Rosentine felt dizzy and was momentarily speechless. She quickly collected her thoughts. Two questions arose.
One. Was it Count Almert who was behind the poisoning plot she knew about?
Two. Is the conspiracy she knows and the conspiracy Almert spoke of the same?
Rosentine looked at Shartus with a cold face. He, too, wore a cold smile.
"Now, tell me, what do you think I thought?"
He wasn't just clever. Shartus knew far more than Rosentine realized.
A warning that might have been ignored if it were just a letter is the fact that the person who sent it was the most powerful nobleman of the Crown Prince's faction. And through a mysterious shaman, he became the object of vigilance.
Rosentine now understood why he had hired her so readily.
Why did a person who had a free expression on his face about life and stood in the middle of a political dispute and did not show his heart accept Rosentine so easily?
A laugh escaped her. Rosentine wondered if the person who sold the board had even sent this letter. If so, he must be a very clever man.
"I foresee it. On the day of the birthday ball of the princess Abentua, the aunt of the prince, one cup will contain poison."
"Is it a premonition or a curse?"
"I have seen a glimpse of the past. It is His Highness the Crown Prince's poisoned cup. The maid has been ordered to switch it with yours."
Rude! She thought she heard that sound somewhere. If there were Hostang, he would have drawn his sword and shouted it immediately.
Rosentine's eyes were burning blue. Shartus's face turned cold.
"I won't say it's rude."
"There is no rudeness in the face of death."
"How did you know?"
"I saw it near the clock tower a while ago. The past."
The information she heard from the ghost quickly became a superpower. Shartus spat out the wind briefly, but did not stop it. He believed even if it was a ridiculous story, so he brought a shaman. Rosentine knew that too.
"But I don't know whose gold cup it belongs to."
"It's a dilemma whether the cup you grabbed while trying to avoid it is a poison cup or the cup you are holding is a poison cup."
"He is the one who knows how to use his head."
Lucen intervened from the side. His face was also serious.
The ball was only three days later, and if he had not seen this letter, Shartus might have died.
However, Roan was talking about other possibilities. The cup you are trying to avoid may be a cup that is not poisoned.
"What do you think of Count Almert?"
"A person who is well-versed in psychology."
"If Your Highness passes away, will it really benefit him?"
Rosentine brought up a taboo word. It was a question that indirectly mentioned the feud with the Crown Prince.
Shartus twisted his lips into a smile. With a face like that of an ancient god standing on a cliff, he looked around his study.
"Well."
That was the end of the answer.
Rosentine knew that he did not fully agree.
At that moment, something came to her mind.
Mura's Ivory. A legendary treasure that cures everyone's illness.
If, in this situation, Shartus dies and Mura's ivory is genuine, how will the situation be?
"Do you know Count Herman's Mura's Ivory?
Shartus looked at Rosentine intently.
Lucen's eyes widened.
"You know everything."
"Because I'm smart."
"I'll say it's magical."
Shartus laughed succinctly. Lucen looked at him as if he was curious.
"It seems that Your Highness is reluctant to speak because he is enjoying the situation, so let me ask."
"Don't talk nonsense."
"I don't think it's wrong."
An intelligent light rose from Lucen's cloudy impression.
Rosentine was struck by the impression that the color of his eyes was like a deep swamp. It was something she hadn't noticed until Lucen made such a look.
Rosentine frowned at the fact that Shartus was enjoying the situation just now. Now the conspiracy against you is closing in on a corner, but are you enjoying it?
She thought that the undefeated knight must also choose the adjutant as a strange person.
"Did you say that the maid was ordered to change the cup? If you had seen the past, you would have caught that maid right there. Isn't that wrong?"
"The problem is that the maid only received that order."
Lucen swallowed his voice. He also knew what that meant. That just by capturing the maid, he couldn't find out the mastermind or the truth of this letter.
"Let me ask you one question, Your Highness."
"What is it?"
"Who will Mura's Ivory go to?"
Rosentine looked straight into Shartus's eyes. His eyes, like the ice of the snowfield that could not be reached, stared at Rosentine directly. His lips slowly parted.
"It's me."
***
'Herman said he saved Mura's ivory. I decided to give it to my brother.'
'Are you referring to the Crown Prince?'
'Yes, with my own hands.'
'If it is not genuine, your reputation will be ridiculous.'
'I wanted it to be genuine.'
This was already two days ago. Rosentine walked briskly towards the steeple of the imperial palace. The fast pace from the beginning was later almost run.
***
Shartus was making eye contact with Rosentine. In those eyes, he saw the rose garden from earlier. The sunlight scattered over the fountain, but there was one most beautiful thing.
Shartus was looking at something on the other side of his memory, as if he had looked around the study with a distant gaze.
Rosentine had to endure that gaze. For a moment, even though her breath was suffocating, she couldn't look away from the cherry blossoms. No one could have done it.
For no reason. Her chest felt tight. Rosentine didn't want to pry into any part of her hidden self. We'll just live our lives, and that's that.
