Episode 85. You've Got Everything Planned
"Whew..."
Cedric sighed deeply, anxiously waiting for someone. His fluttering eyelashes quickly closed weakly.
He simply sighed, biting his dry lips.
Knock.
There was a knock on the door.
Cedric immediately raised his head and spoke urgently.
"Come in."
"Master, it's me."
The person who opened the door and came in was Cedric's subordinate, wearing an eyepatch over one eye.
Cedric saw his subordinate and jumped up.
He then walked past the large desk and leaned back on the sofa.
"How much work have you done?"
"It seems it's going to take longer than I thought."
"Why are you doing it like this! Why don't you just burn all the traces of your experiments!"
A thunderous roar echoed through the room.
It should have been quite surprising, but Cedric's subordinate remained remarkably calm, as if he were used to it.
“Calm down, Master. Still, we need to take the data we’ve spent years researching. If we burn it all like this, that too will play into the hands of the enemy.”
There was nothing wrong with his subordinate’s words.
Cedric grumbled and closed his mouth.
He continued to speak as if to soothe Cedric.
“And, we can’t kill all the prisoners in an instant. You know very well that the execution of prisoners must be carried out only under the Emperor’s orders, right?”
“Ha... We need to kill all those inhumane prisoners to completely resolve the matter.”
The Emperor had pointed out that if the prisoners were suddenly massacred, suspicion would surely arise, and had urged them to come up with another plan.
The man muttered with a meaningful smile at Cedric’s words.
“In that case, don’t worry.”
He whispered with a mean smile that mirrored Cedric’s.
“As soon as we transfer all the data on the biological experiments, we can just set fire to the prison. It’s just foolish to waste time coaxing and appeasing the prisoners to keep it a secret.”
Cedric ruffled his hair, his mind racing at his words.
Then, in a low voice, he ordered,
“Get it done as quickly as possible. There can’t be a single trace of my involvement there!”
The Grand Duke of Artaeum was about to cut his throat.
Everything had to be taken care of before he could move.
“Just leave it to me, Master. Who am I? In over thirty years, I’ve never let you down, Master.”
He looked at Cedric with a confident expression and continued.
“Chicagor is a place where outsiders are not allowed. With so many notorious prisoners here, security is extremely high.”
"Whew..."
Cedric sighed deeply, anxiously waiting for someone. His fluttering eyelashes quickly closed weakly.
He simply sighed, biting his dry lips.
Knock.
There was a knock on the door.
Cedric immediately raised his head and spoke urgently.
"Come in."
"Master, it's me."
The person who opened the door and came in was Cedric's subordinate, wearing an eyepatch over one eye.
Cedric saw his subordinate and jumped up.
He then walked past the large desk and leaned back on the sofa.
"How much work have you done?"
"It seems it's going to take longer than I thought."
"Why are you doing it like this! Why don't you just burn all the traces of your experiments!"
A thunderous roar echoed through the room.
It should have been quite surprising, but Cedric's subordinate remained remarkably calm, as if he were used to it.
“Calm down, Master. Still, we need to take the data we’ve spent years researching. If we burn it all like this, that too will play into the hands of the enemy.”
There was nothing wrong with his subordinate’s words.
Cedric grumbled and closed his mouth.
He continued to speak as if to soothe Cedric.
“And, we can’t kill all the prisoners in an instant. You know very well that the execution of prisoners must be carried out only under the Emperor’s orders, right?”
“Ha... We need to kill all those inhumane prisoners to completely resolve the matter.”
The Emperor had pointed out that if the prisoners were suddenly massacred, suspicion would surely arise, and had urged them to come up with another plan.
The man muttered with a meaningful smile at Cedric’s words.
“In that case, don’t worry.”
He whispered with a mean smile that mirrored Cedric’s.
“As soon as we transfer all the data on the biological experiments, we can just set fire to the prison. It’s just foolish to waste time coaxing and appeasing the prisoners to keep it a secret.”
Cedric ruffled his hair, his mind racing at his words.
