Episode 141. Seeing through Maurice's scheme
Three days later.
The door of the clinic that Mark ran was firmly shut.
Patients came and left disappointed after seeing the 'Closed' notice.
It wasn't just the clinic. 'The Most Delicious Bakery', run by Adele, also closed its doors, saying it was closing down.
Some people cursed them for closing their doors without permission.
However, most of them finally realized how much they had done for them.
Cheap bread for the hungry, cheap medical treatment for the poor and sick.
However, it was a fortune that would never return.
"Thank you for making the difficult decision, Count Castler."
Isabelle greeted Mark happily at the Empress's Palace.
After closing the clinic, he had finally accepted the position of Imperial doctor.
"It was an inevitable decision to make a living."
"I heard. Your son was attacked by the wolf clan. Is he okay now?"
"He's sleeping."
A sleep that might wake him up at any moment.
“Thank goodness. But this may be just the beginning. As long as the Emperor exists, the Wolf Clan will do the same thing again. The position of humans will become weaker and weaker.”
“So what should I do?”
“What... do you mean?”
“Isn’t the reason you called me here to poison the Emperor?”
“Oh. You misunderstood something. I was just curious about what illness the Emperor had. And if you could prescribe the right medicine for it, it would be perfect.”
“It sounds like you’re giving me a chance to poison the Emperor.”
“You could use this as a chance to avenge your son.”
Mark laughed weakly.
Thinking about it, Isabelle never told him to poison the Emperor. And yet she constantly threatened, coaxed, and manipulated him.
It was the skill of a political expert who had turned the King of Kalame into a puppet and taken control of the noble council.
Could it be that they had made Jade like that?
To set him up as the antithesis of the Emperor.
“My conditions are as follows. Do not interfere with what I do. If you succeed in avenging your son, I will give you the title of Duke and half of the Rodwell family’s fortune. Do you accept?”
The vast fortune of the Rodwell family was currently in Isabelle’s possession. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she had the most wealth among the nobles of Kalame.
Half of that fortune...
“You seem more greedy than you think.”
“It will be incomparable to the profits the Empress will gain.”
Isabelle, who had been pondering, soon accepted with relief.
“Let’s do our best from now on, us.”
She smiled brightly and offered to shake his hand, but Mark did not take her hand.
After parting ways with Isabelle, Mark went to the palace clinic.
There was already a clinic with his name on it.
He liked the large, sunny window. He liked the hundreds of medicinal herbs displayed in the partitions that reached up to the ceiling even more.
“You seem to be feeling a little better.”
Mark, who was looking through the medicinal herbs, turned around at the unexpected voice.
Christine had been standing in a corner where the sunlight didn’t reach for some time.
“What’s going on here?”
“To congratulate you on your new beginning.”
He approached him with a smile, as if he were a friend who had come to congratulate him.
“Don’t joke around.”
Of course, Mark was serious.
“Well, since I’m here to congratulate you, I’m going to spy on what you and Isabelle are up to.”
Christine, with a slightly embarrassed expression, jumped up onto the sunny windowsill.
His exceptionally white and transparent skin and dazzling hair under the sunlight were definitely unrealistically beautiful. He seemed more like a spirit or an elf than a beast.
“The palace doctor only treats. Examine and treat illnesses.”
“Do you make the mistake of using poison during treatment?”
He had noticed Isabelle’s plan, but Mark was unfazed.
“I haven’t done it yet, but who knows?”
Mark took out his things from his bag and started organizing them.
However, contrary to his meticulous nature, he was arranging his things in a disorderly manner.
He moved the stethoscope from the left to the right, and then to the left again.
Christine, who came down gently from the window, grabbed the stethoscope box in his hand.
“I also feel sorry about Jade.”
“I don’t want to hear such things from Your Majesty.”
“Do you think it’s my fault?”
“Do you remember? What did you say when you gave me this sword?”
Mark held out a dagger engraved with the White Wolf emblem of the Weiss family. It was the one Christine had given him at the fishing spot earlier.
