Senior, I've Come to Visit - Chapter 51

“Yes. Once you stop taking the potion when you no longer need it, the effects will disappear shortly. I’ve recorded all the details in the report.”

“I’ll read it thoroughly tomorrow.”

The queen flipped quickly through the report and set it down.

“And I’d like you to make additional quantities of the same potion, in generous amounts. Before I take it myself, I want others to confirm its effects.”

Ah….

It seemed the queen intended to test it on other people before taking it herself.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t surprising. There was no reason royalty would trust a newly developed magic potion without caution.

If I’d known this would happen, I wondered briefly whether I should’ve bothered testing it on myself, but I soon changed my mind. Even if others were going to be used for testing, it was better that I be the first. Since I had no idea what side effects might occur, that was the only option that gave me peace of mind, and thankfully, no side effects appeared.

“If you tell me the quantity you need, I’ll make it and send it to you.”

“Good. I’ll contact you again soon regarding that matter. You worked hard creating the potion. My judgment was correct, you really are the right person for the task.”

“You flatter me, Your Majesty.”

“It isn’t flattery. You’re modest on top of that.”

The queen gave a pleasant smile and gestured for the ladies-in-waiting to leave. They slipped out without a sound, leaving only the queen and me in the receiving room. A sudden sense of unease made my body tense.

It had struck me earlier that the queen didn’t seem particularly interested in the lactation-promoting potion. So was this her real purpose?

“Thanks to the potion you made, I don’t have to worry about milk this time. A good start.”

The queen caressed her swollen belly with a delicate hand.

“A little while ago, another wizard came to see me and said the child in my belly is a prince.”

“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

She seemed unable to hide her joy and relief, and I responded with appropriate formality. Whether she bore a prince or a princess had nothing to do with me, but I knew my etiquette.

“Thank you. Now, there’s one more thing I want to entrust to you.”

“Please speak.”

I readied myself, expecting something unpleasant. I prepared myself not to be surprised by anything I heard.

“I’ll be direct. I intend to eliminate anyone who could become an obstacle to the prince’s future. For that, I need a new poison, and I want you to make it.”

“….”

It took effort to keep my expression neutral.

“I already have several kinds of poison, but the reason I want a new one is simple. I’m not satisfied with the existing ones. You know this well. All poisons leave traces on the dead. Even poisons like Sycharis may not show outward signs on the corpse, but a toxicology test after autopsy will always detect it.”

She was right. The queen clearly understood poisons.

Every poison in existence showed signs of poisoning. Whether ingested, absorbed through the skin, or enters the body another way, poison inevitably leaves traces as it kills.

Most poisons left visible evidence such as vomit, bloody foam, chunks of hair that had fallen out, darkened or bluish nails, swelling or ulceration of the skin.

Even those that left the surface seemingly intact could be identified by examining the inside: mottled membranes, corroded esophagus, necrotic organs. Sycharis, being a deadly poison that paralyzed the heart before destroying the organs, left less damage, but even so, its remaining components in the body were easily detected with a reagent.

“If I eliminate enemies using poison, people will suspect I’m behind it since I stand to gain. If I’m unlucky, someone might track the clues back to me and investigate. I can’t move carelessly.”

The queen gave a bitter smile.

“So what I want from you is a poison that leaves no trace whatsoever.”

A poison that leaves no trace.

“In other words, I want a poison that can be disguised as natural death. One that shows nothing on the surface of the body and nothing in a toxicology test during autopsy.”

Just hearing it made it clear how close to impossible it was. Even for medicine, not poison, something like that couldn’t exist. She was asking me to use materials and magic and still leave no trace behind.

“There’s no need for an antidote. Just make the poison.”

She spoke as if she were being incredibly generous. Even though she was demanding something impossible.

“And it would be best if it can be mixed easily into food or drink. If it’s colorless and odorless, that would be ideal.”

I hadn’t even agreed to do it, yet the queen kept adding difficult conditions on top of it. She clearly believed magic could do anything.

I hurriedly began thinking of how to refuse. If it were anyone else making this request, I would’ve rejected it immediately without listening further. But this was the queen. I had to refuse carefully without offending her.

“Oh, and one more thing. Do I need to make different versions of the poison depending on the target’s gender or age?”

What was she talking about?

“…Most poisons do have different lethal doses depending on gender and age. And there are poisons made with ingredients that are especially harmful to a specific gender.”

“Then I should tell you the priority. Ideally, I want a poison versatile enough to use on anyone, but if that isn’t possible, then the first target should be boys under the age of ten, and next, women in their thirties.”

I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Boys under ten, Your Majesty?”

When I reflexively repeated her words, the queen gave a small nod and watched me closely. Her gaze studied my reaction, as if waiting to see how I would respond. I hid my shock and kept my expression calm.

Who in the world was she trying to kill? And why would she want to poison a child not even ten years old?

“Since I’m entrusting you with something important, I should tell you a little of the plan. I trust that you’ll keep your mouth shut.”

No, I didn’t want to take this job, nor did I want to hear any part of her plan. I tried to find a way to decline without provoking her, but the queen began speaking first.

“Yeni Shapiro and her child. Those two are the ones I want to eliminate above all else.”

Ah….

Why didn’t I think of that immediately?

Yeni Shapiro was the king’s beloved mistress.

I had never seen her in person, but she was famous for her beauty and her bold, charming personality. I’d heard she got along well with the king. And last year, she gave birth to the king’s child, a son. Even though he was born out of wedlock, the king acknowledged him as his own and seemed to favor and support him greatly. That meant the king currently had three children: the princess born of the queen, the boy born of Yeni Shapiro, and the prince in the queen’s belly.

On the surface, the queen and Yeni Shapiro appeared to maintain a cordial relationship, but it wasn’t hard to imagine the truth. And it was obvious that the child Yeni Shapiro bore would be a threat to the queen and her children.

The reason I hadn’t thought of this right away was simple. Even if the queen wanted to keep them in check, I never imagined she would go as far as planning poison. And more than that, the illegitimate child wasn’t even a year old yet. Technically, he was a boy under ten, but lumping him into that category felt wrong. I hadn’t imagined she would plan something like this so soon.

“….”

I barely managed to keep a neutral expression.

Hearing the actual target of the poisoning made everything feel disturbingly real. The queen intended for me to create a lethal poison so she could kill someone with it.

I had never conducted research out of any noble sense of justice, but because I genuinely enjoyed it. Still, I had always held one belief: at the very least, my work should not harm others.

Yet now she was telling me to create a poison with a clear target. If two people ended up dying because of something I made, I knew I would live with guilt for the rest of my life. And it was highly likely the victims wouldn’t stop at just two.

Above all, selfish as it might be, my own safety mattered most. As someone from the Magic Tower, I had a general understanding of royal affairs, but I’d always considered them distant, irrelevant events from another world.