Chapter 54 Before Her Death Part 3
The first time they conducted the experiment, they placed a single roach and the teacup inside a sealed container.
The result was immediate.
The roach died instantly after consuming the tea.
But that alone told them nothing-only that the tea contained something.
So they proceeded with further trials.
Multiple roaches were placed in separate containers, each exposed to different portions of the tea. The goal was simple: determine whether varying doses would produce different effects.
The results were... telling.
The roach given the largest dose died instantly.
The one exposed to the smallest dose grew restless-skittish, agitated-but remained alive, showing no signs of imminent death.
But this still did not reveal the cause-only that the amount consumed mattered.
Three days passed.
And still, no further changes.
Time was slipping through Esmeralda's fingers.
If Amaria discovered that her plan had failed, she would only become more cautious the next time she struck.
"Are you okay, my lady?" Belle asked in worry.
"I'm doing fine, Belle." She replied but her words did not match her state.
"Can you... refill me more coffee, please?" Esmeralda asked.
"Of course." Belle said in haste as she picked up the cup placed just beside the container with the least dose.
"Hm?" Belle noticed something while cleaning up, "My lady, do roaches usually have purple spots on their wings? I never really liked looking at them because they looked gross but now that I look closely they're actually kind of pretty." Belle said in awe.
Esmeralda jumped.
Purple spots?
She rushed towards the roaches and sure enough, the batch that had small portions developed large purple spots.
Lilac's disease.
That's when Esmeralda put the pieces together.
Amaria had something that could make a person develop a genetic disease.
Esmeralda always found it odd. In the book she had read, she developed Lilac's disease at such a young age but looking through her family's lineage, no one had developed Lilac's disease except for her. So was it Amaria that had made Esmeralda develop this disease?
It is possible.
It is right.
It was the only answer.
But now... how?
How did she do it?
Esmeralda furrowed her brows.
Selena..
"Belle, we have to go to the Cathedral right now." Esmeralda said rushing out.
"Yes, my lady!" Belle followed.
Not long after, they had arrived at the Basilica Cathedral.
"My lady!" A familiar voice called out, "What brings you to this humble place in the middle of the day?"
"Selena!" Esmeralda voiced out in joy. Just who she was looking for.
"I need to talk to you about something."
Selena immediately noticed the urgency in her tone.
"Understood. This way, my lady."
She led Esmeralda further inside, away from prying eyes.
"Saintess, I must show you something."
Esmeralda lowered her sleeves and revealed the Goddess' mark.
Selena gasped.
"My lady-this is-"
"I know. Saintess, the Goddess had spoken to me. When I was unconscious, She had told me of things that are... quite against the prophecy you revealed."
"What do you mean, my lady?"
"Saintess... I hope you believe me.. The Goddess... she told me that Amaria was indeed a blessed child but-"
she furrowed her brows.
"She was a blessed child who would doom this world."
"...!"
"Saintess, we have to stop her."
"My lady..." Selena's eyes softened, then hardened with resolve. "I trust your words. Tell me what you need."
"Lilac's disease," Esmeralda said. "Have you discovered anything about it? What causes it? Whether it is truly genetic?"
Selena shook her head.
"I'm afraid not. I have found no way to prevent it, nor detect it before symptoms appear." She paused. "However... I did discover something recently. Its symptoms are similar to a curable infection called curias infection."
"Curias... infection?"
"It originates from the curias plant. They're weeds that grow on the river bed in the South, my lady." Selena explained. "It causes small, dotted purple markings along the skin, accompanied by physical weakness."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"They are distinct from Lilac's disease. The latter presents as larger, spreading patches of violet, almost as if the color is overtaking the body itself."
Esmeralda fell silent.
Curias disease being similar to Lilac's would explain how Selena cured the people in the novel. It was possible that Selena did not detect Lilac's but detected Curias infection instead.
This meant that Lilac's disease wasn't curable from the start.
Hope was fading from Esmeralda's face.
"I'm sorry, my lady."
"Saintess, you have done so much already and for that I truly thank you. About the Goddess' mark, can you keep it a secret for now?"
"Of course," Selene replied, "Anything for you, my lady."
"I have to get back to the Scholar's study, I might miss something if I am away for long."
"I pray for your safety going back, my lady."
--
Esmeralda had returned to the study, her thoughts heavy.
If Amaria had truly created something capable of inducing Lilac's disease...
Then this was no longer just a scheme.
It was something far more dangerous not only for Esmeralda, but for the future of the Empire. If Amaria got away with this, she could use this disease to her own advantage and perhaps use it to start a mass genocide without anyone even knowing what she had done.
If that had happened, then a future the Goddess feared would not be far from reality.
She sank onto the couch across from the experimental containers.
"I'll go fetch you some water, my lady." Belle offered.
"Thanks, Belle." Esmeralda smiled softly.
The room was now all but hers. Her head aching from the frustration of not knowing what Amaria had done to the tea that made it look so perfectly lethal.
When suddenly-
"My lady!" George burst into the room, breathless.
"I've isolated some of the tea's components," he said quickly. "There's something unusual-traces of crenated red cells. Was there any chance the tea contained animal blood?"
"No..." Esmeralda replied, "It was ordinary tea. Even the Empress drinks it."
"Then... how did that get there?" George said with a brow lifted.
That's when Esmeralda knew...
The memory sharpened—snapping into place with terrifying clarity.
The unease she had buried.
The detail she had ignored.
The moment she should have questioned more thoroughly.
All of it came rushing back at once.
The stain on Amaria's sleeves..
Just a fleeting glimpse, dismissed as nothing more than a trick of the light… or perhaps her own imagination.
But now—
It wasn’t just any stain.
No…
The color was unmistakable.
A deep, suffocating crimson—too vivid, too deliberate to be anything else.
Her pulse began to pound against her ribs.
Because there was only one kind of crimson that made sense.
And what other crimson was available to her at that time but Amaria's very own blood.
The pieces were now complete. And now, it was time for Esmeralda to devise a plan.