Hoo, Christine let out a small sigh. Then, he suddenly took off his jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt.
“What, what are you doing?”
“I want to show you my body.”
Mark jumped up.
“Are you in your right mind?”
“You’ll probably be so shocked when you see my body that you won’t be able to take your eyes off me. I guarantee it.”
“Your Majesty!”
Christine playfully continued to unbutton the buttons while looking at Mark’s bewilderment.
His upper body, revealed as the buttons came off, was a perfect sculpture that even a man would admire.
Then Mark stopped breathing.
“What the heck is this...?”
Adele’s name was engraved on his exposed left chest.
“I already died once. Leana brought me back to life in exchange for erasing Adele from my memories. So I was cursed with terrible pain whenever I thought of her. I couldn’t use any magic other than erasing her again.”
“That’s why so many drugs were put into the Marvel Palace.”
Christine said, buttoning up his shirt again.
“But now it seems the curse has been lifted. There’s no need for drugs.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you need to be useful to Isabelle.”
“Are you telling me to tell you the truth?”
“It’s up to you how much you tell. Of course, I’ll forgive you once if you betray me.”
“...”
“But don’t you want to know who made Jade like that?”
Mark’s expression hardened.
Was it really their work to make Jade like that?
To make him hate the Emperor and control him?
But he still didn’t reveal his true feelings.
“It sounds like it was someone’s plan. But who else but Your Majesty could control the Wolf Clan?”
“I’m trying to figure that out.”
Mark took a breath.
“Fine. Let’s pretend to be fooled and cooperate for now.”
“Then our date today is at midnight at your clinic.”
“Huh?”
Mark was dumbfounded as he watched Christine wink.
In fact, when he entered the palace, he thought it was okay to poison the Emperor.
It seemed like it was all his fault that the wolf clan was running wild.
His appearance had ruined their peaceful daily lives and ruined their families.
But now, he had to find out who and why made Jade like that.
It wouldn’t be too late to kill the Emperor later.
It was past midnight.
Mark’s clinic building was locked down, and there was not a single light.
However, a faint sound was coming from outside the dark hallway.
The clinic had drawn thick curtains to block out all the lights.
There was a body in the middle of the bed. Christine, Zimmer, the coroner, and Mark were standing around examining it.
The body was one of the wolf clan members who had been arrested while on a rampage.
They had been ordered to burn all the bodies that had committed suicide, but the coroner had secretly taken one of them away. He had been Christine’s confidant since he was the captain of the guard.
“The three cremated bodies were all the same.”
The coroner said, pointing to the corpse’s ear. The area around the corpse’s ear was covered with numerous scratches from fingernails.
Mark, who was carefully examining the wounds, said,
“They were all self-inflicted. And even though the wolf clan has exceptional healing powers, the wounds are so clear that...”
“They must have been inflicted right before they died. So, what was the cause of death?”
In response to Christine’s question, the coroner pointed to the corpse’s crushed head.
“Cranial trauma. They all committed suicide by slamming their heads against the stone wall. But there was one strange thing.”
“What was strange?”
“The guards said that they all let out a terrible scream right before they died. It was as if they were howling in agony. The wounds on their ears might have been inflicted at that time.”
Christine thought for a moment and nodded heavily.
“It’s highly unlikely that they committed suicide. Zimmer, who are these people?”
“No one knows. They showed up in Kalame the day before the crime.”
“A foreigner suddenly appeared and went berserk, killing people and committing suicide. Something smells. Leana, what do you think?”
At the same time, the door to the examination room opened.
Behind the door, Leana, dressed in a black robe from head to toe, was standing. Adele was next to her.
“You saw it well.”
Leana crossed the examination room and approached the body without hesitation.
She had been out of contact for several days, causing people to worry, but she looked fine, although a little thin.
Then she said something unexpected.
“This person must have been controlled by Maurice.”
Christine’s brow furrowed.
“Tell me more.”
