TBFP 18

Chapter : 18

‘No, but why…?’

Why give poison to someone who’s about to die anyway?

“For the past few days, sob, it seemed suspicious that she was taking meals separately, sniff…”

The maid revealed the inside story while sobbing.

Leticia calmly comforted the maid.

“You can speak slowly, Aina.”

She was familiar with her as the only maid among their group.

The 16-year-old girl with light brown hair in a single braid and distinctive freckles across her nose wiped her tears with her sleeve as she confessed what she had seen.

“The day after we arrived here, when they found spoiled ingredients in the stew, I went in to remove it before serving it to Your Highness…”

She said she saw Emma putting something in the meal.

She had been worrying for days about whether she’d be in danger if Emma found out she had noticed, but her conscience finally won out and made her speak up.

Instead of being surprised, Leticia quietly observed Aina, who had now stopped crying and was only sniffling.

“But it might not be poison. Since I’m weak, Emma might have added some nutrients.”

“Do you trust your nanny, Your Highness? Even though she treated you so harshly?”

“Harshly?”

Leticia tilted her head innocently.

Aina approached with a pitying look, and bent her knees to meet Leticia’s eye level.

“You don’t need to hide it from me. I know the nanny has been forcing you to starve.”

“How do you know that?”

“Your Highness, I’m on your side…”

“No. I’m asking how you actually know this, Aina. Even the servants at the Crown Prince’s Palace didn’t know Emma was starving me.”

They had brought along one orphaned lower maid from the imperial palace because no one else wanted to go to Basilinte.

But how would a maid who cleaned floors know such confidential information?

No matter how Emma acted according to her whims, she never publicly starved or humiliated Leticia.

“….”

Leticia smiled innocently at the now-frozen Aina.

“This is really fascinating. Aina must think I’m stupid.”

“Your Highness, I…”

While their eyes were still level, Leticia grabbed both of Aina’s cheeks.

After observing what she found strange, she noticed something peculiar about her face as well.

“And why did you draw freckles on your nose, Aina? You’d be prettier without them.”

“….”

Leticia could see Aina’s brown eyes, lighter than her hair color, trembling.

Looking into those eyes, Leticia asked.

“Aina, do you know who I am?”

Her eyes wavered.

“You do know.”

Well, would she have expected to be caught by a 10-year-old child?

From back alleys to orphanages and even theater troupes, though only ten years long, Leticia’s life had been excessively eventful.

As a result, Leticia had to grow up early, learn about the ways of the world, and become sensitive to both kindness and malice.

The reason she came to like this land in such a short time was because those who should have shown her malice instead showed her kindness.

“Why did you follow me here from the Empire?”

Leticia had noticed.

That the maid before her, Aina Ram, at least harbored no ill will toward her.

‘She seems to have no particular thoughts about me. Kind of like those older siblings when they were listening to nobles’ nonsense…’

It felt like she was just doing her job.

“…”

“Then let me ask you something else. Did Emma really put poison in my food? Or was it you?”

“The nanny did put in poison, Your Highness. Though it’s a very weak poison that would only work on weak people or children.”

She explained that it was sometimes used as medicine for healthy adults, so it wasn’t difficult to obtain. This was probably the strongest poison Emma could get her hands on.

Aina answered calmly.

“Even if you had continued taking it, you probably wouldn’t have died. Though you might have become weaker or fallen seriously ill.”

“Then why did you tell me?”

“…”

Aina fell silent, seeming lost in thought.

Leticia waited patiently.

Upon realizing her ‘innocent maid’ facade was no longer effective, Aina clicked her tongue in resignation and switched to a completely different manner of speaking.

“I thought if I told Your Highness this, we could get rid of the nanny.”

“Me? With what power?”

“The Basilinte family cares for Your Highness. If they saw you frightened of your nanny… I thought they might deal with her.”

Though it doesn’t seem enough to call it ‘caring.’ Of course, they would naturally care for their precious sacrifice.

“It was strange that they would care for a hostage they brought to kill, even if Your Highness is pretty. Even giving you a room like this.”

Leticia addressed Aina, who had been speaking in an almost playful mutter.

“Are you a spy sent from Herta? To watch me?”

“Half right. The Imperial Family did send me, but my role is to watch the nanny. After all, the nanny is your watcher. So I’m basically the watcher’s watcher.”

“Then are you Aina’s superior?”

Aina shook her head.

“Of course not. The nanny doesn’t know about me. The Imperial Family secretly assigned me just in case. Actually, if the nanny hadn’t suddenly tried to poison Your Highness, I was just going to do my maid duties and return. Look at my age. I’m completely bottom-rank.”

“…You’re answering too readily for me to trust you.”

Leticia grumbled, deliberately not hiding her thoughts.

“But if I didn’t answer readily, you’d run straight to the Grand Duke to report that there’s a spy here.”

Aina hit the nail on the head.

“Your Highness doesn’t like the Herta Imperial Family much and likes Basilinte. Well, I guess I’d feel the same in Your Highness’s situation.”

Aina nodded as if understanding and pleaded.

“Still, couldn’t you not report me? I confessed voluntarily. Besides, I haven’t harmed Your Highness or Basilinte, and I won’t in the future.”

“But there’s no particular benefit in it for me either.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to hide your identity if we get rid of the nanny who dislikes you and I take care of you instead? It’ll become more noticeable as Your Highness grows up. Even though Your Highness was… um… that.”

Leticia frowned at the way she circuitously referred to her being an actor.

“Aren’t you knowing too much for a low-ranking person?”

“Well, the person I served was Your Highness’s fan. I even delivered flowers to the waiting room several times.”

“…What?”

“The Imperial Family only told me that the prince wasn’t real – I already knew everything else. I used to serve a sickly royal lady from a branch family, but after she passed away, I had nowhere else to go, so I ended up working for the Imperial Family…”

The more Leticia listened to Aina’s words, the more she understood why this girl had been so easily caught by her ten-year-old self.

Come to think of it, they wouldn’t have used someone extraordinary for this simple task of watching whether a hostage prince dies well and returns.

Especially since it wasn’t even about watching the prince himself, but monitoring the prince’s nanny.

“I’ve only been a Herta Imperial spy for three months. I don’t know anything except for the one superior I report to. And I can’t even contact them since coming here. So couldn’t you please spare me? I could be helpful to Your Highness.”

They might have really just assigned her as a precaution, and perhaps even the person who assigned her might have forgotten about it.

Leticia thought about simply buying this girl’s loyalty and making her an ally.

Of course, there was one fact that needed correction.

“I don’t need Aina’s care since I’ll die before I grow much more.”

“You don’t know that! Looking at it now, it doesn’t seem like the Grand Duke will kill you!”

“He’s being nice because he’s going to kill me. It’s just his conscience.”

“I don’t think that’s it…”