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Aelia woke up to another bright day, she was feeling much better than before and there was a soft smile etched upon her face as she got up and got helped into her dress by her maid. After thanking the maid, she made her way downstairs to the dining room to have breakfast with her family.
"Good morning father, mother, and my dear brothers!" She bursted inside with a wider smile than before.
Her parents greeted her back, fondly, while her brothers looked at her as if she was a stranger.
"Who are you and what have you done to my sister?" Alex asked, baffled.
Altair exhaled softly, "I second that."
"Oh, whatever do you mean?" Aelia giggled softly. "Let's just sit down and enjoy today's food."
The family conversed some more as they ate. Suddenly, the Marquess put a hand on his head. Everyone looked over at him in concern.
"Father?" Aelia asked.
"It's probably nothing, just a small headac-"
The Marquess was unable to complete his sentence as his face fell forward. Luckily, Alex was able to grab him before his face hit the table.
"Call the physician!" The Marchioness yelled.
Some maids came over and helped the Marquess, carrying him to his bedroom while the rest of the family came with. The physician soon entered the room and began examining the Marquess. His face turned pale as he finished the examination and faced the rest of the family.
"The Marquess has been poisoned." The physician exclaimed.
Everyone was shocked.
"How could that be?!" The Marchioness demanded an explanation.
"I believe it could be through the food. However, that is only a mere observation."
"Wait, but if our food had been poisoned then.. are we also poisoned?!" Altair asked, his eyes widened from his shocking thought.
"That could be the case." The physician said after some thought. "All of you must be examined."
The physician then proceeded to examine the Marchioness first.
"Thankfully, the Marchioness has not been poisoned." He said with a sigh of relief after some time.
Everyone else was relieved, but the rest still had to undergo examination just in case. After the physician had finished examining the children, he looked up rather worried.
"Only Lady Aelia and the Marchioness have not been poisoned. All the men of the house Perez have been poisoned."
The Marchioness' face turned pale as she felt weak. Aelia helped her sit down on a chair and comforted her. She was very shocked about how any of this could happen. The first person who came to her mind was Ezekiel, she wanted to ask him for help immediately. However, her mother needed her right now for the rest of their family was now put to bed rest and had to be observed.
"I have given them some medicinal herbs which might help alleviate their pain and restrict the poison from committing further damage. However, I'll need to observe them some more so I can find out exactly what poison was used and when did this start." The physician spoke after a few hours. "I'll need to examine the food which was given to the Marquess' family in the morning." He asked from the maids nearby.
One of them hurriedly rushed down to the kitchen and came back upstairs with the Marquess' unfinished plate. After the physician examined it, his eyes widened slightly.
He muttered under his breath, "My... oh my.."
"What's the matter?" Aelia asked him, her worry increasing due to his reaction.
"This poison is only lethal in huge quantities. Seeing as how the Marquess collapsed and is in such a state means that he has been getting poisoned numerous times, not just once."
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