Then, in a low voice, he ordered,
“Get it done as quickly as possible. There can’t be a single trace of my involvement there!”
The Grand Duke of Artaeum was about to cut his throat.
Everything had to be taken care of before he could move.
“Just leave it to me, Master. Who am I? In over thirty years, I’ve never let you down, Master.”
He looked at Cedric with a confident expression and continued.
“Chicagor is a place where outsiders are not allowed. With so many notorious prisoners here, security is extremely high.”
The corners of his cowardly mouth quirked.
"Not only has not a single person escaped in the past few decades, but access to outsiders has been strictly prohibited. How could a young Grand Duke, who only knows how to talk, enter such a tightly guarded place? We can only secure the evidence when we enter Chicagor."
He said confidently, soothing Cedric's anxious mind.
"The Grand Duke may have been lucky enough to find our weakness, but that's the end of it. All he can do is sit still and lament his useless existence. He'll realize how miserable he is knowing everything and doing nothing."
"Ha... That's right. Just as you said, Grand Duke, there's nothing that that young brat can do."
Cedric's anxiety-filled heart calmed somewhat.
He thought of Rose, the culprit behind all this.
"Things went so wrong because of that girl who doesn't even know her place."
"There's no need to investigate. She must have leaked the information."
“You thief! You stole our family’s secrets with the face of an innocent sheep.”
The man agreed with Cedric.
“That necklace that disappeared last time... maybe that thief bitch took it too.”
Boom!
“Damn it!!”
Cedric couldn’t contain his anger and slammed the table hard. Then he jumped up from his seat.
“Don’t get too excited. I’m sure we can get it back. After all, she probably doesn’t know how to use that necklace. Even the great Duke Flice didn’t know its power. Since it was stored in a safe, she probably stole it without knowing what it was.”
“Whew...”
Cedric was still confused by his subordinate’s words.
He touched his pounding head and asked softly,
“How is Duke Flice moving?”
“He’s as quiet as usual. He’s probably cowering in fear. He must have finally realized how formidable our Count Wences family is.”
Duke Flice’s dog, who took on all the dirty work.
That family was the Count Wences family.
They were completely loyal to Duke Flices.
The Count Wences family conducted biological experiments at Duke Flices’s behest and created evil beasts.
“It’s not that I didn’t attack because I lacked ability. Didn’t he truly know that the Count Wences family could tear his head off if we wanted to? I can never forgive Duke Flice for abandoning his loyal subordinate like this.”
His face flushed with anger. He felt betrayed by Duke Flices’s attitude, which had cast aside the Count Wences family of all houses.
“...I can no longer perfectly control the beasts. I absolutely cannot let Duke Flice find out about this. If I do, the Duke will lead his private army and invade at any moment.”
Duke Flice knew nothing. The fact that the Count of Wence had been using the ‘Tears of Luna’ to tame the beasts.
If he found out, he would be so sick to his stomach that he would want to die. After all, it was the Duke of Flice who had stolen the ‘Tears of Luna’ in the first place.
Duke Flice, unaware of this, had sold the Tears of Luna.
Then, Cedric, who had learned that the Tears of Luna had incredible power, had smuggled them out, swapping them for counterfeit ones.
Now, with the Tears of Luna stolen, he was unable to control the beasts.
However, there were already quite a few beasts that had been tamed.
They weren’t perfect, but even without the Tears of Luna, they obeyed him.
So, he still had a chance.
He would kill Duke Flice, who had abandoned him, and retrieve the stolen Tears of Luna.
“Master! Master!”
At that moment, a faint voice came from outside the door.
Cedric frowned.
Soon after, someone knocked on the door at a frightening speed.
Boom, boom, boom!!
“Master, it’s Serun!”
Cedric frowned involuntarily at Serun’s noisy appearance.
Cedric’s subordinate strode over and opened the door.
“What the hell is the fuss about!”
Serun didn’t even blink at the yelling directed at him and relayed the situation.
