Shocked, Meltia flinched and then froze in place. Jeanette raced over to the princess and grabbed her slender wrist to pull her away from the dress.
“What are you doing?!” demanded the infuriated head maid. “First you dare speak to Her Highness in that tone, and now this?!”
“Please, everyone needs to get away from that dress right now!” Jeanette insisted.
“Wh-What?! Why?!”
“Quickly!!!”
At Jeanette’s desperate cries, the maids stepped away from the gown despite their confusion.
“Someone please summon Dr. Jaquilla at once! And make sure to take measures to protect yourself from poisonous fumes!”
“Poison?” Meltia tilted her head quizzically. “Are you trying to say my dress is poisoned, Jeanette?”
“Yes—and it’s deadly!” Jeanette replied, throwing the gown a stern look. It was the brightest green...just like the shade of green which was rumored to have once killed an emperor.
“What do you mean? It’s just a normal dress!”
As the princess protested, Jeanette continued glaring at the garment.
“I once read a published report from a scholar in Thoren. It mentioned that Scheele’s green contains a high level of arsenic.”
“Arsenic...?”
“It’s a deadly poison. In other words, this is a dress of death which would kill you just from putting it on.”
The maids all let out a shriek at the mention of death.
“What?!” the head maid screamed. “Do you mean to say that the tailor who sold us this dress was trying to kill Lady Tia?!”
“I can’t say that with certainty, because it’s still not widely known in our country that the dye for this shade of green is poisonous. I have no idea if the tailor in question was aware of it either.”
Scheele’s green had originally blown up in popularity not far from this nation, in the Kingdom of Dillo. When Jeanette’s father had heard of it, he’d tried getting a hold of it for Roussel Corporation, yet for some reason a lot of the merchants involved with it had grown sick. Headaches, fevers, and other seemingly trivial symptoms had ailed them, but the young Jeanette hadn’t overlooked that. When she voiced her concerns to her father, he had instantly canceled the deal.
Father had joint ownership over Scheele’s green with the other merchants, but they trusted him and followed him in divesting themselves of it, so it never became popular in our country. But that’s also why the fear of the dye of death hasn’t reached us either!
Perhaps a tailor unaware of the deadliness of the green pigment had unknowingly delivered it to the princess.
The head maid was in a frenzy.
“How outrageous! Whether they knew of it or not, selling a poisoned dress to the princess is a serious crime! We must inform Their Majesties at once!”
The woman began stomping away, but Jeanette quickly caught her arm.
“Please let them know that this shade of green is poisonous! It may cause harm if left unchecked. Their Majesties ought to release a public warning... No, in fact, an outright ban on selling this pigment—Scheele’s green!”
“All right. I’ll let them know,” the maid agreed before walking away.
Jeanette breathed a sigh of relief. With that, we should be able to avoid any further harm! She then turned to look at the princess, who was standing there in a daze.
“It just looks like a dress... Is it really poisonous?” she murmured.
Jeanette nodded sorrowfully.
“I have no means to prove it here and now, but there are many substances that look beautiful but are actually harmful to our bodies. Cobalt violet is an infamously toxic pigment, for example. I’ve also heard of a powder used in the Far East as makeup—but its high white lead content caused many deaths. And Scheele’s green led to many people in Dillo becoming sick.”
“So if I had put on that dress...?”
“It would’ve affected not only you, but most likely anyone else who touched it or stayed near you.”
Meltia staggered on her feet and sank down to the floor.
“I may not have known about it...but I very nearly put people’s lives in danger...” she said, shaking all over.
Jeanette crouched down next to the princess.
“Thank you for showing me that dress, Your Highness. Because of that, we prevented anything bad from happening.”
Meltia was silent. Her trembling, pale blue eyes gazed up at Jeanette as if begging for help. Jeanette smiled gently.
“It’s okay. I’ll always be here to assist you whenever you want me to.”
“Really? You’ll help me? But I...” Although Meltia didn’t finish her sentence, Jeanette had a good idea of what the princess had wanted to say: “But I’ve been trying to steal your fiancé.”
Jeanette smiled again.
“These are entirely separate matters. You’re my friend, Your Highness.”
Meltia’s eyes widened.
“Friend...?”
“Oops! That slipped out on the spur of the moment—how impudent of me! My apologies! A-Anyway...!” Jeanette stammered, trying to conceal her slipup. “Am I right to assume you have no other dress to wear for the ball?! So how about it?! I know you may be reluctant, but why not give Matheson’s dress a try?! It won’t be green, but I’m confident I’ll be able to provide you with a dress to match your beauty, Your Highness!”
“Fine...” Meltia said, cutting off Jeanette’s frantic words. “I’ll wear Matheso—your dress.”
“Thank you!!!” Jeanette sprang up, overjoyed.
“Well, I have no other choice. Since I owe you for spotting the poison, I ought to listen to one of your requests.”
“Oh! In that case, please let Lord Claus return home!”
“I told you, didn’t I? I’ll listen to one request. My debt to you will end once I wear your dress. And I forbid you from withdrawing that offer!”
“Ugh...”
As Jeanette groaned, Meltia giggled in response.