“It sounds like you’re saying you don’t mind becoming the culprit at this rate.”

“Magnus said he’d resolve it, so I just need to wait, right?”

“The attempted assassination of His Majesty the Emperor is not a matter that the Duke can handle.”

The smile on Serena’s lips deepened.

It’s very familiar to Serena for others to harbor ill will towards her.

This man has been treating her like a culprit from the start.

Whether he’s sincere, or if Nyx or the touch of darkness has reached him, she doesn’t know.

“So, I’m telling you I’m not the culprit. But it’s strange. You sound like… you want to make me the culprit.”

“For now, we’re just interrogating the suspect with the highest probability of being the culprit.”

“It’s the same thing. I didn’t make a difficult request… If you won’t grant my request, send me back. Oh, and call Magnus too.”

Serena removed the hand that was propping up her chin, crossed her arms, and turned her head away.

The commander of the imperial guard fell silent at her behavior, which clearly showed no intention to cooperate.

After a long while, he made a clanking sound as he put down his helmet with a thud.

“……”

Serena glanced at the man who had removed his helmet.

Seeing half of his face covered with large burn scars, she understood why he had been wearing the helmet.

‘Weren’t there potions here?’

It’s a serious injury, but if there were potions from the other world, it would have healed quite easily.

After staring blankly, Serena nodded.

“I won’t mistake you for someone else. So, continue.”

Serena tilted her head.

Like an arrogant villainess.

To be honest, if she didn’t act like that, she felt like she might want to run away.

Interrogation, it’s really an unpleasant thing.

“The Duchess’s greatly changed behavior was strange. It was as if you were a different person.”

“A different person?”

“Yes, you suddenly became knowledgeable about medicine which you had no interest in before, made prosthetic limbs of unknown origin, and the items from your newly started business were all new things that didn’t exist before.”

“Isn’t that what products are? New things that didn’t exist before come into being. Even the armor you’re wearing didn’t exist hundreds of years ago.”

Serena said, pointing at his armor with her finger.

The commander of the imperial guard was silent for a moment at her words, which implied that he was behind the times when items are constantly being developed and new things are continuously emerging.

“The prosthetic limb being jointly developed with the Mage’s Tower was being made based on knowledge that doesn’t exist at all in this world.”

“Because I’m smart.”

“It didn’t seem like you had gone through any trial and error, though.”

“Wow, if you heard how much trial and error I went through, even you would cry.”

She had gone through dozens, if not hundreds, of trials and errors. Of course, the problem was that there was no evidence of that in this world.

“…Duchess, I’m not joking around.”

“I’m only telling the truth too.”

“…If you continue to be this uncooperative, I can’t be considerate either.”

Serena frowned as she stared blankly at the commander of the imperial guard.

His melted eye was so white it was as if the pupil was dead, and his expression was blank.

His dark brown hair was so short that it seemed impossible to grab it.

“How on earth did you come to know those things?”

“I just had ideas while sleeping and experimented in various ways. I knew about the business items from the beginning, but I looked into it this time because I wanted to become independent as I matured.”

As Serena spoke nonchalantly, the commander’s lips closed tightly in a straight line.

His expression wasn’t good, perhaps because it still seemed like she was playing word games.

“We can’t figure out what kind of poison was used on His Majesty. Even though all the medical experts are currently working on preparing an antidote.”

“Hmm.”

“If His Majesty really passes away like this, you’ll be summarily executed without even an interrogation.”

“I’m not the culprit, are you saying I’ll be summarily executed without evidence?”

Serena asked back with an incredulous expression.

Nevertheless, the commander of the imperial guard kept his mouth shut as if what he had said was not a lie.

“Not just you, but the Lavernia family and the Kelahinum ducal family won’t be able to avoid trouble either.”

Serena’s lips twitched. She glared at the commander of the imperial guard while keeping her mouth shut.

“Are you threatening me?”

“I’m telling you that I want to resolve this smoothly.”

Is it just her imagination that this ‘smooth resolution’ sounds like they want to frame someone as the culprit and wrap up the case?

Serena stared at him with narrowed eyes.

“I’ll say it again, I’m not the culprit and I’ve never used such a poison. I don’t have an antidote for an unknown drug either. If you want to save him, bring me His Majesty’s blood and experimental equipment. I’ll help develop an antidote too.”

Serena said with a frown.

“Why are you suddenly offering to treat His Majesty the Emperor?”

“Look, Commander. I didn’t offer to treat him, His Highness the Crown Prince asked me to.”

From the beginning, Serena had said countless times that she didn’t want to do that job.

But she had reluctantly agreed to do it after seeing the source of evil or evil energy driving the Crown Prince mad.

“Go and ask him. I said I didn’t want to do it. I was even going to just pass on the ingredients and tell them to let the imperial doctor know the method.”

Her voice rose and her words sped up due to the injustice she felt.

“I didn’t even want to stick my nose into imperial affairs because I was afraid something like this would happen!”

“……”

“You force someone who hates doing it to do the job… Treat them like a benefactor when the treatment is going well, and then treat them like a criminal when the condition worsens?”

Serena glared at him, clenching her fists.

But the commander’s gaze remained calm.

Seeing eyes that showed not a single sign of emotion, as if he were some emotionless machine, Serena spoke again.

“Let me tell you in advance, even if this matter is resolved well, I will never get involved in His Majesty’s affairs again!”

Tell them to do whatever they want, whether he lives or dies.

Why on earth does she have to suffer like this?

What did she do wrong!

All she wanted was to live an ordinary life.

“How did you even confirm it was poison in the first place? You said it was an ‘unknown poison’. That means you couldn’t properly confirm whether it was poison or not, so why are you so sure it’s poison?”

“……”

“If you want to make me the culprit, just say so honestly. Don’t use pretty words like interrogation or whatever.”

At Serena’s words, the commander frowned and let out a short sigh.

“I’m just in a neutral position right now.”

“That’s why I’m asking why you’re interrogating someone as if they’ve already been determined to be the culprit.”

He remained silent and turned his head.

As it seemed like he was thinking about something, Serena also maintained her silence.

“It’s because the Duchess’s actions are the most suspicious and you have the highest possibility of having a clear motive.”

She was at a loss for words at the mention of a clear motive.

“I asked why you thought that way, the reason.”

“According to the current imperial doctor, the method of using medicinal ingredients that you use is not used in any country, including this empire.”

Serena’s brow furrowed deeply at the commander’s words.

The methods of compounding medicines and refining drugs using herbs have continuously developed and changed over time.

Using that as a reason is too narrow-minded.

“Humans are thinking beings, why do you assume they’ll always use the same methods?”

“I understand what you’re saying. However, even development has an order.”

“……”

“For example, let’s say there was a knight of moderate skill until yesterday. He hadn’t been wielding a sword for long, and while he might have had some talent, he was very clumsy in handling aura. He was even famous for being a ruffian who often caused trouble.”

Serena closed her mouth at the commander’s words that followed after a long silence.

He had put aside the pressuring atmosphere he had been maintaining until now and started what seemed to be a conversation.

“But.”

“But what if that knight suddenly started handling aura freely one day and reached the level of a sword master? Moreover, he no longer acts like a ruffian.”

“……”

“What would you think if you saw such a person, Duchess?”

Serena was silent for a moment at the commander’s pointed question.

“Well.”

She slowly opened her mouth.

“I’d think that the ruffian who had been hiding his skills all this time has finally matured.”

Serena answered somewhat shamelessly.