Chapter 19

In the last few lives, Irene has been able to use that method because of how well she has set the mood in the house.

Then, Veronica would try to approach Lousie.

Nevertheless, when Veronica went and pretended to be close to Louise, who had been sent from Lichpen. It was because of that, Louise, who had apparently become suspicious because of that, was now covered up and treated as Lichpen’s nemesis.

Bringing a spy into the house, there was no way that the men in Lavrenti could sleep on their back.
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Their anxiety accelerated, and this was the biggest reason Louise and them are involved.

So, whatever the process may be, the goal was to take away the composure from the three men.

That was the first method Veronica made in this episode.

‘And this time, she is probably going to turn the arrow of doubt to me.’

A sudden tea time with a single employee. Just looking at it was enough to arouse suspicion from Veronica.

The more factors that would cause doubt, the better.


However, the question is, why is she doing this to someone she has never been interested in?
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That part is confusing…

“Irene, you look like you do not understand why I am having tea with you, when I am here to see Louise?”

Gasp.

Irene immediately caught her gaze that had dropped for a moment. It seemed apparent that she was agonizing over it in this short time.

“No… It is nothing.”

“What do you mean no? I know you are not that stupid. You have always been a child worth keeping an eye on.”

Is it a feat to make compliments not sound appreciative at all?

Obviously, this was just a minor incident before Veronica goes to see Louise, but Irene does not know what to do.

Veronica, who did not understand the confused Irenea, merely smiled kindly and held up her teacup again.

“What are you doing? Why don’t you drink more?”

To her soft voice, Irenea answered “Yes,” briefly, and again lifted the teacup and put it to her lips.

A cold cup of tea smelled weaker than before.

…No. Is it weaker?

‘This scent, where did I smell it…?’

She thought she might have remembered, but it was too difficult to point out every scene she has been through six times.
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Irene, forgetting that she had been tilting her head to the teacup for too long, focused only on the scent with her hazy eyes.

What… What was it…?

‘I think I am a little sleepy…’

“Stop, Irene.”
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She slowly raised her head. Normally, she would have reacted quickly, though she didn’t this time.

Her hazy eyes turned a beat late.

“What would you do if I used this on your own person, aunt? She does not even have immunity for such things.”

There, she could see the suit which she had picked out by her hands this morning, and the wristwatch that she had fastened. Nonetheless, even without these things, Irene knew the owner of this voice.

“…The First Master?”

At the hazy call, Ahibalt tilted his head to look at Irene and smiled.

Though it was only for a while.

Ahibalt’s face, which had turned away from Irene, was lingering with coldness as if he had never been so kind.

Because he had always maintained a gentle and laid-back attitude, she did not know that he could show so much anger. Veronica lost her composure and grabbed onto the ferret fur on her coat.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding, Ahibalt. I just came in with a nice cup of tea.”

“Of course. If you soak anything in boiling water, it would be tea.”

…Be it poison or medicine.

Finishing his words, Ahibalt took the teacup from Irene’s hand, set it down on the table before throwing the table away.

Crash!

As the expensive teapots were broken, the pieces were rolling everywhere, dirtying the living room. It was also at the same time that Veronica’s composure, who had been bubbling all along, was broken.

However, Irene did not respond at all.

Even though she was clearly seeing the situation with her eyes, it did not reach her brain.

She was dazed.

‘I have smelled this somewhere…’

She was stuck in this thought, wandering around blankly.

It was a fragrance that has a pungent edge, for a simple rose fragrance that can have an effect without drinking it.

If you inhale even just a little, you will become hazy. And, if you inhale a lot, you will feel buoyant and a languid sensation like a big cat wraps around your body…

— Rea, cover your mouth.

It was the Youngest Master’s voice. Oh… was it Rodion’s ending route?

— It is dangerous if you inhale it too much. Your body is going to stiffen soon.

Ugh.
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‘I remembered…’

Eventually, Irene’s hazy eyes fluttered open slowly.

It was a good thing for her. Because Veronica, who was trembling at her contempt, shouted at the same time.

