‘Fine, Clyde. Even I can no longer deny it. Your assertion is correct. Someone is interfering in this matter.’
‘I told you so, didn’t I?’
‘Even though there is no proof that this ‘someone’ is my family and the Church as you claimed, though. At any rate, what should I do now then?’
‘While I draw attention from the inside and assess the situation, I would like Your Highness to watch for any movements on the outside.’
‘You intend to play the clown and dump the real work onto me?’
‘Would you like to switch if you feel wronged? In particular, I would appreciate it if you could secretly investigate whether there have been any changes within the Dark Mountains.’
Having parted with the Crown Prince like that, Clyde intended to wait until he had an appropriate card in hand.
‘Lord Marquis.’
‘What is it?’
‘I offer my apologies in advance, and if necessary, please charge the expenses to His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince. For your safety, please step far away from me.’
‘For my safety? You rascal, what are you planning to do!’
‘What am I planning? A demonstration, of course. A demonstration of what kind of power orichalcum displays when it explodes.’
Until Beatrice discovered the hazardous element of orichalcum inside the dolls and intervened, shaking up the board far faster than anticipated.
At that moment, Clyde’s plan to move quietly beneath the surface shifted.
Since the enemy’s existing plans were disrupted as well, it was an opportunity for his side to induce their next move.
However, what was even more important than that…
‘At this rate, Ria Kruger—no, Beatrice—will be in danger.’
Whether by coincidence or not, from their perspective, her discerning eye that saw through and categorized their plan would be a thorn in their side.
‘In the current situation, the only person who can capture their attention more than Beatrice is His Highness. If so…’
Clyde rapidly restructured the board, incorporating both the situation that had unfolded before his eyes and newly acquired intelligence.
His choice was to bring the Crown Prince, who was originally meant to appear for the finale, to the forefront right from the start, and to attach Archduke Alec—whose allegiance remained uncertain—to the Marquis heading for the border.
If he were an enemy, it would take time for information to reach him physically, causing confusion; and if he were an ally, he would be a formidable force in his own right.
‘And just in case, shall I dig a trap baited with a lure?’
If it were publicly revealed that they were touching upon the mountains, the faction fearful of that truth would inevitably react. For instance, the Order of Kalbaron.
Before they deployed an investigation team, it was impossible to know whether they would mobilize the princess on the outside to create a variable, or resort to an even more extreme method.
And among those extreme methods, the move Clyde considered the least likely was this very situation.
Eliminating the Crown Prince and Clyde Dalton, the main pillars of the reformist faction, and stirring up a massive commotion like a monster raid within the marquisate to obliterate every single trace.
‘I thought they might target me first since His Highness wouldn’t be easy to lay a hand on, but… to think they actually would.’
Paradoxically, collapsing didn’t make him anxious.
Even until the moment he closed his eyes, Beatrice was safe, and the aftermath would be wrapped up by the Crown Prince and the arrangements Clyde had left behind.
After all, once something was dragged to the surface, it was difficult to conceal again.
‘Besides, though I don’t know why I feel this way, honestly, it’s not bad at all.’
More precisely, the fact that Beatrice was by his side was strangely gratifying.
That she had cast aside such important work and come running, despite going through the trouble of making a ring just to move around with Cassian.
Perhaps it was because she felt like someone unconditionally on his side.
Just as he was unconditionally on hers.
* * *
“Help! Somebody help! Someone is injured!”
Beatrice’s cry rang resoundingly down the corridor.
The first to respond to her voice was a maid of the marquisate who was cleaning the hallway.
“Um… did something happen…? Good heavens! A-are you all right? What should I—where do I begin…”
“First, go deliver a message to Lady Nao, who is Her Highness the Empress’s head maid. Tell her Sir Dalton got injured while dealing with assassins and is in a poisoned state.”
“Y-yes!! I know where she is! I’ll go right away!”
“And I’d like you to bring a healer from the Marquis House. Please be sure to tell them that poison extracted from tenebrisia is suspected as well.”
“Yes! I shall go and return as quickly as possible.”
Nodding vigorously, the maid dashed swiftly down the hallway.
And truly, before long, Head Maid Nao, Crown Prince Crowell, and a healer came rushing down the hallway in haste.
It seemed her promise to return quickly was no empty words.
“Ria! Sir Dalton is……”
“Lady Nao!”
Scanning Clyde’s condition with his eyes beside the head maid, the Crown Prince questioned Beatrice with a solemn expression.
“Poisoned all of a sudden…? What exactly happened? Was he struck by an assassin?”
“Wait, so Your Highness didn’t know either? From what I heard from the aide, the two of you were planning to stay in your quarters for a while.”
“What?”
“He said you had forbidden entry for the time being, so I thought Your Highness was staying in your room just the same, preparing for an assassin to show up.”
“…The aide told you even that? Wait, come to think of it, why were you in Clyde’s room in the first place?”
“Ah, I did it again…”
By this point, shouldn’t she quit.
It was just when reason finally returned and a flustered expression rose upon Beatrice’s face.
The healer, who had been examining Clyde even while the three of them were talking, cut into the conversation in an urgent voice.
“Um, excuse me for interrupting your conversation, but the situation is dire.”
“Ah, yes!”
“I was told it was Tenebricia poison, but do you happen to know the route of exposure and the amount? And when he was poisoned?”
At the questions tumbling out one after another as if asking her to answer everything at once, Beatrice nodded before shaking her head again.
“I honestly don’t know the amount well, but I know the route of poisoning. This crazy—no, Sir Dalton applied tenebrisia poison very meticulously in his own room. Up to the ceiling, no less.”
“Pardon? Why on earth would he…”
“And as for the time he was poisoned… well, he only collapsed a short while ago, but it seems he stayed in that room the entire time. Could that be related?”
The healer’s complexion was not very good.
Judging by how he parted his lips several times, he seemed to be agonizing over how to convey this.
“First, if it is as you say, it means there is a possibility he was exposed for an extended period rather than merely coming into simple contact with it.”
His gaze scanned the wounds across Clyde’s body. From small scratches to injuries that appeared to require immediate treatment.
“Furthermore, if it even penetrated directly through wounds…”
“Then what?”
“Of course, as soon as I examined the patient I administered a standard antidote, but we must also consider the possibility that the poison has spread throughout his entire body. That is to say, perhaps already…”
The healer trailed off, reluctant to speak the remaining words.
Even so, everyone present understood what he was trying to say. Whether they could accept it was a separate matter.
Listening to the healer’s words, Beatrice tilted her head slightly.
‘If it’s as the healer says, that means Clyde might never wake up again, but there’s no way.’
It was not merely an emotional denial, but a question rooted in common sense.
While it was true Clyde had committed an act of madness, he was not so foolish as to fall victim to his own trap.
‘If the opponent were Princess Elodie or Lady Valoa, I might think he’d gone blind with revenge… but risking his life just to deal with assassins?’
Something was undeniably suspicious about this healer.
It seemed the Crown Prince and Head Maid Nao were thinking along similar lines.
Just as the three of them exchanged quick glances and were about to verify the healer’s affiliation and name, a low, gentle voice interjected before they could.
“Well now. Can you truly take responsibility for those words?”
“Who… Your Grace the Archduke?”
“Though perhaps not as much as you, who hail from the Order of Kalbaron, I am not without my own expertise. If it is all right, I would like to examine Sir Dalton myself.”
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