A Tiger's Den Awaits
"To catch a tiger, you must go into its den..."
“Lo... Lowell... the... child...”
The next day,
Sophia, the princess who had been unable to attend the previous day's banquet for her assassination investigation, instead sat down for lunch with me.
When I appeared in the garden with Kali, Sophia, who had already been waiting on the terrace, jumped up from her seat in surprise at the sight of Kali.
“Introduce yourself. Kali. This is the princess of this kingdom.”
“.....”
Surprised by the sudden introduction, Kali, unlike when I first met her, fidgeted in front of Sophia and shyly flushed her face, averting her gaze.
“Lowell, who is this child?”
“Um... my daughter?”
For a long time, Sophia stared at Kali before asking me again, and I answered with a mischievous tone.
“Yes!!??”
“It’s a joke. I took on the responsibility for a while because of some circumstances.”
“Huu~ What a relief. I was thinking... she doesn’t look anything like me at all.”
I didn’t quite understand what Sophia meant by “what a relief,” but with a bright, innocent face, she guided Kali and me toward the terrace.
Perhaps Sophia had grown a little distant in how she treated me because of last night’s events, but she seemed completely unchanged.
She was acting as if nothing had happened at all.
“Yesterday, Lowell also didn’t come to the banquet, right? Do you have any idea how many people I wanted to introduce you to?”
“Yes.. Next time, I’ll try to attend.”
“Ah! Do you know what happened at the banquet yesterday? I was in the middle of...”
From that point on, Sophia’s chatter began.
I had only accepted her lunch invitation because last night’s confession still weighed on my mind...
Yet she held me captive for a full hour, only talking about herself as if to punish me.
“Haaam~ Auntie, I’m sleepy.”
I didn’t know if she sensed my boredom or was simply stuffing herself with cake until she was full, but
Kali kept rubbing her eyes and yawning non-stop.
“Oh my? I’m sorry, Lowell. I must have talked only about myself!”
Sophia finally noticed and apologized hastily.
“No, Your Highness.”
“Ah! Then, shall we continue the rest of the story at dinner tonight?”
“.....”
“At dinner, I’ll have a special dish prepared.”
Feeling the need to listen to her endless chatter until evening—especially since Kali had barely stopped her—I unconsciously furrowed my brows.
At that moment...
“Hahaha, everyone’s here.”
To reach this villa from the royal palace, one had to cross the garden, but a middle-aged man crossed the garden, glancing at Sophia and me in turn before greeting us.
“Uncle! When did you arrive at the palace?”
“Hahaha, I entered this morning and chatted with His Majesty. When I heard that Lowell, a member of the hero party, was here, I stopped by to pay my respects.”
To Sophia, “uncle” meant...
Was he the king’s brother?
I had felt his aura all morning.
“Lowell, this gentleman is my uncle, the Duke of Erenty.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Lowell.”
The Duke of Erenty greeted me first.
“The honor is mine. I’m Lowell.”
I shook his outstretched hand, but my eyes were fixed on the sword at his waist.
The aura of black mana I had sensed since morning...
At first, because it was so distant, I had assumed it was just a faint trace of black mana flowing through nature.
But after seeing the Duke of Erenty, who had approached with the assassination sword, I realized it was unmistakable.
It was the same sword the assassins had been carrying when they tried to assassinate Sophia in the chapel...
“Lowell, is there somewhere that bothers you? Your face doesn’t look well.”
The Duke of Erenty seemed concerned that I was staring at his sword with a frown, so he spoke cautiously.
I quickly gathered myself and smiled as if nothing had happened.
“Ah. Sorry. Being an elf, I sometimes space out when I’m surrounded by nature.”
“Hahaha, that’s understandable. This garden was built by the kingdom’s most famous gardeners for our precious princess, His Majesty’s only daughter.”
As the Duke said, the garden was enormous and breathtaking compared to those in other kingdoms.
Perhaps...
He had created this garden as a way to display his heart for Sophia, the king’s only child and the princess.
And...
In the eyes of the Duke of Erenty standing before me now, I saw a gaze completely different from the one above.
“Ah! Lowell, how long do you plan to stay here?”
“Well, I don’t have any set plans yet, but if Her Highness is safe, I’ll have to leave.”
I answered evasively, and the Duke of Erenty furrowed his brows with an unhappy expression.
