A Terrible Misunderstanding

Very late that night, around 2 am. Mabel slipped silently with a purse into the kitchen.

She began to fill it with everyday objects and food. A couple of sharp but small knives, ropes, sausages, a couple of bottles of water and she stole the ideal little emergency kit to carry under her skirt in case of an urgent escape. She also found a music box suspiciously hidden behind the boiler. As she walked to her room she tripped and the box fell to the floor spilling red powder.

Mabel walked over and realized what kind of dust it was. She knew that dust was a deadly poison and she quickly decided to throw the box away and carefully clean the dust, throwing both things into a vase and then feign ignorance on the matter since it was none of her business. She returned to the bedroom and began to sort everything in the bathroom. Yesterday, she had entered the room of the late marchioness; she took the earrings and some precious stones between one or another jewelry necklace.

There was a wind-up watch that seemed strangely familiar to her and she took it even though it didn't seem to be of much value. After tidying up the travel bag she hid it behind the tile that contained the pipes. She screwed everything up so it wouldn't look obvious and went back to bed.

Learning to open doors and locks to steal gave her a lot of satisfaction. She was able to put her ability to use in this life and would exploit it as much as she could. She was already imagining how she would live in the fields, herding animals or harvesting far from the sight of undesirable people and this dream gave her strength to continue without hesitation.

Tomorrow she would try to break into the marquis's office and she would steal whatever she might be of value to sell in another country so as not to alarm the locals about the objects. Then, she would dedicate herself to training her strength with the furniture and her agility to be able to climb the roof of the mansion. She had to physically prepare to defend herself against her if she was prevented from fleeing or if someone got in her way.

Another day came and Mabel was still just as calm and silent. She got up early for breakfast and by the time Seth arrived it was very late. Her servants informed him that her sister had had breakfast more than two hours ago and that she was now locked in her bedroom reading. Seth asked to go see her and when he did he was frankly ignored by her sister. He yelled at her, moved her from side to side and even threw the books on the floor so that Mabel came to her senses, that neither bored nor lazy she just picks up objects from the floor without speaking and turning a blind eye to Seth's presence. She just sat on the couch to read quietly.

Seth didn't want to see his sister ignoring him. He missed the girl who was yelling and complaining, finding Mabel's unnatural behavior annoying. He only managed to look at her and left her room grumbling. The maids next to him finished arranging the mess left by Seth and looked pityingly at his lady who showed no feeling for anything.

Thus two weeks passed. Mabel looked paler and she seemed to have lost a lot of weight, no one knew that she was only gaining muscles and her paleness was a consequence of avoiding the summer sun. The concern was raised too much when Seth went to ask the servants for explanations, what he received was terrible news about the health of his sister. He demanded that more doctors come to help Mabel recover from the damn infection that left her speechless, even ordered that they prescribe a more consistent diet due to the alleged malnutrition that Mabel was going through due to not eating well.

Mabel was already beyond furious at the doctor's constant comings and goings. Not being able to speak only brought further complications to the maids who were trying to understand the orders her lady was giving them. Mabel gave up on the idea of ​​making herself understood since after all she would be leaving soon and she didn't see so much work needed.

**

Marquis Quentin Lennox was in his office in the royal palace reading the list of pending payments that had been given to him by his right hand, Marvin Tierrin. The marquis did not understand why the biggest debt to pay was for 5 different doctors, it seemed illogical to him that so many doctors came to his house because there was already one. The strange thing was that the request was made by his son and he asked Marvin if there had been an incident that warranted such a concurrence. As butler of the mansion, Marvin had the obligation to pass the minors to his master every two weeks without fail but the matters concerning Mabel were not of importance so he replied that nothing was wrong.

At the insistence of his master, Marvin had to declare the general situation and the facts that led the young master of the house to make the decision to call medical experts. Since Mabel had returned to the house, chaos reigned in the sense that nothing was done the same with the girl. She for some strange reason had caught an infection that had left her speechless, her tantrums had stopped and the tranquility she expressed about her, they were driving hers crazy, her brother Seth of hers for her.

The marquis took it as something fleeting and did not give it importance until Marvin took a sealed envelope from his coat pocket and handed it to his lord, sent by the captain of the knights and the GP. The envelope contained information about what happened that morning, where traces of Fulminating Lilies were found in front of the girl's room.

The fountain pen the marquis was holding fell to the ground. Withering lilies were a hallucinogenic poison that, consumed in small amounts, would drive a person crazy over time, but consumed in large doses would cause death. It was also used to reinforce or generate curses. The marquis is perfectly aware of the poison because it was the same poison used by certain individuals to murder his wife.

The poison was forbidden throughout the world for the effects it caused and was only used by the infamous demonic sect Aleron. The cultists sought the destruction of the known world and the rebirth of the demon realm instead. The Marchioness Lennox was a descendant of the ancient temple saint and the marquis, along with other noble houses, were related to the kingdom's guardian saints. Many had tried to eliminate these families for generations and when they saw the murder of the Marchioness accomplished, the finger pointed directly at the Aleron sect but was never heard from again.

Now it seemed that they were rising from the ashes and pointing to their children. He thought they would go after Seth since everyone knew he was the most favored, but what puzzled him was seeing that they were going after his youngest daughter first. Although the girl's existence did not generate empathy, he could not allow someone to want to annihilate her bloodline like that. He regretted not paying attention to the girl and maybe if this topic had not come to light he could be crying more for Seth than for Mabel. Now, possibly the infection was not such a thing but poisoning.

He ordered an investigation on each and every one of the servants so as not to raise suspicions about the matter. The rats had infiltrated his house and must be eliminated.

At that moment, Mabel was looking out the window thinking of a distant and peaceful future as her Maidens prepared lunch in her room looking pityingly at the girl.