Now This Family Belongs to My Mother Chapter 50

At the shout of the imperial palace servant, everyone present hurriedly rose from their seats.

 

A middle-aged man with silver hair and blue eyes, with a cold, imposing presence, approached the scene. He was Ignasio Leopold, the emperor of the Octavia Empire.

 

“Greetings to the Sun of the Empire!”

 

Everyone, including myself, bowed our heads.

 

The imposing emperor let out a hearty laugh and waved his hand dismissively. “Thank you for welcoming this uninvited guest. Everyone, please take your seats.”

 

The servants busily brought over a chair for the emperor. Only when he sat did everyone sit as well.

 

Meeting the emperor here? In my previous life, I had only seen the emperor from a distance, and much later than now. This is happening way earlier than I expected. My palms were damp with nervous sweat.

 

Despite his hearty laughter, the emperor’s eyes were sharp and cold as she scanned the crowd, as if engraving each person into his memory. His gaze passed over Diane and then stopped on me. It made me feel like I couldn’t breathe.

 

Ignasio Leopold was a calculating and ruthless emperor. When Hubert earned the nickname ‘God of War’ in his youth, Ignasio earned the name ‘Slaughter’. To such a man, the Blanche family was nothing but a thorn in his side. After all, they were the only family, alongside the imperial family, who possessed a divine beast. Since there can’t be two suns under the same sky, he persistently kept Blanche in check. So, there was no way he would look kindly upon me.

 

Sensing the subtle tension, Marchioness Gent stepped in. “Your Majesty, you came even though you knew you weren’t invited?”

 

“My dear-sister-in law is always so blunt. Still, aren’t you glad I came?”

 

“Ohoho, Your Majesty. You haven’t changed at all.”

 

“Cadence, you’ve changed a little. Getting older, aren’t you?”

 

Laughter blossomed between the two.

 

Calling a married woman by her first name? They must be unusually close.

 

Once the atmosphere eased a bit, Marchioness Gent introduced me. “Your Majesty, this is Epirosa Blanche, the daughter of my dear friend.”

 

“I know. Isn’t she the young lady who was recently blessed at the temple? A pride of the empire.” Emperor Ignasio looked at me with a smiling face.

 

I bowed my head in gratitude for his recognition. But I saw it. His eyes, looking at me, were colder than ice. My heart pounded. I can’t let him find any fault with me here today. If I did, the emperor would use it as an excuse to pressure the Blanche family. And if I brought disgrace to the family, I would lose Hubert’s trust.

 

“But it seems like you were just enjoying something delicious all by yourself?” The emperor asked Marchioness Gent.

 

“This is tea gifted by Epirosa. The taste is wonderful.”

 

“Is this also something that girl gave you?” The emperor asked as he looked at the sculpture of the empress. His expression was subtle.

 

Marchioness Gent, unfazed, stroked the sculpture. “Countess Diane gave it to me. She has quite a sense, doesn’t she?”

 

“I see. It must be quite comforting.”

 

“Of course, the tea tastes great too.” Marchioness Gent, who had been caressing the sculpture, put it down and teasingly sipped her tea.

 

“If you drink it all by yourself like that, you’ll regret it later.”

 

“Your Majesty, would you like so—” Marchioness Gent, who was about to continue speaking, suddenly frowned as if she had a headache.

 

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

 

At the emperor’s question, Marchioness Gent nodded and shakily set her teacup down. And in the next instant, she cried out ‘keugh!’ and collapsed.

 

“Cadence!”

 

“Marchioness Gent!”

 

Everyone rushed to her. I turned pale as well.

 

Marchioness Gent’s eyes rolled back, and purple foam frothed from her mouth. Someone who saw the scene shouted. “I-It’s poison!”

 

Screams erupted from the surroundings. The servants hurriedly moved Marchioness Gent.

 

“Show her to my personal doctor! Order him to save her at all costs!” The emperor commanded the servants.

 

“They say when someone is poisoned, they foam purple at the mouth.” Someone murmured from behind.

 

“Who, who said that!” The emperor roared in anger.

