Chapter 199. Engagement, Part XII

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

Dr. Paulo asked wonderfully at Phoebe's answer, "Have you taken any painkillers other than the painkillers I gave you?"

"Yes. The painkillers ran out of some time ago. "

Listening to the conversation between the two, Julietta looked at Dr. Paulo sitting opposite and found the door to the hallway was slightly open.

"Wait a minute. The doors aren't all closed." She raised one hand to stop the conversation and sprang up.

Jane began to run for the stairs, frightened at the sound of the princess's voice. Julietta approached the door and checked the hallway. There was no one in the hallway in front of the bedroom, but she glimpsed the hem of the skirt of the maid disappearing down the stairs. She closed the door tightly and returned it to the lounge sofa. "I'm sorry. I'm being careful about everything because I don't think anyone should know about Phoebe's leg."

"I don't have to go anywhere to talk. I'll be careful here, too. So?"

Dr. Paulo nodded and looked back at Phoebe as if he understood what Julietta was saying, but seemed to ask for a secret. His interest was entirely in discovering the identity of the poison. He found the painkiller Phoebe had taken more interesting than the circumstances of the princess.

"At that time, before my legs were cut, I couldn't endure it without painkillers. Mrs. Maribel, who brought me here, gave me painkillers, and they were much better and easier on my stomach than the previous painkillers. I was sad because I couldn't take the painkillers after I got out of the brothel. I was so happy to see that the boutique had the same kind of painkillers. So I used those painkillers instead of the previous ones you gave me this time."

"What are the painkillers?"

Julietta answered Dr. Paulo, "Metum stem. It's a common painkiller in theaters, an inflammation and wound medicine."

"Oh, that's right. I forgot for a moment that the stem of metum is also used as a painkiller. We rarely use metum outside of a special place like the theater."

Metum was difficult to grow and was not a generally easy-to-find plant, as it would otherwise be more commonly used as a dressing tool. It was very rare for the public to use the stem of metum as a painkiller because it was otherwise a completely useless plant.

Accepting her words, Dr. Paulo suddenly raised his head. "Did you use the metum stem as a painkiller back then?"

Phoebe didn't understand Dr. Paulo's question, and asked, "Before? I didn't use it until I came to Dublin."

Before she came here, she had to endure the pain because it was hard to even see painkillers made from common dureng roots. Phoebe recalled the painful memories of the time and was so grateful that he could tell that the dureng roots didn't work for her.

"Did you take the painkiller before you drank the poison?" Dr. Paulo's heart began to beat loudly. His tense eyes were on Phoebe's lips.

"Yes. That's the first day I took the painkiller made from metum."

On the day she was waiting for her death, she forgot she was prescribed a painkiller, was excited to see the opera in a fancy dress, and began to massage her leg when the pain came. Maribel, watching the sight secretly, gave her a painkiller, the theater's standing medicine, which was made from a metum stem.

Phoebe recalled the memory of the time, "It wasn't like the painkillers I used to take. The speed at which the pain subsided was a little slow, but I felt easier in the stomach and didn't have any headache, so I enjoyed the opera very much. After watching the opera, I came back and drank the poison."

Dr. Paulo asked in a trembling voice, as if he had found the answer. "Can I get some painkillers made from the metum?"

Phoebe quickly rose from her seat at his request. "Of course. I'll get it right away."

Phoebe hurried to her bedroom, which was connected to Julietta's parlor, to get some painkillers. As she watched this, Julietta asked Dr. Paulo, "What role did the painkiller play?"

Dr. Paulo answered cautiously, "I think I'll have to go back and check. A few days ago, I received the remaining poison Miss Phoebe drank. I don't know if I can test it because there's not much left, but I think the painkiller might have acted as an antidote."

Dr. Paulo stood up to receive the painkillers that Phoebe brought. "I'll have to go back now. I'll contact you as soon as I get the results." He had studied the poison over ten years, and seemed to be very happy to find a clue. He went away in a hurry.

"If the painkiller was an antidote, I was really lucky," Phoebe muttered incredulously

Julietta held her hands tightly and spoke strongly, "It's not luck. It's fate that you were not going to die. It is a fate to be happy in the future."

Phoebe answered strongly, holding Julietta's hands. "Yes. As you said, I'll think it's my destiny. Is it okay to think so?"

"Yes, it's all about our destiny, and our life that we make and lead."

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After Dr. Paulo returned to work, Julietta started coming back to work at her shop as soon as the bruise on her face faded away.

Jane, suspicious of the princess's daily repeated outings, tried hard to accompany her as her private maid, but her refusal was firm. She couldn't understand why the princess hated her so much without knowing her.

Having failed to win the trust of the princess in the end, she instead began prying around about the princess as soon as she became close to the maids of the Kiellini mansion. "So, she goes to the dress shop every day?"

"Yes. I think she's more interested in expanding the boutique than in the family tea business. That's why people who invested in the tea business of Kiellini are worried. I think it's all the more so because the Duke's illness is serious."

During their break, the maids of the Kiellini mansion used to eat snacks with tea and talked excitedly about the current state of the Kiellini family they were in.

"If she had the education for a successor, she should be interested in the tea business; of course, that's weird."

In fact, even if it was a family business, there were not many cases where high-ranking aristocrats directly entered the business. The Duke of Kiellini was a very rare case, because they often had their own agents, too. However, Jane deliberately examined the reactions of the maids, marking the situation as if it was very strange.

"It's rumored that the successor's education hasn't even started. As you know, the health of Miss Iris was very poor. Most of the guesses were that she couldn't make a debut."

"She looks very healthy. I can't believe that she was sick." At Jane's words, the maids also nodded.

"Right? We're sometimes surprised to see if she was sick."

"By the way, isn't it necessary to educate her as a successor?"

The other maid stepped in. "Why doesn't she need a successor's education?"

As the questions of Jane, who did not yet know about Julietta's engagement, the maids were excited to tell her, "Miss Iris is going to be engaged to Prince Killian. The Prince is in a hurry. She is going to be the Queen, and she can't take the seat of the Duke of Kiellini."

Jane's expression became strange at the words of the maids. When she realized that this engagement was the reason why Prince Francis and Lady Anais sent her to the Kiellini mansion, she knew what to do. Currently, the order she had received was to keep a watch on the movements of the Kiellini family, but she had no idea what order would be given in the future.

"By the way, is Lady Phoebe, a companion of our lady, ill? At first glance, I saw her leg hurts a lot... she isn't in any trouble, is she?"

A maid shook her head at Jane's question. "It can't be. She must be slightly hurt. She might have sprained it. She should not have any problems with her leg because she will enter the Imperial Castle as a companion of our lady. It can't be. How noble our lady is! She can't have a sick woman beside her."

At the maid's words, another maid looked around and lowered her voice. "No, that's not it. Ah, I shouldn't tell you this…"