When Spera woke up, the now familiar pain of her injured Mana veins assaulted her senses. But she could feel a kind of resistance to it, the pain still present but no longer filling her every thought. Like they were being detached from the torment her body once again went thru.

One thing to note however was that the lethargic feeling of the past months seemed to have vanished.

Thinking about it Spera concluded that the languor was a side effect of the poison and that now that she was cured of it, her body was fine once again. Well except her damaged Mana veins.

But how could she prove it?

Even her parents who at first had suspected poison had associated her former state to her strange “illness” that she always got on her birthday after the poison test had been negative. It wasn’t strange seeing as even Muwa told her that her poison had been very rare and to most deathly. This meant she had to catch the criminal in the act.

She had a few suspicions after having overheard the maids last time, but the sudden worsening of her body had made her incapable to investigate further.

Her prime suspect obviously being Lidiana using one of the lower maids to do her bidding.

After having thought about the issue for a few minutes, the pain had subsided enough for her to be sure not to have it show to obviously, Spera opened her eyes, to her family that was still in the room.

Emerthelil used the last of her energy to move to the bed, Mesanth always supporting her, only to hug her tightly and fainting on the bed.

Her father also moved to the other side of the bed and lay on the bed with them.

Everyone else seeing this, quietly exited the room, giving the couple to rejoice on the survival of their child.

Thanks to Muwas blessing, Spera body seems to have gained a boost on her recovery rate, and two months later she was finally able to leave the bed.

in celebration of her recovery, Emerthelil prepared a surprise.

Entering Spera's room with a big plate, the delicious smell of the food filling the room and making Spera's head quickly spin around from her place on her bed where she had just looked out of the window.

Staring excitedly at the plate in Emerthelils hands she gave a bright smile to her mother.

Suddenly it was as if a dam broke in her mind, memories of different kinds of food started appearing in her mind. Seeing the great number of different foods and noticing that to each food a category, called cuisine, as well as the ingredients and preparation methods were included, Spera was sure that her former self quite loved to eat.

Now she finally understood the annoying and persistent info spamming that had always appeared in her mind every time somebody talked about a dish or the conditions for the preparation for the dish appeared before her, like the campfire in her early days that had her mind screaming for marshmallows.

When seeing the food, the color was still quite disturbing, but she had already grown accustomed to it. She could still remember the times where she had timidly bitten into a bright orange piece of meat, just to be surprised by the soft and chewy texture that seemed to melt on her tongue. The times where she had stared down in disgust at a bowl of black liquid with green chunks floating in it, only to be surprised by it being a wonderful potato soup.

So right now staring down at the plate her mother had brought her, filled with a variety of strangely colored meat and vegetables the impact wasn’t as strong as before.

Armed with her new knowledge about the food from earth, she started eating her dish, comparing the meat and vegetables with ones that were similar from earth.

It was obvious after a few bites, that the cook had taken her weakened condition into consideration, cooking the ingredients a few moments longer, making them easier to eat, but also, unfortunately, losing a bit of the normal flavor.

But this allowed Spera, for the first time to really taste the spices used in the dish. Surprisingly she could only taste very few spices, however, the spices itself had a more concentrated taste, making the dish still very tasty.

Looking up, she saw her mother gazing at her with love and concern.

“Mommy, how come the flavor is so strong ?” She said, ignoring the fact that a normal three-year-old wouldn’t ask such a question. It was already established that she was a strange kid.

Chuckling at her daughter's question, Emerthelil sat down on the be and petted her head, causing Spera to lean into the touch.

“Well you see, the spices used by our kitchen, are all gathered from the forest, making them grow much stronger and also making the taste much more concentrated. The chef had to be really careful not to overdo it. Before we had to be careful since little children can have an overload of sensation if eating a meal that was seasoned too much so it has to be increased little by little. Did it taste bad ?” She asked concerned.

“Nononono, it’s really tasty,” Spera answered with a smile, once again picking up her fork to start eating again.

Emerthelil once again patted her head and proceed to tuck Spera's red hair behind her ear. Satisfied with the results, she stood up and excused herself, telling her daughter that she had a bit of work to do. Of course, her work consisted of finding out, which bastard dared hurt her sweet little daughter.

After finishing her meal, Spera leaned back against the headboard, once again thinking about her predicament. Just how could she prove that somebody had poisoned her. And how did they achieve it?

Muwa did say that the poison had been administered by food or drink, but she hadn’t detected anything wrong from her food, and her mother would have analyzed her food before giving it to her to eat.

