Ian Dross Crassion exchanged a few more words with Karsus and Alpheus before returning to the imperial palace.
After that, life went back to its usual rhythm, with one notable exception: Tiel was advised to refrain from going out for a while. When Tiel asked how long she would need to stay inside, Karsus and Alpheus replied that she should stay in until the person behind the plot was found.
The girl locked up in the Asterian dungeon had been unconscious for a while. It was odd since the doctor had said she should wake up soon, as she had passed the worst of it.
The girl seed to be having nightmares, tossing and turning and frowning, but she couldn’t seem to regain consciousness.
A week passed.
"She’s awake?" Alpheus raised his eyebrows, looking up from the docunts he was reviewing. The maid who entered with the news bowed her head.
Without wasting ti, Alpheus threw the bundle of papers down and stood up abruptly.
"I’ll go see her. Has Karsus been inford?"
"He went out today, and I believe he just sent a ssenger bird to Asterian."
"Good. I’ll... wait a mont."
Alpheus paused just as he was about to open the office door. The maid, still with her head bowed, looked up at him curiously.
"Do you need sothing else?"
"You haven’t told Tiel yet, have you?"
Alpheus narrowed his eyes and whispered cautiously. He knew Tiel had no interest in eavesdropping, so he found it unnecessary to worry, but he still maintained a careful attitude.
"No, I haven’t told her yet."
"Good. She’ll find out eventually, but for now, keep it a secret from her. It would be difficult if she’s present during the interrogation."
"Yes, Alpheus-sama."
The maid bowed respectfully.
Alpheus then walked briskly out of the room, with his aide following closely behind. They hurried to the dungeon.
The Asterian soldiers guarding the dungeon imdiately recognized Alpheus and opened the door for him.
Without hesitation, Alpheus entered and headed toward the farthest cell, where the girl was sitting, looking blankly ahead.
"..."
Alpheus silently observed the girl. She was the one who had tried to harm his precious granddaughter.
‘I can’t forgive her.’
He couldn’t stand it. The granddaughter he had cherished as though she would break if touched, the one he had sworn to protect from any threat. Yet here was this girl, trying to harm Tiel. And the poison she used—he still hadn’t figured out what kind it was. Alpheus pressed his throbbing forehead in frustration.
"Open the door."
At Alpheus’s command, the guard approached and unlocked the dungeon door. As the guard touched the bars, the dungeon’s heating system stopped, and the air inside began to cool.
Without moving from his spot, Alpheus asked,
"What’s your na?"
"...Riss."
The girl answered quietly, but there was sothing strange about it. Alpheus furrowed his brow, noticing how hollow her response sounded, despite it being so brief and simple.
"Then why did you attack my granddaughter?"
Alpheus asked again.
"..."
This ti, Riss didn’t answer.
Alpheus didn’t expect an answer, so he didn’t care much. He took a step forward toward Riss. As he did, she shrunk back in fear.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
Riss, who appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen years old, was thin and frail, and when she curled up, she almost looked the sa age as Tiel.
Seeing her like this briefly reminded Alpheus of Tiel in her younger days. But he stopped advancing and spoke firmly, as if to warn her,
"You’ve committed the cri of attempting to kill the head of the Asterian family. According to Asterian law, you deserve to be executed."
"..."
"However, considering your young age, the fact that you changed your mind at the last mont, and the possibility that soone else is behind this, if you tell who made you do this, I will forgive you."
Alpheus gave Riss a cold stare, and his golden eyes flashed, sharp as ever.
"But if you don’t speak, Asterian will kill you."
"...Will you?"
Riss muttered, so quietly that it was almost inaudible unless Alpheus had been standing right in front of her.
But Alpheus caught the faint movent of her lips and leaned in to ask again,
"What did you say?"
"If... If I tell you, will you save my brother?"
"Are you trying to bargain with , a criminal, while in your position? You have no choice."
"..."
Riss stared silently at Alpheus.
Her expression remained empty, but there was no sign of fear, even though she was in front of the forr head of Asterian. It was as if she had already experienced all the fear she needed to in her life and had nothing left to fear.
But sothing about this seed off.
‘Does she really have a brother?’
Alpheus blinked, confused by this new information.
If she had a brother, and if he was being held hostage, why hadn’t she ntioned that when he asked her to tell him who was behind this earlier?
He had assud she had nothing left to lose, but if she really had a brother, the situation was different. No one would want to lose their sibling.
No one would want to face execution while their brother was still alive.
If Alpheus himself had been in such a position, he would have revealed everything and begged for his brother’s safety.
So why was this girl acting like she didn’t expect him to save her brother?
Alpheus's thoughts grew even more complicated. After a brief pause, he finally spoke again.
"Is your brother being held hostage?"
"..."
"Tell . If you don’t speak, I’ll kill you. And then you’ll lose any chance of saving your brother. Is that really what you want?"
Alpheus pressed, his voice sharp. Riss curled up even more, biting her nails, but then lifted her head to et Alpheus’s gaze.
"...Yes, he’s being held."
"Was your brother held hostage, and did they send you the poison?"
"...Yes."
"Do you know who did this to you?"
Riss hesitated for a mont before nodding.
Alpheus gestured for her to speak, and after a brief pause, Riss frowned slightly.
"He... he’s called ‘Oshian,’" she said.
"Oshian?"
Alpheus’s heart skipped a beat at the na. It wasn’t a particularly famous noble, but he had heard of an Oshian before.
‘No... it could just be soone with the sa na.’
He had to be cautious. Alpheus nodded to himself.
His aide, who had been following him, quickly took out a small notebook and a fountain pen to write down Riss’s words.
‘Jae’ and ‘Oshian’ were written clearly in the notebook. Alpheus nodded.
"Who is Jae?"
"His na is Jae. He’s never called anything else. He’s Oshian’s... friend."
Alpheus nodded absently. It seed that Jae hadn’t given her his real na. It was likely an initial.
Riss seed to know more than Alpheus had expected. Even though she was still recovering and occasionally grimacing in pain, she managed to tell him everything she knew.
Thanks to her, Alpheus learned that there was a man nad Oshian and another nad Jae conducting strange experints on young beastkin.
Hearing this, Alpheus's face grew pale with shock.
"So your brother is also being held there?"
Riss nodded.
Alpheus asked if she knew what kind of experints they were doing, but Riss shook her head. All she knew was that she had been drugged to fall asleep at specific tis, and when she woke up, her body ached as though she had been beaten.
Alpheus could hardly believe what he was hearing.
Why would those conducting such experints target Tiel and try to harm her?
A pounding headache overwheld him.
Reviews
All reviews (0)