Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 43
“I, I don’t know much about that.”
Hannah answered hesitantly.
“It was just an almost odorless green liquid.”
“Why the maid’s lotion, of all things?”
“Madam said… that lotion would be the most natural way to administer poison.”
‘Adam won’t know. He’s never held a child or raised one himself.’
In the midst of the cloudy steam of the bath, that’s what Guinevere said.
“Little children often suck their fingers, so he would gradually ingest it, becoming weak over a long time and dying without anyone noticing… She said there was no need to worry about suspicion.”
For the first time, intense anger flashed in Adam’s usually composed eyes. As he raised his fist, Ulysses grabbed his shoulder.
“Uncle, Hannah Linfitt has already confessed.”
“That wretch tried to kill my heir.”
“Assaulting a confessor is also a crime.”
“…”
Adam placed his clenched fist on his knee. Ulysses asked,
“Is there any of the poison left?”
“No, it’s all gone. I used it all…”
“Then the only remaining evidence is the lotion.”
Adam commanded a footman.
“Go to the nanny’s room and bring the item where this maid mixed the poison.”
“Yes, right away.”
As the footman left, the butler burst in, panting.
“Master!”
“What’s the matter?”
“Madam Rosencrantz has collapsed!”
“My sister?”
Adam leaped up from his seat.
‘Why now, of all times!’
This wasn’t the time. They needed to investigate further, to gather more evidence!
“Why did she suddenly collapse?”
“That is…”
The butler hesitated, his expression uneasy.
“She suddenly ran into the nanny’s room, looking for the lotion and then…”
The butler closed his eyes tightly. The screeching voice of Guinevere still echoed in his ears.
‘Where’s the drain? Where is it!’
‘Madam Rosencrantz, what are you doing!’
‘Answer me! Where is it!’
‘Th, the Coffret Manor has no plumbing in rooms other than the bathroom and kitchen!’
‘What…?’
Coffret House’s water supply was top-notch. Hot water was readily available in the bathroom, so there was no need for portable bathtubs or sinks in other rooms.
As the butler finished speaking, Guinevere ran off with the lotion towards the second-floor bathroom. Shortly after, she encountered the footman rushing towards the nanny’s room.
In a desperate situation with no chance to hide the evidence, she had no choice but to…
“…She poured all of it into her own mouth.”
“Ha…!”
Adam rubbed his face with his hands. After a long silence, he summed up his emotions in a single phrase.
“She’s gone mad.”
His comment was unexpectedly cynical for a man who had only recently seemed ready to tear the world apart for the sake of that woman.
Ulysses was just as shocked. He stood frozen, alternating his gaze between the butler and Adam, unable to comprehend what he had just heard.
Too absurd to believe.
‘Mother swallowed the lotion herself?’
But that lotion definitely contained poison…
“Damn it!”
Realizing the implications, Ulysses dashed out.
She might be a woman who regarded him as a blot on her life, but she was still his mother. Not as gentle as the former Countess Lasphilla or as maternal as Cecilia’s birth mother…
But still.
She’s his mother.
In a harsh environment with no recognition from his father, she was the one who gave birth to him, and raised him without ever giving up.
They hated and despised each other, yet couldn’t pretend to be strangers like other people.
A connection bound by a fate wherein they could never betray each other.
Ulysses exclaimed,
“Call a doctor immediately!”
***
Hannah Linfitt was immediately handed over to the authorities. She confessed to everything related to Nathan, but vehemently denied her involvement in the poisoning of Ulysses’ sachet.
But in the end, the only evidence left as a lead in this case was the sachet, which Hannah had so verily denied her involvement in.
What would have helped was the lotion, given that it contained the poison that would have poisoned Nathan. However, as it had disappeared into someone else’s stomach, it couldn’t be examined.
Marchioness Rosencrantz, though suspected, was not arrested. The testimony of a maid was not enough to bring a noble lady of her standing to court.
With the lotion gone, Guinevere was technically innocent.
Externally, the case seemed resolved, but within the Coffret Manor, it remained very much active.
Especially since Nigel, who was supposedly poisoned, woke up perfectly fine a few days later.
“Sir Nigel Rosencrantz.”
Adam called Nigel to the drawing room.
“The doctor said you were poisoned.”
“…”
Nigel let out a faint chuckle, his complexion still somewhat pale.
He had just regained consciousness that morning.
And immediately caused a scene, vowing to kill that mongrel.
People thought he was delirious from the illness, having terrible nightmares and confusing them with reality.
“If you weren’t poisoned, then I have to suspect it was a sudden illness.”
If it wasn’t Ulysses who tried to harm Nigel, then the situation could be reversed.
One could suspect Nigel pretended to be poisoned to frame Ulysses.
“What do you think?”
Adam asked, and Nigel responded with a mocking curve of his lips.
“Do you really think I wouldn’t understand your intention in asking that?”