“We’re in trouble. That Gwen... has disappeared.”
Cedric and his subordinate froze in their tracks.
He had just ordered Serun to kill Gwen.
Despite the seemingly easy task, Serun failed to bring back Gwen’s head.
“I’m sorry, Master. I was sure he was in the mansion until this morning...”
Serun knelt down and bowed his head in apology.
“...That old man with a long lifeline, Gwen, has finally escaped.”
Cedric's subordinate expressed deep regret at not having been able to kill Gwen.
However, he wasn't overly angry. Cedric was the same.
Serun lowered his head and glanced at Cedric and the man.
'As expected, you don't seem to mind Gwen's escape.'
He had more important matters to attend to than Gwen's escape.
Serun took advantage of this moment to tell him that Gwen had disappeared.
Cedric sighed softly and muttered,
"Leave him alone. Even if I don't kill him right now, Gwen is in my hands."
Serun's plan worked perfectly.
Gwen's escape was a headache, but it wasn't a major issue.
"He must have fled to the Artaeum estate."
He knew where he was.
He must have gone to ask for help from Rose.
He was preparing a business deal with Rose.
Finding and killing Gwen would be a simple task.
Right now, he had more important matters to attend to than Gwen.
At Cedric's words, Serun's lips naturally lifted.
"...Yes, Master."
Contrary to his feeble voice, Serun's eyes widened.
It was as planned.
A few days later, at the Grand Duke of Artaeum's mansion.
"Huh? Your Highness?"
Rose, heading to the dining room, tilted her head at the sight of the Grand Duke.
He was riding out on horseback, accompanied by knights.
"Where are you going so early in the morning?"
Someone interrupted Rose, who was mumbling to herself.
“You’re too interested in His Highness the Grand Duke.”
The voice was unpleasant.
It was Neruan.
Rose was startled when she saw Neruan, who had approached her without a trace.
“It’s not that. I was just curious.”
“Hmm.”
Despite Rose’s words, his expression remained suspicious.
Rose gave Neruan a disapproving look and walked towards the dining room.
The mansion was eerily quiet without the Grand Duke of Artaeum.
Rose, who was clattering her spoon, paused and looked around.
“Where are you going in such a hurry without even having breakfast?”
He could have said something, but Neruan said nothing.
Rose, who had been sitting alone, soon picked up her spoon again.
It was lonely to eat alone for the first time in a while, but there was no need to waste the food in front of her.
Rose slowly emptied her plate.
Rose, who had already emptied her plate, put down her fork and stared blankly at it.
Eating alone, the mealtime felt incredibly short.
She stared at her empty plate and slowly rose from her seat.
“Should I go for a walk?”
Wrapped in the cool breeze, Rose walked into the garden.
As she walked, something caught her eye.
“Huh? What’s that?”
A luxurious carriage adorned with gold stood before the main gate. What a pity to visit at such a time when the owner was out.
She probably couldn’t come in right away and would have to wait outside until the Grand Duke arrived... Huh?
Surprisingly, the carriage pulled in.
The knights had opened the door to the uninhabited mansion.
It must have belonged to someone who knew the Grand Duke well.
Rose’s eyes widened as she stared at the carriage. Fifteen knights, mounted on white horses, surrounded the carriage.
At a glance, the owner of the carriage seemed extraordinary.
Rose squinted and examined the carriage’s emblem.
“That is... It's a symbol I've never seen before."
Rose, who had memorized every symbol symbolizing the family, thought.
However, that emblem was one she had never seen before.
The carriage slowly stopped.
One of the knights closest to the carriage opened the door, and a beautiful woman with water-green hair walked out.
The moment she saw the woman, a forgotten phrase popped into Rose's mind.
[... Transparent tears poured down from her eyes. Her blue hair, as if protected by the Water Spirit King, fluttered as she ran towards the dead Grand Duke.]
Yes... I remembered.
The person who had appeared very briefly when the Grand Duke died.
The description didn't fit the situation, so she remembered it vaguely.
