[Event: Poisoner-Making]
[Result: Failed]
That was what the system window said.
The end.
Failure.
0%.
Looking at the words alone felt wonderfully refreshing.
But reality was not refreshing at all.
A shattered teacup lay in the garden, tea had spread across the white tablecloth, and Eloise Berhardt was still leaning against the attending physician.
Derin stood there without a word.
Seria Blanc was smiling, but that smile was little more than a thin layer she had barely managed to recover.
Eveline was looking my way with her handkerchief spread out.
Liana’s fingertips were still trembling.
Beatrice Morgan watched over the entire garden with her fan folded.
And I realized something.
Just because a game event failed did not mean the incident was over.
The system cut off routes.
But noble society could torment people perfectly well without them.
Especially when House Berhardt was involved.
I looked again at the last line of the record sheet.
Today, no poisoner was made at this table.
It was a good sentence.
But it was still weak.
Because that sentence existed only in my hand right now.
The hand of a commoner teacher.
A hand someone could tear apart if they wished.
Derin knew that too.
For the first time, he quietly opened his mouth.
"I will take the young lady away."
Here it came.
I picked up my pen again.
Derin took a step toward Eloise.
"Her condition is poor. She must be seen by House Berhardt’s physician."
He was right.
So right that it was dangerous.
A person had collapsed, so he would take her away.
She needed to be seen by her house’s physician.
A perfectly natural thing to say.
But if Eloise was taken away now, the ring, the gloves, her physical condition—every piece of evidence would disappear inside House Berhardt.
And what would remain afterward?
Eloise Berhardt collapsed at the Ducal House of Blanc.
Only that one line.
I spoke.
"Any transfer must wait for the physician’s judgment."
Derin’s eyes turned toward me.
"That is not for a teacher to decide."
"Correct."
I admitted it immediately.
"That is why I am asking the physician."
The female physician raised her head.
She checked Eloise’s pulse once more.
"It would not be advisable to move her into a carriage immediately. Her breathing is stabilizing, but the effects of the drug have not fully passed. She must remain lying down for at least half an hour."
Good.
I had bought time under the pretext of treatment.
I wrote it down.
Derin: Demanded Eloise’s immediate transfer.
Attending physician: Half an hour of rest required. Immediate carriage transport inappropriate.
Derin’s lips hardened.
He spoke again.
"Then I will send someone to House Berhardt."
"That is necessary."
I nodded again.
Derin paused briefly.
He must have expected me to oppose it.
If I opposed it, I lost.
Not informing House Berhardt would be a cover-up.
They had to be informed.
The issue was what, exactly, they would be told.
I looked at Seria.
"Lady Seria."
"Speak."
"We must send someone to House Berhardt. However, send them with a copy of the incident record."
Seria’s eyes shifted slightly.
"A copy?"
"Yes. A copy that contains only the facts confirmed so far. No judgments."
Derin immediately said,
"There is no reason for our house to accept such a record."
"You do not have to accept it."
I looked at him.
"Only the fact that you received it needs to remain."
Derin’s face stiffened.
That was right.
The important thing was not persuasion.
It was notification.
Making it impossible for House Berhardt to say later, ‘We did not know.’
That, too, was a record.
Seria smiled very slowly.
"What an incredibly unpleasant method."
"I hear that often."
"Today, I mean it in a good way."
"That is rare."
Eveline gave a very quiet snort.
Liana pressed her lips together as well.
The atmosphere eased, just a little.
Really, only a little.
That was enough.
People could not make decisions if they remained tense for too long.
But if they relaxed too much, they got caught again.
Noble tea parties really were exhausting.
I took out a blank sheet of paper.
"We need four copies."
Seria asked,
"Four?"
"One for the Ducal House of Blanc to retain. One to notify House Berhardt. One for Count Rosette to retain as a witness. And one entrusted to Lady Morgan as a guarantee."
Beatrice looked at me.
