The doctor began to feed her the small greenish pill into her mouth by gently pinching her cheeks with his thumb and index.
"Chew on this, don't worry about its taste, it'll make your symptoms quell."
He had fed her the pill first to stop her condition from worsening before he could drive out the toxins out of her body and cure her for good. Being briefed on the situation, he had brought anti-poison pills, which were already enough to deal with the situation, as it was just a mortal poison; if one digested the pill, they would recover in several hours. To make sure no accidents happened to her mortal body, he would work together with the pill and aid in recovery.
Sarina could only listen to the man and chew on the bitter, chalky pill. Every time her mandible moved, it pained her greatly. Slowly, she digested the pill.
"Very good, now I'll expose your stomach area in order to expel the toxins that are left in your body." He skillfully told Sarina what his subsequent actions were going to be. As an experienced doctor, he knew that ladies had qualms about strangers touching their bodies, so he reassured her.
The old man then began to untie the laces in Sarina's bodice. Amidst his dismantling, he looked over at Teren and Ralliere, who were standing by: "Bring me a bucket, unless you want your floor to become toxic."
"Yes, Master Doctor!" From the other room, Kylina shouted. She had finished feeding the pill to the Matron, her expression and mood easing by quite a few nodes. In this situation, she wanted to be somewhat useful. With two maids out of commission, Lisa undertaking tasks that only left her on standby. Plus, he didn't see it fitting for her Masters to do such a chore when it was her duty.
Her leather thatcher shoes rapidly tapped against the ground. From the kitchen, she had gotten a wooden bucket. Placing it right next to the doctor she held great expectations towards.
She fixed her gaze onto Sarina for a brief period before leaving the situation to the magicians she greatly looked up to and joining Lisa in the kitchen.
Teren and Ralliere were very satisfied with this development.
Not many young girls would continue their day unbothered if their friend's life and death weren't guaranteed. Instead of worrying excessively or breaking down into tears, she decided to entrust Sarina's wellbeing into the hands of her Masters and to continue her duties.
"Sarina will just be fine! Worrying will do nothing! Plus, I haven't thought of Lisa's feelings. As the most mature out of the three, she must've felt the biggest pressure!" Kylina had been shrouded by the fogginess of fear, so much so that she couldn't grasp the emotions of others; it was only until now that she self-reflected that the fogginess had cleared.
"Lisa, as the most responsible out of all of us, must've felt terrible to see Sarina and Miss Matron falling ill, but she knew that there were things to take care of…" In her mind, her adoration for Lisa grew exponentially. Compared to her, she felt that she was too immature in comparison. She felt the need to be more like her and renounce her previous childish self.
Seeing the growth of his maid in real time, the Fang's pair mood was uplifted by a few volumes. They had known the lass since she was a child, but as they saw her now, she was gaining features of that of a woman.
The two couldn't help but reminisce about the past and look at those casual memories fondly. At the same time, feelings of frustration and displeasure arose. Harming those they viewed fondly, the culprit wouldn't go unharmed.
The two inwardly stirred, as they viewed the patient and doctor pair.
Sarina's bodice was now untied and set aside. The doctor slightly lifted her blouse to reveal her stomach area, on which he placed his right hand and closed his eyes.
He injected his mana into her body, circulating it through her blood canals and organs. He had noticed that the poison mostly gathered into her kidneys and lungs; if left alone, Sarina would've died via organ failure.
The toxins within her body were interfering with cellular procedures. This poison in particular was affecting her cellular energy production, which was necessary for life to function. The doctor didn't waste more time. With his mana, he activated his healing spell, giving restoration to Sarina's kidneys. The process was a bit slow, as he wasn't in direct contact with Sarina's organs for obvious reasons.
He only saw what his mana inside her body sensed around, and with that said mana, he molded it into his healing spell. The procedure was many times harder and more time-consuming than regular healing.
While he was treating Sarina, the young man who had come with the doctor made his way from the main hall towards Teren and Ralliere, who were standing a few feet away.
This whole time, he had been searching for clues that the suspect might've left behind. This was his forte; he was a reconnaissance-type magician.
"Father, uncle, I can confirm that the only item that has traces of being poisoned were some tea leaves," he respectfully told the pair.
"Other than that, there's no signs of foreigner footsteps, hair, fingerprints, or any other identifiable objects in the house. If they could bypass the array set, then they wouldn't be so careless as to leave anything behind. There wouldn't be any evidence that would incriminate this person."
"It is most likely that the person behind this planted the poison outside of the household. The one with the highest chance being the supplier, as to why would only mere tea leaves be poisoned? They must've known of the shopping habits and been careful as to only plant poison which would harm the mortal maids and not a Fang family member."
"The maids are responsible for buying food for the entire family. One slip-up and a Fang family member could've gotten harmed, inquiring about the investigation from the clan themselves. Only someone who has observed the maids in detail could make sure that only they could be harmed."
"I, of course, didn't deny all possibilities, inspected the two maids, as only a particular blend of leaves was poisoned. I can only infer that it is the blend that the Matron particularly likes. Unfortunately, this other maid was implicated as well, leading me to think that either Lisa or Kylina had something to do with this, but not a single trace was found on them, not even their belongings."
