MPGF 21

Chapter 21. It Won’t Kill You Even If You Eat It

A mischievous smile tugged at my lips at Violet’s innocence.

I sat beside her, chuckling quietly as she finished crying.

“Please stop laughing. It’s embarrassing.”

“What did you eat to make you so adorable, Lady Violet?”

“A-Adorable?”

Her bright pink eyes widened. She looked genuinely startled.

“If it upset you, I apologize.”

“No! It’s not that!”

Violet hastily tried to catch my gaze as I looked away.

“It’s just… no one’s ever said that to me before. I’ve never thought of myself as… cute. It’s embarrassing.”

She touched her pale cheeks and lowered her long lashes. I itched to pinch those soft-looking cheeks and tease her a little.

It was heartbreaking to think someone as lovely as Violet was being gaslit and chasing after Serdis.

“You love His Highness the Prince very much, don’t you?”

Her lips stiffened instantly. Perhaps it was too forward of a question.

But after witnessing Serdis’s behavior firsthand, I felt confident enough to speak out.

‘Sister, don’t date that bastard!’

“I hope you can keep smiling like this, Lady Violet. I want you to live seeing and hearing only good things.”

Is there any need to painfully watch the man you love fall apart?

She could simply stop before their feelings grew deeper.

But Violet didn’t seem to think that way.

“You know just as well as I do—matters of the heart never go as planned.”

She murmured bitterly.

“I think it’s the same for His Highness Serdis. Even if you get married, I doubt he’ll be able to let go of his feelings easily. He’s had a long unrequited love.”

My eyes widened.

“You… knew?”

I’d assumed no one knew, since my interactions with Serdis had only started recently. Even I had only recalled it after regaining my memories. Yet Violet knew.

“Back at the academy, His Highness would often visit the lab for no apparent reason. I saw him watching you through the window a few times.”

I had no idea.

After Rian died, I’d thrown myself into research just to survive—I had no time to notice anything else.

My only memory from the academy was exchanging letters with Cassian.

“I see.”

“Since you were having a hard time, he didn’t dare approach you. I know he’s delicate when it comes to people he truly likes. That’s why, no matter what he said to me, I didn’t mind.”

“But he always ends up hurting you.”

Violet always worried about Serdis, yet he treated her coldly. He even said hurtful things on purpose to push her away.

She accepted it quietly, so he never learned to be careful. And things would only get worse—until Violet eventually closed her heart. That was Serdis’s fate—to fall hard after losing her.

Though the novel ended happily, the process leading there was nothing short of poison for them both.

“I’ll be fine.”

She smiled quietly.

She looked like someone who had already steeled herself.

“I’ll respect your feelings, Lady Violet.”

“Thank you, Lady.”

She gently clasped my hand.

“Please introduce me to the Grand Duke someday. I’m so curious about you two.”

“I promise.”

She truly was too good for Serdis.

***

Was there someone I could introduce to Violet?

Would she change her mind if she met a good man?

Partly for her sake, but also because I wanted to rewrite the original story.

“A good man, huh…”

As I sat at my desk racking my brain, a soft breeze blew in.

The rustling of paper in my hand sounded oddly pleasant.

“No matter how I think about it, Cassian’s the only one.”

The only men around me were Father and Hertian. Excluding them, that left only Cassian.

But I was hesitant to introduce him to Violet.

Because of what Hertian had said recently—

‘Whoever wrote this letter must really like you, My Lady.’

Ever since then, that comment echoed in my head.

Cassian… liking me?

It wasn’t something I had never considered.

He’d sent me letters persistently, and he wasn’t the type to be kind for no reason.

But over time, things changed.

Even after one year, two years—he never asked for anything from me. Even now, when I asked to meet, he always had some excuse. He hated revealing anything about himself.

‘Could it be… because of his face?’

Was he afraid I’d be disappointed?

Maybe. But surely our relationship wasn’t so fragile it would fall apart over something like that.

Though I felt a little hurt, more than that, I was grateful—so I could understand.

Still, after hearing he might like me… I felt strange.

“Why does this keep bothering me?!”

A bride-to-be worrying over another man’s letter—it would look suspicious to anyone.

I stuffed the letter back in its envelope and grabbed the quill on the desk. I was going to end this once and for all.

It was uncomfortable to keep exchanging letters like this, so I would meet him in person and talk it out.

“Maybe Hertian was wrong.”

If Cassian didn’t like me, then I would introduce him to Violet. I could vouch for his character.

I took a deep breath and calmly began to write. Soon, the paper crumpled with a frustrated groan.

“The handwriting looks weird.”

I grabbed a fresh sheet and started again. But again, it didn’t feel right.

“The ink smudged.”

After wasting a few more sheets, I finally managed to write something acceptable. I folded it neatly into an envelope and sealed it.

“Finally done.”

Stretching my sore shoulders, I looked down at the pile of crumpled papers on the floor. Since when was writing a letter this hard? My temples throbbed.

Knock knock.

Betty came in just in time—and gasped at the mess.

“Heavens! Was there a break-in?! I’ll inform the master—”

“I’m the thief.”

“Pardon?”

