“It’s not only the Grand Duke who’s in agony.”

A familiar voice came from behind them.

“Willer Brienne must be the most furious of all. His hunt failed spectacularly.”

“You’re up again? I told you, moving around will make it worse.”

Blair looked at Kalintz, leaning sideways against the bedroom doorframe, with a disapproving look.

“Lying in bed all day is more of a torment. And……”

He walked over without a care and sat down beside Blair, adding casually,

“If you really wanted me to rest, you should have sent those two out, Blair.”

He flashed a grin and gave her a meaningful look, and Blair felt heat rush to her face.

Immediate reactions came from the others as well.

“That’s…… really too much, Your Highness. I came because I was worried about you too.”

“And I even made a special ointment.”

Ernst and Ariela made a show of being wounded, and Kalintz gave a quiet laugh.

“By the way, Grand Duke Clovitz’s reaction yesterday was quite interesting.”

Kalintz took a sip of the tea Ernst had freshly poured and said,

“He clearly had no knowledge of the mutant.”

That was true. When Grand Duke Clovitz saw the traces of alchemy left on the beast’s carcass, his face had been a mixture of shock and fury.

“Was it Duke Brienne acting on his own?”

“It seems the Grand Duke didn’t anticipate him going this far.”

At Kalintz’s answer, Ernst rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“The Duke must have grown truly desperate. It feels reckless, unlike him. Though he probably felt safe doing it because of his relationship with Grand Duke Clovitz.”

At that, Blair, who had been quiet, spoke up.

“That’s not certain. This incident may have created a crack between the two of them.”

A brief silence passed through the parlor.

“There’s no such thing as an eternal alliance. Especially not between two people like them, who have been exchanging favors for their own interests.”

“But Grand Duke Clovitz hasn’t taken any action against Brienne. Whether he’s choosing not to or is unable to, we don’t know.”

Kalintz turned her words over and said,

“……Still, there’s a possibility. The Grand Duke has been showing signs of missing his daughter lately.”

“That’s exactly it. His relationship with his daughter fell apart over sending Queen Rhea to Eiron in the past. If the Grand Duke regrets that, if he wants to make it right……”

“He’d want to distance himself from Brienne. Without that, he could never reconcile with Her Majesty the Queen.”

Blair nodded.

“It won’t happen right away, but this incident might be what starts to drive them apart. And I think…… we might be able to shake the Grand Duke’s side more than we expect.”

Kalintz looked at her with a curious expression.

“Shake him?”

“Yes. We don’t escalate this officially. But we make it clear that we know this was Duke Brienne’s doing.”

Kalintz seemed to think for a moment, then spoke.

“You mean we make it known that we’re trying to drive out Brienne.”

“Exactly. The Grand Duke won’t be able to cut ties with Brienne right away anyway. Even if we make this an official matter, Valia would probably pin it on someone innocent and bury the whole thing.”

The most likely outcome was that they would drag in some convenient alchemist and present them as the culprit.

“Rather than that, I think it might be better to reveal our purpose and give Grand Duke Clovitz more options.”

“Let him know he has the chance to turn his back on Brienne and stand on our side?”

“Yes. If things go well, we might even be able to get the grounds to drive out Duke Brienne.”

And perhaps they could even find out what deal had been made between the two of them in the past.

“There’s certainly something to it.”

Kalintz slowly rubbed his chin as he spoke. Ernst, listening carefully, chimed in.

“It’s not bad. You weren’t planning to officially demand an inquiry from the Valian side anyway, were you, Your Highness.”

“If it goes that route, as Her Highness said, they’ll grab someone random and pin everything on them. Count Roman is terrifyingly good at that sort of thing.”

Ariela added in a voice dripping with contempt.

Kalintz, who had been thinking quietly, opened his mouth.

“All right. We’ll do it Blair’s way. We don’t make it a diplomatic issue. But we need to secure evidence of what happened on our end.”

“There are quite a few things worth investigating as it is. That Brienne really did overreach this time.”