"I also can't leave the possibility of the culprit poisoning the tea leaves right under the maids' noses. With some magic methods, it could be possible, but not likely, especially in public."
The pair listened attentively; after all, the youth was someone in a specialized field, and they mostly reached the same conclusion from the evidence thus far. They in no way doubted his capabilities.
Ralliere spoke first: "Very well, Marleo, what do you think we should do?" Ralliere didn't ask that because he didn't know what to do, more so in order to get a different perspective and peer into what his oldest son train of thought.
Marleo flatly said, "I think we should not delve into the situation any further. Clearly, the culprit didn't directly intend on killing the target. It was more or less about leaving a message behind the incident. Someone that can keep tabs on unassuming maids and strike them—unless we've made enemies of others, we are clearly thinking of the same suspects."
Teren sighed in displeasure: "They think they now got the upper hand due to their young master? Heh, many talents do not fully bloom, life is unexpectedly filled with trials and tribulations."
Ralliere's face grew into a grin: "Excellent job, Marleo. Hmph! They've gotten blind due to gold shining on their faces? They'll only keep on getting more shameless as time goes by."
"We are just being played with as my Fang family isn't worth anything!" Teren thought to himself. It was just not the act of harming his people, but also seeing his family as pushovers. But he knew that they couldn't do anything about it!
Marleo's assessment was right. Even if they investigated the culprit, so what? What were they going to do? Harming mortals was like frying fish. If they fixated on this matter, the Fang family's prestige would only dwindle. Teren, Ralliere, or any other Fang family member was not willing to see this happen. The investigation of the matter was destined to bear no fruit from the start!
If the deed was truly done by the Jotos, they would only announce to the clan that the Jotos had managed to infiltrate deep into Fang's quarters without a scratch. How shameful would that be? They would subconsciously picture the Jotos as superior, unless the Fang's did something that shifted public opinion.
Prestige and reputation is a double-edged sword. Either be admired by the crowd as they jealously wish to be in your place, or be judged by the crowd that mocks you and pities you. In the competitive world, one couldn't be in the position of the latter by any means.
In the hall filled with solemnity, frustration, and angst, the most joyful out of all of them was the one who was immobile, the one who was close at the verge of death.
She couldn't be more gleeful, as all blame shifted away to the Jotos.
"Sometimes, the smartest people are the easiest to predict," Sarina thought inwardly.
But who could blame them? Sarina didn't leave clues behind that would implicate her or the maids, only possible suspicion, but without anything substantial, all suspicion broke apart.
As a seven-hundred-year-old demoness, Sarina chose the path that all suspicion couldn't be pointed towards her: the victim path!
Right now, she is but a pitiful young lass who drank the wrong tea at the wrong time. Due to that, falling indescribably ill, verging on death's door.
The Fang's villainization of the Jotos brought them to that conclusion themselves, without Sarina to do anything else!
"This is the beauty of letting one do the work in your stead."
Sarina was like an enemy that hid in the darkness, simply indistinguishable. If light were to be shone upon her, others would look at the light-bringer as crazy and unintelligent.
As long as she didn't misplace her steps, she would be free of all doubt and suspicion. As an overlord demoness, Sarina would squeeze and milk any advantage in order to complete her goals.
The doctor continued his treatment, five minutes passed. The doctor managed to heal Sarina's kidneys, getting rid of the effect of the poison on the set place. Then it was now his turn to do so for the lungs.
From her stomach area to her chest, Sarina felt a warm wave wash over her. This was the mana of the man who was treating her, traversing through her body. It was a relaxing yet awkward feeling, as a magician in her past life, having someone else's mana in her body was taboo.
Unless two magicians were extremely close would they do this; one would be completely vulnerable to the one circulating mana throughout their body, for they could cripple their fissure or damage the inner body.
As a mortal, Sarina let go of this subconscious resistance, for now, she had no fissure and no need to worry about such things.
Due to her half-repaired body, Sarina now felt some of her pain alleviated. The pill had eased her symptoms by a notch, but it wasn't an immediate effect.
The treatment continued until her lungs were cleansed. All that was left was to get rid of the residue that was built up in the body. For this, the doctor took out a sterile small needle and pricked Sarina's left forearm, which was the arm facing him. He drove the needle into her vein and pricked it off. Blood began to drip from her arm into the bucket situated on the floor.
He laid her arm dangling right above the bucket, closing his eyes once more. He circulated his mana through Sarina's blood flow in search for residue, and he meticulously guided it to the punctured vein. He was careful not to do it rashly, as it could block her blood flow altogether.
Slowly, instead of blood coming out of her hand, goopy-like black liquid started to gush out of it and into the bucket, mixing with leftover blood.
It was quite a sight seeing anything other than blood come out of the body. Teren and company watched as it happened with a bit of amusement from the bizarre scene.
Amidst the quiet hall, footsteps made their way from the main hall to the domestic hall.
"Father, what is going on?"
Teren and company turned to look to see the owner of the voice—Jinto.
He held onto his little sister's hand as he watched the three men and patient-and-doctor pair. He, together with his sister, had just woken up due to sensing a commotion downstairs, prompting them to follow the crux of the matter.
Just by looking, Jinto could tell that something strange must've happened to have his father, uncle, cousin, coupled with another guest and the bedridden Sarina, made for a scene that he hadn't expected to see first thing in the morning.