Chapter 40 (1/2)

The Reincarnated Princess’s Deliberation

“My apologies for the wait”

I stared at the tea cup in front oftime, frozen

I slowly released ed to squeeze some words out

“Thank you”

The porcelain white cup adorned with a golden rim was filled seventy percent of the ith an amber liquid The color was norers

I took a deep breath and reached for the cup My hand trerabbed the handle the cup clinked audibly

I brought it close to my nose and smelled it just to make sure

I never had the luxury of elegantly enjoying the fragrance froain infor this way to sniff out danger It was also like a ritual to prepare myself for the worst

“………”

I breathed it in and gasped

Wide eyed, I stared at the black tea (in name only)

It smelled…like black tea…!!

Nothing could have prepared me for such a mundane turn of events

Tickling my nose was not an offensive s froh quality second flush tea leaves

Perhaps he used the saredients the last time as well, but that time it had no smell at all, far from muscatel Completely odorless I couldn’t even tell if the tea leaves used were Darjeeling or not

Actually, if you recognized that lethal substance with its odorless yet killer flavor as high quality second flush tea, I think it would be considered a blaspheainst all black tea

“Say, Klaus?”

He stood a small distance away from me

“What is it?”

“You ht?” I asked him, unsure

Was it possible he recognized his own fatal household skills and had asked the maids for help?

But he nodded affir over orry

“Yes Is so amiss?”

I thought it cunning of him to only show humility at times like these

It was h that there wasn’t a problem, but to put it bluntly, it was hard to talk about it for some reason

“No It smells wonderful”

It really did, which had the opposite effect of

As soon as I threw him the compliment, his eyes lit up cheerfully Klaus smiled with his entire face, an attractive line of red drawn across his cheeks as he blushed

“Iin secret in order to serve you a delicious cup of your favorite tea”

“R-really now?”

I wondered what the heck his goals were I inadvertently looked away

Stop it, don’t do that! This is where you’re supposed to be moved

I had to stopwhile I pondered the reasons why ht would feel the need learn how to brew tea It was probably the moment I was supposed to be touched his dedication would take hiining the suffering of the headtears to my eyes How cold

“…………”

Or, rather? If that did happen, then this cup of tea…

Could it miraculously be the real deal?

Hope blosso surface of the liquid

I ht be able to do this

I took a gulp and prepareda sip of the amber-colored drink

“…………!!!!”

My eyes bulged open as wide as those in comics

Spreading through ency, followed by a taste bud stinging acidity A moment later, a thick sweetness ca away

My consciousness slipped into the deep end as the paradise of flavors rushed in with a force strong enough to kill my palate

NOT A damn THING HAS CHAAAAANGED!!!

Who was it? The fool who hopefully said I ht be able to survive this? It was me!

The color and smell were both on point while the flavor was exceptionally devastating An unexpected trap—it created a false sense of safety which lulled you into relaxing while cutting you down fro deserved a level of treatment on par with a tasteless and odorless poison

I strengthened the fingers that were shaking so le

“……!!”

My survival instincts told me to spit it out, but I endured and sed the entire thing atery eyes

If I put it doon’t have the confidence to pick it up again

Gasping for air, I placed the empty cup back into its saucer

“Than…k you…for the…tea”

Downing an entire cup goes against prescribed princess etiquette, but I can’t say I cared I felt very accomplished

My stoo away eventually It’s bound to…maybe, surely The sto tea

Completely exhausted, I looked at him over a shoulder, all life drained from my face

“There’s just one thing I want to know, Klaus Did you put so in my tea?”

He shook his head, a little perplexed

“No Nothing particularly”