“Lethrindor.” Lorelai read off the document. “That’s the name of the poison. Highly toxic and lethal in small amounts. If consumed, even in tiny amounts, the victim will suffer from seizure and vomit up blood, leading to almost instant death. Came from a plant in the Veridonia Empire.”

But what does this mean? A fast-acting poison targeted at both children of Duke Ashburn. Maybe it was only aimed at her, but they poisoned both to make sure there was no chance of her using the wrong chalice? The question remains, was the target Lorelai Ashburn, Lorenzo Ashburn, or whoever became the heir to the Ashburn Duchy that day? And hopefully, the Veridonia Empire wasn’t involved or this would become an international matter.

Carlyle studied her. “You seem pretty calm for someone reading about what could have happened to her.”

Lorelai’s eyes met his. “Just because you were right about Lorenzo’s chalice being poisoned as well doesn’t mean you’re innocent.”

Carlyle shrugged. “Lady Ashburn, I have been dodging assassination attempts since I was a child. I think my intuition is well honed by now.”

Lorelai didn’t expect him to reveal that. “Assassination attempts?”

Carlyle smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Nobody likes the idea of a mage inheriting the throne, even if my brother is first in line.”

Lorelai didn’t respond this time. She wasn’t sure how to respond. Why is he even telling her in the first place? To earn her sympathy?

Lorelai rose from the table, leaving her partially eaten breakfast. “Well, reading the report has ruined my appetite, so if you’ll excuse me, I have to start interrogating the people who were detained last night.”

“Wait.” Carlyle shot up from his seat, his chair legs scraping. “Let me help you.”

Lorelai crossed her arms. “I don’t need your help. I can find the culprit on my own.”

“You would have drank the poison if not for me.” Carlyle responded.

Lorelai didn’t bother hiding her scowl anymore. There’s no need to treat this pompous prince with any respect, not in her house. 

“Fine,” Lorelai relented. “Don’t get in the way too much. And please tuck in your cravat. It almost dipped into your breakfast earlier.”

As the servants cleared away what was left of their breakfast, Carlyle followed Lorelai down to the interrogation room in the Ashburn dungeon. 

“Give me the names of everyone who was detained last night.” Lorelai commanded as she sat down at the interrogation table. The dungeon keeper handed over his written records without a word of protest. 

Lorelai flipped through the pages, trying to narrow down the possible suspects. Pointing to a list of names, she spoke, “Bring out the people who served the wine to the interrogation room one by one.”

“Don’t bother. They don’t know anything. Just let them go.” Carlyle spoke up. He was standing in a corner because the only other seat available was for the people being interrogated.

Lorelai was surprised he didn’t take that seat anyway. After all, what was a potential criminal compared to an imperial prince?

She scowled at him. “Even if they aren’t responsible for the crime, they might have seen something.”

“They didn’t.”

“How are you so sure?” Lorelai countered.

“Clairvoyance?”

That word is not a good excuse for the nonsense he spews out of his mouth.

“I don’t believe that for a second.”

But Carlyle was correct. Each servant that she spoke with knew nothing about the poison and Lorelai could see that none of them were lying. Well, at least she found out that one of the servants was embezzling funds, but it was a relatively minor crime, and an unrelated one at that.

Lorelai leaned back in her seat, mildly disappointed. “I knew they wouldn’t have seen the culprit, but I was hoping there was at least a lead.”

“I told you so.”

“Tell the dungeon keeper to bring in the next set of servants—the one who were in contact with the chalices.

“Hey, I’m not your servant.”

“Then make yourself useful instead of just standing behind me.”

Carlyle rolled his eyes and headed out of the interrogation room to pass her message to the dungeon keeper.

The next round, thankfully, was more fruitful, despite having less suspects. 

“You were the one who bought me the chalices.” Lorelai recognizes one of the servants.

The servant, a young man in his teens, trembled under her gaze. “My lady, I’m sorry! I didn’t know the chalice was tampered with! I only had them for less than five minutes! All I did was to carry the tray to the ballroom!”

Lorelai glanced at the book, which stated his name to be Billy, one of the food service servants.

“Other than you, who else touched the chalices?”

Billy paused for a moment in thought, then answered, “A maid placed the chalices on my tray. She told me to bring it to the ducal children in the ballroom. I assumed she meant you because what other ducal children could she be referring to?”

“And this maid, did you recognize her?” Lorelai pressed.

He paused. “No. That’s strange, I’ve worked here for many years and I’ve never met her before.”

He then turned to Lorelai with pleading eyes. “My lady! I’ve worked here for many years! The other servants can confirm this! There’s no way I would betray the Ashburn family!”

“I don’t know about your loyalty.” Lorelai replied coolly. “But I don’t think you could have afforded to buy Lethrindor poison. I did a little investigation and it’s much too difficult for a commoner to get his hands on them.”

“Yes! That’s true! There’s no way it could be me!”

“Describe the maid who handed you the chalices yesterday.”

“She had red hair and brown eyes. Kind of tall, but not as tall as you. She looked to have a higher status than me. I don’t know, her mannerism was like that of an aristocrat. Maybe the daughter of a fallen noble family who was recently hired as a servant? Is there anyone that fits that description?”

“I’ll check that later. Did you say she had red hair? And brown eyes?”

“Yes…?” Billy’s voice was hesitant in the face of her stony calmness. “Her hair isn’t as bright as yours though. Maybe a bit more orange?”

“I see.” Lorelai snapped the book close. “One more question. Did you notice anything strange about the chalices when she handed them over to you?”

“No, but then again, I wasn’t looking too closely. It’s not my place to covet my master’s belongings. I did think it was weird that she handed it to me instead of one of the higher level servants.”

“Hmmm.” Lorelai tapped her fingers on the table. “Very well, you may go now, Billy.”

Lorelai sat in silence for a moment, deep in thought. 

“Are you gonna ask for them to send in the next person?” Carlyle’s voice broke the silence. He had spoken not a single word in so long that Lorelai almost forgot he was still standing in a corner behind her.

“I doubt it would make a difference.” Lorelai answered. “At least now we have a lead.”

“You know who the culprit is now?”

“Red hair and brown eyes. There’s only one lady I know of who fits that description last night: my cousin Lady Irene Ashburn.” Lorelai’s gaze turned cold. “Not the daughter of a fallen noble family like the servant thought, but an aristocratic lady in disguise.”

“You think your cousin disguised herself as a maid and tried to poison the chalices?” Carlyle asked. “What motive could she possibly have?”

Lorelai tapped her fingers on the table thoughtfully. “She's the eldest child of my father's younger brother. If anything happens to Lorenzo and me,” Her voice caught for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure, “she would be one of the top candidates to inherit the Ashburn Dukedom. And we're not that close, so I wouldn't put that past her. Luckily for us, she is still in the Ashburn Duchy since her family had planned to stay here for the next few days, even with the poisoning incident.”

Lorelai rose from the interrogator’s seat and called out to the dungeon keeper. “Send in someone to finish the interrogation for me. I already received the information I am looking for, so I’m done here.”