I had put all of my attention on studying the poison in the head eunuch's body, which had now reached the paralysis stage, rendering him numb. I had so far found three components of the poison; perfectly ordinary elements but when combined became a deadly poison.
The head eunuch's skin had formed red rashes as well, so I inserted a sterile needle into one of them, drawing out a drop of blood to examine. While doing all of this, I of course covered myself with a protective film.
The probing of the blood brought one answer back. Injestion of blackwinter seed.
It was not fully absorbed into his bloodstream, though. That meant he'd just injested it. And that would have also been before he became numb.
"Ao-ye!" I wrung my hands in anguish. He appeared behind me without a sound.
"Your Highness?"
"Did anyone come in here?"
"No, your highness,"
"How then--" I was stumped. Now he would die, and I wouldn't be able to fully resolve Father's poisoning.
Maybe he hadn't wanted to be interrogated. I was the cause. If only I'd had him interrogated before starting to study!
"Your Highness, is there a problem?" Ao-ye saw me wringing my hands and hitting the table.
"He's committed suicide!"
Surprise flashed across his face. He went over and placed two fingers under the head eunuch's neck.
"But--he's still alive?" He glanced at me.
"He'll die within ten hours. I should have had him questioned first," I hit the table a few more times.
"Your Highness--" Ao-ye hesitated, "if you want him questioned, there is a way..."
I looked up at him.
"How? He's paralyzed and can't speak,"
"Yes," Ao-ye nodded, "but his imprint still can,"
I hadn't even thought of that.
"Okay," I nodded, "do that then. Try your best to know who sent him,"
Suddenly, the still figure of the head eunuch convulsed!
"He can hear us," Ao-ye had a dangerous glint in his eyes, "that's good. He already knows what's coming."
***
I leafed through texts on medicine that Suran Olleen brought me, accompanied by Savitria. I had a a dismissed them far too quickly for their liking though, so I sat quite peacefully in the garden of my Tranquility Palace, tossing a book aside from time to time.
The texts were useless! There wasn't even any mention of blackwinter seed, not once! And I had learned of it's existence in Valencia, from an old woman who ran a plant shop on our street.
I tossed the rest of the books aside and closed my eyes. Skyfall Thunder Vat appeared and landed with a thud on the smooth grass underfoot. Another thought and the odor from medicinal ingredients invaded my senses. I frowned in concentration, as I brought out a wisp of my imprint, tossing it into the vat.
The mastermind had used natural ingredients with mostly heat energy. I had to counter it.
Piu! Piu! Piu, piu piu!
Medicinal ingredients with cold attributes rushed into the vat one after the other!
A turn of my hand and a golden flame appeared on my finger. I was just about to begin refinement when my sharp ears caught Ao-ye's stern voice in the distance:
"I'm sorry, but you can't come in. Her Highness is refining pills right now,"
I heard a mocking laughter next. It sounded very unpleasant. Snapping open my eyes, I darned that person over and over, returning both the vat and the medicinal ingredients to my conscious.
Then I stood up and started walking towards the entrance of Tranquility Palace.
"Let me in!"
I arrived just as Ao-ye drew his sword. The maids heard footsteps behind them and turned around, bowing.
"Your Highness,"
"Put down the sword," I said to Ao-ye. He lowered it and cupped his hands to me, then stood to the side. I turned my gaze to the visitor.
"And who are you?"
He was wearing plain white robes, a sash of gold around his waist. He held a carved stick, which reminded me of grandmother's staff. I didn't even look at his face.
"I didn't know that Princess Neiman was as rude as her guards,"
Ao-ye drew his sword. I raised my eyes to finally look at the person. He had a leering grin, and he was as dark as I was, with purple colored eyes.
"I thought I asked you a question?"
He laughed.
"It will not do for you to be arrogant. After all, everyone is only giving you face because of His Majesty. You don't even have as much as a faction,"
"Ao-ye, who is he?" I turned to Ao-ye when I realized that it seemed that this person was sick in the head. Ao-ye pursed his lips.
"He's Foster Prince He Shu,"
I walked up to Foster Prince He Shu and slapped him hard across the face.
"I usually do not allow people to disturb me when I am refining. That will make you remember,"
He held his face, dazed. Coming to his senses, he yelled.
"You'll find yourself down before you know it! I came with you with open arms, with an offer for you to join my faction! Do you think you'll have His Majesty's protection forever?!"
"Ao-ye," I called.
At his signal, a dozen guards jumped out and dragged him away from Tranquility Palace. Turning to Ao-ye, I asked,
"What's wrong with all these foster princes and princesses? Aren't they even afraid of the Emperor?"
To my surprise, Ao-ye nodded.
"His Majesty took them as His own offspring. They of course won't take it lightly that all their authority is gone. And also," Ao-ye looked grim, "they still think Your Highness is Neiman Hakorhi,"