Chapter 25
What Adi hadn’t known was that the Duke’s residence occupied an entire floor. He only used one room now because it was convenient, but the whole floor had been given to him.
They had been told that servants would move belongings to wherever he stayed in the morning. He hadn’t brought much luggage anyway, and there was nothing to hide.
“About the assassin…”
“Adi killed them, though.”
Bert turned to look at Adi. He might think they had killed the assassin deliberately. Even if that hadn’t been the intention, once the seed of doubt sprouted, no explanation would be heard.
Beside the Duke, a servant was organizing documents. They seemed concerned about removing the bloodstains. The Duke sat in a chair beside the bed in his nightclothes, resting his chin on his hand and swinging one crossed leg.
“Their tongue was cut out.”
The Duke said.
“So even if we’d captured them alive, we couldn’t have learned who sent them.”
“We should look into assassination guilds. One that cuts out tongues. From the East perhaps?”
“Eastern assassins are expensive and more subtle. Besides, they don’t cut out tongues. That’s too obvious a mark of an assassin. It’s probably a low-grade local assassination guild. Have someone suitable investigate.”
Bert nodded at Yuls’s words. But his suspicion hadn’t faded. Then Yuls’s expression suddenly hardened. Bert noticed his gaze was fixed on Adi. When he turned to look, he saw Adrian had turned deathly pale. Sweat was dripping down their face.
“Adi.”
Their breathing came in rasps. Noticing something was wrong, Bert called again, “Adi?” but they couldn’t answer.
“Adrian.”
Adi turned their gaze. Both men were startled by their unfocused eyes. After moving their lips silently for a moment, Adi finally broke the long silence with “…I’m sorry.”
“I think I’ve been poisoned.”
The pain had grown worse over time. Initially, it hadn’t been severe, so they’d been careless. Though they knew poison could spread slowly, and people could die easily from other causes even without poison, they’d thought such things wouldn’t happen to them.
“May I go receive treatment for a moment?”
Yuls was at a loss for words seeing Adi speak while looking like they might collapse at any moment.
Though he didn’t trust Adrian Grimaldi, it seemed Adrian didn’t trust them either. Usually, people would ask permission and go get treatment for wounds, but they had stubbornly endured. Perhaps they thought such minor injuries wouldn’t be accommodated.
…Or were they raised that way?
“Where is it?”
Yuls asked.
“Probably around my ankle.”
“Take it off.”
“…”
“Remove your shoe.”
Saying this, Yuls rose from his chair. He gestured to a servant, who led Adi to sit in the chair. When they removed the shoe, a swollen foot with bluish skin was revealed.
The foot was smaller than expected. He’d heard something about “firstborns.” First-born children often had small feet. That could explain it.
“You should have spoken up immediately when you were wounded.”
“…I thought it was nothing. Just a slight sting… that’s all…”
Why couldn’t they speak properly if it was just a slight sting? Yuls clicked his tongue. Bert seemed to share his feelings.
“Don’t underestimate assassins. They come in unarmed to kill their target. They’ll try to kill their target even if it costs them their life.”
“I’m sorr—”
“Your Grace, we need Joel.”
“Call Joel. It’s poison.”
At Yuls’s words, the servant bowed quickly and hurried out. Adi was clearly in great pain, furrowing their brow and biting their lip. Yet they didn’t make a single sound or cry of pain.
How stubborn.
The thought occurred to him. Truly a Grimaldi. They couldn’t be more stubborn.
Soon Joel came running from afar, shouting “Your Grace!” Despite his slow running, Joel had come at his fastest speed, bursting through the door breathlessly.
“Your Grace! Are you alright?”
“It’s not me. Adrian was hit.”
“Ah…”
For a moment, relief crossed Joel’s face. Though having a patient wasn’t good, at least it wasn’t the Duke.
“Treat them.”
Yuls gestured toward Adi.
At his voice, Adi narrowed their eyes. It was a familiar face. The servant who had briefed them about what the Duke liked and disliked on their first day, though they hadn’t crossed paths since then, was holding some kind of medicine.
