With everyone watching, Joel began examining Dane. At the same time, he asked questions to assess the situation.
"How did you manage meals while buried, Your Excellency?"
"A small amount of dry rations I had on hand. Couldn't drink any water, though."
"It must have been quite cold inside the gallery. And you couldn't light a fire either."
"I moved just a little to keep my body from stiffening up too much."
Dane searched his memory, then added, "Ah," as he remembered.
"There was heavy dust and magic stone powder floating around inside the gallery. I had no choice but to tear off a piece of my shirt to use as a mask."
"Hmm……."
Joel didn't show much change in expression at those words.
'-!'
Rose clearly saw it.
A flicker of interest passing through Joel's eyes.
'He caught on right away.'
Knowing Dane's body better than anyone, he could see exactly what changes this incident had caused—clear as day.
Squeeze.
Rose hid her clenched fist beneath her dress and waited for Joel's next words.
"First of all……."
When Joel finally opened his mouth after a long pause, everyone listened closely.
"Based on my examination just now, there is nothing wrong with Your Excellency's body."
"Phewww."
Bill let out a loud sigh without realizing it, then caught himself and coughed gruffly, aware of the surrounding gazes.
"As expected of Your Excellency. To return alive and in such good health after being buried."
Joel let out a hearty laugh. Then he spoke gently, as if to reassure everyone.
"The symptoms Your Excellency experienced are typical for a buried victim. Dehydration, hypothermia, difficulty breathing, and so on."
"Is that so? Near the end, it felt like my entire body was being crushed so hard I couldn't even breathe."
"That's a phenomenon caused by the compression of gases inside the gallery. Most people can't endure it and pass out. If it had been just a little later, it would have been serious."
Joel lightly patted the back of Dane's hand and let out a breath of relief.
"Thanks to being rescued within two days, Your Excellency quickly regained consciousness. Thank goodness."
"Then am I fine now?"
Joel smiled and shook his head at Dane's question.
"It's too early to rest easy. We'll need to observe closely for a while to make sure no other symptoms develop."
"Mm."
"You may experience some coughing. Your forearm as well… fortunately, it was set properly in the mine. We'll need to watch how that heals too."
Joel cast a meaningful glance at Chef Fabri.
"Rather than suddenly eating heavy or spicy food, it's important to start with soft foods and gradually increase nutritional intake."
Then he met eyes with Butler Bill and Head Maid Selma as well.
"Given the circumstances, our enemies are becoming more ruthless and will stop at nothing. At times like this, we must be all the more vigilant about Your Excellency's safety."
Finally, Joel concluded, looking at Dane.
"I, too, will let my guard down and conduct a thorough examination to ensure there is nothing wrong with Your Excellency's body. This is a time that demands the utmost caution."
Everyone nodded solemnly.
They understood better than anyone what Joel's words truly meant.
"Your Excellency."
"I will do my utmost."
Everyone bowed their heads toward Dane, pledging their loyalty.
Joel was among them, bowing deeply.
'Sure enough…….'
Rose seethed inwardly as she watched Joel.
'That man is deceiving Your Excellency to the very end.'
He must have realized that the magic stone powder and mana were the real problem, yet he hadn't mentioned it even once.
He dressed it up as typical symptoms of a buried victim, then cut off any budding suspicion by saying he would re-run poison tests just in case.
And that seasoned demeanor, guiding the others to steeled resolve on top of it all.
'Who would suspect him of being a traitor seeing that'
No one could. That was why they'd been caught off guard.
Even then, he pinned the blame on Rose and slipped away clean.
'This time, absolutely…….'
She wouldn't be caught off guard again.
Rose hid her blazing resolve and determination behind a soft lowering of her eyes.
"-!"
Then she noticed it.
Dane's gaze, looking down at the bowed heads, had turned ice cold.
Frigid contempt, a sharply forged rage.
He looked as though he might draw his blade and strike Joel's neck at any moment, and yet—
"Everyone, raise your heads."
He said it in an impassive voice.
"There isn't much time left before my birthday. The enemies' full-scale offensive will continue."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
"Stay alert and watch for any suspicious movements."
Dane said, then tore his gaze—contorted with pain—away from Joel.
'…Ah.'
Rose shivered as she traced every detail with her eyes: Dane's gaze, the set of his mouth, his complexion.
Joel's betrayal, which had previously been only a suspicion, was now confirmed. He must be suffering the most right now.
She felt guilty for showing Dane the terrible truth, yet also relieved to have finally exposed that man's true colors.
But…….
'Was it just my imagination…?'
What if the sense that emptiness rather than anger dominated Dane's expression right now wasn't a misconception?
It felt less like the shock of a trusted confidant's betrayal, and more like the bitterness of reconfirming something he had already known.
'Your Excellency is a strong person, after all…….'
He was someone who prioritized cold reason over heated emotion, so perhaps that was possible.
Rose rationalized it to herself that way.
Slip.
Dane pulled Rose, who had been sitting beside the bed, into a gentle embrace.
