I had such thoughts for a moment, then,
"Pardon my intrusion."
I released my arms that were wrapped around Rose's body. I couldn't be the fool who was defeated by impulse here.
No, to be honest, it was because I was afraid of the aftermath if I had acted on my impulse.
'Why are you doing this?'
I imagined a pale-faced Rose jumping in surprise and pushing me away.
Just that alone was so unpleasant that I couldn't bear it. So I had no choice but to leave it as just an impulse.
As soon as she was freed, Rose hurriedly slipped out of the wardrobe. She acted as if she had been harassed by me, which somehow made me feel a surge of irritation.
'Wasn't she the one doing the harassing?'
Unlike me, who thoroughly calculated and avoided unnecessary contact, Rose openly touched my chest. I could assert that no one had ever made such bold physical contact with me before.
"······."
I decided to let it go. It was a childish thought. It was truly unlike me.
I also slipped out of the wardrobe. Meanwhile, Rose didn't even straighten her rumpled clothes and just kept glancing at me anxiously.
"Are you alright, Ma'am?"
"Y-Yes..."
"I apologize for my rudeness. But please understand that it was an unavoidable situation."
"Yes... It was un-unavoidable."
Rose fidgeted with her hands and avoided my gaze.
'...That expression again.'
It was an expression quite similar to that time when she wanted to run away from me and actually dashed away.
A sharp urge to demand why she was making such an expression reared its head.
However.
'Too much time had been wasted.'
As I acknowledged the practical issue, the urge faded.
I had wasted quite a bit of time due to the unexpected intrusion of the maid. Soon, Bill the butler would come looking for me.
"It would be best if we leave the room now."
"Ah, yes."
I checked the inside of the wardrobe and closed the door. Then, I carefully examined the room in case I had left any traces behind.
Rose watched me do so from a distance, then,
"Follow me."
As I started walking toward the door, she scurried after me.
I confirmed there were no patrolling guards in the hallway and opened the door.
"After you, Ma'am."
"Yes."
Rose carefully squeezed her body through the gap in the door. As her body passed by me, the scent from earlier rushed into my nose again.
"······."
Resisting the first time was difficult, but resisting a second time was not so hard.
I lightly suppressed the rising impulse. Then, to Rose, who was standing in the hallway looking at me, I said:
"Let's meet here at this time every week from now on."
"Pardon? Why?"
Sudden tension settled onto Rose's flushed face.
"You haven't yet found what you were looking for, have you?"
"Ah, yes. Not yet."
"I also intend to keep an eye on this place. It would be good if we shared the information we each uncover."
It would be far better to search together rather than alone. We would also be able to handle any unexpected situations that might arise.
"...That's a good idea, Your Excellency."
Rose's complexion noticeably brightened.
Though she harbored doubts about me for not questioning her in detail, her will to not miss this opportunity was evident.
Above all, I had conveyed the information I most wanted to deliver: that Joel was the informant.
Perhaps because of that,
"Thank you!"
Rose's spirited answer carried a sense of relief.
'Cute.'
My mouth moved before I could even realize I was having such a thought.
"What is there to be thankful for?"
It was a mouth that never knew how to use gentle words.
"N-Nothing. Just that you protected me from getting caught earlier, and just... everything like that?"
"Stop with the embarrassing talk and go. Turn to the right hallway."
"Yes, Your Excellency. See you later."
Rose bowed her head and then quickly turned and ran off. The hem of Rose's dress fluttered as she disappeared around the corner of the right hallway.
She looked like a squirrel returning home, waving its large, fluffy tail.
"······."
I stood in front of the door for a moment, then turned around and began walking in the opposite direction.
Without realizing that a faint smile was forming on my lips.
Without noticing the presence of a warm feeling spreading in a corner of my chest.
**
Kwalkwal.
The butler poured wine into the glass. The color of the wine flowing down the walls of the glass was a deep crimson.
Ordinary people, upon seeing a wine glass filled to the brim, would have thoughts like how it might taste or that they wanted to drink it.
"Hmm."
However, Henrik Schmaichel harbored a different sentiment than ordinary people while looking at the wine.
'It would be nice if that were my nephew's blood.'
A ruthless face resembling his late older brother, one that looked as if not a single drop of blood would come out if pricked. His flawless swordplay without a single mistake and his uncompromising attitude.
Seeing something perfect made him want to break it.
Henrik had grown up engraving this emotion into his bones since childhood. It was because he had grown up with an older brother who was exceptionally more outstanding than himself.
Therefore, he really wanted to see the sight of Dane breaking down. He wanted to ruin his older brother's most precious legacy and treasure.
'What a boring fellow.'
It would have been better if Dane had come to him to confront him, or sent an assassin. But the fellow had simply remained silent, as if he could not commit the immorality of pointing a sword at his uncle.
He was an honest fellow who knew nothing but the righteous path. Even while fully knowing who was targeting him, he just silently endured it.
