The tea leaves Seria Blanc had sent were not poison.
The system said so as well.
`[Toxic Reaction: Not Detected]`
`[Mana Disruption Reaction: Not Detected]`
Not poison, and not magic.
Did that make them safe?
Anyone who reached that conclusion in aristocratic society did not live long.
I looked at the tea leaves inside the glass jar.
They looked beautiful.
The leaves were evenly sized and uniformly dried. Faint, silvery flower stamens were scattered among the black leaves. The fragrance was gentle. Its first note was sweet like honey, while the finish was fresh like dried fruit.
The problem was that every part of it was too good.
It was too polished.
Rather than something made by people, it felt like something made specifically to avoid being suspected by people.
I closed the jar.
"It isn’t poison?"
Eveline asked.
She stood between me and the jar. She still held her handkerchief. It was not wrinkled, but one edge had bent slightly.
That meant she was tense.
But she did not lunge at anything.
A good change.
"It is not poison."
"Then we can drink it?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because it is not poison."
Eveline stared at me.
"Sometimes it feels like you say things because you want to get hit."
"I will explain, in the interest of survival."
"Do it."
I put the jar of tea leaves in the center of the table.
"Poison would be simple. Do not drink it. Find out who put it there. We have methods—use a silver spoon, summon an apothecary, call a mage."
"But if it is not poison?"
"It becomes difficult to explain when the person who drank it collapses."
Eveline’s eyes narrowed.
She was beginning to understand.
"Someone collapses even though there’s no poison?"
"Yes."
"Then that would be a lie."
"Whose lie?"
"The person who collapsed."
"It can be made to look that way."
I nudged the glass jar with my fingertips.
"Or they can really be made to collapse. By a method that is not poison."
The training hall fell quiet.
Tea.
Fragrance.
Teacups.
Handles.
Sugar.
A maid’s wrist.
Until yesterday, such things had been background to Eveline.
Like ballroom chandeliers and wall decorations, they were simply irritating ornaments that aristocratic society came with.
But from today onward, they would become blades.
They would not stab people as a blade did.
Instead, they would herd someone in a single direction.
‘That person would have done it.’
All to place them before that sentence.
I called up the system window again.
`[Event Name: Making a Poisoner]`
`[Primary Victim Candidate: Liana Bell]`
`[Primary Scapegoat Candidate: Seria Blanc]`
`[Primary Rampage Candidate: Eveline Rosette]`
`[Recommended Response: Record Evidence / Secure Conversation Logs / Analyze Fragrance Manipulation]`
Analyze fragrance manipulation.
That was the problem.
If the fragrance was neither poison nor magic, yet had still been manipulated...
Then it was a device meant to deceive human senses.
I took the jar to the window.
Under the sunlight, the stamens among the leaves became clearer.
"Marie."
Marie, who had been standing by the door, answered immediately.
"Yes, sir."
"Does the count’s household have someone knowledgeable about medicinal ingredients? An apothecary, a perfumer, or a servant who handles tea?"
"We have a head maid who handles tea. The assistant to the household physician can inspect medicinal ingredients."
"Please summon both. And if possible, find out whether any merchant companies carry the same tea leaves."
"Understood."
After Marie left, Eveline spoke.
"Merchant companies too?"
"Tea leaves do not fall from the sky. Someone grows them, someone dries them, someone sells them, and someone packages them."
"You’re going to see which one is suspicious?"
"No."
"No again?"
"This time, we will eliminate the people who are not suspicious."
Eveline thought for a moment.
"Not find the culprit?"
"If we look for the culprit now, it will be too late. The incident has not happened yet."
"Then what are we looking for?"
I answered.
"The path that can create a culprit."
Eveline silently looked at the tea leaves.
She no longer tried to destroy whatever was in front of her.
Good.
This lesson would continue.
The head maid who specialized in tea was older than I had expected.
Her name was Clara.
Her gray hair was neatly tied back, and her footsteps were quiet. As soon as she came in, she saw the jar of tea leaves and asked me before touching it.
"May I open it?"
I nodded.
"But do not bring your nose close to it directly."
Clara did not find my instruction strange.
That alone marked her as an expert.
Beginners smelled a pleasant fragrance and admired it first.
Experts questioned why it was pleasant before they smelled it.
Using thin silver tweezers, Clara removed a small amount of tea leaves and spread them across a white plate.
Then she wafted the scent toward herself with her hand.
For a moment.
For only a brief moment, her eyebrow moved.