“We chased Maurice and the rebel priests for several days, but we eventually lost them. However, we found out that they were imprisoning and experimenting on hundreds of wolf clans. The one who went berserk must have been one of those test subjects. So why did they suddenly have them attack innocent civilians?”
“I think I know Maurice’s plan.”
Adele, who had been quietly listening at the door, cautiously interjected.
Everyone turned to look at her.
“I read it in an old book that Mark had. One of the ways to exterminate the wolf clan, the strongest warriors, was to cause discord and make them fight each other. Wounds from battles between clans don’t heal well. That’s how the wolf clan was destroyed long ago.”
“But why did they attack ordinary citizens?”
Adele asked Christine in response to Mark’s question.
“What would you do if the wolf clan attacks people again?”
He didn’t hesitate at all.
“We’ll arrest them and execute them according to the regulations.”
Only then did Mark look like he understood.
“There will be some dissatisfied members of the clan who see that!”
Zimmer shouted.
“That’s right! That’s what Maurice is after! If the wolf clan attacks humans again and Your Majesty executes them, they will claim that Your Majesty is on the human side and cause discord. Then, some members of the clan will turn their backs on hs and they will be divided.”
Christine nodded with a bitter expression.
“Humans will hate the wolf clan in their own way.”
“That’s right. Maybe... this incident is just the beginning.”
Everyone took a deep breath at Adele’s terrifying prediction.
If that’s the case, similar incidents will occur again in the future, and more people will be sacrificed.
And there may even be a war between the wolf clans.
“I’ll mobilize all the WG knights to go after Maurice again!”
Christine shook his head at Zimmer’s words.
“Fine. Let’s let him do whatever he wants for now.”
“Are you saying you’re going to wait until more people are sacrificed?”
Mark got angry. He couldn’t stand the idea of another Jade-like victim.
Christine answered calmly.
“No, we’ll wait until he reveals himself.”
“I know when he’ll reveal himself!”
Mark muttered in frustration, then saw his gaze linger on the examination table.
“Could it be that day?”
“If you’re Maurice, wouldn’t that day be the perfect time?”
On the table was a flyer advertising the cathedral bazaar.
Three days later.
The door of the clinic that Mark ran was firmly shut.
Patients came and left disappointed after seeing the 'Closed' notice.
It wasn't just the clinic. 'The Most Delicious Bakery', run by Adele, also closed its doors, saying it was closing down.
Some people cursed them for closing their doors without permission.
However, most of them finally realized how much they had done for them.
Cheap bread for the hungry, cheap medical treatment for the poor and sick.
However, it was a fortune that would never return.
"Thank you for making the difficult decision, Count Castler."
Isabelle greeted Mark happily at the Empress's Palace.
After closing the clinic, he had finally accepted the position of Imperial doctor.
"It was an inevitable decision to make a living."
"I heard. Your son was attacked by the wolf clan. Is he okay now?"
"He's sleeping."
A sleep that might wake him up at any moment.
“Thank goodness. But this may be just the beginning. As long as the Emperor exists, the Wolf Clan will do the same thing again. The position of humans will become weaker and weaker.”
“So what should I do?”
“What... do you mean?”
“Isn’t the reason you called me here to poison the Emperor?”
“Oh. You misunderstood something. I was just curious about what illness the Emperor had. And if you could prescribe the right medicine for it, it would be perfect.”
“It sounds like you’re giving me a chance to poison the Emperor.”
“You could use this as a chance to avenge your son.”
Mark laughed weakly.
Thinking about it, Isabelle never told him to poison the Emperor. And yet she constantly threatened, coaxed, and manipulated him.
It was the skill of a political expert who had turned the King of Kalame into a puppet and taken control of the noble council.
Could it be that they had made Jade like that?
To set him up as the antithesis of the Emperor.
“My conditions are as follows. Do not interfere with what I do. If you succeed in avenging your son, I will give you the title of Duke and half of the Rodwell family’s fortune. Do you accept?”
The vast fortune of the Rodwell family was currently in Isabelle’s possession. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she had the most wealth among the nobles of Kalame.
Half of that fortune...
“You seem more greedy than you think.”
