Soleah took a seat on the bed while Lucia took a kneeling position.
"Lucia, I told you. No kneeling, rise and tell me everything." Soleah gestured for Lucia to stand up, to which she obliged with great enthusiasm.
"Yes, your majesty!" She stopped for a moment; she would not wish to waste Soleah's time.
Lucia opened her palm and held the small glass bottle. "In the kitchen, I was visited by the Spymaster Lira."
"And she gave you the vial?" Soleah reached out and took the vial from Lucia's palm.
Lucia nodded. The queen keenly observed her every action; she had to be as truthful as possible, lest Soleah suspect her of procuring the poison of her own volition.
For a moment, an image of her being accused of attempting to poison Aqua invaded her mind, yet with a shake of her head, she dispelled it. Soleah was not someone who would judge people with such haste.
Yet instead of any anticipated action, she responded calmly, "I am truly glad that you were smart enough to report this." She smiled.
Lucia sighed. She should learn her place, yet she had her own ambitions. She wanted to climb the ranks and become someone her mother would be proud of.
She adjusted herself and puffed out her chest, "I could not merely obey such a heinous order; it just is not right."
The queen stared in her eyes for a solid minute, which made Lucia shrink down as she expected to be reprimanded; however, Soleah merely giggled.
"It seems I have gravely misjudged your character." Soleah pushed herself up and grabbed Lucia's hand, and placed it between her palms.
"Huh?!" She tried to retreat, yet Soleah overpowered her.
"Did she do anything other than ask you to deliver the poison?"
"No, the only thing she did was use some kind of mind spell… however, it seems to have failed, as I remember everything."
Soleah's grin widened. "You can probably thank Aqua for that one."
Lucia tilted her head, "Why?"
"She told me she grew to like you, so she placed the heart of the phoenix on you. It prevents death… and apparently mind-wiping spells."
"She…She can do that?"
"Indeed, she can."
"I…" Lucia raised her palms before her head, her body shook out of sheer shock.
"We can continue with that later on. I was about to go meet with Aqua. There are urgent matters to conduct, you should tell her everything you did to me just now."
"Sure…" She nodded.
So Aqua is someone very influential, as I suspected. She had to make sure she was in good standing with her; otherwise, her ambitions would have been crushed beyond repair.
Soleah grabbed the vial and put it inside her dress. "Aqua and Sheira met to go and search for Azure; however, I think they shouldn't have headed out just yet. Let's go."
Lucia nodded as she closely followed the queen outside the chambers.
"May I ask, who exactly is Aqua?"
"You wouldn't be satisfied with my answer that she was only my daughter's tutor?"
She shook her head; she had no reason to fear retribution. Soleah was far too forgiving to punish her over something so small."I… would like to know the truth."
"Curious." Soleah brought a hand to her mouth and let out an elegant chuckle. "I am afraid I do not know much; you would have to ask her or Sheira."
The young servant nodded. It was not her place to question Soleah despite her graciously allowing her freedom to speak.
They passed the elegant halls toward Aqua's assigned bedroom, and Soleah gently knocked.
"Enter." Aqua's voice was more stern than usual, which made Lucia shake slightly. Despite interacting with the woman, she had never seen her sounding mad.
Soleah opened the door and stepped inside the bedroom, closely followed by Lucia, who held her arms in a V shape before herself.
Lucia looked around the bedroom, which was far too luxurious for a servant; it made sense considering that she was far above what she thought.
What made it even more apparent was that the princess Sheira herself was seated right next to her on the bed.
"Your majesty. Lady Aqua." She nervously bowed, while she was sure that Aqua was someone powerful, it did not mean they weren't friends. They had a chance to bond, thus she skipped the pleasantries.
"Hi, Soleah, Lucia." Aqua nodded as she gestured for them to find a seat, to which Soleah promptly pulled out a chair and took a seat near the bed.
"Mom, are you going to try and seduce Aqua too?" Sheira leaned forward as she smugly smiled toward her mother.
Soleah's lips curled up. "What would you do if I did, my dear daughter~"
"I would tell Azure my own mother is stealing her Aqua!" Sheira grinned before a hearty chuckle escaped both of the girl's lips.
