Chapter 28
Sable’s mind raced as she stared at Aly’s limp form. She fought back the rising wave of panic threatening to wash over her. That was the last thing they needed.
She had a sudden thought as she looked urgently at the Grand Duchess.
“Your Grace, are you injured anywhere?”
Grand Duchess Adelaide looked at her in concern, but shook her head.
“I’m fine. What’s wrong, Sable?”
“Their weapons were poisoned, Your Grace.” Sable answered grimly. “We need to gather the injured.”
~~~
After the death of the scarred assassin, the rest of the assassins either escaped or were quickly dispatched by the knights.
However, their problems were far from over. The fires in the courtyard were still ablaze, the servants and knights struggling to put it out. To make matters worse, anyone who was injured needed to be treated immediately due to the poison. .
Fortunately, the medics on standby were quick to act and stabilize the injured, but without an antidote, they were only delaying the inevitable.
The inside of the castle had been transformed into a makeshift hospital, and servants and knights alike were laying on the ground. Medics and those who were uninjured were moving about trying to comfort the injured as they groaned in pain.
Sable scanned the room until her eyes stopped at a familiar pair.
Both Aly and Isaac were laying on the ground next to one another. Much like the others, their faces were pale, and their breathing was ragged.
Isaac had amazingly fought off several assassins, only sustaining minor injuries. Unfortunately, due to suffering from multiple cuts, his condition was worse.
Carefully maneuvering around the room, Sable knelt down and examined the pair. Her movements were calm and practiced.
It was jarring to see the child inspect their festering wounds without recoiling at the sight, but Sable didn’t care about their thoughts.
Her mind was busy trying to identify the poison.
Lessons with her Master flashed in her head as she searched through her memories.
During the few years she spent with Avinya, she had studied various poisons, observing their effects on the animals they used as test subjects. Despite their dangerous work, her Master rarely talked about creating antidotes.
After all, she was in the business of killing, and she scoffed at the idea of creating an antidote. In spite of that, thanks to her Master’s ramblings, Sable knew that antidotes and poisons were quite similar, albeit crafting poisons was a more dangerous process. Once she identified the poison, she just needed to create something that would counteract its effects.
But...
“Which one is it?”
She narrowed it down to a few possibilities in her mind. She could try to create an antidote for each of them, but time wasn’t on her side. Aly, Isaac, and many others lay dying all around her, and if she carelessly treated them, then she could make the problem worse.
She needed a second opinion.
“Bel.”
“I know.” Her older counterpart answered readily. It was strange to think that she would be saving lives instead of taking them, but she reminded herself that Sable had yet to kill someone in this life.
After a brief discussion, Sable ran to the Grand Duchess.
“Your Grace, I need to go to the greenhouse.” She urged. “I believe I know how to make the antidote.”
With Bel’s help, she was able to narrow it down to one option, but it was still a gamble.
Grand Duchess Adelaide looked at her in astonishment, but she nodded her assent.
“Reyner! Emmelina!” Grand Duchess Adelaide called over two medics. “Escort Sable to the greenhouse and listen to everything she tells you.”
They seemed slightly puzzled by the order but bowed their heads.
Following the two knights outside, Sable quickly made her way to the greenhouse. Fortunately, due to its position, the greenhouse had remained mostly unscathed from the attack.
Scanning the inside, Sable pointed out several herbs in quick succession.
“Get me as many as you can.” She ordered.
While the knights were busy harvesting the herbs, she moved to a workstation with an alchemy stand. She placed one of the fire mana crystals nearby into a slot within the alchemy stand and began the brewing process.
The water inside the alchemy stand bubbled as it was heated up.
Carefully measuring out the herbs she needed, Sable grabbed a mortar and pestle and ground them into a fine mixture before pouring a portion of it into the alchemy stand.
Counting the seconds in her head, she slowly added the ground herbs at fixed intervals until the liquid inside turned into a bluish-green color.
Now, she had to wait.
The mixture needed to be distilled in order to separate the impurities from the antidote. The purer the mixture, the more effective the antidote would be.
However, it was a time-consuming process, one that Sable couldn’t rush.
Activating her ability, Sable examined the mixture. With her enhanced senses, she could see when the antidote would be ready thanks to Bel’s memories.
After several grueling minutes, Sable finally pulled the antidote from the potion stand and took a sip from it, much to the knights’ surprise.
“...It’s ready!”
Under the escort of the two knights, she ran back to the castle and presented the antidote to the Grand Duchess.
However, they still needed to determine its effectiveness.
After scanning the room, they decided on a knight who was in the worst condition.
Handing the antidote to Emmeline, Sable watched with bated breath as she fed the antidote to the knight.
One second passed.
Then three.
Then five.
Finally, after sixty seconds, the man showed a reaction.
