I'm Only a Stepmother, But my Daughter is Just so Cute

CHAPTER 17

Sob sob. Good thing I got sick. Was this why Abigail pretended to be sick a lot? As I was wallowing in my own happiness for a bit, I heard the doctor speak from the side. "Since it hasn't been too long since Miss Abigail recovered, I think it would be best if she is given some time alone for a bit."

Wait, no. Look here, Mr. Doctor, sir. The only reason I recovered so quickly is because of Blanche! That stupid ass of a Sabelian just nodded away at whatever the doctor said. He turned to speak to Blanche. "Let's leave, Blanche."

"Ah, yes. Miss Abigail, p-please rest well...!" Sabelian left with my poor girl. Sob... That man's seriously no help at all! I was left with complete silence when the room became empty of all but myself. It was pretty weird. I tried turning around in my bed a little bit.

So nutmegs were more dangerous than I thought, huh? I had no idea. Come to think of it, I feel like I'm forgetting something... Damn, I can't remember. My head is still spinning all over the place. Come on, remember, remember... As I kept trying to think of whatever it was I was missing, I heard a voice come from somewhere next to me.

"....Hey! You okay?" The sound was coming from inside my drawer. I opened it with what little strength remained in my arms to see a small mirror placed inside it. It was Verite. "Abigail, are you feeling alright?"

"It's not too bad, but...you were capable of doing something like this as well? You're really talented, aren't ya?" The Verite from inside the mirror was now the size of a doll. The boy reflected on the surface spoke rather glumly. "It's still useless. I couldn't even stop this from happening..."

I could tell he was quite worried for me, despite him trying to look all annoyed. I smiled faintly at him. "Thanks for worrying about me. I'm fine."

"What do you mean you're fine? You almost died." He informed me grimly, "You can die from eating too much nutmeg. You could even become paralyzed or go blind.."

My jaw dropped. W-what the–nutmeg had that kind of a side effect...? I kind of understood why Sabelian wanted to execute the chef now. It was a mistake, but it almost brought in a very horrific result. "It was because you were an adult that it was only this bad and not worse. If Blanche had eaten it, she might've actually died."

"...What? What do you mean?"

"Blanche is way smaller than you. That amount of poison would work far better on a smaller body than yours." The moment I heard Verite's words, I realized what it was I was trying to remember all this time, what had been nagging at me. This was what was making me feel so uncomfortable. The fact that the food was served to Blanche. It was something Blanche would have eaten. A cold sweat ran down my spine. My hand started to tremble uncontrollably, "...The chef will definitely have to be fired."

"Nothing's going to change, though," Verite continued calmly. I turned to shoot him a confused glance as I listened to the rest of what he had to say, "The chef didn't do anything. The nutmeg was thrown in by someone else entirely."

My brain went completely blank after hearing this. Blanche almost died. And someone did this intentionally. Just who—? Who tried to kill that little child? It was then what Verite had just said clicked in my head. I turned back to the mirror immediately. "You said someone else threw on the nutmeg. Do you know who it is?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I told you. Don't you remember?" Verite pointed to his right eye. It was sparkling with a silver light.