So that would only leave her with something that she drank …

Just as she pondered over it, dismissing the beverages that Daphne and her brothers would give her throughout the day, the door opened once again and a maid came in, with a small bowl in her hands.

Suddenly a small shiver ran down Spera's spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

That had never happened before.

Suspiciously she looked at the maid. She was one of the few draconian maids working in the castle had been assigned to her side by Lorain a few weeks before her second birthday. But since she was always in the background, Spera had never really paid much attention to her.

Now looking at her closely, she could see that she was quite a beauty. Soft brown hair, deep blue eyes, that emitted a very gentle look and small green scales on her face, arms, and legs.

Suddenly Spera's mind came to a halt. Didn’t the scales on her arms and legs indicate her to be of high draconian heritage? What would such a person be doing working as a maid for her father, a person viewed by the Queen as an enemy?

But that couldn’t be .. that would mean that she was an enemy.

Lorain wouldn’t knowingly assign somebody like that to her side. So that would mean that she had been pressured to do that, this maids background made her think that she wasn’t a threat to her.

But one thing that Spera couldn’t understand was that her symptoms of the poisoning emerged a few months ago, and the maid had served her for more than a year.

Wasn’t that an indication that she didn't poison her? Or was she once again to naive …

If not for the uneasy feeling that became more intense the closer the maid got, Spera would have dismissed her musings.

But she wasn't sure what this feeling indicated. Was this once again something that she got as a side effect from her blessing. Could one of her blessings act as a sort of sensor for things dangerous for her? Thinking about it either Delis or Muwas blessing could have such a side effect, Delis blessing could make her sensitive to her immediate death and Muwas could react to a substance that would harm her body. She had to ask them next time, for now, let it count as her blessing for this allowed her to finally find the perpetrator or at least the puppet that was used for it. Spera was sure that the maid was just being used.

But for now, that wasn’t important, what was important was that she had to think about a way to let her parents find out about the poison in the soup. Damn you Muwa, why didn’t you tell me what kind of poison it was!

“Young miss …” the maid said, bringing Spera out of her musings.

Startled Spera looked up and was frightened that the maid had already reached her bedside. How the hell should I behave right now? Looking around she could see that nobody else was in the room. Damn them! Why isn’t Jeanne in the corner of my room like usual?

“Here you go. Please drink your medicine.” The maid said with a smile. Only now Spera could finally see the coldness that was underneath her gentle eye. No wonder I hadn’t noticed her before. She was a superb actress.

And now she finally knew why the maid hadn’t poisoned her before. Not that she didn’t want to, but that she didn't have the opportunity for it. The medicine she held out to her, which Spera stared at in disgust, had only been described after her second birthday when her parents worried that she wouldn’t recover after the having suffered twice from the mana explosion.

Funny how the thing that should have helped you get better, was used to poison you-

Spera laughed at her own joke with a bit of mirth in her eyes.

The maid, not knowing what happened to the usual docile princess looked at her strangely, Spera noticing a sliver of disgust entering her eyes for a moment before it disappeared without a trace.

Straightening her body, Spera took the bowl out of the maid's hands, her name escaping her perfect memory, making Spera doubt that she had even introduced herself to her.

Stalling for time, Spera looked up to her and smiled.

“What is your name ?” She asked, turning the bowl in her hands, no indication of drinking it anytime soon.

Surprised the maid hurriedly bowed her head.

“That was my mistake young mistress. I am called Yuyan “ She said, freezing in her position until Spera told her to get back up.

“It’s ok. I was just surprised that I couldn’t remember your name.” She said with a small smile.

“Yuyan … where are you from ?” She suddenly asked in a childish tone of voice after a moment of complete silence.

“I come from a small island called Desmos not far from here …” She replied, but Spera could see her unease.

“Oh really ….” She said, making a mental note to ask Tiang where exactly Desmos was located. If her hunch was right it couldn’t be far from Coalesco.

Just as she wanted to once again talk about something unimportant to stall for time, Lorain entered the room. Seems like Jeanne did do his job and went so far as to inform his wife.

Pleasantly surprised Spera smiled at her with obvious warmth.

Loran seeing the maid hovering on Spera's bedside became irritated. Her husband had told her that the princess had behaved suspiciously when the maid had entered and since it was still not proven that Spera's condition had only deteriorated because of her illness or if someone else had their hands at play, everyone was cautious.

