Hyde Feeds Poison to the Count's Heir! #2
Theology Doctor Selim.
He found that the situation unfolding in the Agarpe domain was not entirely disadvantageous to him.
So Loras is dead, and Tristan too.
They had always swaggered about on nothing but muscle and raw strength, which had long grated on Selim's nerves. That those two had gone and died alongside Oscar Archibold left him feeling quietly, thoroughly satisfied.
Oscar Archibold was the envoy the Archbishop himself dispatched to this domain. In other words, he was Archibold's eyes and ears. But now that man is dead, a replacement will be needed—
Theology Doctor Selim resolved to make himself known to the Archbishop Archibold he so revered. And he believed without a shred of doubt that he alone could save the Agarpe domain from its ruin.
The age when peace was argued by force ended with the Rom Empire. A leader needs wisdom. Just as the Founding King Unizer once did!
As he steeled his ambition, something caught Selim's eye: the herb that the monk Hyde had brought in, claiming it was medicine for Dihon.
Witch's Herb. Digitalis.
Even a tiny amount of its leaves, once ingested, brought death through headache, diarrhea, delirium, and paralysis.
You bring that plant and call it medicine? Oh-ho, Hyde. So this is your scheme—kill the legitimate heir Dihon, then use Lady Psyche front and back to swallow the House of Agarpe whole!
Selim considered his very presence in Agarpe a great blessing upon the family. And so, invoking the name of his master Parmas, he began shouting at Hyde without restraint.
"If Hyde manages to cure Dihon's illness with digitalis, I will bash my own head against the wall until I die! But if the illness worsens—or if he dies—"
Then the count's house would punish Hyde by the most horrific means imaginable.
And Psyche would become a widow.
Then Lady Psyche and I will marry. Lady Psyche is someone who understands the strength of wisdom over brute force. And above all, she is still a virgin. What a complete fool Hyde is.
Hyde had failed to claim Psyche's purity—but Selim was different. His wisdom was a treasure of Agarpe itself. Producing children to carry on that wisdom and knowledge was simply the sensible course.
Selim never once doubted that his offspring would be brilliant.
However—
Hyde's expression remained thoroughly mild.
That alone sat poorly with Selim.
"Hyde, say something already!"
Just as Selim barked at him, Hyde let out a long breath and spoke.
"Selim is correct. Digitalis is called Witch's Herb, and even a slight misdose turns it into a lethal poison that destroys the body. However—if one finely shreds the leaves in the most minute measure and extracts them in water, there is no reason it cannot serve as medicine."
Using an extreme poison as medicine.
Could that cowardly monk Hyde truly manage a dosage so delicate that even Master Parmas in Fierenzo would struggle with it?
Selim did not believe it.
"Lies! This is clearly a plot to poison Young Master Dihon to death! We must stop him at once—before something far worse occurs!"
"You idiot. The 'far worse' accident is you drawing the young Dihon's blood by the bowlful until he goes into shock. You call that an accident. Does yanking blood out at random cure a disease?"
"What? Are you dismissing the teachings of my master, Sir Parmas?"
"Yes. Looking at you, it seems the Parmas who taught you is a halfwit as well."
"Wh—you—how dare—! Take that back!"
Selim's mouth went dry. Not only had Hyde slighted him—he had slighted the name of Parmas, a man renowned enough to be counted among the Six Knights of the Holy War. Having that famous Parmas as his master had always been Selim's proudest boast.
Whenever Selim opened with, "As I learned from my master, Sir Parmas—," the ignorant would believe him even if he claimed he could make fire from ice.
That was how authoritative the name was. And in truth, it was.
"You—you just insulted my master! You've gone mad!"
"I will not waste words. Count Doban. If you believe the medicine I have prepared will harm Young Master Dihon, lock me in a cell."
Hyde looked to Count Doban.
Doban. His face was deeply troubled as he glanced back and forth between Selim and Hyde—but Selim was no fool, and in the count's expression he could read a faint spark of expectation directed at Hyde.
No!
"Count Doban! This is not a quarrel between me and Hyde! This is no mere clash of pride! Think of it not as Hyde versus Selim, but as Hyde versus Sir Parmas!"
Doban.
He was neither cunning nor especially wise. His strength lay in facing men bravely on the battlefield, and at that he truly excelled. But in an age of peace, when people lived and died and quarreled among themselves, he was little better than a soft-hearted fool.
Even so, he had held the countship of a great house like Agarpe because he possessed an exceptional instinct.
That instinct has served me well until now—but if I choose wrong this time, my son Dihon may truly die. Honestly speaking, Hyde has done remarkably well so far.
Hyde.
Count Doban wanted to trust him. How hopeful was the claim that he could cure his son's illness? The count's house had already spent a fortune on every medicine, every treatment, every superstitious charm said to help the boy's condition.
But it is also true that Hyde is suspicious. He appeared out of nowhere, cured my daughter's illness, and then toppled the Crescent Moon Sisterhood and Oscar Archibold in a single stroke.
Marriage talks with Lady Milione were already circulating as well. And the letter Archbishop Archibold had personally written, expressing a desire to join Hyde to his own daughter—that weighed heavily on Doban's mind.
Archbishop Archibold.
Doban had seen him on the battlefield and knew the man well. He was a serpent of a man.
What if he was Archibold's spy from the very beginning? If I think of it that way, a great many things fall into place.
Hyde had devoted himself to the House of Agarpe. At the root of human action lay a desire for reward—yet Hyde showed none of that. Did people who simply served others expecting nothing in return even exist?
