“Prince Meyer, Prince Yorick. Do you agree to the interrogation?”
“If the other party agrees, I also agree.”
I said while looking clearly at Rilke. That kid hesitated for a moment, then answered that he agreed, perhaps realizing that such behavior would be more disadvantageous.
I sat in the witness stand following the assistant judge’s guidance.
Straight ahead, the clerks were busily moving their quill pens, and beyond them I could see the judge.
To the side sat Rilke. That kid was trying hard to maintain composure, but that precarious face was soon covered as the Yorick family’s attorney approached.
“Prince Meyer. Is it correct that you went to the apothecary street that day?”
I said that was correct.
“Why did you go?”
“Because Count Meyer, my hyung, contracted the illness described in court earlier. I wanted to learn about it.”
People’s gazes were drawn to Mikhail.
“If you want, I can summon the physicians who treated me when I had that illness to this place right now.”
Rilke’s gaze also touched upon Mikhail, who answered that way, then fell away. That kid still had a face expressing doubt about Mikhail being perfectly fine.
“So, Prince Meyer would have administered poison to his own blood relative?”
I swallowed a hollow laugh.
Even though Mikhail had fully recovered, they still intended to make such claims.
“Your Honor.”
Count Leroy spoke.
“The other side is creating a base atmosphere by speaking of cowardly speculation as if it were certain!”
“Acknowledged. Refrain from speculation. And Attorney Leroy. Be careful with your word choice.”
Count Leroy nodded. The Yorick family’s attorney ground his thin lips once, then argued forcefully.
“I apologize, Your Honor. But I started from logical inference. Who is the first in line to succeed as Count Meyer? Isn’t it Prince Joachim Meyer?”
“Your Honor. Please allow a rebuttal.”
Count Leroy raised his hand. The judge nodded.
“I think we should note that Count Mikhail Meyer’s illness has completely healed. The reason Count Meyer recovered as if washed clean is because Prince Meyer made every effort to obtain medicine.”
At Count Leroy’s claim, the Yorick family’s attorney retorted.
“It could have been a self-staged drama to gain Count Meyer’s trust.”
“Ha…!”
Mikhail snorted beside me.
Count Leroy instead pointed out the opposing attorney’s behavior. He pointed out that without basing arguments on logic and justice, they were recklessly throwing around speculation that unconditionally doubted and changed arguments when disadvantaged.
“I know that such acts are committed when prepared testimony goes wrong or is insufficient.”
“Now, that’s enough. Enough!”
The judge mediated.
The interrogation returned to fundamentals and a tedious process followed. While being interrogated by the Yorick family’s attorney, I revealed that the apothecaries I met that day besides Madame Marguerite were countless. I also added that I asked all of them the same thing, and it made no sense that I only tried to ‘sell’ medicine to the madame.
“I also reveal that I was accompanied by family knights that day. If you wish, I can immediately present the knights and the apothecaries of Wells Street as witnesses.”
The Yorick family’s attorney answered there was nothing more to interrogate. I also returned from the witness stand to Mikhail’s side.
The apothecary, Madame Marguerite, wasn’t saying anything. If our side had been completely unprepared, that madame’s testimony could have become a plausible hand.
“Rilke Yorick, please sit in the witness stand.”
Rilke was sitting in the seat where I had sat. Count Leroy stood up for interrogation.
“Before arguments, I will point out something important. I think we need to remember that previously, Prince Rilke Meyer tried to use a ‘drug.’ The target was Prince Joachim, and it was an aphrodisiac. And I request a witness related to this poison case.”
One person stood up from the gallery.
Rilke’s face, which had been trembling anxiously, slowly began to contort all over, unable to hide it.
“This is Ethan, who was a servant of House Meyer.”
* * *
Ethan was my servant in the past.
Now Jake helps me, but in the past, which was different from now, it was like that. It seems Mikhail had originally intended to assign Jake as my attendant. But in the past, because there had been the Deina incident, he probably sent Ethan, who was male, instead.
Ethan was Rilke’s lackey.
By the time I knew he was reporting my every move to Rilke and helping with schemes, it was already an irreversible point. At the mansion, I had become a complete liar. Moreover, besides Ethan, numerous other problems were piled up before me.
Ethan was also the very person who had put the cursed earring directly on my ear.
Therefore, I was naturally negative about him.
‘Ethan probably knows well where all those rabbit corpses went, doesn’t he?’
‘Looking at that Rilke bastard, you can’t know what’s inside a person, but let’s check one more thing.’
