"Screech-!"
Shuian's cry, higher than usual, was as sharp as a honed blade.
"Could it be poison?"
"Screech-!"
Eden's legs gave way at the sudden turn of events, and he collapsed. The moment Orca picked up the discarded clump of tea leaves, Shuian flew out of the food storage. Theo immediately followed after Shuian.
Shuian, who was usually extremely careful about things bumping into his large body or wings, ignored the loud noises of utensils falling to the floor and darted around, approaching the servants and sniffing them.
He seemed to be searching for someone with the same scent. It was a stark contrast to his extreme aversion to strangers approaching him. He tenaciously chased after the hands of the servants, who were screaming in a panic.
But there was no servant with the same scent. This meant that the culprit was not among them, or that quite some time had passed since the poison was brought in. Shuian cried out sharply once more.
"Shuian, come here."
Shuian, who had been breathing heavily while looking around at the servants, returned to Theo.
"Shh, I'm alright, so calm down."
As Theo pressed his lips to Shuian's forehead and murmured gently, the chest feathers that had been puffed up so much calmed down to some extent. He patted him with a careful touch, as if putting a child to sleep, and soon his heavy breathing returned to normal. Only then did Theo take his lips away and speak calmly to Orca.
"Find the culprit."
"Yes."
Theo immediately turned and left the tea leaf storage, heading to his bedroom. It was the first time Theo had seen Shuian so angry, so Theo was also surprised, but on the other hand, it felt as if his heart had dropped to his feet. He didn't know what to call that feeling. He had never experienced it before.
"Shuian, I'll tell you a secret. I don't actually like those teas very much."
Shuian, who still couldn't take his eyes off the kitchen, finally turned his head and looked up at Theo. He stared intently at his face, as if checking his mood. And that made it even stranger.
"I don't really enjoy tea, or even the act of eating itself. If I have a favorite food, it's usually the one that's most likely to be poisoned, which makes it easier to find the culprit, so I spread the rumor on purpose. Also, Assam tea with its strong flavor, or Earl Grey with a lot of oil and a strong scent, would make it easy to hide poison, so the culprit would feel safe. I just chose those two teas, but I don't really like things with strong scents or flavors."
In other words, it was for convenience. No matter what he did, the Empress would poison him, so he just spread the rumor so it would be easier to find her accomplice.
Theodore had often eaten poisoned food since he was young. Poisoning was one of the Empress's most frequent methods. So, after realizing that it was impossible to monitor him to prevent poisoning or to find every poisoned dish, he simply ate the poison himself and built up immunity.
There were times when he vomited blood or was bedridden for days because he failed to control the dosage, but it was still okay. After he became resistant to almost any poison, it became a little easier to eat something.
However, even so, he would occasionally feel nauseous and his chest would feel tight. He could no longer tell whether he had eaten poison or not. The Empress may have failed to kill him by poisoning his food, but she had succeeded in making it impossible for him to enjoy even a single meal.
He had lived like that his whole life. It had become so routine that it was too commonplace to be angry even if someone poisoned his food again. Orca also felt disillusioned with the Empress's persistence, but he was not angry.
So, Shuian was the only one. He was the only one who was angry for him. As if this had happened often, Shuian puffed up his chest feathers again at the nonchalant tone and glared fiercely, ready to fly back to the kitchen to find the culprit.
His heart, which had dropped to his feet, barely found its place, but the unfamiliar feeling remained. Theodore strangely kept smiling.
"Don't be angry. They are not worth your concern."
It was actually a lie. He wanted him to keep getting angry for him. He wanted him to get angry when he was treated unfairly, and to step forward and protect him when danger approached. Just like Shuian had always done.
"Once again, my beautiful bird has saved me."
As he pressed his lips to Shuian's forehead and cheeks with a gentle voice, Theodore suppressed the rising self-mockery. Shuian would never know that if the bird, longing for the forest, tried to leave him, he would not hesitate to eat poison. He didn't even know that it was very easy for him to do so.
"Shall we have another salmon in the bedroom, the one you like to eat? After dinner, let's have them bring out salmon ice cream. That will be very delicious too."
It was too easy to keep this kind and tender bird by his side, even without shackles.
ꕥ
This tender-hearted final boss was more concerned with soothing my feelings even though someone had tried to poison his food. How is he going to defeat that vicious Empress being so kind!
As if the words he made up to comfort me weren't just a casual excuse, he really ordered the maid to prepare salmon after returning to the bedroom. It seems that this level of perceptiveness is essential to work under the unfriendly Theo.
The maid, who realized that I would eat it even without a specific order, chopped the salmon into small pieces and brought it. As I was munching on what Theo gave me like before, there was a knock. It was Orca, looking much more haggard than before.