“I was writing a letter… it just turned out like this.”

Betty tilted her head, then remembered why she came.

“My Lady, there’s news.”

“Go ahead.”

“His Majesty has invited you to the imperial palace.”

I’d expected it.

Though Hertian had been kicked out, he was still the emperor’s son.

And with the wedding approaching, it was only natural for the emperor to summon me.

“When?”

“Tomorrow!”

“His Majesty is quite impatient.”

Not that I had any right to talk—I was the one who wanted to meet urgently.

“By the way, My Lady—are you really going to keep that girl as a maid?”

Betty whispered to me.

“Bonisa? Why?”

Bonisa had started working at our house since that day.

She clung to me, saying she wanted to follow me, and there was no other option. She probably couldn’t get work elsewhere after what happened at the salon. Plus, I really liked the tapestry she made.

“She clearly has no experience as a maid. She can’t do laundry or anything.”

“Really?”

I blinked in surprise.

“She’s been doing errands her whole life—shouldn’t she know basic chores?”

“That’s what I thought too. But in the kitchen she burns everything, and when told to clean, she breaks the mop… We even paused her chores for a day just to train her, but there’s been no improvement. She’s just not cut out for maid work.”

Betty shuddered.

“I see…”

If complaints were already popping up after just a few days, they’d only grow. Especially since Bonisa had no proper training or references.

I thought for a while before telling Betty:

“Could you call Bonisa for me?”

***

Behind the Count of Ruangberia’s mansion.

Bonisa trudged toward me slowly.

I’d never seen a maid look so out of place in her uniform.

“You called, My Lady?”

As always, her hair was tied in two braids, and she couldn’t meet my eyes.

“Nervous?”

“Yes… You must be disappointed in me for making so many mistakes.”

She mumbled sadly, knowing she wasn’t doing well.

“Here. A gift.”

I handed her a handkerchief. She accepted it awkwardly, glancing at me with a worried face.

“Is… is this a farewell gift?”

“What do you think? I embroidered it myself, so don’t lose it.”

I ignored her assumption. Her eyebrows drooped sadly as she looked at the handkerchief.

“It’s pretty…”

She couldn’t even finish the compliment out of politeness.

“It’s a mess, right?”

Because it clearly was.

I had no talent for crafts. No matter how good the teacher, anything I touched turned into a disaster. Embroidery was the worst.

This handkerchief was no exception.

Despite all the effort, threads were popping out everywhere, and the color scheme was, frankly, awful.

“I spent two whole days on that, with the embroidery teacher.”

“No way…”

Bonisa said what she thought and then quickly covered her mouth.

“No way, right? I agree.”

I smiled in agreement and began walking. I heard her little steps following behind.

Soon we arrived at a garden patch where winter herbs grew thick.

“So many winter herbs.”

I squatted at the edge of the patch and asked Bonisa,

“Do you know what these herbs are?”

“No… not really.”

“I thought you’d know, coming from a cold region. This here is mistletoe, pokeweed, hoof fungus, and achyranthes. Heard of them?”

She shook her head.

“This pokeweed, if brewed in small amounts, helps with pain and urination.”

“You know a lot about herbs, My Lady.”

She bent down to look at the pokeweed.

“It looks healthy… like it’d be good for you.”

“But if you eat too much, it paralyzes your whole body. You’ll die.”

“It’s poisonous?!”

“Yep.”

“I’ll make sure to avoid it at all costs, then.”

I dug up a pokeweed root and stood up.

She stepped back in fear.

“Every herb has two sides. It can help or harm you—just like me. I’m clumsy with my hands, but I know everything about herbs.”

I took a step toward her.

“You’re the opposite—you’re bad at maid work, but your hands are gifted. That’s your duality.”

“My duality…”

Bonisa fidgeted with her fingers, murmuring.

“From now on, I won’t give you household chores. I’ll give you work where your talents shine. Make more winter clothes and tapestries.”

That was why I’d called her today.

To find her something she was good at. She’d followed me here to make tapestries, after all.

“You’ll do it, right?”

After a pause, she nodded vigorously.

“A hundred—no, a thousand! I can make that many!”

I chuckled and turned away.

“Don’t wear your fingers out.”

She followed close behind like a puppy.

“I’ll make the patterns pretty, too!”

“That’s great.”

I smiled softly.

“But My Lady… what are you going to do with that herb?”

Right—I’d brought the pokeweed with me.

“Oh, I forgot to put it back.”

It was a long walk back.

I thought for a moment, then brushed the dirt off the root.

“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

“Not really…”

“Then I have no choice. I’ll eat it.”

I took a big bite of the pokeweed. The bitter herbal flavor and earthy scent filled my mouth. No matter how long it had been, I never got used to this taste.

“My Lady! Please stop!”

Bonisa tried to stop me in a panic.

“You said it’s poisonous in large amounts! What if something happens to you?!”

Ignoring her, I calmly chewed and swallowed the herb. Bonisa looked at me in horror, ready to catch me if I collapsed.

I wiped my mouth.

As you can see, nothing happened.

“It’s fine. Poisonous herbs or not—nothing works on me.”