Chapter 55 Kitchen Poison

• Meanwhile, deep within the bowels of the castle kitchens, thick, savory steam violently billowed toward the vaulted stone ceilings as an army of servants bustled frantically to prepare the day’s lavish meals and finalize the immense arrangements for the upcoming autumn festival. But the blazing hearths were absolutely not what was making the kitchens so intolerably hot today—it was the highly toxic, treasonous whispers that were spreading exponentially faster than a wildfire in just a single, chaotic night.
• "Did you truly see the undeniable proof with your very own eyes?" the head housekeeper demanded, narrowing her sharp gaze directly at Cecilia, who was currently playing the innocent maid, meticulously arranging fresh fruit slices onto a gold-rimmed porcelain platter.
• Cecilia dramatically held her breath, her nimble fingers deliberately pausing over the silver tray. She let a heavy, agonizing beat of silence pass before answering. "I truly do not want to talk about such a dreadful thing."