"Is something wrong?"
When I asked, Clara did not answer immediately.
She looked over the tea leaves once more.
"They are not bad. No, these are very fine tea leaves."
"But?"
"They are too alike."
Eveline interjected.
"Alike?"
Clara pointed to the tea leaves on the plate.
"Even tea leaves from the same field differ slightly. Young leaves and old leaves, leaves that received ample sun and leaves grown in shade, differences in humidity during drying. All of those leave traces in the fragrance. But these leaves have too few traces."
I nodded.
It was the same direction as the discomfort I had felt.
"Were they covered with perfume?"
"Rather than covered, they were matched."
"Matched?"
"The differences between leaves were evened out into one unified fragrance. The work of a highly skilled perfumer."
"Is that dangerous?"
Clara answered carefully.
"Not in itself. High-grade teas undergo such processing as well. It ensures a consistent fragrance for esteemed guests."
As expected.
Not poison.
Not illegal, either.
In fact, it was luxurious.
That was why it was even more troublesome.
Looking at the leaves on the plate, I asked,
"Could this fragrance conceal other smells?"
Clara did not answer immediately this time either.
Her silence was the answer.
"It could."
"How much?"
"The scent of mild herbs, an old teacup, metal, or scented oil on someone’s hands could be hidden."
Eveline swore under her breath.
I pretended not to hear.
"It is not poison, but it is tea well suited to hiding poison."
Clara lowered her head.
"You could say that."
The system window appeared.
`[Fragrance Manipulation Analysis: Phase 1 Complete]`
`[Effects: Conceals Residual Fragrance / Conceals Hand Odors / Conceals Herbal Odors]`
`[Conclusion: The Tea Leaves Themselves Are Harmless, but Well Suited to Hiding Traces of External Interference]`
I narrowed my eyes.
Seria Blanc.
This woman had sent evidence unfavorable to herself with her own hands.
Why?
To test me?
Or to ask for help?
It could be both.
The problem was that anything Seria Blanc did looked that way.
If she smiled, it was a provocation.
If she was silent, it was a conspiracy.
If she sent tea leaves, it was a trap.
Perhaps that was her real prison.
I asked Clara,
"How much authority is needed to prepare tea leaves like this?"
"It costs a great deal of money. And a separate perfumer must be hired. It would not be difficult for the Ducal House of Blanc, but it is not something just any maid could do."
"Can you identify the merchant company?"
Clara inspected the leaves before shaking her head.
"That would be difficult from the tea leaves alone. But there are fragrances from the southern ports mixed in. There are perhaps three places in the capital that can match them this uniformly."
"Please write down the list."
"Yes."
Eveline looked at me.
"What are you going to do with that?"
"Narrow the path."
"The path that can create a culprit?"
"Yes."
"Can I see it too?"
I looked at her briefly.
Before, I would have said no.
She would see it, get angry, move in anger, and destroy the whole board as she moved.
But now was different.
What Eveline needed was not isolation.
It was learning how to see.
I nodded.
"Look. But do not jump to a conclusion."
"Only possibilities."
"Exactly."
Eveline let out a small breath.
"This is irritating."
"Information warfare is inherently frustrating."
"I know. You’ve said it three times."
"You remembered."
"Don’t be pleased with yourself."
I had not been pleased.
I merely felt like I might live a little longer.
Liana Bell arrived at House Rosette late in the afternoon.
More precisely, she did not so much arrive as nearly turn back three times at the gate before finally coming inside.
Marie told me.
"She checked the invitation in front of the gatekeeper, folded it again, unfolded it again, and in the end, I escorted her in."
"You have my thanks."
"It was nothing. She was adorable."
Eveline glared at Marie.
"Marie."
"Yes, my lady."
"Do not say things like that in front of a guest."
"I did not say it in front of the guest."
"Do not say it in front of me either."
"Understood."
Marie did not look as though she understood at all.
As soon as Liana entered the training hall, she bowed deeply.
"Thank you for inviting me, Lady Rosette. And Instructor Leon."
Eveline froze for a moment.
She was not used to this sort of greeting.
More precisely, she was not used to Liana Bell greeting her this way.
The Eveline of the original story would have scoffed here.
‘How dare a commoner.’
And Liana would be hurt.
That hurt would give Arsene justification.
The justification would lead to a duel.
The duel would lead to ruin.
But Eveline answered after a beat.
"Sit."
It was brief.
Stiff.
