?

　　The atmosphere in the room was tense as I stared at the small bag on my desk. A white powdery substance was filled inside. I looked up at the aged maid as she firmly stared at the ground. There were two guards by her side, Rodrick leaned against the wall by the door and Gideon was by my side.

　　“Could you explain what this is, Laura?” I asked her even though earlier Cassian had confirmed this was the drug, Ivy’s Kiss. Laura stayed silent, her gaze not even rising to meet my own. The guard to her left nudged her.

　　“The princess asked you a question,” he said.

　　I raised my hand to stop him from doing anything else. I then looked over to Gideon, hoping he would know how to approach this. It was the most unexpected thing to have happened after all. Even before we entered her room to search for anything, she openly confessed that she had this in her possession.

　　Gideon then gestured to Rodrick. Rodrick nodded before he and the other two guards left the room. It was just the three of us now and strangely, the atmosphere was getting more suffocating.

　　“This is a safe space, Laura. All we want to know is what this is and why did you pass it to us?”

　　“Was this not what you were looking for?” she asked. “Duke of Ashborne did not lose anything did he? I am aware that this entire thing was an elaborate scheme to locate that.” She raised her eyes and looked at the bag of white powder.

　　“Explain yourself, since clearly you know everything that is happening.” I urged.

　　“I cannot do that, Your Highness.”

　　“Why is that? If you were bold enough to hand us the drug we are looking for, why stop there? Why not just tell us everything we want to know?” I asked her. She remained silent.

　　“Could it be that you are afraid of Lady Marie?” Gideon asked and for the first time since she entered this room, her body twitched, and her eyes widened. “Is she threatening you?” he added.

　　“I am her maid; I do whatever I must to serve her.”

　　“Does that include drugging my husband?” I asked.

　　“I did not do that.”

　　“But you did give the concoction to his attendant, did you not?” I pressed but she stayed silent.

　　“We can help you, Laura. Whatever Lady Marie is threatening you with, we can help you as long as you tell us everything.”

　　“…Lady Marie has not done such a thing.”

　　Gideon and I exchanged glances before I turned back to her as I decided to change my tactic. “Are you aware that this drug is highly dangerous and illegal? You are having it in your possession is enough to send you to jail. Do you truly want to rot away in there when you can have a lighter sentence if you just tell us what Lady Marie forced you to do?”

　　I could see that Laura was starting to crumble by the way her hands balled up into fists. “Lady Marie was not involved in this. I did it under my own volition.”

　　“You are lying. You do not have a reason to drug Isaiah.”

　　“I did it under my own—”

　　I stood up and slammed my hands against the desk, shocking both Laura and Gideon. “Very well then, if you insist that you did everything on your own then so be it. You will be sentenced according to your crimes, Laura.”

　　“Princess?” Gideon frowned.

　　Before either of us could say anything, there was commotion outside the door and a second later, it swung open, revealing Lady Marie on the other side. “How dare you!” she spat, glaring daggers at me. “You conduct a surprise search on not only your staff but those under me as well? Under whose authority do you think you have to do such a thing?”

　　“Are you forgetting that I am the closest person to the throne?” I merely asked.

　　“You are not empress yet!” she growled.

　　“Get out, Lady Marie. We are in the middle of an investigation.”

　　“It is clear that you planted the drugs on Laura! She would never possess something that vile.”

　　“Ah, did you forget the part where she admitted that she had the drugs in her possession?”

　　“…what?”

　　“She told us everything, Lady Marie.”

　　Gideon, Laura and Lady Marie looked at me with different variants of shocked and confused expressions. This entire day has been me lying through my teeth to get the results I wanted, what harm could another white lie do?

　　“Laura…?” Lady Marie called out to her, betrayal heavy in her voice that it cracked the moment she said Laura’s name.

　　“N-No my Lady, I never said anything! She is lying!”

　　“You ungrateful wench! You dare betray me after everything I have done for you?” she fumed.

　　“No! Lady Marie, please!”

　　Lady Marie gave her a disgusted look before turning to her heels and walking out of the study. Laura turned to follow after her, calling out to her in pathetic sobs but before she could leave the room, the guards stopped her and brought her back inside. She looked mortified, unable to fathom what had just happened.

　　“Do you see how easily she threw you away? How easily she abandoned you? Now that you know her true nature, Laura, are you still willing to give away your life for her?” I asked.

　　“All you royals are the same,” She muttered.

　　I smiled. “I agree. We do what we must to get the results we want. But I am nothing like Lady Marie, Laura. I will not allow my people to suffer. If you want to redeem yourself, it is best if you tell us everything about the drug. I do not think my conscience would take it if a lovely lady like you were to be sent to prison over this…misunderstanding.” I smiled.

　　Laura stayed silent but she slowly nodded, and I knew that breaking her truth for Lady Marie was needed for her to finally be honest with us. This was coming to an end soon and I would do anything to bring Lady Marie down.

　　Laura then spent some time telling Gideon and I everything from how Lady Marie made her go to the underground market and to purchase the drug. She told us that she was taught how much of the drug she needed to use to make sure it was not fatal for Isaiah to consume and how she manipulated Amir, just the way Lady Marie told her how.

　　“Why did you decide to pass the drugs to us? You could’ve lied and thrown it away.” Gideon asked once Laura finished her story.

　　“I… I was just tired of this. Of all of this.”

　　“Will you testify against her if needed?” I asked.

　　“…I will do whatever I must.”

　　“Thank you, Laura.” I said, walking towards the exit.

　　“Princess.” She called out, causing me to stop next to her. “Do you promise me that I will get a lighter sentence since I told you everything I know about Lady Marie?”

　　I gave her a reassuring smile. “As long as your story was the full truth, I will do everything in my power to make sure you do not rot in prison forever.”

　　I did not wait for her reply as I left. The door was closed shut and I immediately doubled over, the nerves and anxiety I felt inside there was finally catching up to me. The guards rushed to me, but I merely raised my hand to tell them I was alright. I leaned against the wall, wondering now if what I did was the right thing.

　　I was compared to Lady Marie, compared to that woman who would not hesitate to kill to get her way. Murder can never compare to a mere white lie and yet my chest felt heavy, and I caught myself feeling happy the moment the truth finally came out. If lying and manipulating others often leads to results, then I can understand why people do it. But did I want to be like them? Do I want to be corrupted for the sake of saving those I care for? What was right? What was wrong? Everything seemed to be a blur now as I pushed myself up and forced myself to walk away.

　　I had to push aside these feelings just for a little longer. The trial was coming soon, and I had to stay firm, to stay alert if I wanted to save Isaiah. We were so close to the end goal now, and yet I could not get rid of that irritating feeling building in the depths of my stomach, so irritating that it made me feel sick of myself.