Maomao went for another spoonful. However, the delicious mushroom congee was snatched away by the priestess' attendant.
"Wh-whát are you doing?!"
"What, you ask, I'm tasting for poison."
The other party had switched to her language. It seems Maomao's proficiency in the Sha'ou language was indeed lacking. She was grateful for this.
"Please hand over the congee. I still haven't finished tasting for poison. Also, do you intend to give the rest of it to the priestess?"
"…"
Maomao pushed on at the attendant's silence. "Realistically, there's no way you'd give it to me, but isn't it quite valuable? The poison you've managed to obtain which leaves no evidence behind."
"What's yóur basis?"
The attendant's face had stiffened for an instant, but immediately returned to calmness. People who can come up with such a complex plot are also brazen. The priestess also wore a look of innocence.
(I guess that's true.)
How easy would it be to have them confess here?
"Then, can you wait for a while? If there is poison in the congee I just ate, I should be showing symptoms of poisoning soon. I don't know if the poison is effective with a single mouthful, so please give me the rest."
Maomao held out her hand. The attendant made no move to pass it over.
"My current mouthful only has bits of mushroom. It hasn't reached the lethal dose. Please give it to me."
"Dòn't say such foolish things. If you say thére's poison, please spit it òut."
"No. I won't." Maomao took out a notebook from her bosom.
"Whát is that?"
"This notebook belongs to a court lady called Yao: Priestess-sama's food taster. She's an earnest learner, so I taught her to not eat anything that smells strange when tasting for poison. For example, even if Consort Airin had served poison, she should notice the smell. She's inexperienced, but she shouldn't have made a mistake when it comes to the basics."
And the notebook contained a thorough record of events in the days prior to the banquet.
"She noted down everything Priestess-sama ate. It seems that before the banquet, she ate something similar to this for breakfast."
The notebook read: 'Morning: Mushroom Congee'.
"You meticulously calculated the efficacy of the poison, didn't you? So that she would fall ill at the end of the banquet. So then, do you feel even a sliver of guilt? The dose wasn't lethal, provided there was adequate treatment."
Yao was currently stable. There is concern over whether her internal organs will sustain any permanent damage, but at least the worries over her losing her life were dropped. En'en was probably also relieved.
"The things you've said so fár don't máke any sense, so please stòp talking. The culprit should have conféssed already, right?"
"Yeah, she has. The day you'll receive news about the culprit and her punishment… should be today, right? Therefore, you can rest at ease and commit suicide," Maomao said.
Beyond the culprit needing to be Airin, a guilty conscience was necessary in order for her to commit suicide. Was that the reason they chose a poison with two stages? On top of that, if Airin is settled as the culprit, it's highly likely that the priestess' subsequent death will be left unresolved. On the contrary, any mess-ups during the search for the true perpetrator will spell trouble for both sides.
Maomao watched the two calmly.
(They won't suddenly decide to silence me here, right?)
Rahan had ordered her to standby at the priestess' villa. He was going to bring Dad here via a messenger, so they should arrive soon.
(It'll be difficult to seal my mouth, but it'll be more troubling to have them reveal it now.)
She understood. Even Maomao couldn't pretend it'd do her any good. Her threats were not intended to expose their crimes, it was merely a strategy to keep them focussed on what she was saying.
"Priestess-sama, you seem to know Consort Airin very well."
"…yés, as the priestess cándidate in the pást." The priestess opened her mouth. She looked somewhat sad.
(I knew it.)
Airin had covered up for the priestess. If the priestess made a one-sided accusation, would she have reacted in such a way? Rather, could it be that Airin's entry into the inner palace in and of itself had been factored in their calculations from the start, since it involved the priestess?
"At this rate, she will be sentenced to hanging."
The priestess jolted. She seemed more of a ham actor compared to the attendant. It would probably be better to target the priestess if she was going to sway them.
"I don't know about Sha'ou, but assassinations or assassination attempts are death sentences in this country, no exceptions. Are you going to watch the person who put her life on the line for you to die?"
The two stayed silent.
"Are you going to watch Consort Airin die?" Maomao asked.
(Is it really impossible?)
As Maomao deliberated over her next step, the priestess lowered her head onto the bed and let out a wail.
"P-priestess-sama."
"…w-whát should wé do?"
There was no dignity to her cry. It was a fleeting, pitiful sound.
"My life has been wárped ever since I was born, and I have lived with the flow of things without subvérting it. The position of priestess was áll I had. And so, I wanted to live on as a spléndid priestess áll the wáy till the énd."
"Priestess!" The attendant shook the priestess who continued her monologue.
Broken Rii language and fluent Sha'ou language intermingled.
Its contents largely confirmed Maomao's predictions. The king's faction, who viewed the priestess' influence as a hindrance, had attempted to evict her from her position. The eviction wasn't much of an issue on its own, but following that, they had even picked out a groom for her, so she must've panicked.
