For some reason, I felt they already knew about the situation.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have pressed so forcefully, watching Sylvia’s every move like that.
“I wish the path would just collapse.”
At that, Jana’s eyes gleamed.
Breaking something massive was her true nature.
Without a word, Jana leapt out the window. In a moment like this, even an acknowledgment was a luxury.
From beside Tania, Iris’s gaze lingered on Sylvia below, then caught on something.
“What’s that?”
Scattered all around were unwrapped gift boxes.
“Oh, those are gifts from the orphanage we sponsor. They always send something around this time.”
The Kirua Trading Guild, which Sylvia managed, also ran a civilian childcare home.
That had been a strong point when she decided to invest in them.
Iris brushed her hair back once and approached the gift boxes.
They were mostly empty, as if Sylvia had already taken out the contents.
“Hm?”
One package, however, was wrapped uniquely.
There was cushioning inside to keep its round shape intact.
“Oh, that one’s special.”
Noticing what Iris was focused on, Tania spoke up.
“What is it?”
“I think it’s an incense burner. I heard the Master used to burn incense before sleeping, so they kept sending these.”
An incense burner—definitely an unusual gift from a child.
Where Tania pointed, an incense burner sat, decorated with childlike uneven drawings.
When the lid was opened, the burnt wick was visible. Usually, incense releases fragrance even after burning this much.
“There’s no scent at all.”
“Yes, it’s strange. Still, the Master said there was a scent.”
“…They said there was a scent?”
Iris knew her nose wasn’t bad. She clearly detected no fragrance.
Lost in thought while looking at the incense burner, she suddenly dropped it.
Burnt ashes scattered across the floor.
“Your Grace!”
Tania called out, startled.
But Iris hastily pulled open the drawer where the incense burner had been.
Nothing. Not there either.
Frantically searching without success, she urgently shouted at the stunned Tania.
“Is there any leftover wick enclosed?”
“What?”
“Hurry!”
After a brief glance, Tania dashed to Sylvia’s vanity and opened a small drawer.
Inside, she pulled out a wick rolled in paper and handed it to Iris.
Unwrapping it revealed a black wick.
Iris carefully sat on the floor and broke the wick.
Deep blue-green crystals inside resembled flowers in shape.
“That’s it.”
Iris’s hands trembled.
Sylvia didn’t die from illness—she was murdered.
Cedric had not neglected to investigate Sylvia’s death before his reincarnation.
Perhaps because of the mysterious deaths of their parents, he suspected it might not have been a fatal disease.
That’s when he found a flower.
“Pasatus.”
This flower, native to the West, was famous as a medicinal narcotic.
Its usage was uniquely specific.
“It can distinguish whether a neurological disease is curable or not.”
If a patient had a serious illness, the toxic components in Pasatus would manifest as a strong narcotic.
Patients nearing death from neurological disorders would often ask doctors for it, hoping for peaceful final moments.
But if not…
Though rare, symptoms could appear even in healthy individuals.
“Tell me, what were her final symptoms?”
Once, Cedric argued so loudly it echoed through the room.
“Did she lose her eyesight?”
“Or was there an issue with her sense of touch?”
I recall that the other party never answered.
Later, the symptoms I researched showed it was a temporary total loss of nerve function—exactly the condition Sylvia was enduring.
‘So that’s how it was.’
Iris’s hand trembled.
The branch nobles must have assumed Sylvia was afflicted with an incurable illness.
Her boldness at the gallery only confirmed it.
‘That’s why they hid the Pasatus here.’
If she became addicted, they could dismiss her as both incurable and a drug addict unfit to lead the Tran clan.
But that wasn’t true.
Miraculously, Sylvia was not incurable, which was why the symptoms manifested.
That must have been their worst nightmare.
She had to be believed to have an incurable disease.
Only then would they treat the head of Tran as useless and cast her aside.
But if she wasn’t incurable—
‘No one could ever replace Sylvia Tran.’
She could never be pushed aside.
‘That’s why they killed her.’
That was why Sylvia from the past was slain.
At this point, everyone still believed she was incurable.
Besides, Jana and Tania around her couldn’t speak with louder authority than the branch nobles.
“Tania.”
Sensing something strange, she fixed Iris with a piercing gaze instead of answering.
“Was the Count really diagnosed as incurable by a doctor?”
“…Actually, not definitively. They recommended verifying with Pasatus despite the low probability, but…”
“She refused.”
Tania closed her eyes tightly and nodded.
“The master said there was something that must be finished no matter what.”
Addiction to Pasatus meant almost no cure.
Everyday life was nearly impossible.
Remembering those times, Tania’s hand clenched her skirt in pain.
“And even though she said she wasn’t incurable, she claimed she had no value to live.”
Tania did not know how to stop Sylvia, who had borne guilt for so long.
She could only grow sorrowful each day.
Listening quietly, Iris slowly rose.
Calm fury filled her sky-blue eyes.
‘Is there no way?’
At that moment, one solution came to Iris’s mind.
“Tania, help me.”
Suppressing her emotions, Iris’s voice carried an intimidating pressure.
Rubbing tears from her eyes with a fist, Tania barely cleared her vision and looked up.
It was the same as when she first saw Sylvia.
Iris was filled with pride, as if possessing the noblest character.
“We have to rewrap all those gifts. Exactly as they were.”
Her firm finger pointed at the boxes of gifts.
“Before they arrive. No matter what.”