A strange thought crept into her unconscious.
It wasn't until Shartus looked away that Rosentine could barely catch her breath.
Lucien watched the scene quietly while Chartus regained his original form.
The Second Prince does not harm the Crown Prince.
Rosentine felt the true intentions of the Second Prince, which no one in the political world could know, to the point of tingling on her skin.
***
The way to the spire.
The sound of clattering footsteps echoing on the stone floor was loud. Old stained glass shone a colorful light over Rosentine's path.
Inside the place, Rosentine asked Shartus.
'Why are you saying this to me?'
'It looks like you've forgotten who you asked.'
'Why?'
'For the time being, you are my vassal, Shaman Roan.'
Shartus only smiled politely again with a cold face. Rosentine was only able to frown. It was a very strong impression.
Shartus burst into laughter again at the sight of her fair appearance being united by that impression. Lucen also had a slight smile.
'You're going crazy.'
Rosentine thought.
Rosentine shook her head, then stood upright, just like she did when she signed the contract.
She felt that Shartus was a person who could not be controlled. Even though he tests her as if he doesn't believe in her at all, he suddenly reveals his inner thoughts.
Looking at Lucen's expression, she could see that this was really unusual.
Rosentine slowly closed and opened her eyes, as if to inform Shartus.
'Do you know what the Crown Prince did not expect?"
'What is it?"
Shartus asked curiously. He seemed to be enjoying the situation.
'That's my existence.'
It was a declaration and a threat, and she had a strange thought.
She didn't like that Shartus looked like that. She didn't even want to recall the old memories of the angel that only she knew.
No, anyone who sees his face like that will think like this.
Rosentine kept running, and finally she was able to open the wooden door at the top of the spire.
***
Aventua, the sister of the current Emperor, celebrates her 50th birthday this year. The Emperor, who had long cared for her because several other brothers had died, was sure to hold a grand ball.
Rosentine remembered Count Almert's advice. He would not have expected Shartus to read the letters alone. She's sure someone else will read Shartus's letter.
If so, it was difficult to say that his intention was to poison. In fact, when Shartus died, the first person to be suspected was the enemy of the dead.
One. Shartus should avoid the golden glass. It was probably the cup that Shartus was scheduled to hold at the celebration.
Two. She answered her own question.
"It will be changed."
The ghost's warning was vivid. If so, the Crown Prince and the cup of Shartus would have the same shape. Rosentine concluded that the warning she received and the warning given by Almert were the same incident.
This is the first poisoning plot. There will be a second and third poisoning plot. However, if she can't save Chartus in the first round, she doesn't even need to figure out the second and third ones.
What kind of glass is it? What kind of cup contains poison? Now she didn't have the last key to find out.
***
For two days, Rosentine caught every ghost she saw and asked for secrets.
Rosentine could not know who the ghost was who first spread the plot. There were no ghosts she knew.
It was a rumor that had no beginning, like a snake hiding itself in the dark.
Like a ghost story.
Ghost story. When she realized this, Rosentine knew who had witnessed the scene.
Of all the ghosts she knew, there was only one that hid itself by mixing in its surroundings with such intrigues and secrets.
Rosentine had only one place to go.
After reading Shartus's letters, it was only after visiting the palace that she was able to get a vague idea of the situation.
The lock finally opened with a creaking sound.
In it sat a dull Ranon. He wasn't moving around or smiling like a fool, like he did when he was with other ghosts.
The ghosts of the imperial palace, among them, only had the same face as those who could not read Rosentine's expressions. Just like then, in a very quiet appearance.
"Ranon."
Rosentine gasped.
Ranon smiled gently at her. His platinum hair, untouched by shadows, had a faint whitish tint.
- Rosentine
"Now is the time. Keep your promise."
- Sure thing. Keep it.
Ranon was the only specific ghost that Rosentine could find right away. When his "promise" with Rosentine was made, the first name she knew of the ghosts was his.
Ranon slowly approached Rosentine. The expression comes and goes repeatedly. And finally, he became a dull Ranon and laughed heartily. Rosentine had a firm expression.
The ball was already a day later. Rosentine had already made a promise to save Shartus. Rosentine was not omnipotent enough to sit in her seat and solve the problem with just reasoning.
"I need information."
- About the child's plan to poison him?
"That's right. After that, did you see a man who gave more orders to the maid?"
- Yes.
"You know more, right? I know you know, Ranon."
Ranon laughed silently.
- We only know the story inside the imperial palace.
"The conspiracy took place in the imperial palace."
- There is no gap, Rosentine.
"Give me the last key, Ranon."
Ranon hesitated, his lips pursed with a smile. Rosentine waited patiently for him.
Various expressions crossed Ranon's face.
For a moment, an evil expression appeared on Ranon's face, and then quickly disappeared. Ranon looked into the air beyond Rosentine with an expressionless face.
- Rosentine, Is there really only one poisoned cup?
Comments
Post a Comment