Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Chapter 46
“What are you talking about? Why do you say such a scary thing?”
At his words, fake Chloe widened her eyebrows and wept. At the same time, a cold sweat ran down Gerald’s forehead.
“It would be my younger sister who gave her life to save me.”
Simultaneously with those words, the sword was pointed at Gerald’s neck.
“You dare to deceive me with Chloe?”
“Oh, oh, you’re misunderstanding. I just showed you the soul that dwells in the doll.” Gerald calmly made excuses, even though he was terrified.
“Brother, don’t do that. I’m scared. This is the person who made me and my brother meet.”
Beside him, fake Chloe stomped her feet.
‘Maintaining magic even in this kind of situation, his mental strength is amazing.’
Although shaking, Chloe’s figure was still maintained.
“Do you think I don’t know?”
“What are you talking about? Your Majesty, please put down this sword…”
“I have nothing more to say. Liam!”
At Declan’s call, the parlor door opened wildly and the knights rushed in.
“Hold him and restrain him.”
Knights surrounded him and guarded him while Liam put a restraint on Gerald. After a while, he knelt down on his knees with another man who had been drawn by the knights.
“Your Majesty, you must have misunderstood. I did nothing wrong!”
Gerald begged with a pale face.
“There must be blue powder in that person’s arms.”
At my words, Declan ordered Liam to search his body.
Soon after, the two pockets found in Gerald’s arms were placed in Declan’s hands. As expected, the pocket contained money and blue powder.
“You think I’m stupid.”
Declan leaned his torso towards Gerald.
Cold eyes poured over his face.
“It’s amazing that you thought I was a fool that couldn’t recognize even my sister.”
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty. How can you say such a thing? The story of the Princess is real.”
Gerald was sweating profusely, though desperately trying to persuade him. To be honest, I was frankly surprised about his magic skills.
‘He knows quite a bit of specific things about Chloe?’
That meant that there had been many spies of Duke Otien since a long time ago.
“Yes, how did Duke Otien give you this powder?”
When the name of Duke Otien was mentioned, Gerald became contemplative.
“I, I don’t know him.”
“I knew you would say that and brought you proof that you had met the duke’s aide.”
As the words continued, Gerald’s eyes widened.
“There was not enough deceit to deceive me, so you wanted to kill me, so you must be charged with murdering the Emperor.”
“What do you mean tried to assassinate Your Majesty! Not me…!”
Gerald groaned and fell down.
Declan had Noah pour the tea into the pot. Seeing that, his face turned pale as the flowers withered in an instant.
“Didn’t I drink that tea too? Would I have drunk it if I knew it was poisonous?”
“Yes, that’s proof.”
Gerald relieved his tension.
“If you drank poison tea, and you are fine, then there is only one answer.”
…That he had already taken the antidote.
At Declan’s words, Gerald froze.
I stared at Gerald pathetic like that.
“You created this poison, didn’t you? And, you poisoned my food.”
Declan pointed to the servant sitting next to Gerald.
After visiting the Duke’s residence, we prepared a trap to catch Gerald and the servant. A servant named Aman was easier to find than expected. After finding him working in the kitchen, he attached a shadow to monitor him.
Yesterday, as expected, I had a headache, and I saw black smoke from the tea Noah had brought in a while ago.
Declan moved right away when he confirmed the poison was present by nodding my head.
“Is this the second time?”
“Uh, how could that…”
Gerald muttered in dismay. It was refreshing to see his shiny face turned to earth color. On the other hand, Aman, whose face was already covered with tears and a runny nose, was trembling to the point of pity.
“Put them both in jail and interrogate them.”
“All right.”
Liam took the two men out with the knights.
“Successful.”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
Declan’s softly relaxed eyes were pleasing to the eye. Seeing him, I was relieved that I had saved him, and on the other hand, I was worried.
“Are you okay? You’ll never be able to see the Princess again.”
His eyes widened a little, and my heart felt heavy.
“…A child who has already left. I was able to see her again like this, so that’s enough.”
