say.”

“I agree. Since there’s a first Count house too, how about calling me Lady Erilot? You can call me Maria too.”

“I’m Gretel!”

“I’m Rosaria.”

Although this was my first time here, and I had only recently entered the first district, they took very good care of me.

‘It’s partly because Rumelisa, practically a princess in this circle, looks after me well.’

Still, fundamentally, they were kind kids.

It was very different from the silent war happening in Astra.

‘So childlike, it’s adorable.’

Rumelisa said,

“This plum juice is really delicious. It’s made from plums imported from the Kingdom of Keten! Since I like plums, my mother took care to get it.”

“Wow. The Paante Marchioness always makes Rumelisa so happy!”

Though they were good kids, they didn’t forget to flatter each other.

Rumelisa lifted her chin with a proud expression.

“My mother loves me.”

The marchioness chuckled, and other kids eagerly started talking.

“My mother bought me this dress. I said it was pretty last time, but yesterday she ordered it for me!”

“It suits you really well.”

“My mother always combs my hair. Even if grandma dislikes it because it’s work for the maids, she still does it!”

“Combing your daughter’s hair is a happy thing.”

“My mother always has meals with me, even when busy...”

“She must love Rosaria very much.”

As I matched their enthusiasm, the kids got excited.

Rosaria Boboka, cheeks rosy, said,

“Your ladyship must be loved by your mother too, right? My mother says a child is lovable because she’s loved! Since you’re so lovable—”

At that moment, the party quieted.

The change in atmosphere made Rosaria look around in embarrassment.

Rosaria’s mother, Countess Boboka, looked at me with a troubled expression, unsure what to do.

“Ro, Rosaria...”

“Yes?”

For an orphan like me, it was awkward to bring up a mother.

Especially since my mother was famously a commoner.

But Rosaria didn’t mean anything bad by it.

She must have been unaware I was the second Countess, or that I had no mother.

She was just a kind child, trying to return a compliment.

Rumelisa’s expression hardened, as if thinking, What a fool.

I quickly said,

“There’s a story that God couldn’t always be with you, so He made mothers.”

“...”

“A mother’s love is never easy, right? That’s why it’s so great and wonderful!”

“Ah...”

“Growing up loved like that, children naturally become lovable. Just like all of you!”

When I spoke brightly, the Paante marchioness softly pressed her lips and said,

“Oh my...”

The noble ladies looked at me with pity and admiration.

Mothers with children could sympathize.

“My lady, have you eaten? Would you like some snacks?”

“Oh my, who tied your hair so beautifully?”

The noble ladies fussed over me.

As the mood lightened, Rumelisa’s expression brightened.

Rosaria was pulled away by her mother, probably to hear an explanation.

Rosaria gasped and said, “I, I didn’t know....” looking helpless.

Countess Boboka kept looking thankful to me.

The mood almost froze because of her daughter, but I handled it well, so she was grateful.

Then,

“These cookies look very delicious.”

A smiling noblewoman pushed a plate of cookies toward me.

‘Perfect.’

Thanks to that, I noticed.

Who was the princess’s henchman?

‘It’s you.’

Surely the princess wasn’t foolish enough to slip a single drugged cookie into the party on her own.

What if the other kids ate it?

So I thought someone else had to be planted to hand me the drugged cookie.

I smiled brightly and took a cookie.

Of course, it was butter cookie, not chocolate.

I took a bite.

Paante marchioness chuckled.

“These cookies were specially made by Amilang Bakery. Rumelisa really likes them, but I’m not sure if they suit your taste.”

I chewed the cookie crispily and swallowed, nodding.

“Very tasty... ta... sty...”

My speech slowed and slurred, and those focusing on me tilted their heads.

“My lady?”

“De... lic... ious...”

I held my forehead as if dizzy.

Then—

Bang!

I collapsed onto the table.

“Ahhh—!”

“What’s # Nоvеlight # happening?! My lady! My lady!”

The party erupted in chaos.

The noblewoman who pushed me the cookie turned pale.

‘It couldn’t have been an instant poison, so of course she was shocked.’

Besides, I ate butter cookies.

But the marchioness would investigate all the cookies.

And if she found out the chocolate cookies were drugged...

‘The princess is dead.’

I suppressed a smirk and closed my eyes.

I should’ve been an actress in my past life as Yoo Hye-min.

I act this well.

The party turned into a battlefield.