 

The noisy surroundings fell silent, and frightened gazes all turned in the same direction. The place where those gazes stopped was me.

 

“Lady Epirosa gifted the tea…”

 

“Aside from that, everything else was prepared by the imperial palace…”

 

“Who knows what might have been in the tea…”

 

People whispered cautiously, unable to say it outright. But even those murmurs felt like immense pressure to me. An adult who cherished me had collapsed from poison, and now I was being pointed out as the culprit. Even the emperor looked at me with a cold gaze.

 

At that moment,

 

“What are you all saying right now!” Diane suddenly embraced me protectively. “Are you seriously accusing my niece of poisoning Marchioness Gent?!” She shouted, her voice echoing loudly.

 

Diane had just given form to the suspicion that no one had dared to voice out loud until now. It was clearly an intentional move.

 

“Just because Epirosa is good at making medicine, does that mean she’d be good at making poison too? She’s just someone who’s passionate about medicine! She doesn’t go around testing her concoctions on just anyone!” Diane added fuel to the fire of people’s doubts.

 

“My goodness… Could it really be Lady Epirosa…”

 

“How ungrateful…”

 

“I heard Lady Epirosa’s mother lost her mind. Maybe she’s not normal either…”

 

Voices rose from all directions, as sharp as thorns. But I pushed Diane aside and stood firm, as if I hadn’t been pricked by those thorns. My composure was so unexpected that the chaotic atmosphere around me began to settle. Even the emperor, who had been furious, now looked at me calmly, his gaze steady and assessing, as if surprised by my uncharacteristic composure.

 

“You’re not surprised?”

 

“Rather than being surprised, I’m more worried about Marchioness Gent.”

 

“But right now, you should be worrying about yourself. It’s true that Lady Epirosa is the most suspicious at the moment.”

 

“Do you have anything to say?”

 

“I have nothing to say.”

 

I could feel Diane exhaling a sigh of relief beside me. She must have thought I’d fallen right into her trap.

 

“But…” I picked up the tea leaves still sitting on the table. Then, I chewed and swallowed them.

 

“Oh god!”

 

“She ate the poisoned tea leaves!”

 

The noblewomen screamed or shut their eyes tightly as if they couldn’t bear to look.

 

Do they think I’m trying to commit suicide? I even drank the rest of the tea the marchioness had left behind, right in front of everyone. “It’s delicious.”

 

Everyone stared at me in silence, as if waiting to see when I would collapse, vomiting blood.

 

Suddenly, the emperor shouted, “How dare you attempt suicide in my presence! I’ll use the palace doctors to keep you alive and punish you accordingly!”

 

“That won’t be necessary,” I spoke calmly, meeting the emperor’s gaze. “I won’t die.”

 

“What? But the tea was poisoned…”

 

“There’s no poison in this tea.” I spread my arms wide. “Marchioness Gent collapsed shortly after drinking her tea, but I even chewed the tea leaves, and as you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”

 

I grabbed the remaining tea leaves, looking directly at Diane, whose face was frozen in a state of shock. “I and these tea leaves are innocent.”

 

Diane bit her lip, realizing what had happened. She must have figured out that I’d switched the poisoned tea, just like last time. However, she soon regained her composure.

 

She must have set two or even three traps for me. Was it fair to call it even, since I’d prepared two traps for her as well?

 

Diane whispered to the noblewoman beside her. “Then who could have poisoned Marchioness Gent? All the other food inspected by the imperial palace was safe.” Her slightly louder whisper reached the emperor’s ears.

 

The emperor looked at me with a stern expression. “Even so, you’re still the prime suspect. Until the investigation is complete, you’ll stay in the imperial pris—”

 

“No! There’s no need for that!”

 

It was then that an unbelievable voice rang out from behind the emperor. It was Marchioness Gent, who had collapsed just minutes ago. People screamed as if they had seen a ghost. But Marchioness Gent, as if to flaunt her vitality, shook off the hands of the servants trying to support her and rushed forward.

 

“Your Majesty, I’m perfectly fine, so who are you planning to imprison now?”