That was why he did not refuse even when marriage proposals were thrown at him. With an arrogant attitude that said 'Do as you please, I will accept whatever you bring.'
That was truly... irritating.
"······."
A cruel smile brushed past Henrik's lips. Instead of snapping Dane's neck with an "udeuk" sound, he grabbed the stem of the wine glass.
The taste of the wine rolling over his tongue was bitter.
'My brother had prepared quite thoroughly.'
Henrik had succeeded in killing his brother and sister-in-law by disguising it as a carriage accident, but he had failed in killing their son.
And for three years, he had been spending fruitless days.
'The lack of useful pawns remains the same.'
Henrik looked around the room.
If he was a lion wanting to bite into the scruff of Dane Schmaichel's neck, the people here were hyenas wanting to share the flesh he had torn off.
The hyenas were sitting around the table having a conversation. This, too, was only possible because the lion allowed it.
"Everyone, let's hear about how you have been. By any chance, were there any gains?"
Count Olsen, with his long face, opened his mouth.
"If we had any, would we be sitting like this? And it was quite a renowned guild in the capital, too."
Count Marcus, with his sturdy physique, clicked his tongue with a "jjeut."
"They said to trust and leave it to them, so I gave them a generous down payment, but... it was a futile effort."
"Did you attack them on the way to the mine again? Then it's only natural that you failed."
Count Olsen twisted the corners of his mouth.
"Most of the routes to the mine have been figured out by now. And it's not like this is the first or second time we attempted assassination there."
"Even knowing that, there's nothing else we can do but try. Dane Schmaichel's schedule has no variations. He acts at a set time and goes out to inspect at a set time."
"Isn't a surprise attack only meaningful when it's hard to predict? They know exactly when we will come and are preparing for it, so the success rate has no choice but to keep dropping."
They all believed that Henrik Schmaichel was the true master of Schmaichel. That was why they formed an alliance and joined Henrik's faction.
All their attempts against Dane were merely strategies for a rightful succession.
"How about putting poison in the food? Have you never thought of recruiting the chef?"
A man with a mustache cautiously offered a suggestion. He had joined Henrik's faction relatively recently and did not know much.
"The chef? Hah, are you talking about that bald chef? Do you not know what he was called in his prime?"
Count Marcus snorted and answered.
"Butcher Fabri. He was a guy who roamed the battlefield with Worsen Schmaichel in his prime. He only quit hunting monsters and lives as a chef now, but he is not an ordinarily tough guy."
"Kidnapping or recruiting that guy would be impossible. That is, unless we kill him. Besides, do you think poison would work? Dane Schmaichel is immune to most poisons."
Count Olsen shook his head back and forth.
"I heard he ingested diluted poison from a young age to build tolerance. Moreover, all his tableware is made of silver. He always has a servant test it for signs of poison before he eats."
The man with the mustache did not give up and suggested another method.
"Then what about the closest butler? I heard he is married to the head maid, wouldn't it be faster to recruit those two?"
"If we could recruit that couple, we would have done so long ago. Those two are glued to the castle as if they applied some adhesive. They didn't even have children for fear of becoming hostages, they are some very vicious bastards."
Count Marcus crossed his arms.
"We have been consistently planting spies, but most of them got caught quickly and were kicked out. The butler and the head maid, that couple is so vicious as a pair that the spies couldn't last even a few days."
"Besides, once you go in as a servant, your whereabouts are restricted. They intentionally make them reside within the inner castle so they cannot contact the outside, and monitor them thoroughly."
Count Olsen laughed with a "puheuheu" sound like escaping air.
"And amidst all that, he's accepting all marriage proposals? It's truly exasperating."
"He's not accepting them, to be exact, he just isn't rejecting them. He doesn't care whether a madam comes in or not."
"Right, he didn't care at all."
Count Olsen gritted his teeth. Personal feelings toward Dane Schmaichel filled his face.
"If I had known my daughter would return as such a cold corpse, I wouldn't have sent her in as his wife."
"...My condolences."
Count Marcus shook his head.
He had also almost experienced the same thing as Count Olsen sitting opposite him, but he stopped at the last moment and was able to prevent a tragedy.
"Anyway, weren't we the ones who raised him? It's deplorable. We should have killed him when he was young..."
Now, the guilds within the kingdom had been divided into two categories. Guilds that had attempted to assassinate Dane Schmaichel, and guilds that had refused from the start.
For this, there was not a guild they hadn't contacted. They had reached out to most of the castle's servants. There was not a method they hadn't tried.
Three years had passed by like that. During those three years, Dane Schmaichel had grown into a true monster.
Dalgeurak.
Henrik deliberately set the wine glass down with a noise. It was about time to intervene in the conversation.
"Indeed, my nephew's life is quite tenacious."
At his low words, the atmosphere in the room froze. The people began to cautiously observe Henrik's mood.