"You intend to entrust one to me as well?"
"You are the most trustworthy neutral record keeper here."
"You are quite skilled at making yourself a nuisance."
"I learned to survive."
"I truly grow tired of hearing that every time."
"I hear that often."
Beatrice sighed.
But she did not refuse.
Good.
If she did not refuse, that was practically approval.
I wrote the first line of the incident record copy.
First Confirmed Record of the Ducal House of Blanc Tea Party Incident.
Far too grand.
But it needed to be grand.
Casual notes were torn up.
Official records were harder to tear up.
I wrote only the facts.
1. Testimony from the maid at the entrance states that, upon arrival, Lady Eloise Berhardt wore a pink pearl ring over the glove on her left hand.
2. The second cups were placed after their owners had been identified in front of each guest.
3. Lady Eloise’s second cup was confirmed to belong to Lady Eloise herself.
4. Before sugar was added, Lady Eloise was asked to confirm the ring on her left hand.
5. Before the ring could be confirmed, Lady Eloise lifted the teacup with her own hand and drank from it.
6. The attending physician confirmed a White Needle Herb-family reaction in the powder found inside Lady Eloise’s ring.
7. The quantity of powder was judged to be a trace amount intended to induce unconsciousness rather than cause death.
8. A prewritten accusation was discovered in Lady Eloise’s right hand.
9. The attending physician’s opinion is that the accusation is difficult to regard as a final statement written after the toxic reaction.
10. The accusation bore the scent of roses, possibly connected to testimony concerning a sachet inside the right glove.
11. Derin testified that he arranged Lady Eloise’s gloves before the tea party and secured a sachet inside the right glove.
12. The sachet has not been found.
13. Fragments of blue wax were discovered, but no trace of the Ducal House of Blanc’s sealing-wax crest was confirmed.
That was enough.
I stopped my pen.
There was no judgment.
No naming of a culprit.
But it was enough.
When facts piled up, they created a direction.
For someone to turn that direction with words, they would have to dismantle those facts one by one.
Once that became tedious, lies weakened.
Seria read the record.
Her eyes paused at every line.
One line.
Then another.
Until the very last.
"Teacher."
"Yes."
"It includes things that are unfavorable to me, exactly as they are."
"It should."
"But it leaves out that I was the host, that someone collapsed at my tea party, and that I brought up White Needle Herb too quickly."
I looked at her.
Seria Blanc was smiling.
But this smile was different from her usual one.
It was the expression of someone who knew how to attack herself, trying for the first time to preserve facts that hurt her.
Good.
She could learn too.
I added three more lines beneath the page.
14. The incident occurred during a tea party hosted by the Ducal House of Blanc.
15. Before Lady Eloise drank from the second cup, Lady Seria Blanc requested that she discard it.
16. After the attending physician mentioned the possibility of an unconsciousness-inducing agent, Lady Seria Blanc asked whether it was White Needle Herb.
Seria looked at it and nodded.
"Now I like it."
"You like it only when a record includes things unfavorable to you?"
"If those are omitted, someone will later bring up only those points and stab me with them."
I paused for a moment.
Right.
It was precise.
Seria Blanc knew how to stab people.
That meant she also knew how it felt to be stabbed.
The problem was that she had spent too long using that knowledge only on others.
I said briefly,
"You saw that well."
Seria narrowed her eyes.
"Was that praise?"
"It is a lesson."
"I have never said I was your student."
"And I have never received tuition from you."
Eveline spoke from beside us.
"I never paid you either."
"My lady, you have made me spend far too much on survival expenses."
"Do you want to die?"
"I said it to survive."
This time, Liana nearly laughed for real.
Seria smiled very faintly too.
At that moment, the garden felt a little strange.
Only moments ago, poison had appeared, someone had collapsed, and an accusation had been found here.
Yet for that one moment, four people breathed in the same direction.
Eveline.
Liana.
Seria.
And me.