“It will be incomparable to the profits the Empress will gain.”
Isabelle, who had been pondering, soon accepted with relief.
“Let’s do our best from now on, us.”
She smiled brightly and offered to shake his hand, but Mark did not take her hand.
***
After parting ways with Isabelle, Mark went to the palace clinic.
There was already a clinic with his name on it.
He liked the large, sunny window. He liked the hundreds of medicinal herbs displayed in the partitions that reached up to the ceiling even more.
“You seem to be feeling a little better.”
Mark, who was looking through the medicinal herbs, turned around at the unexpected voice.
Christine had been standing in a corner where the sunlight didn’t reach for some time.
“What’s going on here?”
“To congratulate you on your new beginning.”
He approached him with a smile, as if he were a friend who had come to congratulate him.
“Don’t joke around.”
Of course, Mark was serious.
“Well, since I’m here to congratulate you, I’m going to spy on what you and Isabelle are up to.”
Christine, with a slightly embarrassed expression, jumped up onto the sunny windowsill.
His exceptionally white and transparent skin and dazzling hair under the sunlight were definitely unrealistically beautiful. He seemed more like a spirit or an elf than a beast.
“The palace doctor only treats. Examine and treat illnesses.”
“Do you make the mistake of using poison during treatment?”
He had noticed Isabelle’s plan, but Mark was unfazed.
“I haven’t done it yet, but who knows?”
Mark took out his things from his bag and started organizing them.
However, contrary to his meticulous nature, he was arranging his things in a disorderly manner.
He moved the stethoscope from the left to the right, and then to the left again.
Christine, who came down gently from the window, grabbed the stethoscope box in his hand.
“I also feel sorry about Jade.”
“I don’t want to hear such things from Your Majesty.”
“Do you think it’s my fault?”
“Do you remember? What did you say when you gave me this sword?”
Mark held out a dagger engraved with the White Wolf emblem of the Weiss family. It was the one Christine had given him at the fishing spot earlier.
Hoo, Christine let out a small sigh. Then, he suddenly took off his jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt.
“What, what are you doing?”
“I want to show you my body.”
Mark jumped up.
“Are you in your right mind?”
“You’ll probably be so shocked when you see my body that you won’t be able to take your eyes off me. I guarantee it.”
“Your Majesty!”
Christine playfully continued to unbutton the buttons while looking at Mark’s bewilderment.
His upper body, revealed as the buttons came off, was a perfect sculpture that even a man would admire.
Then Mark stopped breathing.
“What the heck is this...?”
Adele’s name was engraved on his exposed left chest.
“I already died once. Leana brought me back to life in exchange for erasing Adele from my memories. So I was cursed with terrible pain whenever I thought of her. I couldn’t use any magic other than erasing her again.”
“That’s why so many drugs were put into the Marvel Palace.”
Christine said, buttoning up his shirt again.
“But now it seems the curse has been lifted. There’s no need for drugs.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you need to be useful to Isabelle.”
“Are you telling me to tell you the truth?”
“It’s up to you how much you tell. Of course, I’ll forgive you once if you betray me.”
“...”
“But don’t you want to know who made Jade like that?”
Mark’s expression hardened.
Was it really their work to make Jade like that?
To make him hate the Emperor and control him?
But he still didn’t reveal his true feelings.
“It sounds like it was someone’s plan. But who else but Your Majesty could control the Wolf Clan?”
“I’m trying to figure that out.”
Mark took a breath.
“Fine. Let’s pretend to be fooled and cooperate for now.”
“Then our date today is at midnight at your clinic.”
“Huh?”
Mark was dumbfounded as he watched Christine wink.
In fact, when he entered the palace, he thought it was okay to poison the Emperor.
It seemed like it was all his fault that the wolf clan was running wild.
His appearance had ruined their peaceful daily lives and ruined their families.
But now, he had to find out who and why made Jade like that.
It wouldn’t be too late to kill the Emperor later.
***
It was past midnight.
Mark’s clinic building was locked down, and there was not a single light.
