Chapter 54
“Yeah. People with illnesses aren’t allowed to work in the mansion, but sometimes someone sneaks them in with hidden troops. If that happens, you’re supposed to report it immediately to the butler or head maid. Usually, if a maid finds medicine while cleaning the maids’ quarters, they report it—but Sila wasn’t caught.”
“Because she hid it in a carnivorous plant?”
Erica asked again, clearly puzzled.
“You put the medicine bottle inside the open mouth of a carnivorous plant. The plant thinks it’s food, so it keeps secreting digestive juices for hours, then realizes it’s not actually food. Eventually, it spits it out. Carnivorous plants usually look kind of disgusting, so even the maids avoided looking at them closely while cleaning.”
The children looked at each other. None of them had imagined using a disgusting carnivorous plant in such a way.
“And the man in the hood, being the one who attempted the first poisoning and able to present a witness… it looks like there’s a spy inside the house…”
Serel trailed off. Suggesting a spy in the house would be a huge insult to the other family.
“Yeah, seems like it. After Mother’s funeral, we’ll have to flush that out too.”
Roil answered while wiping his face.
“The hooded man must belong to the Norman tribe’s Tsar family, right?”
Santuque asked. Even someone like Santuque, who spent more time sneaking away during classes other than swordsmanship, could easily figure that out. Sila had realized it immediately too.
“That’s right. This summer, the current Tsar eliminated his half-brother, the previous Tsar, and took the throne. Looks like he’s fully established himself in the tribe now. He’s supposed to be a handsome young man, so maybe he’s the current Tsar’s son.”
Adrian said confidently.
“How can you be sure from just that? Is he the only handsome young man in that family?”
Erica asked.
“Yeah. The previous Tsar was said to look like a potato. Same for his son and the maternal side.”
The children nodded silently at Roil’s explanation.
“It’s kind of weird that just being ‘handsome’ identifies the person so easily,” Erica scratched her cheek.
“Maybe they sent someone who would be easily identifiable on purpose. It was probably part of a psychological tactic. They wanted to advertise that they did it themselves,” Ellen thought.
‘But even if the Count loved the lady very much, he wouldn’t recklessly charge at the Norman tribe. Can this really count as psychological warfare?’
She kept the thought to herself. She wasn’t very knowledgeable about tactics yet, and she didn’t want to sound like she was asking, “Was Mother’s death really that big a deal?”
Of course, her friends wouldn’t misunderstand, but still…
“How will we deal with them?”
“Obviously, execution.”
Santuque answered immediately, as if there was no need to discuss further. Serel and Erica nodded in agreement.
“Will it be hanging, burning, stoning, or beheading? Which one are you going with?”
Adrian rephrased Ellen’s question.
When the children looked at Roil with “ah” expressions, Roil looked at Ellen as if to say, that’s not what I meant. Ellen, realizing her question had been misinterpreted, looked back at Roil, slightly embarrassed.
Right. This was a world where that was the obvious assumption. She had forgotten. They were thinking in terms of execution or punishment.
“…I’m not going to kill them.”
Roil said awkwardly.
“What? Why? How come?”
“Don’t you think of Mother?”
“Was the shock so great you went crazy?”
“You’re really not going to kill them, right?”
Except for Ellen, the children all voiced disbelief. Santuque even looked at him as if to say, “How could you do that?”
“I’ll send them to the Gredelos Mountains.”
“The mountains? Why?”
The children’s eyes darted left and right. What was in the mountains?
The Gredelos Mountains… Black Dragon? Or monsters? Were they being sent as monster food? That would basically be a death sentence.
“The Gredelos mines?”
Mines?
Adrian clapped his hands, realizing it at last.
The Gredelos Mine, at the edge of the mountains, was a state-run mine where prisoners were sent for forced labor. Once inside, they had to work until death. The work was notoriously brutal. Some prisoners begged to be executed instead of being sent there.
Other countries criticized the empire for this. “Why not just kill them? Even if they’re criminals, forcing them into such labor is cruel.”