Orca said that it was easy to identify the people involved because the tea leaf storage was not a place that anyone could enter, and that they were all identified and detained. Theo simply replied to the report that the interrogation would proceed soon, and just put fruit in my mouth. I was frustrated by his lack of interest even though he was talking about such an important story.
"But... does Shuian know that it's poisoned?"
Theo finally raised his head at the question about me and quickly answered.
"When we were in the forest, Shuian was injured once. I was trying to find herbs to treat him, but when I tried to pick one that looked exactly like the one Shuian had brought, he stopped me. It turned out to be a poisonous plant that looked similar. Isn't he amazing?"
"How do you distinguish them? Do you memorize the poisonous plants?"
If I had become an eagle, I would have been able to memorize countless poisonous plants... but anyway, that wasn't the case, so I shook my head.
"No, then how..."
How should I explain this...? After thinking for a moment, I lowered my head and pretended to sniff. Orca didn't seem to understand at all, so I glanced up at Theo. He thought for a moment and asked.
"By smell?"
"Screech."
"Does it mean that there is a specific smell if it is poisonous?"
"Screech-!"
That's it! I couldn't explain that there was an unpleasant smell that I had never smelled before, but it was quite close to the answer, so I answered excitedly, even twitching my wings. I knew Theo would understand!
"Huh, that's really ridiculous."
If he had only heard it, he would have doubted it, but since Orca had just confirmed that I could distinguish poison, he could only utter an exclamation close to absurdity.
"Really, there's nothing Shuian can't do. If anyone sees you being so smart and lovely, they can't help but cherish you."
Theo, who hugged me tightly again, fed me fruit and made a fuss, and Orca frowned again as if he was disgusted.
I rubbed my forehead against Theo and suddenly looked up at him. Thanks to Theo's understanding of what I wanted to say, I hadn't felt any particular discomfort while living as an eagle, but I had been thinking about it often lately. It would have been better if I could speak.
I wanted to comfort him not to become indifferent to the Empress's cruel and harsh treatment, that he could be angry as much as he wanted, and that I would do it for him if he didn't want to be angry.
I wanted to tell him that he could eat comfortably from now on because I would find all the poison in the food. But I couldn't do any of that.
"Screech."
So, I wanted to become human.
ꕥ
The Empress stared down at her son, who was lying on the bed with a pale face. Due to the side effects of using the spirit stone to draw out spirit energy excessively, the fire energy was raging strongly, and his weak body did not have the capacity to withstand it.
The priest, who had been pouring divine power for a long time, wiped the cold sweat and got up from his seat.
"I'm afraid... it's not working."
Even with the explanation that the energy would gradually stabilize over time and that his physical condition would soon return to normal, the Empress's cold, hardened expression did not soften.
"It doesn't matter when he gets better. I need a way to prevent this situation from happening again."
Raymond squeezed his eyes shut at the tone as if he didn't care that the prince had lost consciousness and collapsed. The priest hesitated for a moment and carefully added.
"As you know, the problem ultimately arises because the body cannot control the fire energy. Then, we can either suppress the energy with divine power instead, or strengthen the body to give it the power to suppress it. In other words, there just needs to be a larger amount of divine power than fire energy."
The Empress twisted the corners of her lips. It was a fact she already knew. However, she couldn't do anything because even the divine power of a high-ranking priest was insufficient.
She had also considered using divine power simultaneously by several people, but since it was not simply treating an injury, she had no choice but to postpone that method as well, as there might be side effects if divine powers of various properties were mixed. But what else could she do?
"...Recently, a novice priest in our order has awakened divine power. She is being called 'Saintess' temporarily with divine power that surpasses that of a high-ranking priest... I think that level of divine power might be helpful to His Highness the Prince."
Only then did the Empress turn her gaze to the priest. She would have to wait and see if the 'Saintess' would really be helpful, but that was enough for now.
"I see. Then, what should we prepare to see the Saintess?"
"As always, the heart and sincerity to offer to the goddess is enough."
A huge amount of donations and some justification. The Empress, who accurately understood the priest's words, added a benevolent smile to her face. That was the easiest thing she could do.
"Tell Cardinal Pames that I will visit soon."
"Of course. Then, may the goddess's grace be with you always."
Only after the priest left the room with a polite posture did the Empress sit on the bed where Ricardo was lying.
"Brother, you must have heard. Since she is a 'Saintess,' we must prepare as firmly as the goddess will be satisfied this time."
"...I understand."
The Empress gently stroked Ricardo's pale cheek and leaned over to whisper.
"Prince, this mother will find a way no matter what. So, rest well."
It was a gentle voice, as if singing a lullaby.
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