Still, it sounded more like an invitation than an order.
Liana carefully took a seat.
Twelve teacups sat on the table in the training hall.
Six silver spoons.
Pieces of paper.
Ink.
And the glass jar Seria Blanc had sent.
The moment Liana saw them, her face turned a little pale.
"Am I interrupting something?"
"No."
I answered.
"I called for you because we need you, if anything."
"Me?"
"Yes."
Liana went paler.
Apparently, being needed did not sound like praise to her.
Her instincts were accurate.
I pulled over a chair and sat in front of her.
"Miss Liana Bell. Are you planning to attend the tea party?"
Liana folded both hands on her lap.
"I am not sure yet. I feel as if I should go, but I also feel as if I should not."
"Why do you think you should go?"
"Because I received an invitation. And yesterday, I decided I would not run away, but if I run away the very next day..."
Liana trailed off.
I finished it for her.
"You are afraid you will become someone’s excuse again."
She nodded.
Eveline watched Liana quietly.
Her gaze was sharp, but not hostile.
Observation.
Still awkward, but observation nonetheless.
I asked Liana my second question.
"Why do you think you should not go?"
"Because it is not a place for someone like me."
"Who said that?"
Liana stopped.
"Pardon?"
"Who made you think that for the first time?"
Liana could not answer at once.
Her eyes wavered.
The question was not polite.
But it was necessary.
The easiest way to manipulate someone was to plant another person’s voice inside their head.
‘Someone like you should not be there.’
‘You are special, so you must go.’
‘If you do not go, someone will be hurt.’
The words seemed opposed, but their result was the same.
They moved the other person where they wanted them.
Liana spoke in a very small voice.
"Arsene said yesterday that it would be better if I did not avoid the attention of high society. Then this morning, I was told that if I declined the Ducal House of Blanc’s invitation, it might look as though I was conscious of Lady Rosette..."
Eveline’s hand moved.
Her handkerchief nearly wrinkled.
I called to her.
"My lady."
"I know."
Eveline clenched her teeth.
"I do not move first."
Good.
I asked Liana,
"Did Arsene Berhardt send you a letter personally?"
"No. I heard it through someone else."
"Who?"
"He said he was a servant of House Berhardt. His name was..."
Liana searched her memory.
"Derek. No, I think it was Derin."
I wrote it on a piece of paper.
`House Berhardt servant: Presumed Derek/Derin.`
Eveline looked at the paper.
"That is not confirmed."
"That is why I wrote presumed."
"Frustrating."
"You are doing well."
"Do not praise me."
Liana looked back and forth between us.
Her expression said she had absolutely no idea what kind of lesson this was.
Normal.
I did not know sometimes, either.
I set a teacup in front of Liana.
"Miss Liana. I will now tell you the rules you must follow at the tea party."
"Will I be able to follow them?"
"If you cannot, you may collapse."
Liana’s face went even paler.
Eveline glared at me.
"Do not start by frightening her."
"It is necessary."
"Choose your words better."
"Then I will say it again. If you cannot follow them, you could become someone’s justification."
"That is even scarier."
It was true.
I looked at Liana and spoke.
"First. Do not drink the first cup."
"Yes."
"Second. Always ask aloud who poured it for you."
"Aloud?"
"Yes. For example, ‘Did Lady Blanc personally select this tea?’ Or, ‘Who poured this cup for me?’"
Liana carefully repeated it.
"Who poured this cup for me...?"
Her voice was too quiet.
I shook my head.
"Again."
Liana took a breath.
"Who poured this cup for me?"
It was a little better this time.
Eveline folded her arms and spoke.
"Too polite."
Liana flinched.
Eveline paused, then added,
"I do not mean that badly. It is just... you need to sound as if you are asking a question. Not as if you are begging to be forgiven for asking one."
Liana’s eyes widened.
I was a little surprised myself.
It was a good point.
And this scene, Eveline correcting Liana’s way of speaking like this, had not existed in the original story.
It could not have.
In the original, the two had been caught between people who used each other’s wounds as justification, never managing a proper conversation until the end.
Liana nodded faintly.
"I will try again."
She looked at the teacup.
This time, she bowed less deeply.
"Who poured this cup for me?"
Good.
I said,
"That is it."
Eveline looked out the window for no reason.
"Well, it is not completely terrible."
Liana smiled very slightly.
The smile was cautious, but less unsteady than yesterday.
The system window appeared.