Mikhail expressed a position of withholding judgment on Ethan. It was because his family had offered loyalty to House Meyer for several generations.
I also, no matter how much I tried to insist that Ethan shouldn’t be trusted, couldn’t argue more strongly because his wrongdoing hadn’t clearly occurred in the present. And watching Mikhail keep hesitating reminded me of something.
—’He committed suicide?’
In the past, around the time I was gradually regaining consciousness due to Benedict’s continued visits.
—’I didn’t think Ethan would do that.’
—’Could it be because of the guilt from making the second young master’s face like that?’
I heard maids whispering to each other while cleaning the room.
Not long after, I left the mansion due to the matter with Baron Moss, so I couldn’t know the rumors after that. I wasn’t even curious about the death of Ethan, who had been like Rilke’s lackey.
But now that I’d returned to the past, I had doubts.
If he committed suicide, why did he commit suicide?
If perhaps it wasn’t suicide,
Who led him to death?
Because of such thoughts, I accepted Mikhail’s proposal to check one more thing.
‘Joachim! I heard something strange!’
And just as Mikhail guaranteed, everything didn’t take long.
No, there was no need to operate House Meyer’s information network. Ethan was living at the address he had told the butler, and at his house we could find all the reasons and answers.
“The witness’s family has served House Meyer for a long time.”
“That’s correct.”
Ethan answered.
He raised his head. He looked at Rilke, and those eyes were filled with indignation he couldn’t hide. Looking at Rilke, Ethan said.
“Prince Yorick over there wanted me to testify to the sordid lie that ‘House Meyer discriminated against Prince Yorick.’ I’m utterly ashamed of myself for even once thinking of following that bastard’s words.”
“Objection!”
The Yorick family’s attorney protested that it was an irrelevant story. Behind that, Rilke was visible with trembling eyes like a bewildered child, as if it made no sense.
Regardless of the situation, Count Leroy focused on Ethan.
“Why did you have to give false testimony?”
“Because I was threatened by Rilke Yorick.”
Ethan said in a strong tone.
“Were you also threatened? Like Miss Deina?”
Count Leroy asked dramatically.
“Yes. In my case, it was my sick mother.”
Ethan’s darkly bruised eyes turned toward Rilke again, burning.
“Moreover, that bastard made my mother sick. After taking medicine given by Rilke Yorick, my mother contracted an illness where black spots appeared all over her body.”
* * *
When I received the address from the butler and visited Ethan’s house.
Ethan’s mother was in a different state from the progression of black spots I knew.
Usually when one contracts black spots, they lose their life within a month or two. Ethan, who confessed everything and received orchid flowers by Mikhail’s persuasion, said his mother had been in this state since last year.
Inside the room was a pungent yet strange fragrance.
‘He said we must do this to prevent the condition from worsening.’
Ethan had been continuously burning grayish incense candles. He said Rilke had given them. It wasn’t the scent of orchid flowers.
‘He only gives a week’s worth at a time. To keep receiving the incense candles, I had no choice… I, I have nothing to say to you! I’m sorry!’
Don’t forgive me, Ethan said while banging his head, which I bitterly stopped. If Ethan’s mother hadn’t shown improvement from the white orchid petals Mikhail had sent in advance, Ethan might have walked the same path.
Soon, kneeling Ethan expressed gratitude instead of asking for forgiveness. A confession followed. Black spots cause severe pain as one approaches death. He said he couldn’t bear to see his elderly mother suffering more than anything else.
‘No. Prince Rilke Yorick makes medicine directly. He even used this house as a manufacturing facility.’
Before hearing Ethan’s story, I had only thought that Rilke, who had coincidentally connected with the witch, had purchased the medicine.
The witch.
A strange apothecary and a middle-aged madame who also frequented Iota’s social circles.
In many ways, it didn’t fit Rilke. Rilke had never had his whereabouts ambiguous long enough to go back and forth to Iota.
Also, the witch had been active in Iota for a long time. Therefore, I couldn’t imagine that a nineteen-year-old, not even an adult, could take such steps that would be difficult even for older adults.
After hearing the whole story and returning to the mansion, even while gently coaxing the rabbits out of the enclosure, my mind was blank.
Among the ones that had grown quite heavy, I caught one rabbit that had been sickly from the beginning and carefully trimmed a bit of fur around its rump. I checked all three.
All the rabbits that had escaped from Rilke’s room had black spots.
