Wife of The Demon Prince
Chapter 153: Turning tables

Chapter 153: Turning tables

"Wh-what?" Ara turned towards Merona with a startled expression, she wasn’t the only one, but the entire guests glanced at the queen in disbelief. Why would she send such gift to her daughter-in law?! That was such a wicked act! Sending a perfume with Cusida to the crown princess only meant she wanted to harm her and disrupt her ability to produce an heir for the crown Prince.

How wicked of a person was the queen to do that! Despicable!

The guests whispered in hush voices among themselves as they looked at Merona with eyes filled with disbelief and disgust.

Ara’s eyes glittered with tears as she spoke with a look of disbelief, "Y-your majesty, how could you send me such gift?"

All this was part of Ara’s plan for Merona. Since it had been confirmed that the experts of Bredon could easily distinguish it’s scent, she had purposely staged the perfume to be show cased to draw the attention of the two experts in the room. The elites of Findara may be under Merona’s influence and not say a word against her, which was why Ara had invited most of the elites from other kingdoms who came for the wedding. With this, it would be a huge blow to Merona’s clean image in the foreign kingdoms.

However, with all the judging looks of the guests shot towards Merona, she still held her calm demeanor as she remained seated. Her calm demeanor made Ara felt that Merona was up to something.

Ara forced the tears to roll down her cheeks as she called, "M-mother, why did you do such thing?"

Merona slowly rose from her seat and walked towards Ara, she then remarked loud enough for all the guests to hear, "My dear, please don’t cry, it must be a misunderstanding. Someone must have mixed that in the perfumes to defame me."

Ara’s eyebrows slightly drew together, "...How? Who would defame you? The gift was sent directly from you."

"Yes, I sent it, but this scent am perceiving right now isn’t of the perfumes I sent to you, my dear. And if you are doubting my words, I’ll call the expert in my residence who tests everything I use, he was the one to examine the perfumes before it was sent."

Ara frowned as she understood Merona was trying to wiggle out of the trap, "With all due respect, mother. It would be difficult to confirm the situation with just one witness, we can’t trust a word of the tester."

"My dear, someone is trying to get in between us by playing such a trick of adding Cusida to the perfumes. The tester in my residence is an expert, I specially told him to examine the gift before sending them to my daughter-in-law in case of any poison. Just let me clear all this off, don’t worry we will find the culprit." Merona assured with a confident tone. She turned and called, "Hera, hurry to my residence and fetch the tester."

It was common for royals to have an expert who examines all the things they use for any attempt of poisoning. Hera bowed, "Yes, Your majesty."

Hera rushed out of the soiree as the guests exchanged disturbed looks among themselves. Ara wanted to say more, but she couldn’t protest against the queen. Merona looked calm as if she’d expected this to happen. It almost seemed like she’d prepared for such an exact situation.

Not long, Hera returned with a man. "Haill your majesty! Hail her highness!" The man approached and immediately went down on his knees. Merona spoke in a displeased tone, "What is all of this? Didn’t you said you tested the perfumes before sending them? How come it’s mixed with Cusida?! What is the meaning of all this, Doran??!"

Doran bowed his head deep down, "Y-your majesty, it must be a mistake, I swear on my family’s lives, I conducted strict tests on the perfumes and they were clean of any harmful poison," There was a sort of certainty in the man’s voice, Ara could see that he didn’t look as frightened as he attempted to portray, it was as if this was an expected scenario for him. "May I be allowed to check the perfumes again?" He requested.

Ara was forced to give a nod to Emma to bring the box. Emma approached Doran with the perfumes, she could already tell he was the one to mix the first Cusida to the perfumes, but here he was swearing on the lives of his innocent family.

Doran soon opened one of the bottles and inhaled it, he shook his head and spoke confidently, "I didn’t send this, Your majesty! This was mixed afterwards. Who else held the box before it was sent to the crown princess?"

Merona pretended to be thinking before she turned to Ara, "Who delivered the box to you, my dear?"

"...It was Camilla the maid."

Merona turned towards the guards at the entrance and barked her orders, "Well then guards bring the maid here, fetch her from the crown Prince’s residence, and also search her room for anything suspicious!"

The five guards bowed, "Yes, Your majesty!" They left the place in a hurry. Whatever trap Ara had set for the queen, was now going down. Merona was more cunning then she’d expected, she was difficult to break. It was as if she knew this would happen!