".....Blue hair, as if protected by the Spirit King."
The person who had sobbed when the Grand Duke died was right before Rose's eyes.
Although it wasn't revealed in the original, Rose was intuitively certain.
The woman standing before her was the Grand Duke of Artaeum's fiancée.
"Not only has not a single person escaped in the past few decades, but access to outsiders has been strictly prohibited. How could a young Grand Duke, who only knows how to talk, enter such a tightly guarded place? We can only secure the evidence when we enter Chicagor."
He said confidently, soothing Cedric's anxious mind.
"The Grand Duke may have been lucky enough to find our weakness, but that's the end of it. All he can do is sit still and lament his useless existence. He'll realize how miserable he is knowing everything and doing nothing."
"Ha... That's right. Just as you said, Grand Duke, there's nothing that that young brat can do."
Cedric's anxiety-filled heart calmed somewhat.
He thought of Rose, the culprit behind all this.
"Things went so wrong because of that girl who doesn't even know her place."
"There's no need to investigate. She must have leaked the information."
“You thief! You stole our family’s secrets with the face of an innocent sheep.”
The man agreed with Cedric.
“That necklace that disappeared last time... maybe that thief bitch took it too.”
Boom!
“Damn it!!”
Cedric couldn’t contain his anger and slammed the table hard. Then he jumped up from his seat.
“Don’t get too excited. I’m sure we can get it back. After all, she probably doesn’t know how to use that necklace. Even the great Duke Flice didn’t know its power. Since it was stored in a safe, she probably stole it without knowing what it was.”
“Whew...”
Cedric was still confused by his subordinate’s words.
He touched his pounding head and asked softly,
“How is Duke Flice moving?”
“He’s as quiet as usual. He’s probably cowering in fear. He must have finally realized how formidable our Count Wences family is.”
Duke Flice’s dog, who took on all the dirty work.
That family was the Count Wences family.
They were completely loyal to Duke Flices.
The Count Wences family conducted biological experiments at Duke Flices’s behest and created evil beasts.
“It’s not that I didn’t attack because I lacked ability. Didn’t he truly know that the Count Wences family could tear his head off if we wanted to? I can never forgive Duke Flice for abandoning his loyal subordinate like this.”
His face flushed with anger. He felt betrayed by Duke Flices’s attitude, which had cast aside the Count Wences family of all houses.
“...I can no longer perfectly control the beasts. I absolutely cannot let Duke Flice find out about this. If I do, the Duke will lead his private army and invade at any moment.”
Duke Flice knew nothing. The fact that the Count of Wence had been using the ‘Tears of Luna’ to tame the beasts.
If he found out, he would be so sick to his stomach that he would want to die. After all, it was the Duke of Flice who had stolen the ‘Tears of Luna’ in the first place.
Duke Flice, unaware of this, had sold the Tears of Luna.
Then, Cedric, who had learned that the Tears of Luna had incredible power, had smuggled them out, swapping them for counterfeit ones.
Now, with the Tears of Luna stolen, he was unable to control the beasts.
However, there were already quite a few beasts that had been tamed.
They weren’t perfect, but even without the Tears of Luna, they obeyed him.
So, he still had a chance.
He would kill Duke Flice, who had abandoned him, and retrieve the stolen Tears of Luna.
“Master! Master!”
At that moment, a faint voice came from outside the door.
Cedric frowned.
Soon after, someone knocked on the door at a frightening speed.
Boom, boom, boom!!
“Master, it’s Serun!”
Cedric frowned involuntarily at Serun’s noisy appearance.
Cedric’s subordinate strode over and opened the door.
“What the hell is the fuss about!”
Serun didn’t even blink at the yelling directed at him and relayed the situation.
“We’re in trouble. That Gwen... has disappeared.”
Cedric and his subordinate froze in their tracks.
He had just ordered Serun to kill Gwen.
Despite the seemingly easy task, Serun failed to bring back Gwen’s head.
“I’m sorry, Master. I was sure he was in the mansion until this morning...”
