~CHAPTER 79~
Lincia headed to the library with Anna.
After three days, she had grown used to having Hue follow her around.
That didn’t mean his presence was comfortable, though.
Someone was standing in front of the path leading to the library.
Hue bowed politely to Lincia before stepping forward to block her way.
“What business do you have?”
“I have something urgent to report to the Grand Duchess.”
Hue frowned at the knight’s attitude.
By principle, a knight within the castle could not speak directly to the Grand Duchess.
Especially when the Grand Duchess was of royal blood—making eye contact with her was against etiquette.
“You?”
Hue asked incredulously, but the man didn’t back down.
Even knights who served unwillingly were still bound by discipline.
“Go get retrained in proper manners.”
Hue gestured him away, but the knight stood firm.
“I know this is disrespectful, but Your Grace must clarify something.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
If Harbirich had been there, the knight would have already been punished.
Hue was only letting it slide because it was him.
But even he couldn’t overlook it anymore.
Such behavior disgraced the entire knight order and weakened their lord’s trust in them.
Hue clicked his tongue.
The fact that he alone was assigned as the Grand Duchess’s escort proved how much the Duke’s trust in the knights had already collapsed.
“Commander, Count Chaester has brought a forbidden drug into the castle.”
“A forbidden drug?”
Hue’s eyes widened in shock.
There was no way the Grand Duchess would request such a thing.
If she had truly needed it, she would never have asked Chaester.
He realized at once.
Someone was deliberately setting things up to drive Lincia out of the Grand Duke’s estate.
He had once planned something similar himself.
The shame of facing his past mistake—and the ugliness of the Grand Duke’s household—made Hue’s face burn.
He swallowed a sigh and asked Lincia carefully,
“Would you like to return to your chamber?”
Lincia shook her head.
If she did as Hue said, she could escape the situation for now, but the misunderstanding would only spread.
And once rumors took root, trying to correct them later would come at a greater price.
She knew that now.
More than anything, if she ran away from this, the people of the estate would never trust her again.
Even if she was at odds with Harbirich now, she still wanted to stand proudly by his side someday.
“What exactly did Count Chaester bring in?”
The knight stood straight, but his stance felt strangely crooked.
Lincia’s calm question met a deflective answer.
“There seems to be a misunderstanding. What I asked Ethan to look into was a drug that could affect memory.”
The knight gave a derisive laugh.
His open hostility made Lincia realize too late that he had no intention of believing her.
“That’s not what I was told.”
It was an attitude far too rude for a knight, yet no one in the hall stopped him.
Her stomach turned.
I shouldn’t have stirred the snake’s nest…
Explaining or proving innocence only worked when there were people willing to listen.
Now, no one here would.
“Your Grace, let me handle this.”
Hue gently pulled Lincia behind him.
Anna, standing nearby, caught her mistress’s trembling hands to keep her from collapsing.
The faint warmth gave Lincia some small comfort.
“With the Duke away in the outer castle, the highest authority here is the Grand Duchess herself. If Her Grace made such a decision, she must have had her reasons…”
“Reasons?”
A familiar voice interrupted.
Lincia turned her head.
A flash of pink hair shimmered before her eyes.
Dressed in full knight’s uniform, Noah approached slowly.
“I would really like to know why the Grand Duchess ordered Lephatam to be brought in.”
“…Lephatam?”
Lincia was utterly confused.
“Noah Aiden, stand down.”
Hue spoke a beat too late.
The room was already buzzing.
“Lephatam? Isn’t that a poison?”
“Just bringing that into the castle is a serious crime!”
Dozens of eyes turned toward Lincia.
The distrust and suspicion in their gaze made her feel as if the ground were falling away.
Anna quickly grabbed her arm to steady her.
“Even so, that doesn’t give you the right to question Her Grace’s motives.”
“I’m sorry, Commander, but if I care for the Duke, I have to know why the Grand Duchess brought Lephatam here.”
“Noah Aiden!”
Hue shouted, but Noah ignored him.
She wouldn’t stop talking.
“Commander, do you really think that child is the Duke’s?”
Hue froze.
It was just a brief moment, but Noah seized the chance.
“See? Even you’re not certain.”
Her voice grew bolder as she walked closer to Lincia.
The crowd parted willingly, giving her space to approach.
“I have a way to uncover the truth. Starting with why you brought in Lephatam, Your Grace.”
Her cold gaze dropped to Lincia’s stomach.
“To find out who that child’s father really is.”
Noah pulled something from her pocket and flung it into the air.
The fine powder sparkled as it scattered.
Lincia instinctively stared at it.
“It’s a truth serum.”
The shimmering dust vanished into the air.
Hue immediately pressed a handkerchief over Lincia’s mouth and nose.
“Don’t breathe it in. Stay low.”
Lincia nodded, but she had already caught a faint scent of wood and sweet caramel.
I’ve smelled this before…
A sharp pain shot through her abdomen, and she clutched her stomach.
Cold sweat streamed down her face.
Hue crouched down, letting her lean against him rather than the freezing floor.
“Are you all right?”
He looked at her pale face, but Lincia only squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in shallow gasps.
“You—go call a physician!”
Hue drew his sword toward Noah.
“What have you done to Her Grace?”
“It just makes her tell the truth, Commander. Don’t worry.”
“That woman’s just pretending to be sick.”
Noah took a step closer to the barely conscious Lincia.
Hue didn’t lower his blade, but she was certain he wouldn’t strike her.
Everyone in the castle despised the Grand Duchess.
“Your Grace, did you bring in Lephatam to poison the Duke? Is that child’s father… the Duke?”
As her gaze fixed on Lincia, the woman’s eyes fluttered shut completely.
Noah’s confident expression drained of color.
* * *
Bang.
The office door burst open.
Harbirich had just finished a hollow conversation with Tereo and was about to change out of his damp clothes from the underground prison.
A knight, soaked in sweat and clearly having run all over, barged in without knocking.
Harbirich frowned, suppressing a rising dread.
“What is it?”
“The Grand Duchess has collapsed!”
