Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Poisonous Shadows
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Crown Prince Lark's office.
After helping escort Rubette all the way to Lubon and returning straight to the palace, Ren was waiting in the office.
"The Duchess? You saw her off safely?"
"Yeah."
Lark gave a wry smile as he thought of Rubette.
Lubon's only redeeming quality was its proximity to the capital; otherwise, it was an utterly inconvenient place. A rural estate nestled in the mountains, with most of the locals being farmers...
"The air's really fresh. Perfect for cooling your head with a full year of rest, right?"
"...Sorry."
"What's there to be sorry about? If you really feel bad, abuse your investigation squad captain powers and come visit often."
That was Rubette, forcing a bright front as she toured the villa built midway up a cleared mountainside path.
Lark shook his head with a sigh, then sharpened his gaze.
"Time to work now. I owe the Duchess too much to show my face."
"Yeah. Check these out first."
Ren pointed to the papers already spread out on the desk.
"The Grand Duchess of the Diorus Ducal House's past activities. From her days as the lady of the Bert Barony, family relations, old connections, and even the backgrounds of the noble ladies she's close to in high society now."
Ren grinned and added,
"Everything. I dug it all up."
"Good work."
Lark's eyes quickly scanned them.
"In the future I saw, Dad dies three years from now. When I looked into the cause, it turned out he was taking medicine that didn't agree with him. His personal physician had been bought off by Grandmother."
The death of Duke Diorus as seen in the future. From that doubt, Rubette had uncovered a massive secret.
That the Duke's death was murder—and the culprit who led him to it was none other than the Grand Duchess, Molga Diorus.
"It wasn't poison. It was medicine that seemed fine on the surface, but lethal when taken with alcohol. You can see just from this how she craftily left herself an out."
"So my suspicions didn't stop there. After Grandmother—no, Molga—joined our family, Grandfather died, then my paternal grandmother, and even Mom..."
"Of course it's speculation, and there's no evidence now, but all those deaths don't feel like coincidences."
Lark agreed with Rubette's sharp inference.
"I'm sorry to ask Your Highness to handle something that's my responsibility."
"It's hard to dig into Molga's background while isolated in Lubon. And I'm no information broker; there are all sorts of limitations when working alone."
If anything, it was a relief. Lark felt at ease knowing he could do something for Rubette.
And even if it wasn't just for her, if all these suspicions proved true...
Molga deserved to face the judgment of the law.
"What's the best way to quietly kill someone inside the house?"
Lark muttered as he flipped through the papers, his eyes narrowing sharply.
Their gazes met in the air. Lark and Ren grinned and said in unison,
"Poison."
"Poison, right?"
Lark quickly pulled out a few sheets.
"It's obvious from how she bribed the physician to tamper with Duke Diorus's medicine. She probably threatened the lives of other ducal family members the same way."
"Man, if it's all true, she's one crazy woman."
"She wouldn't have used plain poison outright. She poisoned them without anyone even knowing it was poison."
Lark waved one particular sheet he'd found.
"She must have had connections outside to safely procure it. And this is probably it."
"That's her maiden family, right? The Bert Count Family."
Ren named it without even asking what the paper was, and Lark nodded.
"Yeah."
"Bert Count, Molga Diorus's birth father. He was originally the baron of the central Bert territory, but when Molga became Duchess, the previous Duke Diorus granted him a countship."
Ren leaned forward and continued.
"Now he lives praised by his people as our kind-hearted Count. Despite being the Diorus Ducal House's in-laws, he's humble, incorruptible, stays out of politics, and keeps to his territory like a church mouse."
"He's managing his image well."
"But here's the fun part."
"What?"
"Bert Viscount. Gail Bert, the family heir and Molga Diorus's younger brother."
As Ren spoke, Lark reviewed Gail Bert's profile, and the corner of his mouth slowly rose.
"A noble with a physician's license, sharp-eyed in herbal medicine..."
"Exactly. The central Bert territory's been famous for high-grade herbs since way back. Gail Bert was known as a herbal medicine prodigy from childhood."
"Ah."
Lark nodded at Ren's addition, then leaned back and muttered,
"That's super suspicious."
"Blatantly so. Expert in pharmacology, so poisons too. Isn't it too obvious?"
"Yeah. Digging there should turn up something. Oh, and from now on, we move carefully."
Lark stood, patted Ren's shoulder twice, and added,
"I've learned a lot from this incident."
Lizbet's false accusation, and Rubette taking shared blame to the point of exile.
It all stemmed from confirming 2nd Prince Nathan's dark intentions, then tightening the noose around his neck—only for disaster to strike.
He couldn't act rashly anymore. He had to proceed with utmost caution.
"Molga won't know I've suspected her this far. She deliberately kept Dad's physician and continued the medicine. She just made him stop drinking."
"To leave no room for escape. We have to be careful."
Lark shook his head, thinking of Rubette.
"She's amazing, really..."
Unlike himself, who'd played the fool and gotten properly countered.
Scratching his head bitterly, Lark soon sharpened his gaze.
"Don't give her any loopholes to slip through."
Even if just to repay the massive debt he owed Rubette...
"No matter what, I'll catch her myself and deliver her to you."
* * *
Day 1 of exile, in the scenic forest-adjacent territory of Lubon.
I'd been here an hour and a half, and I was already furious.
[What's with this situation, Wishit?]
After being ignored exactly three times, I sent a mental message to Wishit.
"Have these damned lowlifes lost their minds? Who do they think they're being rude to in front of? Let's die today."
"Greg, show them properly. They've smeared my face too. Do they even know who the Duchess is and still dare..."
Right now, before me stood Lubon Baron, with his sleazy navy mustache, his scrawny, disheveled valet Greg, and... two young peasant siblings trembling between them.
Wishit shrugged beside me and replied.
[To them, you're just the youngest daughter of a great noble house who caused a huge scandal yet got off with a mere year in Lubon. They must see it as a chance to impress you, so they're overdoing it.]
[If they want to impress me, they should listen. I've told them to stop three times now, and they've ignored me.]
Wishit flinched at my garbled, angry tone.
Then.
"Get down on your knees already!"
Greg's hand swung through the air. Toward a girl who looked barely six.
Smack—!
"Ugh!"
Fortunately—or was it?—
"Hey! I said don't! Stop it!"
The brother, shielding his little sister, took the blow to his head instead.
My eyes went wide as I rushed into the chaos.
The siblings clung to each other, trembling. The sister wailed, and the brother glared at me through gritted teeth.
"Y-you, th-this crazy bastard glaring at who? Greg!"
"Baron! I told you to stop! I'm fine!"
"S-sorry, Baron. This brat's always been cheeky..."
"No, kid! What's your name? Greg? Don't hit the child!"
"Beat him to a pulp! The Duchess is furious now! Make him crawl at her feet every time she passes so he's terrified!"
"Shit! Baron! Please, just listen to me...!"
"I'll do as ordered!"
"Hey, hey!"
Greg strode forward and yanked the boy's hair.
That moment.
I cleanly abandoned my plan to maintain a smooth relationship with Lubon Baron, the estate's acting manager, and live quietly for the year.
"Hey!!!"
My shout finally froze everyone.
I marched up to the flustered Greg and kicked his shin hard.
"Argh!"
"You ignored my words exactly..."
I turned to Lubon Baron, who'd been chattering away as a bystander, and said,
"...eight times, you."