When Albrecht came, the Grand Duchess had told Walter and Anne.
I'll talk to Albrecht alone, so please wait for a while.
Anne waited quietly for the order, but not Walter.
He sneaked out on the pretext of going to the latrine while Anne was resting and chased after Elona and Albrecht.
It was to get the evidence that they were working on.
The other day, during a hunting tournament, he had overheard the conversation between the Grand Duchess and Albrecht, but at that time, he had no time to record it because it was literally a random encounter.
Therefore, he could not produce evidence to persuade Kishian.
To avoid missing the opportunity, Walter had prepared his magic tools and waited for the right time.
Finally, Albrecht came to the Grand Duchess, who had returned from Baron Baldek.
Walter, who knew that if he missed this opportunity, he would never be able to get the evidence, so he took the risk and pursued the Grand Duchess and Albrecht, and succeeded in recording their conversation.
All that remained was for Kishian to hear it and wake up from his dream and face the reality of the Grand Duchess.
"The Grand Duchess plotted? It's useless again..."
Seeing Kishian talking in annoyance, Walter didn't flinch.
"Listen first. I'll play it now."
After that, Walter tapped the crystal ball with his fingertips.
Then, the beads glowed softly, and the voices stored in them could be heard.
- You went to another country with the Grand Duke, wasn't it a good opportunity? The boundaries must have been weaker than those in the Grand Palace.
- Since the boundary must have been weak, should he have seen the gap and stabbed the Grand Duke directly?
- You should have tried.
A familiar voice came from inside the marble.
Before he knew it, Kishian was listening and eavesdropping on the conversation.
- My role is to help. Whether you wield a blade at the Grand Duke or poison him, it's up to you.
The Grand Duchess's voice was so cold that it made his heart ache.
He spoke of the death of the Kishian in a cold voice that did not feel even the slightest warmth.
- This?
- It is a powerful sleeping pill. Even if you feed them a very small amount, they can sleep as if they were dead for a day. Ask the Grand Duke for an interview this evening. Then, if you see a chance, put it in his teacup and put it to sleep. I'll send the assassin up at dawn.
Albrecht's voice, threatening to send an assassin, touched Kishian's nerves.
Fortunately, the Grand Duchess did not accept the proposal.
He said it was a stupid operation and gave Albrecht an excuse.
But after that.
- Don't rush to it, I'll find the safest and surest way to kill him.
The Grand Duchess, who rejected Albrecht's proposal, said so clearly.
She said she would find a safe and sure way to kill her husband.
There was no room for any other interpretation.
"..."
Even after the orb had finished regenerating, Kishian didn't say anything.
He just stared at the crystal ball, which had been silenced with slightly red eyes due to pollution.
Walter spoke on his behalf.
"Give me a command."
"..."
"You can just say one word. If you order me to deal with them, I will go to them right now and bring them their supplies."
Kishian still stopped, not responding.
Normally, he would have just snorted and ignored it.
The Grand Duchess had spoken directly to Kishian the other day. If he trusts her, she will personally deal with the people behind his attempted assassination.
Therefore, the conversation he had just heard would have been dismissed as part of the Grand Duchess' plan.
He doesn't know, but he guesses she had her own plan, just to fit in with Albrecht's.
But the current Kishian was not the usual man.
His contaminated mind was shaking his reason, even at this moment.
Solid reason slowly collapsed, and endless doubts arose that bordered on delusion.
Isn't it too realistic to think that she is simply acting in front of Albrecht?
What if it's not actually acting, but serious? What if she was really planning to murder her husband?
Awful questions came to his mind.
He knew in his head that it was also because of the pollution, so he tried to force himself to calm his doubts.
He reminds himself that he has to believe it, and that all the doubts that come flooding in are not his true thoughts.
But for a moment, a strong question dominated his mind.
Was she a woman who could be trusted in the first place?
The Grand Duchess had already betrayed him.
She had acted as if she would only give her heart to him for the rest of her life, and was embraced by another man.
So maybe, really, the Grand Duchess was after Kishian from the beginning...
"Ugh..."
The endless negative thoughts were interrupted for a while by the headache.
Walter, who was standing beside him, took a step closer and said.
"Are you okay?"
Kishian held his head in his hands, unable to answer.
The intense pain, as if on fire inside his skull, erased all his thoughts.
Gritting his teeth and overcoming the pain, he stared at Walter.
"...Don't touch me."
"Your Highness."
"Don't touch the Grand Duchess."
The shock made Walter's eyes tremble.
The conversation he just told him was clearly an assassination plot that anyone could tell.
But don't kill her, just leave her alone.
This was when Walther spoke up to persuade Kishian again.
Puck!
The crystal ball he threw shattered with a dull thud.
Sharp shrapnel splattered on the floor, but none of them paid any attention.
Walter simply pleaded with the Kishian.
"Still don't know? The woman is a traitor. No, she is not a traitor. She would never have given her heart to His Highness in the first place!"
"It doesn't matter."
"Yes...?"
"Even if the conversation you told me is real, and the Grand Duchess is really going to kill me..."
"..."
But it doesn't matter. What I want to see right now is not the death of the Grand Duchess."
That was the conclusion he came to with his head encroached on by pollution.
He did not wish for the death of the Grand Duchess.
Even in the confusion of love and hatred, it was only the truth.
Just thinking about how his body was cooling down felt like his blood was getting cold.
"Get out."
The cold celebrant fell down.
Walther ran one hand across his face, hiding his darkened shyness.
After that, he walked silently and left the bedroom.
In the space left alone, Kishian slowly sank back into cold solitude.
***
Another visitor came to him around midnight.
The presence outside the door made Kishian nervous.
He had said that he would not allow anyone to visit except Walter, so at first he thought it was him, but then an unexpected voice came from outside the door.
"Your Highness, I have come to tell you something urgently."
It was Mrs. Bianca's voice.
The former handmaiden had been expelled, and Madame Bianca had become the new handmaiden, so the soldiers seemed to have opened the way exceptionally.
She must have persuaded them by saying that there was something urgent to tell them about the Grand Duchess.
Normally, he would have scolded her severely and kicked her away, but now he was curious about the news that Madame Bianca would have brought.
"...What is it?"
"Her Highness the Grand Duchess... She has been staying in his bedroom since lunch. She refuses to eat."
"What?"
Kishian himself locked himself in his room to avoid being exposed to contamination.
It was strange that she was left alone without a good reason, skipping meals.
Mrs. Bianca's words further fueled his anxiety.
"I tried to check if she was sick somewhere, but no one has let into her room."
"..."
"What should I do?"
A terrible headache came over him again.
If she was just there to protest that she wouldn't meet him, that's great, but if she really hurts somewhere...
The time for thinking about it didn't last long.
He put on his coat and went straight out into the hallway.
Madame Bianca, who was standing in the hallway, saw him and stepped back
"Your Highness. Your eyes are...than before."
"Shhh, don't make a fuss. It's not a big deal."
Leaving behind a note that she should never tell about his condition, Kishian walked quickly toward the main building where the Grand Duchess was located.
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