`[Liana Bell: Self-Expression Training Begun]`
`[Potential for a Cautious Alliance Between Eveline Rosette and Liana Bell Increased]`
`[Making a Poisoner Event Success Rate: 68% -> 61%]`
Still high.
But it had dropped.
Good.
Simply teaching one person how to ask questions lowered an event’s probability.
In a game, it was a ridiculous structure.
In reality, it was only natural.
I gave the third rule.
"Third. If you feel like you are going to collapse, do not endure it. Say so immediately."
Liana looked up.
"Could something like that really happen?"
"It could."
"Because of poison?"
"Maybe not. Tension, fragrance, an empty stomach, herbs, mana fatigue. People collapse even without poison. The important thing is to state your condition yourself before you collapse."
Liana understood slowly.
"If I say it first... it will be difficult for someone else to explain my condition for me."
"Exactly."
Eveline muttered,
"Words are swords too."
I looked at her.
Eveline did not avoid my gaze.
"What? I am right."
"You are."
"Then praise me."
"Well done."
"That annoys me."
"What do you expect me to do?"
This time, Liana laughed a little more clearly.
It was a small laugh.
But the air in the training hall eased, just a little, in that moment.
Good.
What the tea party needed was not a perfect inspection.
Nor was it a perfect Saint Candidate.
It needed enough rapport that they would not immediately stab one another.
If they had that rapport, then even if someone set the board, a gap would form.
All I had to do was push records through that gap.
Near evening, the count’s household servant in charge of information returned.
Strictly speaking, that was not his official title.
But in noble households, servants who managed horses, carriages, and food deliveries were usually in charge of information.
Because people treated them as background.
And the background heard the most words.
The servant brought two lists.
One was the guest list for the Ducal House of Blanc’s tea party.
The other was a list of merchant companies that could have distributed the tea leaves Seria sent.
I unfolded the guest list first.
Eveline, Liana, and I gathered around the table.
Count Rosette did not enter.
Instead, the butler stood by the doorway.
He was probably the count’s ears.
The list contained the names I had expected.
`Seria Blanc.`
`Eveline Rosette.`
`Liana Bell.`
Several young noble ladies.
The daughter of a southern merchant family.
The niece of an aristocrat who supported the Magic Tower.
And then.
My finger stopped.
`Eloise Berhardt.`
Eveline’s eyes turned cold.
"House Berhardt?"
"A branch family."
"Close to Arsene’s side?"
"Very close."
Liana asked cautiously,
"Is she dangerous?"
I was choosing my answer when I looked at the bottom of the list.
The accompanying guest column.
Eloise Berhardt’s companion was listed there.
`Derin.`
The name Liana had mentioned earlier.
A servant of House Berhardt.
The channel through which Arsene’s words had reached Liana.
I wrote the two names side by side on the paper.
`Presumed Derek/Derin.`
`Eloise Berhardt’s Companion: Derin.`
Eveline clenched her teeth.
"It is the same bastard."
"The possibility is high."
"Possibility. Right. Possibility."
Eveline looked down at her handkerchief.
It was not wrinkled.
"So I am still not moving."
She was doing well.
I unfolded the second list.
Merchant companies that could have distributed the tea leaves.
Three places.
`Marcel Perfume Merchant Company.`
`Southern Wind Tea Leaf Guild.`
`Third Route Merchant Caravan Sponsored by House Berhardt.`
The instant I saw the final name, the temperature in the training hall fell.
Berhardt.
Berhardt again.
Eveline’s fingertips trembled.
Liana’s face went pale as well.
I did not fold the list.
Instead, I left it open for everyone to see.
If you hide something, people imagine.
If they see it, they think.
"We are not drawing a conclusion yet."
I spoke first.
Eveline glared at me.
"It has come up twice."
"That is why we must be even more careful."
"Why?"
"Because it is too easy to see."
Eveline stopped.
I tapped the list.
"House Berhardt’s name has appeared twice. The servant who passed words to Miss Liana, and a merchant company that could have distributed the tea leaves. It is too obliging."
Liana spoke softly.
"Do you mean someone might have deliberately made it visible?"
"Yes."
"But it could really be them."
"That is right."
Eveline said in an irritated voice,
"So in the end, we know nothing."
"No."
I picked up my pen.
"We now know where someone is trying to make us look."
I wrote three lines on the paper.
`1. Liana was encouraged to attend.`
`2. The traces of House Berhardt are conspicuously visible.`
`3. Seria sent us the tea leaves despite knowing their danger.`
Then I added the final line.