"If it hadn't been for my wife, rescue wouldn't have come this quickly."
Rose snapped to her senses at the warm gaze he cast her way. She had a role to play here.
"You flatter me, Your Excellency."
"Was the swift rescue within two days perhaps thanks to my lady's……?"
When Joel asked, his eyes slightly wide, Rose feigned a blush and replied.
"It was nothing. I just dug the tunnel a bit quickly and got His Excellency out."
Her help had only extended to rescuing Dane from the gallery—nothing more than that.
She acted completely calm, feigning ignorance about the mana anomaly that had occurred in Dane's body.
"Just a bit fast? The Gallery Master would be hurt to hear that."
"Indeed…!"
At Dane's feigned excitement, Butler Bill spoke in a voice mixed with surprise and admiration.
"A search operation alone would normally take days. It was thanks to my lady's knowledge of magical scholarship!"
"My goodness, my lady. You're incredible."
"I could tell from the moment you enjoyed that lake fish sashimi! That my lady would pull off something big one day!"
Selma and Fabri chimed in with laughs as well.
They had all caught on that they needed to quickly join in on Dane's 'Look, isn't my wife remarkable' display.
Truthfully, even without being prompted like this, Rose herself knew well that everyone genuinely liked and cherished her.
"…Hahaha."
Save for one person—Joel.
His eyes stiffened for an instant as if a shard had embedded itself in them, but—
"I'm truly relieved. Having my lady accompany you was a stroke of fortune."
He soon covered it with a soft smile.
"I was glad I could be of help to Your Excellency."
Rose smiled brightly and faced Joel. Thoroughly acting the part of a wife deeply in love with her husband.
'You knew about this incident too.'
He must have hoped Dane would be trapped for at least a few days, or that serious physical damage would result.
Thanks to Rose, his plan had been ruined, so from Joel's perspective, she must feel like a thorn in his side.
'Just you wait.'
Rose leaned her head against Dane's shoulder, as if to show off.
She would expose the schemes hidden behind Joel's gentle smile for all to see.
And she would make Henrik, who was pulling all the strings from behind Joel, pay as well.
'He'll definitely report today's events to Henrik.'
That Dane had injured his arm, and that the covert yet deadly poison was working perfectly.
They needed to let the enemies believe things were going according to their plan, then strike from behind at the decisive moment.
Rose steeled her resolve inwardly.
"His Excellency needs to rest now."
At Joel's words, everyone carefully left the room.
The moment she closed the door behind her—
Nod.
Dane gave a small nod toward Rose. Rose squeezed her eyes with a 'Yap!' as if to say 'Just trust me.'
"Let's keep His Excellency's condition between ourselves."
"Of course."
"If anything happens, share it immediately."
Everyone, including Rose, exchanged glances. Then they scattered to attend to their duties.
Step.
Rose headed straight for Dane's office.
'They'd have been placed in His Excellency's office and bedroom.'
The special candles mixed with velvet wisp.
She needed to remove the ones Joel would have placed to poison Dane.
But.
"Are these what you're referring to?"
The servant who saw the new bundle of candles Rose had brought wore a troubled expression.
"I just changed them recently, and now… I don't know where to put these. Mmm."
Rose's expression changed upon hearing his muttering.
"You changed the candles recently?"
"Yes. We originally used the candles provided by the chief physician, but His Excellency said the scent bothered him and had them switched."
"The scent bothered him?"
"He told me to keep it a secret so the chief physician wouldn't feel hurt if he found out."
The servant scratched his head.
"He said to report to him immediately if the candles were ever changed again. Shall I tell him about today's matter as well?"
"…Go ahead."
Rose stood still and watched the servant rummaging through the cabinet. Then she suddenly asked a question.
"When did His Excellency change the candles?"
"Hmm……."
The servant, taking candles out of the cabinet, thought for a moment before answering.
"Ah, it was then. The day after my lady arrived."
"I see."
"These are the candles His Excellency gave me. What should I tell him when I swap them?"
The servant asked, holding candles in both hands.
"No, leave them."
Rose shook her head and stopped the servant.
"No need to change them. I'll take these candles back with me."
Having left the room, Rose fell into thought.
'…How?'
The scent bothered him? That couldn't be.
Rose had already tested Joel's candle that Helena had stolen from his apiary.
It had no scent, and no abnormalities had occurred in her body.
'But how.'
Moreover, the timing of the candle swap was strange.
From the day he met Rose—or around that time—Dane had already known about the dangers of the candles.
This was long before Rose raised her suspicions about the chief physician Joel and any investigation was conducted.
'…Come to think of it.'
A memory surfaced of being in the bedroom with Dane.
'Wait a minute.'
He would periodically get up and open the window. He would stare out the window for a long time, as if checking for raids or making sure patrols were running properly.
But what if that had been for a different purpose? What if it had been to ventilate the room?
'…No way.'
A hypothesis suddenly flashed through Rose's mind.
What if, what if……. It was an absurd thought, there was no way, but.
'Don't tell me, His Excellency…….'