However, a faint sound was coming from outside the dark hallway.
The clinic had drawn thick curtains to block out all the lights.
There was a body in the middle of the bed. Christine, Zimmer, the coroner, and Mark were standing around examining it.
The body was one of the wolf clan members who had been arrested while on a rampage.
They had been ordered to burn all the bodies that had committed suicide, but the coroner had secretly taken one of them away. He had been Christine’s confidant since he was the captain of the guard.
“The three cremated bodies were all the same.”
The coroner said, pointing to the corpse’s ear. The area around the corpse’s ear was covered with numerous scratches from fingernails.
Mark, who was carefully examining the wounds, said,
“They were all self-inflicted. And even though the wolf clan has exceptional healing powers, the wounds are so clear that...”
“They must have been inflicted right before they died. So, what was the cause of death?”
In response to Christine’s question, the coroner pointed to the corpse’s crushed head.
“Cranial trauma. They all committed suicide by slamming their heads against the stone wall. But there was one strange thing.”
“What was strange?”
“The guards said that they all let out a terrible scream right before they died. It was as if they were howling in agony. The wounds on their ears might have been inflicted at that time.”
Christine thought for a moment and nodded heavily.
“It’s highly unlikely that they committed suicide. Zimmer, who are these people?”
“No one knows. They showed up in Kalame the day before the crime.”
“A foreigner suddenly appeared and went berserk, killing people and committing suicide. Something smells. Leana, what do you think?”
At the same time, the door to the examination room opened.
Behind the door, Leana, dressed in a black robe from head to toe, was standing. Adele was next to her.
“You saw it well.”
Leana crossed the examination room and approached the body without hesitation.
She had been out of contact for several days, causing people to worry, but she looked fine, although a little thin.
Then she said something unexpected.
“This person must have been controlled by Maurice.”
Christine’s brow furrowed.
“Tell me more.”
“We chased Maurice and the rebel priests for several days, but we eventually lost them. However, we found out that they were imprisoning and experimenting on hundreds of wolf clans. The one who went berserk must have been one of those test subjects. So why did they suddenly have them attack innocent civilians?”
“I think I know Maurice’s plan.”
Adele, who had been quietly listening at the door, cautiously interjected.
Everyone turned to look at her.
“I read it in an old book that Mark had. One of the ways to exterminate the wolf clan, the strongest warriors, was to cause discord and make them fight each other. Wounds from battles between clans don’t heal well. That’s how the wolf clan was destroyed long ago.”
“But why did they attack ordinary citizens?”
Adele asked Christine in response to Mark’s question.
“What would you do if the wolf clan attacks people again?”
He didn’t hesitate at all.
“We’ll arrest them and execute them according to the regulations.”
Only then did Mark look like he understood.
“There will be some dissatisfied members of the clan who see that!”
Zimmer shouted.
“That’s right! That’s what Maurice is after! If the wolf clan attacks humans again and Your Majesty executes them, they will claim that Your Majesty is on the human side and cause discord. Then, some members of the clan will turn their backs on hs and they will be divided.”
Christine nodded with a bitter expression.
“Humans will hate the wolf clan in their own way.”
“That’s right. Maybe... this incident is just the beginning.”
Everyone took a deep breath at Adele’s terrifying prediction.
If that’s the case, similar incidents will occur again in the future, and more people will be sacrificed.
And there may even be a war between the wolf clans.
“I’ll mobilize all the WG knights to go after Maurice again!”
Christine shook his head at Zimmer’s words.
“Fine. Let’s let him do whatever he wants for now.”
“Are you saying you’re going to wait until more people are sacrificed?”
Mark got angry. He couldn’t stand the idea of another Jade-like victim.
Christine answered calmly.
“No, we’ll wait until he reveals himself.”
“I know when he’ll reveal himself!”
Mark muttered in frustration, then saw his gaze linger on the examination table.
“Could it be that day?”
“If you’re Maurice, wouldn’t that day be the perfect time?”
On the table was a flyer advertising the cathedral bazaar.
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