People who, in the original story, could never have sat at the same table and found their rhythm together like this.
That fact was a little funny.
And frightening.
The route was changing.
For the better.
But when a route changed, enemies who had never existed before could appear as well.
The system window appeared.
[Seria Blanc: Understanding of record-based defense increased]
[Eveline Rosette: Maintenance of procedural statements]
[Liana Bell: Witness position established]
[A temporary alliance between the three has formed.]
A temporary alliance.
A good phrase.
The fact that it was temporary made it very realistic.
Making the record copies was more tedious than expected.
Tedious, but it could not be tedious.
A mistake meant death.
Writing the same sentences four times made my wrist ache.
Why had nobles not developed printing technology?
No, this world had printing technology too.
But apparently, on-site records like this had to be written by hand to carry legal force.
This truly was a world at war with the concept of efficiency.
Beatrice reviewed the first copy.
"Sentence five. ‘Drank it herself’ is good, but ‘herself’ may sound like a judgment. Change it to ‘lifted the teacup with her own hand and drank from it.’"
"It becomes longer."
"It becomes more accurate."
She was right.
Annoyingly, but right.
I changed it.
As Eveline looked over the second copy, she said,
"Add that Derin came out carrying a glass of water too."
"This copy focuses on the accusation and the ring."
"Add it anyway. That bastard kept moving around beside us."
It was a good point.
I added a new line.
17. Earlier in the proceedings, immediately after a request from Miss Liana Bell, Derin attempted to provide a glass of water before a maid of the Ducal House of Blanc could do so.
Liana spoke cautiously.
"Would it be better to include that I recognized Derin?"
"I will include it."
18. Miss Liana Bell identified Derin as the individual who had conveyed House Berhardt’s words to her the previous day, and Derin acknowledged this.
Derin’s face stiffened.
He did not speak anymore.
If he spoke, it would be recorded.
It seemed he had finally learned that.
As Seria looked over the third copy, she said,
"Include that I refused the request to change seats too."
Eveline immediately looked at her.
"That hurts you."
"Exactly."
Seria was calm.
"If we leave that out, someone will later come at me with only the claim that I deliberately kept Miss Liana fixed in the middle. And it is true."
Liana’s face tightened slightly.
Looking at her, Seria said,
"I will not make excuses. I intended to use that seat."
Eveline’s eyes sharpened.
"What?"
Seria looked at Eveline.
"I wanted to see whether Lady Rosette had truly changed. Whether Miss Liana could speak for herself. And how much the teacher could see."
"You did all that in the middle of a tea-party trap?"
"Because I was being tested by someone too."
The garden fell quiet.
For the first time, Seria had said something close to an excuse.
But it was not self-justification.
It was a confirmation of fact.
I asked,
"Who did you think was testing you?"
Seria did not answer immediately.
She looked at Derin.
Then at Eloise.
Lastly, at my record sheet.
"I do not know exactly. That made it worse."
"Did you think it was House Berhardt?"
"I thought it was likely. But possibility is not evidence, is it?"
That was something I often said.
Eveline looked at me.
"She sounds exactly like you."
"That is a bad sign."
Seria laughed.
This time, it was a little more genuine.
I added new lines to the record.
19. Before the tea party, Lady Rosette’s party requested a seating change, and the Ducal House of Blanc refused, citing the protection of Miss Liana Bell.
20. Lady Seria Blanc stated that she wished to observe the reactions of Lady Rosette, Miss Liana Bell, and Leon Cart by keeping the arrangement in place.
Beatrice narrowed her eyes.
"That sentence is dangerous."
"It still needs to be included," Seria said.
Beatrice looked at her for a moment.
Then she nodded.
"Then we will change the wording. Instead of ‘observe the reactions,’ it would be better to say, ‘maintained the seating arrangement without sufficiently confirming the safety and wishes of each attendee.’"
Seria’s eyes wavered.
That sentence hurt more.