As a noble and a warrior who had ridden the battlefield, Count Doban could not bring himself to trust that such a saintly person truly walked the earth.
"Very well. I will trust you, Hyde. May fortune favor you."
Even so—
Doban chose once again to trust his gut over his reason.
Count Doban.
For a man seated in such a lofty position, he was surprisingly indecisive and full of fretting. Of the Agarpe family's long decline, his share of the blame was easily thirty percent.
And yet the reason he still sat in the count's chair was probably sheer luck.
The luck of being born a noble.
And the luck of taking me, Hyde, as his son-in-law!
Of course, according to Scripture, this was not luck. These were merely cogs turning beneath a vast Providence.
"Young Master Dihon, I know you have been listening from inside. You heard your father's words just now, yes? You must take the medicine, so open the door."
I spoke through the door to Dihon.
At once that Selim creature refused to give up, shouting in the most pathetic fashion.
"Dihon! You must not open that door! If you drink the poison, you will die! Listen to this Selim! Have I not labored night and day for Young Master Dihon until now?!"
So he meant to flaunt his closeness with Dihon and obstruct the treatment.
Selim's face was now full of confidence, looking down on me as if I were already finished.
Irritating little pest.
I knew you would come at me like that.
"Young Master Dihon—are you not curious about the next story in Backstreet Nymph's Village? What becomes of the nymph Oinoe as she flees the nymph hunters? The next tale is written right here in this book."
The masterpiece of my life: Nymph's Village, Volume Two.
A fairy tale so perfect, pure, and magnificent that it could not be compared to a lowly jumble of type like the Gwichukdo.
Dihon would understand its worth!
Creeeak—.
Indeed, Dihon's door opened!
"Volume Two is out? I want to read it right away!"
"Dihon—Young Master Dihon! How could you open the door?!"
Selim looked ready to foam at the mouth like a dog with rabies. Regardless, I stepped into Dihon's room and handed him a single bottle of potion.
A wooden vial the size of a thumb.
A few drops of medicine inside.
The leaves of Witch's Herb, cut vanishingly fine, diluted in water, and extracted into a remedy.
"Dihon, the choice does not truly rest with us. Whether you drink this medicine or not—that decision is yours."
"……"
Dihon looked at me. Then he seemed to glance between Selim and Count Doban, and at last turned his gaze to the window, his eyes burning.
Yes. A life spent locked away because of a frail body.
Wouldn't that leave anyone bitter?
"I'll drink it."
That's it!
Truly Psyche's brother. Whether he took after Count Doban or not, when it came time to decide, he decided on impulse and well.
But that decision sent Selim into a frenzy.
"You must not! This is madness! Why would you drink poison?! Young Master Dihon has clearly gone insane! Insane—this is not normal! Yes! That must be it! Sorcery!"
Sorcery, my foot—.
But then Selim stormed into the room and began rummaging under Dihon's bed.
And Dihon looked thoroughly flustered.
"S-Sir Selim!"
"Look at this! Here! Beneath the young master's bed—this vile, heretical book, the Gwichukdo, hidden away! Young Master Dihon is under the thrall of an evil text!"
Wait—why is the Gwichukdo under there?
I was mildly thrown when the ten-year-old boy Dihon flushed scarlet and began making strange little noises—"Ah, uh, hah, ack!"—in a flustered stream.
People came crowding in at the commotion.
Selim, as if he had seized the upper hand, declared:
"Hyde—was it you who gave this blasphemous, wicked book to Young Master Dihon? You stripped him of his senses and meant to drive him to suicide by making him drink poison!"
What nonsense.
Regarding the Gwichukdo, I am innocent!
Well—strictly speaking, since I wrote the book, it is my fault!
But how it ended up under that bed, I have no idea.
That was when it happened.
"I gave it to him."
Someone parted the crowd and stepped forward.
It was Lady Milione.
"As the one who will become the count's eldest son, he ought to know how the world works. And if you're stuck in a room every day, you get bored, don't you? I know that feeling well."
Milione, you lunatic!
Giving a ten-year-old a deranged erotic novel as a gift?
The woman was completely off her rocker.
Selim, however, seemed badly rattled that it had not been me who gave the book.
"Th-that—the two of you—colluding? Yes! You two must have planned this together! The two of you conspired to devour the House of Agarpe! Oh-ho, now I see it! You were in league from the start!"
Murmur, murmur—.
At Selim's words the crowd grew noisy.
"Young Master Dihon read the Gwichukdo?"
"A novel that vulgar?"
"To be fair, it is well written. The meter as a unit of measure is truly revolutionary. Better than the old guesswork of feet."
"Still, for a ten-year-old to be reading it is a bit—"
This was becoming a nuisance in every direction. I decided to end the scene quickly.
More than anything, Dihon's face—caught red-handed with the dirty book he had been reading—was so scarlet I genuinely feared he might kill himself from shame.
"Dihon! Choose!"
"……"
Dihon flinched at my words. Then he squeezed his eyes shut and downed the medicine clutched in his hand in one go.
Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
"Ghh—m-my heart—my body feels hot—"
Ssssss—.
A faint reddish mist seemed to coil weakly about Dihon's body as he voiced that strange sensation.
The first to react was Milione.
"Aura?"
Aura.
One of the Three Miracles radiated by those who had tempered their bodies.
For reference, the Three Miracles were said to be Holy Power, Mana, and Aura.
"My body feels warm! I've never felt this warm before!"