Paante marchioness shouted,

“Doctor! Hurry, a doctor...!”

Maids rushed out in a panic.

Doctors, healers, even searchers appeared at the party.

The noble ladies and young ladies watched the commotion with pale faces.

While the doctor treated me, one blessed with a searcher’s aura shouted,

“Poison!”

“What?”

“There is a reaction to poison from this cookie.”

Paante marchioness turned pale.

Poison?

When she inspected the party this morning, there was none.

The meticulous marchioness always called searchers to inspect food and surroundings before parties, just in case.

There had been no reaction to poison before.

Meaning the drugged cookie appeared after the party started.

Paante marchioness glared at Countess Giklos.

“You.”

“Yes, me?”

“You gave the cookie to Astra Countess?”

“I-I only pushed the plate...”

“Why push that plate? The cookie plate was right in front of you, so why push the one far away?”

“I, I don’t understand what you mean...”

Paante marchioness grabbed Countess Giklos by the shoulder.

“Now that I think of it, you came earliest to the party, didn’t you?”

“Is that a problem?!”

When Countess Giklos shouted, the marchioness’s eyes flashed fiercely.

“Go to the palace and bring someone with the tracking aura.”

As the maids moved quickly, Countess Giklos gasped,

“What are you saying...! Let go, I’m leaving! How can you be so rude—!”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Thi-this—guh...”

Paante marchioness’s aura activated.

Her aura was .

A force that chokes opponents with pressure, she once worked for the palace tracking unit before marriage.

“If you put poison in the cookies—”

“Guh...!”

“If you dared use drugs on children at my party—”

“L-Lady...”

“I will never let you go. Understand?”

The pale noblewomen hugged their children.

This was a gathering of society’s leaders.

To use poison there...

‘Who the hell would commit such a brazen act...!’

The Paante family was the Empress Dowager’s natal home.

No sooner had the request for tracking been made than the palace sent people.

The trackers activated their blessings immediately.

A thin red line from the chocolate cookie led to—

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

—Countess Giklos.

The matter naturally spread like wildfire.

Within less than a day, the entire empire was in an uproar.

A party held by the Paante Marchioness, a leader of the social circle and the Empress Dowager’s natal home.

At such a place, a child was poisoned.

Not just any child, but Erilot Astra, the Dragon’s Keeper.

It was natural Countess Giklos was dragged away on high alert.

She was pale with fear, trying to save her wife, but no noble offered help.

Naturally,

“Someone poisoned my family’s party! How outrageous!”

The Paante marchioness raged wildly.

But there was an even bigger reason.

The Astra duke’s carriage entered the capital.

Duke Astra himself, his eldest son Grimier,

And Erilot’s father Daymond.

The Astra clan attended the Central Tower meeting.

Duke Astra declared with a look that could tear people apart,

“Those involved in this incident will never survive.”

Somewhere, the sound of the capital being torn apart echoed.

At that time, Princess Anatoli’s palace.

Princess Anatoli bit her nails, pale as death.

‘This is strange. Strange. Strange.’

Why did things turn out this way?

The drug in the chocolate cookie was a truth serum.

Strong, but not life-threatening.

If given the truth serum, and Countess Giklos asked questions, the truth would be revealed.

Everyone would then know how cunning the child was.

‘But poison? That’s impossible.’

Something had gone wrong.

‘Could that brat have done something?’

It had to be.

Otherwise, this chaos wouldn’t have happened!

Princess Anatoli shivered with a corpse-like face.

Just then—

Bang!

With a sharp sound, the door opened.

The emperor entered.

“Oh, brother.”

“You must tell the truth.”

“Huh?”

“Did you order Countess Giklos to put poison in the cookies at Paante’s party?”

“Th-that... that is...”

“Speak clearly!”

“No! It’s not poison, just a truth serum...!”

Just then,

The Empress Dowager stomped in.

And—

Smack!

The princess was slapped, turning pale as she looked at the Empress Dowager.

“Mother...”

“You crazy....”

“No, I swear it’s truth serum—!”

“Truth serum or not, it doesn’t matter!”

“Mother!”

“You used drugs at a noble party, especially one at my natal home, you—!”

The princess swallowed hard.

The expressions of the Empress Dowager and Emperor were unlike usual.

It was as if something truly terrible was about to happen.

At Astra Count’s manor.

I smiled broadly, tightly wrapped in a blanket.

‘Ah, how tempting.’

— I thought to myself.