But it was more accurate.
I changed it.
20. Lady Seria Blanc acknowledged that she maintained the original seating arrangement without sufficiently confirming the safety and wishes of each attendee.
Seria stared at that sentence for a long time.
Her fingers tapped the table, now without teacups.
Once.
Twice.
Then they stopped.
"Good."
She spoke.
"It hurts."
"Good records always hurt a little."
When I said that, Eveline muttered,
"More than getting hit by a sword?"
"Depending on the circumstances."
"That is insane."
"I hear that often."
This time, Liana could not hold back her laughter.
Very quietly.
But clearly.
At that laugh, Eveline unnecessarily looked out the window.
More precisely, at the white gravel path at the edge of the garden.
Good.
Things were still murderous, but everyone was alive.
Living people could laugh.
Seeing that laughter, Eloise closed her eyes.
There was anger on her face.
But her body still could not move.
White Needle Herb was not lethal, but it made people weak.
She had been bound by her own scheme.
I had no intention of pitying her for it.
But I had no intention of letting her die either.
When someone died, records became more difficult.
And I preferred saving people.
Usually.
By the time all four copies were complete, my wrist was nearly dead.
I put down my pen and stretched my fingers.
Crack.
Seeing it, Eveline said,
"Weaker than a sword."
"Pens torment people longer than swords do."
"Nonsense."
"Try writing four copies sometime."
Eveline immediately looked away.
Her weakness was obvious.
Seria gave an order to the head maid.
"Put stitching along each copy’s seal. Do not use blue sealing wax."
Good judgment.
Blue wax had been dirtied too much today.
The head maid asked,
"Shall we use black wax?"
After thinking for a moment, Seria said,
"Use only colorless sealing cord. Do not stamp a crest. Today, even a crest could become evidence."
Good.
She was learning.
Quickly.
Frighteningly quickly.
If Seria Blanc had been an enemy, she would have been truly exhausting.
No.
She still could be an enemy.
Let us not forget that.
I was not helping Seria because she was kind.
I was helping her because she had entered a ruin route.
And because cutting off that ruin route was necessary for my own survival too.
Though it had become a little more complicated than that alone.
Seria looked at me and said,
"Teacher."
"Yes."
"You have that look again. The one where you are suspecting someone."
"That is normal."
"Why are you saying what I was going to say?"
"I have heard it often."
"That answer has lacked far too much sincerity since earlier."
"My wrist hurts."
Seria signaled to a maid with her eyes.
The maid quietly brought over a small cloth scented with medicinal herbs.
Seria pushed it toward me.
"Wrap it around the wrist that held the pen too long, and it will help. It is not poison."
"That makes it sound more suspicious."
"That is normal."
I did not take the cloth.
Instead, I said,
"Have the head maid use it first."
Seria narrowed her eyes.
"You truly are unpleasant to the very end."
"I learned to survive."
The head maid calmly wrapped the cloth around her own wrist.
Nothing happened.
Only then did I accept it.
Eveline said with a sickened look,
"Are you sure you do not fit noble society perfectly?"
"That is the first time I have heard such an insult."
"It was not praise."
"I know."
When I wrapped the cloth around my wrist, it gave off a herbal scent.
It was not bad.
But for the time being, I intended to suspect every scented object.
Probably for the rest of my life.
Watching me, Seria said,
"Teacher, you know very well how not to trust people."
"Not really."
"Liar."
"It is not that I know how not to trust. I know a little about how to verify things before trusting them."
Seria’s smile vanished.
She slowly turned those words over in her mind.
How to verify before trusting.
That was exactly what Seria Blanc needed.
She had seen too much.
People’s weaknesses.
Lies.
Desire.
Vanity.
So she trusted no one.
And she had made it so that no one trusted her.
Not trusting and verifying were different things.
The former severed relationships.
The latter put them on hold.
Seria had spent her entire life doing the former.
Now, she needed to learn the latter.