Ernst handed Kalintz a report as he spoke. Kalintz’s brow furrowed almost immediately as he looked it over.

“A substance with a delayed effect of two days? The one used on the boar?”

Ariela stepped in to explain.

“The formula was complex. It took quite a lot of work to analyze.”

She continued with a frown.

“It used forbidden alchemy, as expected, and required a number of difficult ingredients. And that beast only targeted you, Your Highness. A potion like that is not something just anyone can make.”

“So whoever made it was no ordinary alchemist.”

At Kalintz’s words, Ariela gave a crooked nod.

“Oh, and we also obtained some interesting testimony from the people who manage the hunting grounds.”

Ernst continued his report.

“Two days before the hunting competition, which was the day of the masquerade, a slender figure wearing a mask entered the hunting grounds. Said they had business near the animal enclosures.”

“Wait. The day of the masquerade?”

Blair, who had been listening quietly, looked up in surprise.

“A slender, masked figure…… could it be?”

“Yes. I had the same thought, Your Highness.”

Ernst nodded with a grim face. Kalintz spoke in a low voice.

“The suspicious figure Blair was chasing that night. The one in men’s clothing.”

“They slipped out of the palace and headed to the hunting grounds. To give that substance to the beast.”

Blair felt a fresh pang of regret at having lost them. Kalintz seemed to sense it and quietly took her hand.

“But how did someone like that get into the hunting grounds?”

“Ah, they apparently showed an insignia belonging to royal alchemists. Though it hasn’t been confirmed.”

“A royal insignia……?”

Ariela added,

“It could easily have been forged or stolen. There are quite a few eccentrics who have no idea where their insignia has ended up.”

From her expression, she appeared to be one of those eccentrics herself.

“Hm. Was there anything else to identify them by?”

“No voice, nothing, but they’re certain the person was Valian.”

“How can they be sure?”

“Apparently they made this gesture.”

He held up a fist in front of his lower lip and extended one little finger.

“What does that mean?”

Blair studied the gesture carefully and asked. Kalintz answered for him.

“It means praying with the heart rather than the mouth.”

He added that it was a hand gesture sometimes seen in Valia, given how deeply religious the country was.

“So it’s also often used to mean ‘keep quiet and say nothing.'”

“That’s right. Which is why the gamekeeper said nothing and opened the gate. They didn’t know what might happen to them if they got on the wrong side of someone flashing a royal alchemist’s insignia.”

Ernst sighed heavily as he said it, and Ariela nodded, saying it was entirely understandable.

“Blair? What is it?”

Kalintz noticed Blair sitting with a rigid face, lost in thought, and asked.

“Oh, it’s just……”

Blair said it with the same stiff expression.

“I think I might know who that person is.”

❀❀❀

“You called for me, Your Highness.”

Blair had been leaning against the windowsill looking outside. She turned at the sound of someone entering.

“You came.”

Blair studied the person standing before her carefully.

A slight frame, a straight posture, hair pinned up neatly. It was Lady Miller, looking exactly as she always did.

Except that her face had grown noticeably gaunt and pale over the past few days.

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better, thanks to your concern.”

“Is that so. I wonder which kind of concern you mean.”

“Pardon?”

Lady Miller’s eyes flickered with a brief flash of unease. Blair held her gaze steadily, then spoke.

“If you’re feeling much better, shall we take a short walk?”

Blair stepped past Lady Miller without waiting for an answer.

The detached palace where they were staying had a rear garden, decorated with flowers and plants found only in Valia, giving it a deeply exotic feel.

“That flower has such an unusual shape. What is it called?”

Blair pointed to a vivid purple flower in full bloom and asked.

“It’s called a belasion. It symbolizes faith and loyalty, so it’s quite popular.”

“Faith and loyalty…… I only asked out of curiosity, but how fitting.”

Lady Miller looked puzzled at Blair’s murmur to herself.

“You really do know everything about Valia, Lady Miller.”

“Not quite…… everything.”

“I’m sure you do.”

Lady Miller’s eyes wavered for just a moment. Blair looked her over openly.