`4. If Eveline runs wild, the three lines above will all be buried.`
Eveline stared at the final line for a long time.
She did not get angry.
Instead, she asked in a very low voice,
"I am the easiest route."
"Yes."
It was a cruel answer.
But better than a lie.
"My lady sees the Berhardt name at the tea party and gets angry. Miss Liana is startled and collapses. Seria Blanc is the host. Someone says, ‘As expected, Lady Rosette caused trouble. But Seria Blanc is suspicious too.’ Then everyone can suspect exactly as much as they want."
Liana bit her lip.
"I become an excuse again."
"That is why we are training."
I pushed the teacup toward Liana.
"Say it again."
Liana looked at the teacup.
Then she said clearly,
"Who poured this cup for me?"
Much better than before.
I looked at Eveline.
"My lady."
Eveline spread her handkerchief over her palm.
Then she said,
"I do not move first."
"Next."
"I ask first."
"Last."
Eveline looked at the list.
Berhardt.
Seria.
Liana.
And herself.
She let out a slow breath.
"I smile last."
The system window appeared.
`[Joint Response Training Begins.]`
`[Eveline Rosette: Probability of Rampage Decreased]`
`[Liana Bell: Probability of Being Fixed as the Victim Decreased]`
`[Seria Blanc: Probability of Being Fixed as the Scapegoat Slightly Decreased]`
`[Making a Poisoner Event Success Rate: 61% -> 52%]`
Half.
It was still half.
Not bad, but not enough to relax.
In a game, 52% was practically 100%.
Especially when my life was on the line.
Then footsteps sounded outside the door.
The butler opened it and entered.
He held another envelope.
This envelope was black.
Blue sealing wax.
A lily and a serpent.
The Ducal House of Blanc.
But this time, it was not Seria’s handwriting.
Holding out the envelope, the butler said,
"A seating chart has arrived from the Ducal House of Blanc."
A seating chart.
They sent a seating chart two days before the tea party.
Was it considerate?
No.
It was a notice of what was coming.
I opened the envelope.
There was a small card inside.
A drawing of a round table.
A name was written at each seat.
Seria Blanc.
Eveline Rosette.
Liana Bell.
Eloise Berhardt.
And the other guests.
I looked at the card, then stopped my finger.
Eveline saw it too.
So did Liana.
The seating chart was exceptionally neat.
So neat that its intention was blatant.
Seria Blanc was seated to Liana Bell’s right.
Eveline Rosette was to her left.
And Eloise Berhardt sat across from Eveline.
Liana had been placed between Seria and Eveline.
The victim candidate.
The scapegoat candidate.
The rampage candidate.
They had been arranged precisely around one table.
Eveline said quietly,
"Anyone can see this is a trap."
"Yes."
"Then we do not have to go."
I looked at the back of the seating chart.
A short message was written there.
This time, it was in Seria’s handwriting.
`Instructor.`
`Those who know something is a trap generally make one of two choices.`
`They avoid it, or they step on it.`
`I shall look forward to your third choice.`
I set down the card.
The third choice.
Neither avoiding it.
Nor stepping into it as it was.
Record the trap as a trap, then make visible who pushed someone’s foot into it.
I picked up a scrap of paper and set it beside the seating chart.
Then I wrote:
`Request for Seating Change.`
Eveline asked,
"Can they change it?"
"They will probably refuse."
"Then why do it?"
"We need a record of their refusal."
Liana took a small breath.
Eveline looked at me for a moment before folding her handkerchief.
This time, perfectly straight.
"I am starting to understand."
"What?"
"Why records stab before swords do."
I did not answer.
Outside, it was already growing dark.
The time remaining until the tea party was dwindling.
`[Time Remaining: 2 Days 3 Hours]`
`[Warning: If the Seating Chart Is Fixed, Event Success Rate Will Rise.]`
`[Recommended Response: Request Seating Change / Secure Witnesses at the Same Table / Establish Grounds to Refuse the First Cup]`
Looking at the system window, I picked up my pen.
If we avoided it, we lost.
If we stepped on it, we lost.
Then we had to make the third choice.
I drew lines over the seating chart.
Liana Bell’s seat.
Eveline Rosette’s seat.
Seria Blanc’s seat.
The small drawing of a teacup placed between the three of them.
That teacup was still empty.
But someone was already pouring a story into it before the poison.
I intended to overturn that story.
Before anyone drank the tea.
First, with a record.
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