Nervousness started to slowly squeeze Ara’s mind. This was a great opportunity to trap Merona but it seemed as if it wouldn’t work out.

Camilla was soon dragged roughly into the room by two guards, then tossed face down to the floor. There was panic in her voice as she asked, "Wh-what did I do?"

Merona looked coldly down at Camilla, "Tell me the truth, Camilla. Did you mix something into the perfumes you delivered to the crown princess?" She questioned while intimidating the maid, when Camilla trembled in fear, Merona added, "Speak up, peasant! Were you sent to come between my daughter-in-law and I?! We want the truth, if you tell me nothing but the truth, I promise to spare your life."

"Wh-what? Your majesty, I swear on my life, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t mix anything." Camilla’s face paled as her eyes filled with tears and fear. She turned to Ara desperately and was about to say something, when the guards who went to search her room stepped forward with something wrapped in a small cloth.

"Your majesty, we found this under the maid’s bed."

Ara, who had been observing the situation, so far, was speechless after seeing what the guard was holding. Whatever trap she set for Merona, she’d managed to wiggle out of it somehow. This couldn’t be a simple act of coincidence, it was planned! It only meant Merona had prepared for this in advance.

Ara’s green eyes trembled in incredulity, if so, the queen was a step ahead of her and was assessing her. It would be bad if Ara’s assumptions were right. She couldn’t keep staying low anymore since Merona is this cunning!

Merona turned to Doran and asked, "What is this? Is it Cusida?"

Doran quickly inspected the powder and nodded, "Yes, Your majesty. It’s Cusida! I recognize it and know it’s scent!"

THUD!

Merona slammed her fist on the table in front of her, in an instant the murmuring in the room went silence. She glanced down at Camilla and spoke through clenched teeth, "You low life servants would do anything for money! How dare you do such thing? Who ordered you to mix that into the perfumes?!"

Camilla looked up with her cheeks wet with tears. Her lips trembled as she spoke, "I-I didn’t do a-anything, Your majesty. I-I am only guilty of following your orders to keep_"

"What?! You still have the guts to say such a thing after you are found guilty? Che! Did the person order you to defame me? Who sent you?!"

Merona was questioning the maid, but Ara knew she was cutting her off from exposing the truth of working under her. Ara just quietly watched the scene.

Merona turned back to the guards and ordered, "Take this filthy trash out of here. I want her executed before the sun rises tomorrow!"

Camilla’s eyes widened in fear, "No! No! Please don’t do this to me, Your majesty! I didn’t do anything but follow your orders, you ordered me to_"

"Guards take her out of my sight!"

The guards walked forward and dragged Camilla on the floor, she desperately turned towards Ara, "Your Highness, please save me, please! I didn’t do anything! Her majesty_"

The guards blocked her mouth as they dragged her out, eventually her muffled screams faded away, but it lingered in the minds of those who witnessed the scene.

Ara clenched her fist tightly. She had never expected Cusida powder would be found in the maid’s room. If she knew, she would have gotten rid of it before all this, but now it was too late. If Ara interfered in this now, it might implicate her in this situation. It could lead to her being misunderstood in the eyes of the guests, plus, Camilla was a servant in Hamon’s residence and Ara had currently assigned her as her personal servant. If she stopped the execution, it wouldn’t be good.

Merona had wasted no time in giving her orders to execute the maid without batting an eye. As Ara had expected, Camilla was a mole the queen had planted in Hamon’s residence. It was unbelievable how Merona had so easily tossed aside a human life as if she was nothing.

Ara glanced towards Merona who stood proudly next to her, she realized Hamon wasn’t wrong when he often called her a cunning Fox. She was far more competent and dangerous than Cassius her son. She wondered where Eadlin had gotten her gentle behavior from.

Merona turned towards the guests who all looked shocked by the scene that just took place, she smiled gently and spoke, "What’s wrong? Ha, the mood of everyone has been ruined by the insolent maid. Forget about the drama that took place and enjoy your meals, please." She declared and shifted her gaze to a man, "You there, where is the music? Please play some sound."

Slow rhythm began to flow in the background. Ara wordlessly gazed at Merona, she felt defeat bite deeply into her bones. She’d lost to the queen...

She had really lost to Merona, the queen was playing her in her palms!