“You can go now. “ Lorain stated with a very cold voice., making the maid shudder. Reaching out for the cold medicine that was in Spera's hand, she wanted to go out. But how could Spera let her take the evidence with her? Holding tightly only to bowl, she turned pleading eyes towards Lorain. Understanding her little princess, murderous intent slowly crept into Lorain's eyes. If Jeanne or one of her three children had been present, they would have screamed to the maid to run for her life.

In a motion, that Spera couldn’t follow with her eyes, Lorain appeared next to the maid, striking her neck, making her slump to the ground.

“Are you alright ?” Lorain suddenly said, making Spera's gaze turned from the motionless body in front of her bed to the woman that was like a second mother to her and looked suddenly quite scary. With a wobbly smile, Spera pressed out an “I’m fine.” Glancing from time to time at Yuyans body.

“Can you tell me what’s going on ?” Lorain asked, lowering herself to be on Spera's eye level.

“She was acting strangely…” Spera said, giving the bowl to Lorain, sure that she could connect the points. She was never convinced that it had only been her illness, but she could never find out what caused it.

“I will not disappoint you, ”Lorain said, noticing that once again her little princess had been forced to grow up.

Saddened she got up, took the offered bowl and started to leave the room.

“Get a bit of sleep. You are still healing. Have good dreams my little princess.” She said warmly before leaving the room, Yuyans body vanishing as the door closed behind her.

Signing, Spera made herself more comfortable and closed her eyes. Lorain was right, she was still healing. She had confidence that Lorain would find out now that she had the minion and the poison in her hands.

Later that day, Mesanth sat behind his desk in the office, despairing about the mountains of paperwork that had started to accumulate in the last few weeks. The missions and incidents that had begun accumulating over the last three years straining the manpower needed to deal with them all.

Just as he once again looked at the report before him, telling him about unrest in a small town south from Azuma which could indicate more than what was mentioned in the report.

Suddenly Jeanne materialized before him, immediately bowing and waiting for the command to be at ease.

Irritated by the work and wanting to take his frustration out on someone, Mesanth let him hold the position for a few moments, the silence pressuring him to finally call out “At ease.”

“What can I do for you ?” Mesanth drawled, leaning back in his armchair and interlacing his fingers with one another observing his friend as he brushed the imaginary dust from his uniform, a sign that he too was frustrated about the position but knew his station as a servant didn’t allow him to vent them. Jeanne looked up at him, his eyes promising retribution, and Mesant knew that he had just ordered himself two new stacks of paperwork. But thinking about it, it was worth it.

With a small smile, he accepted the challenge, the confrontation coming to a close and the tension evaporated.

“Sir, it seems like we have a winner. “ Jeanne said in a low voice, making Mesanth almost jump out of his chair.

“Why didn’t you say that immediately !” He complained, moving towards the door, Jeanne only a few steps behind him.

“You found it appropriate to play around, so I adjusted to the situation.” Jeanne defended himself, a shadow of a smirk could be seen on his lips.

“Sir…” Jeanne suddenly said before Mesanth could open the door to the hallway under the stairs in the entrance hall.

“What is it now ?”

“My dear wife is in her special room… so I would suggest using the other stairs.” Jeanne said mysteriously, but Mesanth knew what he meant, his face showing displeasure at the idea.

“You know I don’t like them. Can’t we go the normal way …” Mesanth started whining, looking with pitiful eyes at Jeanne who almost couldn’t the corners of his mouth which started twitching harder the longer he looked at his friend.

“Don’t be such a baby. “ He said harshly. “I endure it, You can too. You are the king.” He said as if his station made him immune to the threat.

“I hate you!” Mesanth said, without much power behind the statement.

Giving him a genuine smile, Jeanne sarcastically answered “Me too.” while laying one hand on the doorknob making it glow in an ominous dark-purple light, before opening the door and revealing a slightly hovering plate, just big enough for two people.

Getting on it, Mesanth closed his eyes in dread.

He could hear Jeanne chuckle before his voice called out “Attention !”.

And just as he had known it would be, the plate started moving at an incredible spread, his stomach protesting against the flight upwards, but he still held his eyes closed.

He could still remember the first time Jeanne had tricked him onto the platform, the visual input overwhelming him and causing him to vomit over the entire plate.

It had been a chore to clean the entire platform and the surroundings, Lorain refusing to give him a helping hand.

That indeed was a lesson on humility.

When the platform came to a stop, they found themselves in a small hallway that was dimly lit.