“Gredelos Mine is fine then…”
Serel nodded in agreement.
“I still prefer execution,” Santuque muttered, unable to let go of the idea.
“I prefer Gredelos. Even if you think you’ll die today from pain, you have to complete your quota before dying, right?”
“Wow, really? Then I also prefer Gredelos. Let them suffer in hell until just before death.”
“Me too. I hope they fall to the exact opposite of the life they wanted and despair,” Ellen murmured.
✿ ✿ ✿
The next day, the remaining funeral procedures were carried out. Preserved magical items hidden in the corner of the coffin were removed, and the coffin was buried in the Karzelga cemetery.
Those who went to the cemetery included Roil, Ellen, their friends, Gloria, Countess Stung, Sir Lety, Emma and Ember, the head maid, and Venner. It was a small group.
Gloria, with a pale face, kept wiping her tears. Emma, the head maid, and Venner sobbed quietly behind. Countess Stung, eyes red, only looked down at the ground before tossing a handful of dirt onto Diana’s coffin after Roil.
After quietly completing the funeral and returning to Karzelga, Roil called Ellen, Gloria, and Countess Stung into his study.
“You should rest a bit.”
Sitting on the sofa, Gloria looked at Roil’s haggard appearance.
Roil’s face was pale, his baby fat gone, dark circles under his eyes. Lips colorless, face yellowish, he looked ill.
“Since Countess Stung is still here, why not rest a few days with her help? She would be happy to assist,” Gloria said, seemingly speaking to the Countess. The Countess, who had planned to return to Stung immediately after the funeral, hid her surprise and agreed.
“Of course. You need rest,” she said.
“Yes. I’ll finish urgent tasks first, then rest,” Roil replied.
Ellen, who had watched the funeral preparations, looked at Roil suspiciously. Urgent tasks? Even after preparing everything?
Roil pulled several folded documents from the desk.
‘Why are these papers folded like that?’
All eyes focused on him as he unfolded the papers and laid them on the table.
“War… This says we’ve declared war on the Norman tribe?”
Countess Stung, stretching her neck to read, snatched the paper. Her eyes widened.
“Yes. After Sila’s interrogation yesterday, I sent a letter to my father. I had to inform him of the truth and decided Sila’s punishment, but needed his approval,” Roil explained.
“Well done,” Gloria said warmly, taking the papers from the Countess.
She read them quickly, nodding. Ellen sat beside her, reading along.
“These are letters from Count Karzelga to Quinterga, and from Father to the aunt and uncle,” Roil said, giving two more papers to Gloria. One official, one personal. Gloria read the personal one first. Ellen watched her closely.
The letter read:
We will completely eradicate the Norman tribe. Until now, I thought they only invaded for the livelihoods of their people, so we focused on defense and only counterattacked when directly invaded. I was foolish. I now deeply regret my ignorance.
Comrades who have fought alongside me for decades, will you fight with me again? This war will affect not just you but your family, retainers, and villagers. The enemy has grown strong; we don’t know when it will end.
Gloria, I empathize with your grief for losing a friend and thank you for being by Roil’s side. We trust you as Diana trusted you.
Gloria seemed to briefly borrow Roil’s desk to write something, then returned to the sofa, carefully placing all letters in a sky-blue box. Countess Stung watched curiously.
“I sent them to your uncle, so a reply should come soon,” Gloria said.
“Since Count Karzelga already declared war on the Norman tribe, things will move quickly. What about the Emperor?”
“He sent letters and envoys simultaneously. Quinterga will likely send another letter to the Emperor. This means they are also participating,” Gloria explained.
Roil and Ellen exchanged a small sigh. Roil relaxed slightly seeing Gloria read the letters without comment.
“I see. War doesn’t require the Emperor’s approval, so it has effectively begun. I’ll go down to Stung too. If one border is unstable, the other might face issues. I can support from Stung—what can I do to help?”
Countess Stung finally showed a commanding presence worthy of her family’s head.
‘So she’s not just a jewelry lover who avoids work,’ Ellen thought, surprised.
