Jealousy.

‘Why?’

Cedric unconsciously recalled the Crown Prince.

He remembered him as having an appearance that seemed to draw all sorts of blessings, befitting one called the hope of the kingdom.

He must be so radiant because the envy and admiration of many serve as his nourishment.

Cedric had never attached any meaning to such facts.

Until just now.

“Sir, aren’t you going to eat?”

Belinda’s words broke Cedric’s reverie.

At her urging that wasn’t quite urging, Cedric slowly grasped the dessert cutlery and mashed the dessert before him.

The dessert he finally put in his mouth felt gritty, like sand.

Terry, who was observing Cedric’s mood from the corner of her eye, felt like hitting her forehead repeatedly.

‘I only meant to give a little stimulation.’

It seems she had messed up quite spectacularly.

***

Unlike Kao, who couldn’t function during daylight, the Cerberuses were full of energy regardless of day or night.

When they were first tamed, they were small enough to fit in one’s arms due to losing most of their magical power.

But after following Cheshire’s advice and tossing them a few magic stones to replenish their magic, they grew rapidly day by day, and now they had quite the Doberman look I was familiar with.

Cer, the eldest of the Cerberus triplets, was outgoing and sociable, acting friendly towards people. Ber, the second, was cautious but extremely loyal to me, resembling the Doberman that Belinda used to raise the most.

I gently scratched the chin of Ber, who was standing rigidly exactly half a step away from my feet, watching my every move.

‘No matter how I look at it, he resembles Sir Penadel.’

Mikha, the Doberman was extremely loyal to Belinda.

Unfortunately for the Crown Prince, Mikha’s name had been Mikha even before Belinda met the prince.

So if, as Terry said, Belinda’s expression was particularly lenient towards Sir Penadel, it must be because he resembled Belinda’s Doberman.

I looked alternately at Ber on my left and Sir Penadel on my right, both guarding me even inside the house, then looked around for the youngest of the triplets.

“Has anyone seen Rus?”

“I saw him hiding behind the display cabinet earlier.”

Terry, who had just returned from an outing, answered while warming her cold hands by the fireplace in the study.

Rus, the youngest of the Cerberus, was so timid that he rarely showed himself when other people were around, except for me.

Only after confirming that Rus hadn’t run out of the house in fear but was somewhere inside, did I examine the documents Terry had brought.

It was a peaceful evening filled only with the sound of sparks from the fireplace, the rustling of turning pages, and the scratching of Leo drawing magic circles on parchment.

Just as I was nearing the last page of the documents, a sudden shout broke the quiet of the study.

“Cer!”

Startled, I looked up to see Cer rolling around inside the blazing fireplace as if he were rubbing himself in the snow-covered front yard.

Several times before sparks from Cer’s mischief had left ugly holes in the carpet.

But this time, it seemed he had burned Leo’s hour-long assignment that he had been working on, lying in front of the fireplace.

Thoroughly angered, Leo, with his hands on his hips, sternly said while tightly gripping the hole-ridden paper,

“Bad!”

Ah, I shouldn’t laugh.

“Bad, bad!”

As I barely managed to hold back my laughter, Cer, deflated by Leo’s scolding, whimpered and crawled out of the fireplace.

This caused burning wood chips to scatter outside the fireplace, and Sir Penadel gently stamped them out with his aura-infused toes to prevent the sparks from spreading.

Probably no one else would use aura so trivially like Sir Penadel.

“You can’t go into the fireplace like that. Look, my homework is ruined.”

Whine.

The cunning Cer sat down obediently with his front paws together, looking up at Leo with wavering black eyes.

Leo, who had been firmly admonishing him while waving the hole-ridden homework, hesitated at that gaze.

“I-I won’t let you off even if you look at me like that.”

Whine.

“Even so…”

Whimper.

“…I’ll let it slide just this once.”

The winner was Cer.

Leo slumped his shoulders helplessly, looking down at his homework as if staring at a computer screen that had gone black due to a power outage before saving.

That sense of futility, those who have experienced it know it well.

Although I comforted Leo saying I would explain today’s situation well to Cheshire, it seemed there was nothing to be done about the child’s sense of futility.

“Lady Belinda… I… I’ll go up to my room now.”

“Very well. Vivian, please take Ratchet with you.”

“Y-Yes? Ahem, yes… Yawn, Seedo, let’s go.”

Vivian, who had been nodding off like a sick chicken for a while, left with Leo while letting out a long yawn.

Only after the footsteps outside the door had completely faded did I call Terry, who was crouching in front of the display cabinet, gently waving jerky to coax out Rus’s face.

“Terry, how confident are you about the hypothesis written here?”

