Chapter 23

Ercella sighed deeply. I could say that there would be no war if I simply wanted to relax my mind.

However, when I consider Vicente, who will soon become a knight, I cannot be optimistic at all. If he becomes a knight, he’ll definitely have to fight in the war.

Ercella suddenly felt unfair about the whole thing. If King Tameus had not taken Azrel in the first place, she wouldn’t have worried about this. There’s no justification for robbing foreign lands through war. That’s why to this day, politicians from all over the world still criticize Tameus.

That damned Tameus! Thanks to him, my son has to go to war. How do I repay him for this favor?

What should I do..?

International relations were not under her jurisdiction. Her complexion darkened. Then, there was a knock on the door.

“It’s me, Madam.”

It was Lianne.

“Come in.”

Upon Ercella’s permission, Lianne opened the door and came in. She was holding a silver tray with a tea set on it. Pointing to the silver tray, Ercella asked in confusion.

“What’s with that?”

Lianne replied without much thought.

“On rainy days, Madam often enjoys eating in her room, so I prepared this in advance.”

One by one, Lianne set the things on the tray down on the table. It was a teacup and a teapot with some refreshments.

“Oh, I did…”

Come to think of it, I forgot that I enjoyed tea on a rainy day.

“If you don’t like it right now, shall I bring it later?”

At Ercella’s gaze, Lianne worried that she had done something wrong.

“No, leave it here.”

Fortunately, Ercella stopped Lianne from cleaning the cup and pushed the paper and pen aside. When Lianne poured tea into the cup, the fragrant scent of tea brushed the tip of her nose. It was the tea that Ercella liked. Satisfied with the heat pouring from the cup, she was about to bring the cup to her lips.

“Madam?”

“These tea leaves… Where were they grown?”

“What?”

Lianne looked as if someone asked the wrong question.

“No… Nothing.”

Ercella shook her hand and dismissed a question. She only became sensitive for a moment because she suspected that she had heard about poisoning from tea, but she knows the source of the tea she had been drinking for a long time.

I’ve tried bloodletting, so I don’t think it’s poison.

Furthermore, the doctors who diagnosed her illness concluded that it was not poison. Then why? Ercella still couldn’t figure out why she died.

She became weaker and weaker from vomiting blood and eventually died at 35. Despite his hectic schedule, Harsen called in doctors for her treatment from all over the country, but none of them could identify her disease.

“If you don’t like it, would you like something else?”

Lianne asked as Ercella showed no signs of drinking the tea. Ercella shook her head and said.

“I don’t feel like it today. Just clean it up.”

“…Yes, Madam.”

She was puzzled but nonetheless Lianne followed Ercella’s words without question.

“Hmm. And… is a maid in charge of the tea?”

“Yes, the chef is in charge of the ingredients, but I know a maid is in charge of the tea leaves.”

“For the time being, tell them to only harvest tea leaves from Sansche.”

“Visaride’s domain?”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t poisoned but she felt a bit uneasy. It won’t hurt to be careful just in case. Ercella said while lost in thought.

“And know that I’m visiting the Marquis in two days.”

I think I should meet Caron.

“Yes, Madam… But is the Young Master going with you? How many visitors should I write…?”

Usually, if you plan to visit someone’s mansion, it was polite to send a letter in advance.

Clifton, the butler, was in charge of that because only a few people knew how to write. Lianne seemed to be wondering if she should tell Clifton to add Vicente’s name.

Ercella couldn’t answer immediately. This is because Lianne’s words were so unexpected. As she thought about what to do, she recalled Vicente’s interest in Visaride the other day.

“I’ll have to ask him.”

It’s not a bad idea to visit together to introduce Caron and Vicente to each other.

***

Srrrk!

A sheet of paper fell slowly. It was a document brought from Bernhardt Duchy.

Vicente closed his eyes tightly, as the black ink leaked from his pen. Then suddenly, the vase on the table caught his eye. His brows narrowed as soon as he saw the white flowers in the vase.

“These are lilies. Their smell will calm your mind.”

Vicente recalled Ercella visiting his office yesterday morning. What’s more ridiculous was that she was holding a handful of flowers herself.

“I thought this might help you, so I brought some… Should I leave them here?”

Vicente would have sent it back had Ercella sent them through a maid. So now that she brought them herself, he had no choice but to accept her sincerity. Vicente quickly took a glance at the fresh lilies in the vase. I can simply throw them away once they’re withered. Thinking so, he turned his eyes back to the document. And then.

knock, knock-

There was a knock.

“This is Veron. Excuse me for a moment.”

“Enter..”

Upon permission, Veron opened the door and entered. Veron gave a solemn salute. Vicente greeted him without taking his eyes off the papers.

“News is that their chief, Drion, was caught in Geschrel.”

“In mere a week?”

“Yes.”

This was fast considering how far Greschel is and the possibility of Drion running away. Maybe they tried to catch the rat fast, worrying what I might do if they delayed it any longer.

“He was quickly disposed of.”

There are no human rights for a vicious criminal like him. As he thought that, Veron said, ‘Ah’ as if something occurred to him.

“As a result, Earnhardt’s squad was demoted and relocated to all parts of the country, including himself.”

“Demoted?”

Only then did Vicente take his eyes off the documents and look at Veron. Veron continued with a nod.

“Yes, I think it’s because they caught the criminal but the man was already dead.”

Carter and his party were announced to have been caught by Earnhardt’s Squad. That was the deal made with Earnhardt.

Earnhardt’s pride was hurt as the guards took credit for Vicente’s work, but Vicente was neither interested in achievements nor he wanted it to get noisy.

Above all, nothing would be more difficult if his father came to know about it.

Suddenly, he frowned at the thought. Few people died and Earnhardt’s squad, which captured the criminal, was demoted. None of it made sense. Veron shrugged as he read Vicente’s expression.

“It would be weird if His Grace didn’t find out. All the capital knights are under his jurisdiction.”

As expected, he clicked his tongue.

“With that temper of his, did he kill him too?”

“His Grace didn’t kill him, but the captain took the responsibility for it.”

“By captain, you mean…”

“Yes, Captain of the Guard.”

That’s something… Vicente burst into laughter. Captain of guards is one of the highest ranks, yet he demoted him to the outskirts at once.

He was almost dumbfounded. Veron drooped his eyebrows as if he felt the same way.

“I’m going to Selir today. With Lord Earnhardt.”

He even assigned him to the same estate? Vicente thought his father did the man dirty. Obviously, the captain was angry that he was demoted just because he had the wrong subordinate.

“He’s going to have a hard time.”

“Yes, the captain is quite angry. It might not end with just anger and resentment considering his nature.”

Veron smiled sadly.

“I heard he’s already limping from one leg.”

***

I fixed my mistakes in the last lines

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