“Really Jeanne? Come on! I know that you have real lighting. I had to pay for it. “ He said giving a side glance to him, seeing the disappointed expression on his face. Waving his hand, the lights brightened, revealing that the walls had portraits of Daphne, Samuel, Leon, Lorain, and Jeanne on them, picturing them at different ages.

Walking thru the hallway, they came to a black door them gave them entry to Jeanne’s and Lorain’s bedroom. Being situated in the servant quarters but still far away from the normal servant, Jeanne being the head-butler and Lorain the head-maid, gave them the possibility to have a more luxurious bedroom then the others. The walls were painted in a soft lilac color which was accentuated with a grey bordure that was affixed along the walls top section. Mostly picturing flowers, but Mesanth that had already studied it in detail could also see Jeanne’s and Lorains personal history pictures throughout the bordure.

The simple double bed was made out of very expensive Elwood, a mana infused timber that indicated the element used with the mana. In this case, the bed frame was pitch black, indicating the use of the darkness affinity.

Turning right and walking past the fireplace with big comfortable armchairs and the wardrobe also made out of Elwood, also colored pitch black, Jeanne had to step before Mesanth to lay his hand onto a special place on the wall, revealing a new door when infusing his Mana into it.

The door swung open and revealed Lorain, standing over a table with different viles and a small cauldron brewing next to her, placed on another platform them was glowing red and emitting extreme heat.

Mesanth was still surprised by the room, the walls filled to the brim with different books, dangerous plants and even a few cages with small animals, even if he had seen it more times than he could count. Staring transfixed at Lorain that seemed to pour together a bright goey purple substance and a bright green liquid only to get a yellow liquid with a brown sediment.

“Did she catch another new one ?” He asked his friend without looking at him, having noticed a new cage in the back of the room, almost hidden underneath the table.

“Yes she found it in the gardens and I couldn’t say no to her …” Jeanne said with a bit of a helpless expression but his love for his wife clear in his normally emotionless eyes.

“You never do …” Mesanth complained, still remembering the different creatures they had to secretly dispose of because Jeanne couldn’t tell Lorain to get rid of them.

“So !” Mesanth suddenly called out, bringing Lorains attention to their arrival,” Jeanne told me you had a winner ?”

“Yes.” Lorain just said, turning back to her experiment.

“A bit of an explanation if you wouldn’t mind,” Mesanth said impatiently.

“Actually I do mind since this here is the poison your daughter ingested so I want to find out more right now. Ask Jeanne, I told him the important bits.”But didn’t you want me here ?”

“Huh? Did I say that ?” Lorain said irritated, forgetting for a moment who she was talking to. But knowing her reason for it, Mesanth accepted her behavior, turning to Jeanne.

“No. Seems like I misunderstood.” Mesanth said with a glare to Jeanne that couldn't hold back his laughter.

“So … care to explain?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What my dear wife is experimenting on right now, is a very rare poison called ‘Night’s death’, given in small doses to the victim it can cause exhaustion, organ failure and finally death. It was found in the princesses medicine …”

The anger that rolled off Mesanth at his words was almost palatable.

“Did you get the confession ?” He gritted out, holding onto a sliver of common sense.

“I have to confess, that the maid only admitted to poisoning the princess and gave up the merchant that sold her the poison. However, she didn’t implicate anyone else making the confession almost useless for our purposes.”Jeanne said softly, not wanting to convey the bad news but having no alternative.

“Sooo~ we have nothing ?” Mesanth almost screamed in frustration. The plans had been set into motion months ago but still didn’t bring the desired results and now they had the perfect opportunity to finally nail them, but it still wasn’t enough.

“The princess told us, that the maid told her that her home-island is called Desmos. We looked it up and found no such island. However, we did find a small village on Doratio with that name. And now please guess what island is almost exactly next to it.” Jeanne said, a small smile spreading over his features.

“Coalesco …” Mesanth breathed out.He knew the islands of the draconian empire like the back of his hands. They had them!

“Can you prove it ?” He immediately asked, resisting the urge to hug Jeanne in his excitement.

“We send a few spies. They answer and the report should be back in a week, tops.”

Jeanne said and couldn’t even blink before he was enveloped into a big hug from his best friend.

Just as they started cheering for their success, a scary voice sounded next to them.

“If you want to disturb me any longer … be prepared for the consequences.”

Turning, they came face to face with a fuming Lorain, broken test tubes littering the table behind her and black smoke rising from the liquid that was spilled.

This time both men felt a shiver run down their spine and started hugging each other, in fear.