Aqua couldn't help but smile at the scene; it truly relaxed her despite the news that Sheira had delivered to her.
Lucia stared with a wide-eyed expression at the scene. Two royals joked and sat next to Aqua as if they were equal.
No, they certainly are.
"Lucia, come sit." Aqua tilted her head. However, Lucia couldn't help but fidget and quiver. "I… I can't, Lady Aqua! I didn't realise how close you were to the royalty."
She bowed deeply, despite being friends with Aqua; she was far too rude.
"Lucia… sit, that's an order," Soleah interjected.
Lucia sighed, despite wishing to obey the pecking order; an order from the queen was not to be disobeyed.
With a shaky grip, she pulled out another luxurious chair and sat next to Soleah.
"I suppose you are here to tell me about Azure?"
"No, Lucia and I have more information about Lira." Soleah turned to Lucia, who still stared at the trio with a befuddled expression.
"Go on, Lucia. Tell Aqua what happened." Soleah put her hand inside her dress and retrieved the vial before handing it to Aqua.
The shy maid gulped. She fiddled with her thumbs for a moment, "Lira came to the kitchen… and asked me to put that liquid inside your food… I didn't want to poison you, so I reported it to her majesty."
The silence reigned for a moment as Aqua closely inspected the vial of purple liquid.
A bead of sweat rolled down Lucia's forehead. "I promise I would never obey such an order!"
A chuckle belonging to Sheira reached Lucia's ears, "Lucia, was that your name?"
"Yes, your highness…"
"You needn't be so worried. Aqua likes you, which means both I and Mom are completely okay with you."
Yet Lucia ignored Sheira's mutterings; instead, she stared at Aqua, who closely inspected the vial of poison.
The elven girl's eyes glowed slightly as she inspected the nature of the fluid.
"This is a heartstopper poison, or at least something similar to it. It is designed to act over a period of three days, after which the victim would suffer a total organ failure." Aqua frowned as she swirled the contents.
Three other elves gasped in unison; however, Aqua continued. "Over those three days, the victim would develop symptoms of a common illness, coughing, sneezing, and vomiting. It depends on the victim's body."
Soleah crossed her arms, "So… she wants to kill you, too."
"I guess I did step on the snake's tail." Aqua let out a soft chuckle.
The carefree chuckle made Lucia shrink back. She is treating it as if it's a mere annoyance.
"Lucia, you will have to get used to this." Sheira smuggly smiled.
Unlike Sheira and Soleah, Lucia had never experienced the sheer difference between Aqua and other elves; it was something she would need to learn and get used to before her heart stopped.
"However, this poison is much, and I mean much, less potent than the one I know of." Aqua handed the vial back to Soleah before she leaned back. "Even if I drank that, nothing would happen. I am immune to poisons."
The royal duo did not speak, and Lucia followed suit as the temperature in the room rose to an uncomfortable degree. "Soleah, why do you insist on not killing her on the spot. Give me a good reason before I sentence her to a fate worse than death."
Soleah waved her hand lightly, "She deserves death, however, I want to dissolve the council, they do nothing but slow down important decisions. This is perhaps the only opportunity to do so legitimately in the eyes of the people."
"I know that Azure is alive. I hope for your own sake, Soleah, that you know what you are doing." Aqua leaned forward, "Do not think because I grew to like you that I will tolerate putting Azure in danger."
She threatened Soleah. Lucia sweated. Nobody dared threaten the queen before, and now not only had someone threatened her, but the queen looked scared.
"Trust me, dear. Azure will be safe." Soleah bowed deeply, closely followed by Sheira.
"Please, Aqua. My mother knows what she is doing, please trust her…" Sheira stared at her with puppy eyes.
No matter how much Aqua distrusted most people, seeing Sheira plead in such a way made her relax. "Sure… but if I suspect she is in a moment of danger."
"We know." Both girls nodded.
Lucia felt as if she was about to collapse. What did I get myself into now. She wanted to cry, yet she could not. She had to maintain the little image she had.