Chapter 215 215. Infectious Disease, Part VIII
Editor: Aelryinth
Killian’s black eyes glowed coldly at the doctor’s words on his knees on the floor. This man pinpointed what he had felt was strange for a few days.
"Get up." Killian’s order raised the doctor’s up. "Sit down and talk to me in detail. Ian, bring a chair."
As if he had no intention of leaving the bed for a moment, Killian ordered him to bring a chair to his side. As Paulo carefully seated himself in the chair, Killian nodded as if to speak.
"Twelve years ago, I stayed at the Tilia Territory of the Duke of Kiellini. My teacher was the house doctor of the Kiellini family."
Killian looked at him, turning his gaze from Julietta. "You mean if it was twelve years ago, are you the doctor who was helping treat the Duchess of Kiellini?"
"Yes, Your Highness. I was a trainee doctor at the time."
Killian’s mind started working fast. There must have been a reason to bring up the seemingly irrelevant story at this point. "What does it have to do with what’s going on here and in the capital?"
Paulo admired the Prince who went straight to the point. "Not long ago, one of my patients died of the infectious disease. He started with a mild headache and had a fever, and then he fell down after vomiting severely and couldn’t wake up."
Killian felt his heart sink when he heard the doctor. "Are you telling me that the princess is going to die?"
Paulo shook his head quickly to the Prince who showed his fearsome anger. "No, Your Highness. I’m just talking about the symptoms of a dead patient. This is a common symptom of this epidemic."
"What are you trying to say?"
With a cold stare, Paulo talked about what he was thinking. "It’s not just a common epidemic, but it’s a symptom of people who are exposed to a poison that I know of. It was also a symptom of the Duchess of Kiellini twelve years ago."
Silence fell on the princess’s splendid bedroom. Killian carefully observed the mysterious doctor who said it was not just a common epidemic, but a poison.
"Why did you think the symptoms circulating were poison?"
"You’re not surprised."
At the words of the doctor, Killian looked back at Julietta and said, "Only the princess collapsed in this spacious mansion. It’s like someone was aiming at her." Killian looked back at the doctor. "Tell me why you thought so."
"My dead patient’s hair turned white this time. The hair of the Duchess of Kiellini who died twelve years ago turned that way before she died."
Killian’s gaze unwittingly turned to the bedroom door. There was one more person with white hair in this mansion.
"That’s right. She has white hair. And I know Miss Phoebe drank poison before her hair turned white."
"Kiellini!" Killian’s angry yell rang out in the bedroom.
The Duke of Kiellini who seemed to have given up everything came to his mind at once. Of course, it was a play to him, and he had expected that the Duke would not stay still. But he didn’t expect to be thrown off his guard so soon.
How could he do this like a rat, avoiding such a tight watch? How did he do? There must be an outside helper...
Killian recalled that Marquis Marius had visited Tilia.
"As expected, the poison Phoebe drank was the one from the Kiellini family, wasn’t it?" With a single word from the Prince, Dr. Paulo was able to deduce immediately what he was curious about.
"How much do you know? Tell me everything."
At Killian’s cold command Paulo unburdened himself of what he knew.
Twelve years ago, he followed his teacher while treating the Duchess, and as he came in and out of the mansion, he found a maid’s behavior strange. After he took the rest of the tea the Duchess drank and tested it, he found out it was poison. He had a question about the fact that Phoebe, who he happened to treat, showed the same symptoms as the deceased Duchess of Kiellini. Since then, he had been investigating the poison given him by Marquis Anais and discovered that it was the same poison he had previously tested.
"The Marquis has asked you to look into the poison, hasn’t he?"
"Yes, Your Highness. He said he came there after being introduced by the troupe leader of the Eileen Theater."
Killian had received a report that Maribel had asked Marquis Anais to investigate the poison Phoebe had drank. She was a woman who didn’t miss the slightest thing. Thanks to her, Killian found it all connected together, and at the center of it was the Duke of Kiellini.
"It was a blessing from God that I didn’t give up the saucy troupe leader." Killian muttered, and ordered Ian, "Call Maribel the troupe leader, Oswald, and Adam immediately. Doctor, if what you said is true, it’s a more dangerous situation than an epidemic."
Unlike common infectious diseases which moved naturally, the damage caused by the use of poison could grow beyond comparison, depending on the person who intended to use it. The security of His Majesty the Emperor and the Imperial Castle had to be strengthened quickly!
It was obvious who did this, and for what purpose. The final goal would be Killian himself, and His Majesty the Emperor. It was rebellion!
No, if Duke Dudley was behind it, he wouldn’t even try to touch His Majesty the Emperor. By just using a natural epidemic, Prince Killian of the main line of descent would die, and Francis the First Prince would rise to the position of Crown Prince; that would be their goal!
However, he couldn’t let his guard down. The most dangerous man when there was a big problem in the country was the ruler of Austern.
When Ian left, Killian looked back at the doctor. "Now that you know it’s poison, there must be some antidote. Give it to me right now."
At Killian’s urgent urging, the doctor hesitated for a moment and said, "There’s one solution I think about Miss Phoebe’s survival, but I couldn’t try it because I couldn’t get the poison. The patient who suddenly collapsed died before I could even try something. That’s why I’m not really sure if I can use this method for the princess."
Killian closed his eyes and then opened. "If the method is wrong, is it harmful to the princess’s body?"
"I’m not quite sure about it."
He wanted to shake the doctor, but Killian had to make a decision. Julietta had neither been vomiting nor had a fever. Vera said that she had a headache a few days before she collapsed, and that she continued to look for painkillers.
He could not say the poison that Julietta had eaten was the same one that was now spreading in the capital, but if it was the one that was made by the Duke of Kiellini, he judged it to be the same. But it was not easy to ask him to test it on Julietta while nothing was certain yet.
He wanted to tell him to test on someone who had already gotten the epidemic, but he was afraid of the fact that the patient had died unconscious. What if Julietta, who had fallen four days ago, went wrong all of a sudden? The thought that she had no time came in a rush. After a long time, Killian’s mouth did not open.
Dr. Paulo had been waiting quietly said, as if he knew of his hesitation and conflict. "If you don’t try something, she won’t wake up. So why don’t you try it while you can?"
’While you can...’ The doctor’s remark was a sharp knife that pierced Killian’s heart.
His eyes turned to Julietta, her eyes closed as if she were sleeping. He stroked her straight forehead, straight nose, finely closed lips, and soft cheeks with trembling hands.
Dr. Paulo promised him after seeing him caress her so carefully, "I’ll do my best."
Killian’s anxious hand finally fell from Julietta at the doctor’s pledge. "Let’s try it out."
The order was given in a voice which was so low that he would have missed it if he hadn’t been listening carefully. Dr. Paulo bowed quietly and asked for one more excuse. "I’d like to ask Ms. Phoebe something before I start treatment."
When Killian nodded at Dr. Paulo’s words, Vera, who was holding her breath at the corner of the bedroom quickly stepped out and brought Phoebe.