Serun knelt down and bowed his head in apology.
“...That old man with a long lifeline, Gwen, has finally escaped.”
Cedric's subordinate expressed deep regret at not having been able to kill Gwen.
However, he wasn't overly angry. Cedric was the same.
Serun lowered his head and glanced at Cedric and the man.
'As expected, you don't seem to mind Gwen's escape.'
He had more important matters to attend to than Gwen's escape.
Serun took advantage of this moment to tell him that Gwen had disappeared.
Cedric sighed softly and muttered,
"Leave him alone. Even if I don't kill him right now, Gwen is in my hands."
Serun's plan worked perfectly.
Gwen's escape was a headache, but it wasn't a major issue.
"He must have fled to the Artaeum estate."
He knew where he was.
He must have gone to ask for help from Rose.
He was preparing a business deal with Rose.
Finding and killing Gwen would be a simple task.
Right now, he had more important matters to attend to than Gwen.
At Cedric's words, Serun's lips naturally lifted.
"...Yes, Master."
Contrary to his feeble voice, Serun's eyes widened.
It was as planned.
***
A few days later, at the Grand Duke of Artaeum's mansion.
"Huh? Your Highness?"
Rose, heading to the dining room, tilted her head at the sight of the Grand Duke.
He was riding out on horseback, accompanied by knights.
"Where are you going so early in the morning?"
Someone interrupted Rose, who was mumbling to herself.
“You’re too interested in His Highness the Grand Duke.”
The voice was unpleasant.
It was Neruan.
Rose was startled when she saw Neruan, who had approached her without a trace.
“It’s not that. I was just curious.”
“Hmm.”
Despite Rose’s words, his expression remained suspicious.
Rose gave Neruan a disapproving look and walked towards the dining room.
The mansion was eerily quiet without the Grand Duke of Artaeum.
Rose, who was clattering her spoon, paused and looked around.
“Where are you going in such a hurry without even having breakfast?”
He could have said something, but Neruan said nothing.
Rose, who had been sitting alone, soon picked up her spoon again.
It was lonely to eat alone for the first time in a while, but there was no need to waste the food in front of her.
Rose slowly emptied her plate.
Rose, who had already emptied her plate, put down her fork and stared blankly at it.
Eating alone, the mealtime felt incredibly short.
She stared at her empty plate and slowly rose from her seat.
“Should I go for a walk?”
Wrapped in the cool breeze, Rose walked into the garden.
As she walked, something caught her eye.
“Huh? What’s that?”
A luxurious carriage adorned with gold stood before the main gate. What a pity to visit at such a time when the owner was out.
She probably couldn’t come in right away and would have to wait outside until the Grand Duke arrived... Huh?
Surprisingly, the carriage pulled in.
The knights had opened the door to the uninhabited mansion.
It must have belonged to someone who knew the Grand Duke well.
Rose’s eyes widened as she stared at the carriage. Fifteen knights, mounted on white horses, surrounded the carriage.
At a glance, the owner of the carriage seemed extraordinary.
Rose squinted and examined the carriage’s emblem.
“That is... It's a symbol I've never seen before."
Rose, who had memorized every symbol symbolizing the family, thought.
However, that emblem was one she had never seen before.
The carriage slowly stopped.
One of the knights closest to the carriage opened the door, and a beautiful woman with water-green hair walked out.
The moment she saw the woman, a forgotten phrase popped into Rose's mind.
[... Transparent tears poured down from her eyes. Her blue hair, as if protected by the Water Spirit King, fluttered as she ran towards the dead Grand Duke.]
Yes... I remembered.
The person who had appeared very briefly when the Grand Duke died.
The description didn't fit the situation, so she remembered it vaguely.
".....Blue hair, as if protected by the Spirit King."
The person who had sobbed when the Grand Duke died was right before Rose's eyes.
Although it wasn't revealed in the original, Rose was intuitively certain.
The woman standing before her was the Grand Duke of Artaeum's fiancée.
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