That would be her first lesson.
I spoke.
"Lady Seria."
"Yes."
"Today’s lesson is over."
"You are saying this was my lesson?"
"Mostly."
Seria stared at me silently.
Her gaze changed strangely.
It was neither a smile nor a cutting remark, but something close to pure curiosity.
"Then did I pass?"
I looked over the garden.
The shattered teacup.
White Needle Herb.
The accusation.
The blue wax.
Derin.
Eloise.
And the system window that had reached 0%.
"You did not die today."
"That is the standard for passing?"
"In my classes, that is a fairly high score."
Eveline said very quietly,
"That is true."
Liana nearly nodded too, then stopped herself.
Seria looked blank for a moment.
Then she smiled.
This time, it was a little strange.
It felt like she had truly laughed.
"You truly are the worst teacher."
"I hear that often."
"I think I am starting to hate that phrase."
"Most people do."
Seria stopped smiling.
Then she said very quietly,
"Then what is the next lesson?"
Good.
There it was at last.
She had not asked me to teach her.
Nor had she asked me to help her.
But it was the closest request someone like Seria Blanc could make.
I answered.
"How not to smile."
Seria’s brow moved.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"You are going to teach the Smiling Poison-Tongued Woman how not to smile?"
"You were at your most dangerous today when you could not smile."
Seria closed her mouth.
I continued.
"You smile too much normally, so the moment you do not smile, everyone suspects you. Therefore, the next lesson is not how to smile, but how not to fall apart even when you do not."
For a long time, Seria said nothing.
That silence was different from before.
It was not calculating silence.
It was the silence of someone who had been struck.
But this time, she did not avoid it.
The system window appeared.
[Seria Blanc: Private tutoring candidate confirmed]
[Correction topics: Collapse of trust / defensive statements / smile-dependent response]
[First assignment generated]
[Assignment: Speak the truth without smiling]
Seeing those words, I wanted to close my eyes.
The second private lesson for a villainess.
After swordsmanship without wielding a sword came—
Poisoned words without smiling.
This world truly had no intention of letting me rest.
Then, a servant came running from the garden entrance.
After catching his breath, he bowed to Seria.
"My lady. Before we could send notification to House Berhardt, a message arrived first."
Seria’s face stiffened.
"First?"
The servant held out an envelope.
House Berhardt’s crest was stamped upon it.
Black sealing wax.
And stamped over it, the crest of a hawk.
Arsene Berhardt.
I cursed internally.
Again, too fast.
In a trembling voice, the servant said,
"It was sent by Lord Arsene Berhardt."
Seria opened the envelope.
I watched her wrist.
It trembled.
Only slightly.
Seria read the letter.
And for the first time, she could neither smile nor make a cutting remark.
I asked,
"What does it say?"
Seria lowered the letter.
Her voice was low.
"It says that if Lady Eloise collapses at the Ducal House of Blanc, House Berhardt will immediately submit a formal letter of protest."
"When was the letter written?"
Seria looked inside the envelope.
"This morning."
Before the tea party.
Before the incident.
Before Eloise collapsed.
House Berhardt already knew.
No.
At the very least, they had written the letter on the assumption that she might collapse.
The system window appeared.
[Clue to the mastermind secured]
[Arsene Berhardt: Prewritten letter of protest]
[Second event on Seria Blanc’s side has been unlocked.]
[Event Name: The Letter of Protest Arrives Before the Incident]
I picked up my pen again.
My wrist hurt.
It really hurt.
But I could not rest.
Looking at the letter, I said,
"Good."
Seria looked at me.
"What is?"
"They have left a record first now."
"Is that a good thing?"
"Yes."
I dipped the tip of my pen in ink.
"Because the first record written can be the first one to be wrong."
The scent of tea still lingered in the garden.
But now, that scent was no longer sweet.
The next lesson had begun.
And the next opponent was a man who had not even been at the tea party.
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