Reborn as the Psycho Villainess Who Ate Her Slave Beasts' Contracts

Captain Vex’s expression hardened. "The news is contained, Your Grace. Only those in this room, Sir Ken, and her personal attendant know the full situation. The general staff believe she’s suffering from magical exhaustion. No one suspects poison."

"Keep it that way," Demerti ordered, his tone brooking no argument. "I want absolute information control. Anyone who speaks of this outside approved channels will be executed for treason. I don’t care about rank or service record. ’No one’ leaks this."

"Understood, Your Grace."

Demerti turned back to the physician. "The suppressant you gave her earlier. Did it help at all?"

Master Cullens hesitated. "Marginally. Her temperature dropped by half a degree. Her pulse steadied slightly. But the cognitive symptoms persist, and the fever is already climbing again. Without knowing the exact compound, all I can do is treat symptoms and hope her body fights it off naturally."

"How long will that take?"

"I don’t know, Your Grace." The admission clearly pained him. "This poison is unlike anything in my forty years of practice. It could burn through her system in hours, or it could last days. There’s simply no precedent."

Demerti’s hand went to the letter again, fingers hovering above it without touching. "One-time activation. No residue. No known formula. Targeting cognitive function specifically while enhancing physical sensation." He looked up, silver eyes hard as diamonds. "This is custom work. Expensive. Sophisticated. Whoever commissioned this has deep pockets and deeper connections."

"We’re expanding the investigation to foreign alchemist guilds," Vex said. "Checking for any unusual purchases of rare compounds in the past six months. Interviewing travelers who passed through the capital. It will take time, but—"

"We don’t ’have’ time," Demerti snapped. "My Master is upstairs losing her mind while we stand here speculating uselessly."

No one had an answer for that.

The mage-analyst spoke carefully. "Your Grace, there is one other avenue. The black market. If this formula exists, someone in the underground trade networks might recognize it. These people deal in substances the legitimate guilds won’t touch."