“Your Majesty…”
I didn’t know what to say to comfort him, so I called him and couldn’t continue talking. Since he was a man who makes the world fear by ruthlessly swinging his sword, I wouldn’t have known why he was so unfortunate.
‘It’s like a baby beast crouching down with a wound.’
I reached out and touched his face. Declan felt my touch and quietly closed his eyes.
“…It’s okay because I have you.”
Eyes resembling the emerald green of the Mediterranean were visible between the eyelids that were raised slowly.
‘It’s warm.’
Since when? I felt the temperature in his eyes, which was colder than the glacier, different.
I gazed into his eyes. As I faced the gaze that was directed only at me, an unexplained trembling spread from my chest.
‘What is this?’
I just looked into those eyes until we left the room.
“Uwaaak—!”
One after another, screams erupted from the dungeon. A dagger was in one hand, and blood was flowing.
“Please, please save me.”
Gerald took a deep breath.
“I haven’t even started yet.”
Declan whirled his dagger and clicked his tongue. Meanwhile, Gerald was already halfway out of his mind.
“What kind of magic did you use?”
“It’s not magic, it’s a real soul, ack!”
The dagger was stuck in Gerald’s other hand, who was repeating the same excuses.
“Be wise. Once I put it on your two remaining feet, I’ll put it on your neck as well.”
Gerald’s eyes, which were trembling and sweating, were dyed with fear.
“Please save me.”
“If you tell the truth, won’t I even think about it. Huh?” Declan grabbed another dagger, and he sputtered.
“I, I used a materialization spell!”
It was a magic that could not only make the figure of a painting three-dimensional, but also control it as he thought.
“Now, it makes sense. The one who instigated all these things would be Duke Otien, right?”
“Hoooook—I, I don’t know him. I’ve never met him.”
“You lied again.”
“Really! Or, I just received a commission because I was given a lot of money.”
As Declan raised his dagger, Gerald wept and begged.
“I really didn’t know that the person who came to see me was the Duke’s aide. That is really the truth.”
At his words, Declan stared intently into his eyes.
“I knew he was a nobleman because his clothes looked expensive, though I didn’t know his exact identity.”
“You don’t know about the person who gave the instructions on behalf of the aide?”
Gerald’s eyes widened as if he didn’t know he was even aware of that. Declan looked down at him as if he was dumbfounded.
‘If it wasn’t for Erica, I wouldn’t have known.’
He had barely prevented her from coming down here with him to watch the interrogation.
“I, I don’t know. I can only recognize the voice—”
“There is nothing to get out of.”
“I will do whatever you ask me to. Please, save me.”
Saying so, Gerald burst into tears as Declan prepared to get up.
“Are you going to do what I tell you?”
“Yes, yes. Just tell me.”
Declan stroked his chin and looked down at him indifferently before opening his mouth, “Can you recognize the person who came to commission you in person?”
“Of course! I know because I’ve seen you many times.”
“Then, I’ll give you a chance.”
“Th, thank you. Thank you very much.”
At his words, Gerald bowed his head constantly.
“I’ll let you know the rest, and I want to ask you something first.”
“Say it. I’ll tell you anything I know.”
“…Can you be a whole person even if you have only a soul?”
“Yes? Soul?”
Gerald asked with a blank face.
“You don’t know?”
Although it was expressionless, the vivid disappointment in his eyes could not be erased. When Declan’s appearance was not serious, he noticed Gerald peeking at him.
“There is a way to transplant a soul into another person’s body in a similar way to what I was talking about last time.”
“You need a living sacrifice for that?”
“Yes. All magic has a price.”
“What is the probability of success?”
“That…”
Gerald looked at Declan.
“Very low. Isn’t that against the laws of nature?”
He then coughed a few times as if he was out of breath before continuing, “The soul you are trying to transplant may be ruined.”
Declan’s forehead narrowed at once.
‘If Erica’s soul is damaged.’
Just thinking about it was terrifying.
“Isn’t there a safer and more reliable way?”
“There is no safe way unless you have a Lacande tree.”
“Lacande tree.”
“That, too, is just a myth. It is an illusion created by humans who want immortality.”
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