Chapter 107 – Poison

“Maaaarie!”

Fernet’s scream rang out, and I hurriedly burst into the laboratory.

“Wait, Gain! It might be poison! Cover your mouth with a cloth!”

“I’m fine! Just get to the infirmary, fast!”

Fernet covered his face and scooped Marie up before sprinting toward the church’s infirmary.

“Hey! You! Grab every medicine from the deepest shelf in the lab and bring it all to the infirmary! The Saintess has been poisoned!”

“Wha!? Yes!!”

I shouted the order at a Black Priest we passed.

Please make it in time…

On the way to the infirmary, as the commotion drew White Priests crowding around, I asked them to notify the soldiers that thieves had appeared. I raised the church’s security level and barked orders left and right for Grandpa, Sid, and the on-duty Second Holy Knights to head to the infirmary, all while chasing after Fernet.

“What about Heart?!”

“He chased the thieves who fled—with Ted!”

Fernet nodded as we ran.

Those two agile guys had instantly chosen that path. As expected of their sharp instincts.

“Out of the way!! The Saintess has been poisoned!!”

I plunged into the infirmary first, shoving aside the stunned doctors and White Priests. Fernet gently laid Marie down on the bed in the back room.

“Priests! Get ready for a blood draw!”

The White Priests, frozen in shock, sprang into action at the doctor’s command.

The priests crowded around Marie, checking her temperature and drawing blood to identify the poison.

Fernet stood a short distance away so he wouldn’t be in the way, his face full of worry as he watched the doctor’s hands intently.

“Gain-sama! Huff… huff. The medicines… from the lab! Huff… huff.”

The out-of-breath Black Priest stumbled in, clutching a clattering box filled with drugs still in development.

“Over here!”

I pointed to a nearby table.

Medicines, medicines, medicines.

If something happens to me… give this for emergency treatment… the one with the pink label she likes…

Please still be there, unstealing.

There it was!

“Marie Exclusive Antidote”

“This is it! Get it in her quick!”

I thrust the bottle at the doctor and clasped my hands together in prayer to the gods.

Please, make it in time!

The doctor read the label carefully before inserting a dropper into the bottle.

He dripped it bit by bit into Marie’s mouth.

A short while later, Marie squirmed as if she disliked it.

“It looks like it’s worked as first aid. We’ll keep working to identify the poison. For full detoxification, we’ll need the proper antidote after all. But if she wakes up, she should be able to handle it herself, so it might not be necessary.”

Relief washed over me at the doctor’s words, and I sank to the floor right there.

The antidote Marie had made on Sid’s orders.

I remember her bickering with him about petrification drugs or whatever while she brewed it…

A faint flush of color crept into Marie’s previously deathly pale cheeks.

“Marie!!” “Lass?!”

Moments later, Sid arrived with Grandpa in tow. The two of them rushed straight to Marie.

“This is awful.”

Grandpa dropped to his knees beside the bed and gripped Marie’s hand, nodding along as the Black Priest explained her condition.

Beside Grandpa, tears streaming down his face, Sid stared at Marie and frowned.

“This… ain’t the lass.”

Eh?

I gaped up at Sid, too shocked to speak.

Fernet dashed over to “Marie” in a panic, pushed the doctors aside, and yanked off the blanket.

“It’s true… This isn’t Marie.”

Fernet collapsed limply onto the floor.

The doctors and White Priests huddled around the bed, all of them rigid with shock.

Eh?

“So… who the hell is she, then…?”

“Probably the little sister. She disguised herself real good. Gain, we’ve got trouble.”

Sid crossed his arms, groaning with a grim expression.

Grandpa looked up at him in astonishment. “Lily?”

“This… is Lily?”

Hard to tell with her asleep, but now that he mentioned it, the vibe was a little off.

Still, she didn’t look like the Lily I knew.

Did the medicine work because they’re twins?

We all stared intently at the fake Marie lying there on the bed.

Marie definitely wouldn’t wear this many expensive, jangling accessories.

And if she’d been in the lab, she would’ve had that lab coat she made draped over her shoulders.

Even without that, she wouldn’t wear a dress this fancy anywhere but a ball.

“Then Marie’s gotta be with the thieves Heart and Ted are chasing!”

Sid shoved Fernet into a chair. “Calm down.”

I watched them blankly, my ears ringing as my mind raced.

Was Marie… inside that bag the thief was carrying?

“The Saintess was kidnapped?”

A White Priest standing nearby finally pieced it together and started trembling.

Get a grip, me. Can’t lose it along with the priests.

“Priests! Priority one is getting info out of Lily. Keep identifying the poison.”

“Yes!”

The pale-faced priests nodded in unison and resumed the treatment.

Heart trusted me and took off after them without a second thought. Time for me to trust him back.

We left Lily in Grandpa’s and the doctors’ hands and headed to the separate room where the Holy Knights were standing by.

“Where’s the Saintess?” “Gain! Explain!” “Is she okay?!”

The moment we stepped in, White Priests and Holy Knights swarmed us.

“Calm down! The Saintess was kidnapped! We haven’t confirmed if she’s safe!”

Sid reined in the panicking Holy Knights before slapping my shoulder hard. “Pull yourself together.”

“Gain. Walk me through what happened to the lass—from the very start.”

I nodded firmly at Sid and began retracing the day’s events from the beginning, in front of everyone…