"Their aim is probably to lòwer the státus of 'Priestess' to rock bottom."
Whether they had realised the priestess' true physique, or that they had tried to negate the sacred existence known as the priestess by marrying her as a normal human bride—there was no knowing which one it was. However, they could whittle down her great power by just passing on the position of Priestess.
Maomao made no mention of the priestess' real physique, but from the context of the story, they spoke as though she had already noticed. It might've been a slip of tongue from her hysteria, but Maomao didn't dare point it out.
"It wás Irene's idea."
Airin was well-versed in Rii's national affairs. In the case where the priestess dies in a foreign country, her body will be returned as bones. Burials were the standard in Rii, and only those on the death penalty will be cremated, but that was a difference in culture. She was told that the priestess will be burned and returned to the sun.
(If she was reduced to bones, no one would be able to identify her gender.)
With the priestess' death, Rii will become indebted to Sha'ou. The perpetrator was a citizen of Sha'ou, there was no mistaking that. With that, Sha'ou will be rid of the thorn known as the priestess. On that point alone, the king will be satisfied.
"Wouldn't it be the same in the end if Priestess-sama passes away?"
"No." The priestess looked at her attendant gently. "Evén without me, there is a successor."
(Is that how it is?)
The priestess has set up a girl who hadn't gotten her first period. Once the attendant returns to her home country, she would become the brain.
"The néxt priestess is much more superior than me. That's why I can hánd mysélf over."
A girl of tender years being much more superior than a priestess in her forties; where was the foundation for that statement?? Maomao was doubtful, but decided to keep quiet.
"It will be fine, evén if I'm gone."
However, Maomao couldn't help but cut into the priestess' words.
"Is it truly the case?" Maomao said as she offered her water. "That's the ideal outcome. Have you ever thought about what would happen if his imperial majesty is angered?"
Everything mentioned thus far only benefited Sha'ou. By raising a commotion, Rii, who became indebted to Sha'ou, reaped no benefits whatsoever in the end. Even if the priestess and Airin became scapegoats.
The priestess was thinking on behalf of her country, however, the act of imposing misfortune on others had given rise to her own feelings of sorrow.
"If Yao had died, what did you intend to do?"
That was all she wanted to say.
She thumped Yao's notebook. She wanted to ask what the girl's offence was.
"Th-thát…"
The two indeed harboured feelings of guilt. They didn't have the means of using a weak poison. They needed to demonstrate the strength of the poison for people to understand and accept the priestess's death. Although they made adjustments for the potency of the poison, a misstep would probably end in her death.
"Inflicting drawbacks on my country, while everything falls nicely into place for yourselves, even I can't stay silent over something like that."
"…will I háve to die?"
"I can't stand for that, having you die or trying to end it another way."
Maomao felt refreshed, having said what she wanted to say the most. In other words, would it be, why not see this all the way to the end?
Suddenly, she recalled the innocent girl who loved insects. The girl who had disappeared in the snow and was unable to be found.
"Following Priestess-sama's death, is there any guarantee that Sha'ou won't make any unreasonable demands?"
"…about that, we did consider overwhélming you with séveral demands."
"Such as? Food supply?"
"There's thát. One other thing we thought of was requésting for the white girl, who should be hére, to be réturned."
"Lady Pai… was it?"
Parent and child—it's just not possible. Which reminds her, Airin had also hinted at it from the start. Just what kind of connection do they have?
"That girl was supposed to háve been raised as the néxt priestess."
She mentioned a relation to the priestess. As blood relatives, indeed they were from a lineage where albinos were commonly born, but apparently, it was still rare.
"At that time, had I obediently handed it over, we wouldn't be in such a predicáment. I, as priestess, had clung to that position and sént the white baby báck home."
However, the baby became a criminal after kicking up a fuss in another country.
"If there was another albinò, it will become a problem in the distant future. With that in mind, I instructed them to raise her in secret. But…"
"Why is she here in this country?"
"She was being used by someone who wanted to see my dòwnfall. I heard they took the girl away with thém around five years ago." The priestess could only cover her face sadly.
Even if she didn't become the priestess, the albino girl whose existence was concealed had nowhere else to go.
"…so you're saying it's Priestess-sama's fault that this country had all these issues."
"What are you insinuating!" At Maomao's candidness, the previously composed attendant lashed out in anger. The priestess held her down. When either one becomes emotional, the other calms them down. It was the air of partners who had been together for a long time.
"Sìnce it's true."
"Yes, then, do you plan to atone for that for the rest of your life?" Maomao proposed the idea she had been thinking about. Nothing else had occurred to her, so if this was no good, they were out of options. "Shall we have you actually die once?"
At Maomao's words, the two exchanged glances.