“Ahibalt!”

“Yes, aunt.”

Ahibalt’s smooth voice only added to her anger.

“You, how dare you!”

“Wasn’t aunt the first person to use incense for paralysis on my person?”

Without a word of agitation on Veronica’s reddish-blue face, he only responded with a soft smile.

The conversation between the two became more clear to her now. Irene bit the inside of her lip involuntarily at the goosebumps that ran up all over her body.

‘Numbness… Scent of paralysis incense.’

Although she has often seen other people being slaughtered by Knox, Irene was still an outsider, ignorant of the drugs directly handled by Knox—poisons, or psychotropic drugs.

But, there was one thing she knew.

That was it, the scent of paralysis.

Unlike other poisons, which are usually made in the form of powder or dried leaves, it was common to use the numbing scent as a liquid because it uses incense.

Tea leaves or tobacco leaves would be soaked in the aroma that has an effect to cause paralysis and then dried again before consuming.

If you burn it like a cigarette and use it, the scent will weaken and would only help relax the users. Although, if you smell the scent directly for a long time like now, it will have more effect.

It would be paralysis of the body.

The numbing scent was a euthanasia drug.

‘To give this to me…’

Irene gripped tightly to the hem of her skirt.

It was the Die Ending of Rodion that she smelled this scent.

In the ending, while running away, Louise is bitten by a dog that Rodion was raising and becomes moribund.

He wished he could have treated her, but Louise’s body was too weak. Because of that, Rodion prepared for euthanasia for Louise, who cannot even receive proper treatment, and had to wait only to die after suffering like this.

The euthanasia for both himself and his loved ones.

— Rea, cover your mouth.

In her clear mind, the memory of that day steadily came to her.

— It is dangerous if you smell too much. Your body is going to stiffen soon. Get out now.

Smiling like a child, he gave Irene, who came in to clean the room, a towel soaked in water.

Like with all bad endings, Rodion cried.

In the dizzying scent of roses that filled the room, he held Louise’s hand, who was sleeping quietly like a princess in the forest, and cried without saying a word of apology.

It was not just Rodion who did not say anything.

There was also a faint smell of rotting flesh in the room, which had been devoured by the scent of roses.

Irene watched Rodion’s death with her mouth shut in silence.

Even a few days after that, she wanted to keep an eye on a boy who held onto the dead girl and believed she was still alive.

The smell of the drug that causes paralysis could not escape Irene.

When exposed to the numbing scent, a tingling sensation eventually penetrates from the extremities of the body as if it were cramping. Then, it will gradually tighten the heart.

Just like now.

‘Ugh. I guess I smelled a lot more than I thought.’

Irene clasped the numb toes and straightened them out.

Except for Rodion’s Die ending, an unpleasant sensation that she had never felt before swept through her body.

Of course, this is not enough to kill her.

She did not know what would happen if she smelled a little more paralyzing incense. However, unless you are determined to burn the incense like Rodion, this level was not life-threatening.

Nevertheless, her body and mind became hazy. Irene must have been in a state where she could not even resist even if someone was carrying her.

With the thought reached that point, a realization flashed through her dazed mind.

‘I see…’

She understood why Veronica had offered her the tea.


This time, it was not at the level of a childish prank that made people suspicious, by simply pretending to be friendly. She was trying to destroy the composure of the three men by either making Irene in critical condition or kidnapping her.

Just recalling what happened yesterday, it could not be an efficient method.

It was already such a mess when she submitted her resignation letter. If she had become critical, the mansion would have turned upside down.

Thinking about it that way, it made sense to some extent.

Except for a strange sense of incongruity.

Though Irene did not have time to think deeply.

“…Hoo, Ahibalt. This aunt does not understand.”

Veronica ruffled her neatly ponytailed hair and ruffled it slightly, before raising up the corners of her red lips.

“What is this maid? Why are you doing this to me just because I have only played a little prank?”

The middle-aged woman, who swept her curly hair a little over her shoulders, was still beautiful, and still in high spirits.

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