"What happened to the maid sent to the Kiellini mansion? If she failed to kill the princess, ask her to bring some important information if she doesn't want to die!" Francis was so angry that he lost his temper and tore apart his office.

"When Prince Killian was in the Kiellini mansion, the surveillance was so severe that we could not approach. When we contacted her later, she had already fled away."

Francis stared at Marius' answer "So, we don't get anything?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness."

"Ha! I'm surprised the Marquis said, 'I'm sorry'." Francis mocked the way Marius, who had always been relaxed and confident, was bowing his head. "The Marquis, I don't need your apology. Tell me how to solve it!"

"We don't know what the ingredients of the antidote are, so we don't have much to do at this moment. The time to make the poison is not short…"

"You are saying that it's no use, even if we keep making and spreading poison in the future."

"I'm sorry."

Francis flopped down on the sofa, staring at Marius for a while.

"That's not like the Marquis. Tell me what you're thinking."

Marquis Marius opened his mouth after confirming Francis's appearance, now seemingly elegant and cool-headed, as if he wasn't angry. When he raved with fury, it was useless to give any opinion, so he had to watch for an opportunity like now. "I'll announce that the current epidemic was actually poison, and that its origin was the Kiellini family."

"What?"

Francis raised his head from looking at the ruined floor.

"As a witness, we can put out the Duke of Kiellini's butler. We don't have to waste any more time trying to figure out how to make the useless poison. It doesn't matter if we give him up as prey."

"If he says we're behind it?"

"We can claim that it's a slander. We have to take the initiative. I'll say Prince Killian deliberately poisoned people to raise his prestige and distribute the antidote."

When Francis became suspicious, Marius thought that he should remind him of reality. "Your Highness, it's too late to prepare for Prince Killian if he strikes first. They've found the antidote so quickly, but do you think they're not going to figure out what we've done? We need to attack them before they find evidence."

Marius continued his speech as coolly and mercilessly as he had back in the days of educating Francis. "What if Prince Killian becomes emperor? You know what will happen after that, though I won't say anything. We have no place to back down. It's a dead end."

Francis closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them. "The Marquis is right. When Killian becomes Emperor, it's all over. Yeah, it would be okay to cut off the butler's tongue and stop him from talking nonsense. It would be enough if someone testifies that he was the butler of the Kiellini family?"

"Yes, that's right. I will do my best to make sure everything goes according to your will."

"Yes. He'll never give up Princess Kiellini. But the moment it turns out that the poison belongs to the Kiellini family, the Kiellini family is done. No matter who Killian is, there's no way. It is rebellion. It was created by the Duke of Kiellini to drive out the healthy Emperor and seat Killian as Emperor. If the Duke of Kiellini is executed and the princess is deprived of her aristocratic status, it will be possible to put her to death, just like the Duke. What will happen to Killian once he loses the princess?"

Francis picked up a piece of the crumbled vase on the floor and threw it toward a clear gla.s.s window without a grain of dust.

Smas.h.!.+

The clear gla.s.s fell to the floor with a loud noise. Francis whispered as he looked at the shattered gla.s.s. "Like those pieces of gla.s.s, Killian is going to be broken. The look I saw on him at the engagement ceremony that day was sincere. How fun would it be to see Killian collapse after losing the princess?" After a dismal whisper, Francis began to laugh as if he was crazy.

Marquis Marius could not laugh because he feared that things might not go as planned. But he had to agree that they couldn't back down.

--------------------

Valerian arrived in Tilia and headed to the annex where the Duke stayed. "How have you been, Your Excellency?"

The Duke of Kiellini checked the back of Count Valerian. When he confirmed that he had come alone without a following knight, he was relieved and replied coldly. "How can someone with their hands and feet cut off get along? It sounds sarcastic."

When the Count of Valerian visited just after Marquis Rhodius, he was worried that things might have gone wrong, but fortunately, it had not. Thinking that they thought his masterpiece "White Death" was just an epidemic, the Duke was about to laugh for the first time since the day he had been humiliated by Prince Killian.

"I've heard that the capital is in disarray due to the plague. I can't believe you're coming down to Tilia. What happened?" He was sure that they did not know. However, to confirm it, the Duke asked about the Count's business.

"I'm here to do something we haven't finished before."

The Duke wondered what he meant for a while, and finally realized his meaning. "It's about Iris."

"Yes, it's about Miss Regina. I don't mind the name, because in a few days she'll be called a different name. Anyway, we're leaving tomorrow morning, so be prepared. I'm sure you'll be relieved if your daughter's seat is guaranteed soon, right?"