His body lurched as he began to vomit a black liquid from his mouth.
“Turn him to the side!” Sable shouted in alarm. He had started to choke from the black liquid that he was vomiting up.
“What did you do to him!?” The two medics looked at her in alarm, a brief flash of anger in their eyes.
“It’s the poison! He’s throwing up the poison!” Sable frantically explained when she noticed their hostility.
Soon enough, her words were proven true when the knight finished vomiting up the disgusting, black liquid. Although there was still some liquid around his mouth, his face had regained some of its color, and his breathing grew steady.
Seeing that the antidote worked, Sable breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she pretended to be fine and turned to the Grand Duchess.
“Go.” Seemingly figuring out her request, she nodded. “I’ll send more people to help you.”
As she started to walk away, she felt a hand grasp her wrist. Turning her head she saw Isadora glaring at the two medics, who looked guilty, before she smiled at Sable.
“I’ll go with you.”
Sable blinked then nodded.
The two girls ran to the greenhouse followed by a few more knights and servants.
After showing the medics how to properly brew the antidote, Sable moved around the room checking each alchemy stand with her ability activated. Each time an antidote would finish brewing, she called out to someone nearby, and they carried the antidote back to the castle.
While she was doing that, Isadora directed the servants to clean and replace any of the used vials for the alchemy stands.
Soon, several alchemy stands were brewing the antidote, and people constantly moved in and out of the greenhouse, either carrying vials of the antidote or coming in to replace any used vials.
Although several adults were in the room, only the voices of the two girls clearly rang out.
~~~
Grand Duke Lione sheathed his bloodied sword once the final beast was killed.
The village was already under attack by the time they arrived, and the knights acted quickly to suppress the frenzied beasts attacking the villagers. Thankfully, many of the knights had experience fighting the frenzied beasts thanks to the subjugations, and one by one, the beasts fell.
A few homes had been destroyed and there were some casualties, but they had saved the village.
However, their relief was short-lived.
“Your Grace! The castle has been ambushed!” A messenger sent by Adelaide came to deliver the news.
“What?” His eyes widened in shock when he heard the messenger’s words.
“The village was a diversion, Your Grace.” The messenger relayed. “Their real target was Lady Sable.”
Grand Duke Lione clenched his jaw in anger.
“All of this to kill a little girl!”
The actions of the assassins enraged him. He knew the risks when he chose to shelter the young noble, but he didn’t expect how far the assassins were willing to go. If they were willing to destroy an innocent village to get their way, then he needed to inform the royal family.
“Knights! Half of you remain here to help the villagers! Everyone else, return to the castle!” Grand Duke Lione ordered.
Grand Duke Lione had only one thought as he urged his horse forward.
“Unforgivable.”
~~~
Sable sat down, exhausted from using her ability. After noticing her condition, Isadora forced her to rest, not allowing Sable to complain.
“You’ve done enough, Sable.” Isadora assured her. “You look like you’re about to pass out, so please go rest.”
Sable couldn’t refuse after hearing her pleading tone, so she was left with no other choice but to sit down.
Sable glanced around the room. A few alchemy stands were still brewing, but the majority of victims had been cured. The medics would take care of the rest, and all they needed was time and rest to recover.
Sable had saved them.
Yet…
“Why do I feel guilty?” She thought.
She knew that she shouldn’t blame herself.
Yes, she knew that.
But she couldn’t help it.
It was irrefutable that this incident was her fault. After all, she was the target of the assassins. Had she not been here, then none of the servants and knights would have lost their lives today.
“Except what would my alternatives be? Lay down and die? Run away and take my chances in the wild?”
She couldn’t even consider returning back to the Capital.
“...To hell with that.” Sable cursed under her breath.
Bel’s lips broke into a smirk when she heard Sable.
“The only people who deserve what’s coming to them are those bastards.” Bel remarked coldly.
Meeting her eyes, Sable nodded in agreement.
“The Grand Duke has returned!”
A sudden shout from the knight keeping watch raised the mood of everyone in the castle.
Making eye contact with Isadora, Sable stood up and followed her outside to join her mother, who was already waiting for the Grand Duke.
The gates slowly opened to reveal the Grand Duke leading his knights inside.
The moment he crossed the gates of the castle, he jumped off of his horse and promptly strode towards his wife and daughter.
“Are the two of you alright?” He wrapped them both in an embrace and checked their appearance.
“We’re fine, Sebastian.” Adelaide smiled fondly at her husband’s actions.
“Hm.” Grand Duke Lione hummed. He then looked at Sable.
Sable braced herself, prepared for some kind of admonishment.
Instead, the Grand Duke gently placed a hand on top of her head.
“Are you alright, Sable?”
Surprised, Sable let out the breath she had been holding.
She tearfully nodded.