The servant Yuls called Joel quickly approached and examined Adi’s foot. There must be a wound mark somewhere on the bluish skin. Carefully examining the leg, Joel found a tiny blood mark. Looking at the mark smaller than a dot, he said, “It’s an assassin’s ring.”
Pouring medicine over it, Joel continued,
“There must have been poison on it. Probably used as a last resort.”
“Yes, since the assassin died.”
“Is it a serious poison?”
“No, it’s not that serious at this level. Fortunately, it’s not real assassin’s poison. It seems to be a combination of locally available substances. We should be able to make an antidote once we analyze the poison from the ring the assassin wore.”
“How long will it take?”
“Up to four days at most.”
“Give them painkillers and fever reducers just in case. Use whatever you need without holding back.”
“Understood.”
Joel answered, cleaning his hands and rushing out. He seemed to be going to get more medicine. Adi still looked in agony. Their lips had turned white from biting them to prevent making any sound.
“Pull yourself together, Adrian.”
“Adi is…”
Adi’s lips moved, then fell silent again. They seemed to be mumbling something, but it was hard to understand.
“Really fine…”
Before finishing their words, Adi finally lost consciousness. Yuls and Bert looked at each other, unsure what to say.
“So stubborn.”
Yuls spoke first.
“They could have just said they needed rest when they were in pain.”
“If they had rested, we might have found them dead.”
Yuls looked at the unconscious Adi.
They look fragile. They didn’t look like a knight at all. But they had been more sensitive than expected, and their skills weren’t bad. How had they known there was an assassin there?
“Do you suspect them?”
“…While I can’t completely eliminate suspicion, they wouldn’t risk their own life.”
Bert said. Even if they had deliberately gotten poisoned, they would have reported it immediately. Not stubbornly endured like this. Even a mild poison could turn dangerous depending on the situation. Especially when it causes unconsciousness like this…
Joel entered the room carrying a medicine box. It was full of potions from temples and made by magicians. Still, they couldn’t use the best medicines on a mere guard knight.
Joel poured what seemed appropriate into Adi’s mouth. As he examined the leg wound, Bert asked, “Is the treatment difficult?”
The blue-tinged leg certainly looked serious.
“Not difficult, but they’ll suffer for a few days. Their mind will be clouded too.”
“I’ll have to guard with Gaillard for now.”
They had just become a three-person system, only to return to two. He was starting to feel his age taking its toll. Recovery time was also a concern.
“We won’t have to amputate the leg, will we? I couldn’t face Grimaldi if that happened.”
“No, it’s not flesh-rotting poison. If it were, they wouldn’t have been able to walk properly.”
“There’s poison that rots flesh?”
“You can get it in the Southern Continent, but only through secretive means. And with good immunity, they should recover quickly.”
“That’s a relief.”
Bert said. Yuls looked down at Adi.
Their delicate face had turned deathly pale. Though not quite corpse-like, it came close. Suddenly, he thought of Adrian Grimaldi’s twin sister, whom he’d never seen. He wondered if she had looked like this.
Yuls looked out the window. The noise outside had grown quiet. The nobles had finished their night revelry and gone to sleep, and knights would soon start their day.
“Shall I stand guard?”
Bert asked. Yuls answered, “No need.”
“You go rest too. I’ll finish up some work, and when Roy wakes up, I’ll sleep then.”
“Understood.”
“Gavin. Check if that passage is properly sealed. And tell Roy to examine that passage.”
“I can do it.”
“It’s not worth assigning to you. Roy will be a newcomer when he comes with us anyway, so consider it like an initiation.”
Bert thought Roy’s real initiation would probably be harsher once they returned to Woodpecker, but that was Roy’s concern. After acknowledging this, Bert looked at Adi. His expression asked what they should do with this incredibly pale person.
“Gavin, as for Adi Grimaldi…”
Yuls considered. Leaving them in the quarters would make it hard to check if they were alive or dead. He couldn’t ask Joel the servant to guard Adi. They needed to be able to easily monitor their condition. And the Grimaldi house couldn’t find out their child was in such a state.
“Put them in the side room there.”
Yuls said, pointing to a small adjacent room off the bedroom.
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