Chapter 4

“Rudi, Huss came to see you earlier. He said that the princess was able to rest safely in her room in the detached palace. He’ll call you if something happens.”

“I see…”

At Felix’s words, he walked in the room. The young man called Rudi briefly separated his gaze from the document. He said a few words, then turned back to the document.

”Like what happened in today’s detached palace garden, you’re moving so fast.

Walter replied to Felix’s words as he sunk his body into the couch with vigor, preparing tea.

”There’s only a month left. They must be desperate, too.”

“Well, I expected that and put the Huss on. I’m sure they have no idea who Huss was either. Today will be a good precaution.”

Rudi said as he finished looking through the documents and sipped on the tea offered to him. Walter looked sharply at him.

”Rudi, is it still the Duke of Suppe?”

”No, the Duke of Suppe himself is probably still only on the lookout. It’s hard to say for sure since he missed the culprit in the gardens today. But it’s probably his daughter, Elfrida, that working on it now. That’s just a light threat. We’re trying to instill fear and see how the princess comes out.”

“Ellie, huh… She’s always been obsessed with Prince Franz.”

Hearing Felix deliberately emphasized the “Prince Franz” part, Rudi raised one eyebrow. He smiled and switched to “Prince Franz”.

“Rick, are you ready to send the reconnaissance mission to the Duke of Suppe that I told you about this morning?”

“Ha? It’s impossible, that’s today. Even so, I’ve got a lot on my hands. I have to check the security arrangements for tomorrow’s engagement ceremony and all that, so…”

“No excuses, just get on with it. If you can’t, I’ll have Commander Meyer take care of this one.”

“No! What would my dad say to me if you say that?!”

“Look, get me out of the Meyer family’s private compound. I’ll make sure that Princess Karena would be accompanied by Almus in addition to Huss. Illun and Mutos can’t be separated from each other, so I don’t have enough men for my group of seven. But be sure to tell Commander Meyer not to move the group.”

[TlNote: Mutos and Illun is a legit name with a meaning.]

“Okay, okay, I’ll hurry up. As Ludwig-san wants to.”

Rudi confronted Walter after seeing Felix left his seat regretting stepping on a mine on purpose.

“Walter, there is something that is slightly bothering me. I need you to go over the king’s meals again. You will have to do it yourself. Only speak to Prime Minister Fuchs and keep the rest to yourself. One third of the work will go in between. The other third will go to Rick.”

Hearing this, Felix’s mouth twitched in frustration, but in the end he had nothing to say.

“Poison? I haven’t had any reaction to the survey I did a few days ago. Besides, the new person in charge of the food preparation was hired about a year ago. And she’s probably a distant relative of the Aachen family. I’m sure she’s a distant relative of the Aachen family, but…”

”

”

The King of Burgmueller has been ill for about two months. He wasn’t been able to appear in public places or even at the National Assembly. The name of the disease has not been clearly determined, even when examined by the country’s most famous doctor.

Rudi folded his arms over to his chest at Walter’s request and again said: ‘Today, I had a report from Oas.’

“The woman’s grandmother worked for a time as a waiter at the villa of Viscount Huger, the Duke of Suppe’s hunchback. Moreover, I heard that the drought in the Duke of Aachen’s domain has put my family’s finances on fire as a farmer. Well, that was decades ago, so that’s pretty far-fetched. But just in case, I’m sure you can analyze it out. Not just a day’s worth of food, but an entire day’s worth of water, drinking water, drinking vessels, and so forth, over time. Meanwhile, have Prime Minister Fuchs swap the king’s food for his own. No one will notice. Proceed at the same time as the secret investigation”

Felix looked back at the elaborate investigation. Despite the fact that he said it was just to be sure, he turned around with a sense of certainty and entered the conversation.

“If that’s the case, does that mean they’ve been slowly poisoning him for quite some time?”

“Well, that’s what I mean. The only thing is, if I were to plant a poison, I would not do it that often, but just right frequency in order to deceive others. For example, I’d call Huss a time like tomorrow when the palace is in turmoil for a national ceremony. Well, if they’ve already been laced with it many times, they might not pay attention to such trivial things.”

Both Felix and Walter have long known Rudi’s sharpness firsthand.

However, the investigation conducted by the viziers after the king fell ill had not found any reaction to the poison.

Sighing lightly, Rudi stood up and looked at the two men.

”Lamenting the past won’t help us now. Make preventing the progression of the king’s illness is your top priority and carefully probe the movements of Suppe and Huger. Yeah, I think the Duke of Aachen is as close to white as you can get but you might want to check them out just in case. Then, Walter, call Dirk to fill in the blanks.”

“What about timing? If it’s not at the same time as the Duke of Suppe, it loses its meaning.”

“Yeah. We’re almost at the edge. Let me get ready to move, please.”

“What about Ellie?”

When asked by Felix, Rudi’s eyes narrowed as if he was thinking about something. But after a moment, he returned it back to normal and returned with a tone of no hesitation.

“Elfrida’s action was unexpectedly quick, but she probably won’t do anything more than threaten. The one who will actually do the work will be the Duke of Suppe. Since the financial aid from Ravina is also involved, he won’t do anything more than threaten the princess. You must tell Commander Meyer and Prime Minister Fuchs about this at all times, and you must not move again. Don’t forget to remind me to tell them again so that there is no slipups.”

Both Walter and Felix nodded widely at Rudi’s words.

“I understand.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’ll take the day off too. I’ve got an early morning to prepare for the ritual tomorrow.”

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

“Good night~”

After seeing them off, Rudi went into the bedroom and stood in front of the mirror next to the bunk.

An abominable golden glow hid and disappeared through his hair.

He stared at his reflection in the mirror from the front.

What does the beautiful princess from a faraway foreign country think of her fiancé, whom she had never seen before? Right. Do they not anticipate the dirty inner workings of a great power? Were she anxiously tortured by the events of the day? Or was she hoping for the breakup of her marriage after hearing the prince’s ugly gossip?

Either way, she was still feeling heartbroken in a foreign country with no one to know.

But I couldn’t let the princess return to Ravina from here.

I’ve gone this far with my ego alone.

I’ve gotten myself involved in this dispute.

When did insects begin to nest in the center of government so slowly that no one would notice it?

After the passing of the former king, the foundation of the country, it had grown so huge that it had to be uprooted when the country’s leading figures noticed it.

Ostensibly still, renowned as a military power, the country’s crisis has not been exposed to the rest of the world. This was the only time that the attentions could be cut down mercilessly.

One month.

Not long.

We must protect it.

We must protect Prince Franz’s queen.

For the future of the country.

Even if it means shaking the foundations of the country.

Looking again at his reflection in the mirror, Rudi made a firm vow.