“I don’t intend to deny anything. This is indeed mine.”

Her straightforward acknowledgement took the Queen by surprise.

Even among the people watching, there was a commotion.

‘It really belongs to the Princess Consort?’

‘Then the Princess Consort is really the poisoner?’

‘But would she say it like that if it was true?’

Amidst the commotion, the Queen hid her surprise and gave a composed smile, “Oho, so you admit to your crime. You say you came here for peace, but you do such a thing behind our backs? Why have you tried to assassinate His Majesty, the King of Irugo?!”

The queen’s roar echoed throughout the hall.

She was using the fact that Aristine was an outsider to apply pressure on Aristine. It was easier to plant hostility in people’s hearts when the treacherous criminal that dared to assassinate the king was a foreigner, not an Irugoian.

However, Aristine didn’t bat an eye.

“Your Majesty, I only said that this belongs to me. I never said I committed a crime.”

Aristine calmly pointed out the facts.

“Is Your Majesty the Queen claiming that I tried to kill His Majesty the King with this poison?”

The queen frowned, not liking Aristine’s calm response.

It would be better if she was trembling in fear, unable to speak properly, but as expected, the princess was not an easy opponent.

“This is not a claim, but a conclusion made after investigation. And that poison is the very proof.”

“I believed that Your Majesty would clearly reveal the cause of this outrageous accusation. But to think it is such a hasty investigation.”

“What?”

“First of all, it is possible that the poison found in my residence is an attempt to frame me. Someone could have secretly put poison in my belongings so it can act as false evidence. However, Your Majesty overlooked that, and concluded that it is undoubtedly mine.”

“Didn’t you say with your own mouth that it was yours?!”

“Yes, but I think the order of things should be to check if it is really mine before calling me a criminal.”

The queen shut her mouth.

Honestly, she also suspected that Dionna secretly put it in Aristine’s residence, so for a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

Whether Aristine was being framed or not, she purposefully covered everything up and accused Aristine as the poisoner, but she never thought that Aristine would respond like this.

While the queen faltered, Tarkan took the chance to speak up, “Does this mean Your Majesty the Queen concluded such an important matter without verifying it?”

The queen softly bit the flesh in her mouth.

Now this couple was being annoying together.

The people watching grew restless and began whispering among themselves.

‘I thought it was already verified since she accused the Princess Consort from the beginning.’

‘They should have at least asked the princess consort if it was hers or not.’

Hearing the whispers, the queen straightened her spine and spoke coercively.

“Princess Consort Aristine, do not try to obscure the point. You personally admitted that the poison belonged to you.”

“How am I obscuring the point by pointing out the vagueness of the investigation?”

Aristine asked calmly and the Queen’s eyes trembled in return.

She really wanted to order them to drag this arrogant thing to her knees immediately.

Right now, it was if the queen was being interrogated, rather than Aristine.

At that moment, Hamill, who had been watching quietly, stepped forward.

“It’s not that a verification was not done. A witness appeared, who said that the item belonged to the Princess Consort.”

It was only then that Aristine’s gaze fell on Hamill.

When those purple eyes that had been ignoring him turned towards him, Hamill felt like his parched lips were drenched with cold and sweet spring water.

“A witness?” Aristine questioned.

The queen’s face revitalized.

She proudly opened her mouth while inwardly praising her clever son, “Indeed, there is a witness.”

At those words, Aristine’s gaze turned back to the queen, and Hamill felt a greater thirst than before.

He felt anxious seeing Aristine’s expression, like she didn’t care about him in the slightest.

“Lady Dionna.”

“Yes, yes?”

Dionna, who had been silently watching the situation, replied to the Queen’s call with a start.

Feeling countless gazes fall on her, she reluctantly stepped forward. She never planned to draw attention to herself in this situation.

After all, she was famous for yearning after Tarkan for a long time, so there might be gossip about her ratting out the princess.

“Dionna is the witness?”

Hearing a voice as sharp as a blade, Dionna’s breath caught in her chest.

Tarkan was glaring at her.

No, the look in his eyes couldn’t just be described as a glare.

Even the icecaps of the Icethorn Mountains which were said to have never melted would not be colder than this.

A fiery anger was sealed within his cold eyes that seemed to freeze everything in its reach.

‘How, how could you look at me, Dionna, like that…!’

Was Aristine that precious?

A normal person would have collapsed with shivers the moment they received such a gaze.

However, the anger, betrayal, bitterness, and sorrow made Dionna withstand it.

“Tarkan, are you intimidating the witness?”

“What intimidation. I merely asked,” Tarkan replied with a chuckle.

The Queen’s eyelids fluttered at his lax attitude.

But she didn’t question Tarkan any further and turned to Dionna.

“Lady Dionna, did you not testify to me that the Princess Consort had poison?”

At the queen’s words, Dionna lowered her head.

She wanted to feign ignorance but after biting her lips, she raised her head.

She couldn’t back down like this.

She was going to make Tarkan regret causing her so much pain.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I definitely said that.”

The queen turned to Aristine with a look that said, ‘See?’

Since a witness had appeared, it invalidated Aristine’s claim that the Queen didn’t verify anything.

However.

‘She’s smiling?’

Aristine was smiling. And it was a very satisfied smile at that.

But in the next second, her smile disappeared like a mirage.

‘What was that?’

Although Aristine’s face was expressionless now, as if a smile was never there, the Queen found it hard to believe that she saw wrong.