Just from that look, I could see who the real culprit behind the princess’s assassination attempt was.
“That’s perfect timing. Would you like to visit our estate sometime?”
“Is this simply an invitation?”
“Hahaha, yes. We’ve invited you. Our estate has a new chef who arrived recently, and I wanted you to taste his cooking too.”
For an invitation to one’s own home, the enthusiasm seemed lukewarm...
But his words carried an entirely different meaning from what I thought.
“Uncle! I want to go too!”
Sophia, who had been glaring at each other, slipped in between me and the Duke.
“Your Highness should just stay at the villa. From the way he’s acting, it seems the Duke is inviting only me...”
I would have preferred she stayed here.
Considering the high walls and the strict guards due to the recent assassination attempt, this might actually be safer.
“Hahaha, if Her Highness comes, I would be even more delighted. This... if it’s just Lowell and now Her Highness, I’ll have to tell the chef to prepare even more carefully.”
“Really!?”
“Yes. Since we’re in this situation, how about tomorrow evening? Lowell?”
I wished Sophia wouldn’t come.
Knowing that she, who had grown up surrounded by flowers in a greenhouse, would be deeply shocked to learn that her uncle, the Duke of Erenty, had killed her father and the king to seize the throne and destroy the kingdom, I assumed it would hit her hard.
From the moment I first sensed the black mana sword on him, I had known something was wrong...
I never expected him to openly reveal his true nature in front of me.
“Very well. I’ll visit tomorrow evening.”
“Then I’ll have my father’s permission!”
“Your Highness, why don’t you just stay here? It seems the Duke has some special story for me alone...”
“I’ll be quiet and not disturb you two! Please? I want to go too~ Lowell~”
Sophia showed no sign of backing down, and the Duke smiled slyly as if things were going according to his plan...
“Auntie, can I go too?”
Kali, who had been watching everything from her chair, suddenly spoke with a grown-up smile on her face. For some reason, that smile seemed to carry a meaning I couldn’t quite understand yet.
*
And the next day...
Even before leaving the palace, I tried to stop Sophia, but her stubbornness refused to break.
In the end, Kali, Sophia, and I boarded the same carriage heading toward the Duke of Erenty’s estate.
At first, I had considered telling the king everything and keeping Sophia at the palace, but without solid evidence—only suspicion—it felt too reckless to bring it to him.
After all, I was just a member of the hero party and an outsider. I couldn’t trust him as much as his own brother.
Of course, if the king suspected anything, it might be different...
Seeing Sophia willingly agree to go to that estate made me think she still knew nothing.
Eventually, the carriage left the palace and reached the sprawling estate on the outskirts of the capital...
The royal guards and soldiers who had accompanied Sophia from the palace dispersed around the entrance, while only Sophia’s carriage was allowed through the gate.
After going deep inside the building...
Considering the distance I had traveled, even if something happened here, the guards at the entrance would have trouble knowing about it.
“You’ve traveled a long way. Thank you for coming.”
The Duke of Erenty welcomed us at the carriage.
Wearing party attire suitable for the banquet, the Duke looked as if he was preparing for a real dinner tonight...
Given the killing intent and swords radiating black mana emanating from every direction of the estate...
It seemed I had truly entered the tiger’s den.
“The meal isn’t ready yet, so please wait here a moment. I’ll come to fetch you again.”
The room the Duke of Erenty guided us to was a reception hall for guests.
Like reception halls in all estates, it was filled with lavish decorations and expensive items, flaunting the owner’s wealth to outsiders.
“Your Highness, from now on, listen to me carefully.”
I warned Sophia about what was coming next.
“No matter what situation arises from now on, you must stay away from me.”
“Huh? Lowell, why suddenly... you’re scaring me...”
“What’s about to happen isn’t an event—it’s real. The Duke of Erenty is plotting beyond you and the king to seize this kingdom.”
“Lowell, what are you saying? My uncle is looking at this kingdom?”
If I had more time...
I wanted to explain everything to Sophia carefully.
That her uncle, the Duke of Erenty, was the mastermind behind the assassination attempt and planned to kill her, become the first in line for the throne, then kill the king and take the kingdom...
But...
With hundreds of killing intent and black mana already gathering outside the door, there was no longer time to explain.