“Damn it. Since the head of the clan’s gotten older, he’s growing weaker by the day. What a bother this is.”
Strictly speaking, Hurdlem, the Viscount, wasn’t truly suffering.
His servants shot him annoyed glances but said nothing due to their own fatigue.
“Exactly. As a Tran Count, he doesn’t even repair the crumbling paths.”
“Shh, be quiet. You never know who might be listening.”
Hurdlem straightened his clothes after scolding his son.
Today was a critical day; mistakes would not be tolerated.
‘Let’s see what’s become of that old sly fox.’
Clearing his throat with hidden intent, Hurdlem was soon informed hurriedly by a servant of someone’s arrival.
“You’re late.”
“Haha, long time no see, Tania.”
“Please don’t call me that so casually.”
Smiling brightly, Tania opened the door.
‘How dare he.’
That southern devil trusts that woman and dares to slight me so.
Once I claim the Tran Countship, I’ll be the one to take his head.
Hurdlem entered awkwardly smiling and quickly scanned the manor.
“Um—where is the clan head?”
“Oh, he’s arrived.”
Instead of the expected deep, elderly voice, a soft young voice answered.
A woman they had an unpleasant first meeting with was descending the stairs.
“Duchess?”
“The Count left the manor in a hurry. Something came up at the Western Gallery, so he left first.”
“I-is that so?”
“I was entrusted with this place. Didn’t you receive the notice?”
Iris tilted her head in confusion as one of Hurdlem’s servants, standing behind, turned pale.
Could it be the Count was riding in that carriage?
Whispering urgently into the marquis’s ear,
the truth came out: there had actually been a carriage that departed westward from this very mansion yesterday.
‘This foolish brat.’
Why was this only being revealed now?
And it wasn’t just the marquis’s absence that was catching Hurtledam’s ire.
The hall was stacked with familiar gift boxes.
“And these…”
“They’re gifts sent from the orphanage under the marquis’s patronage.”
As if I didn’t know that already, I thought, stifling my frustration.
What puzzled me more was how neatly the boxes were unpacked—without a single sign of disorder.
“Have you not opened them yet?”
“No, the marquis has been quite busy recently. Also, the route repairs caused some delivery delays.”
Who else could “someone” be but her?
Tania’s sharp gaze burned into them.
Iris stepped before Tania and picked up the top box.
‘That box…’
The marquis’s eyes widened.
“Come to think of it, the marquis is also one of the sponsors of this orphanage.”
Iris smiled gracefully, extending the box to him.
“Would you like to take a look?”
The box felt heavy despite its small size—it contained the incense burner.
‘F-Failed?’
If the plan went as intended, Sylvia Tran should have been the first to open that box.
And she should have collapsed from poisoning.
‘No, it’s fine.’
No need to panic just yet.
Since the woman was incurably ill, her chances of survival were slim anyway.
“Haha. Oh, no. Gifts are meant to be opened by the recipient, right?”
“Is that so?”
“Well, since the marquis isn’t here, we’ll be going back now. We should inform the western gallery.”
Hurtledam’s mind was already racing to devise a new plan.
He left hastily, barely showing proper respect to Iris, the grand duchess.
“The carriage really did leave yesterday, right?”
Iris asked, and Tania shut the door firmly, her eyes shining.
“Yes.”
Sylvia’s departure was obviously a lie.
The carriage carried supplies and reinforcements for the West, nothing more.
All they needed was to buy time before attention shifted westward.
As far as Iris knew,
“She went to obtain medicine for her symptoms.”
That medicine existed surprisingly close by.
“Grand Duchess, I will go.”
“No. You must stay here and protect the matron.”
Sylvia’s life hung by a thread. Iris had to leave immediately.
Tania begged for at least one servant to accompany her, but Iris refused.
“When the matron wakes, everything must appear exactly as usual.”
Maintaining the status quo would slow any rumors reaching the branch families.
It would also make it easier to keep up the facade once Sylvia regained consciousness.
Realizing she couldn’t stop Iris, Tania clenched her fist tightly.
Determined, she pulled something from around her neck.
“Then take this with you.”
“It’s…”
An identical whistle to the one Sylvia carried.
“A whistle to call Jana.”
“But…”
“I know what concerns you, Grand Duchess.”
In her eyes, she was clearly weaker than Jana.
She must think someone was needed to protect her—just as Sylvia had always thought.
But,
“I am also Al Baizan, no matter what anyone says.”
Tania’s golden eyes blazed with pride.
She truly bore the light of a fragment of the sun within them.
With a playful smile, Tania gave Iris a gentle push.
“Hurry before I change my mind.”
“…Understood. Then I’ll go.”
Iris rushed off.
In a quiet corner, Jana, hands dirtied from breaking the path, watched silently.
‘…Good.’
She swiftly ran to the mansion’s farthest corner. The handsome man was always there.
“Look, even today.”
Julian’s melancholy face stared blankly into the void.
Then he lifted his head at the shadow blocking the light—a small girl stood there.
‘This must be…’
Wasn’t she the count Tran’s escort?
“Here.”
The child stretched out a hand.
Resting in the palm was a polished opalescent stone, shimmering with a soft glow.
“This is—”
“Uncle, it’s powerful.”
With determined eyes, Jana declared confidently.
“That’s why, if anything happens to Jana, the Duchess will be saved.”
Having said her piece, Jana hurriedly chased after Iris.
Yurian, who had been staring blankly at the stone, looked up just in time to see Jana already gone.
Chapter 90