Investigate everything about Sybel thoroughly.

In response to that, Terry brought two bundles of documents.

One contained only the facts, while the other recorded a hypothesis deduced from those facts.

“About 70 percent, Master.”

Snap.

The sound of a spark flying was heard, and deep shadows flickered across Terry’s face in the wavering firelight.

I skimmed through the section recording my uncle’s death again.

The investigation into Sybel naturally led to uncovering the cause of my uncle’s death.

It was after my uncle’s horseback riding accident that Sybel Blanche began to intervene in family affairs and gradually gain power.

My uncle was on the brink of death from that accident, and those assisting the family head hurriedly spent a large sum to invite a high-ranking priest.

Fortunately, thanks to the priest who arrived just in time, my uncle’s life was saved, but his mind began to deteriorate gradually.

[Memory disorder, headaches, motor disorders, as well as mental confusion and hearing loss. Suspected to be delirium due to old age, or symptoms of dementia.]

At first glance, divine power seems omnipotent, having saved someone who was on the verge of death.

However, while divine power easily treats external injuries or acquired diseases, it cannot cure illnesses caused by aging, congenital disabilities, or mental illnesses.

My uncle’s condition fell into the latter category.

Thus, my uncle endured for two years with an unsound mind before passing away.

Reading the last line of the document with the date of my uncle’s death, I touched my lips.

I didn’t know what expression I should make, or what expression I was currently making.

“It could be delirium symptoms as per the specialist’s opinion, but I think differently.”

Terry’s fingertip pointed to a paragraph describing certain poisoning symptoms.

“It also matches the typical symptoms of lead poisoning.”

“…You’re saying he was poisoned.”

“Lead poisoning leaves no physical evidence. The presence of lead poisoning can only be determined by whether the symptoms improve when the victim takes an antidote while still alive. Therefore, I can’t say there’s concrete evidence.”

“Yet you still think it was poisoning. There must be a reason.”

Terry paused for a moment.

After seeming to gather her thoughts, she continued in a low voice.

“You remember I mentioned earlier that shadow crow eggs were brought into the Blanche household. Distracted by the fact that Sybel Blanche was the culprit, we overlooked an obvious fact.”

“An obvious fact?”

“That hatching monster eggs is an extremely difficult task even for assassins. But Sybel Blanche didn’t hand over the monster eggs to an assassination guild to target the Master instead, he brought the monster eggs themselves into the mansion. This means that there must be someone by his side who has the knowledge to hatch monster eggs and the capability to carry it out.”

Suddenly, I remembered Terry volunteering to investigate Sybel’s assistant.

Moreover, on the day she had left the annex empty, intruders happened to enter the mansion.

If that day’s incident wasn’t just a mere coincidence…

“Master, do you remember how long Sybel Blanche’s assistant has been by his side?”

I tried to recall Belinda’s memories, fumbling.

I had never paid attention to his existence, let alone his name or even a clear impression.

In Belinda’s memories, he just stood quietly in the corner of her vision, like a shadow in a still-life painting.

Just like Terry hiding in the shadows.

“It seemed strangely difficult to trace his past. That man, he’s from the slums. He was also once part of the Stray Dogs.”

“Ha, a Stray Dog protecting Sybel?”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

Then suddenly, I reached a certain realization.

Lead poisoning requires time and dedication, slowly accumulating its toxicity in the body.

The Blanche household had already thoroughly weeded out all the servants once, so there was no one to suspect as an outside agent.

If, as Terry suspected, my uncle was indeed poisoned, then the culprit could only be…

“That mongrel.”

Both Terry and Sir Penadel, who had been watching this entire situation by my side, remained silent.

I held my forehead, lost in thought.

From the beginning, there was a sense of unease, as if the buttons had been misaligned from the start.

Unconsciously fiddling with the pendant of my choker, I quietly spoke.

“I’ll spend tomorrow in the main building.”

“Pardon? Tomorrow?”

“Yes, I need to confirm the remaining 30 percent possibility with my own eyes.”

“…You’re not going there to sleep, are you?”

“Do I look that stupid to you?”

To think I’d go sleep in what’s essentially Sybel’s front yard after discovering circumstances suggesting he might have poisoned my uncle.

“Master, does it have to be tomorrow? If you give me just one day, I can prepare…”

For some reason, Terry trailed off, scratching her cheek.

“Terry, I won’t be taking you with me, so there’s no need for separate preparations. And Sir, I’m telling you in advance, You won’t be accompanying me either.”

“Then…”

“There’s someone who’s been just eating and not working all this time, isn’t there?”

Sir Penadel and Terry couldn’t quite guess who my partner would be.

As if answering my words, Cer suddenly started barking loudly.