Anyone who had been planted as a spy and successfully carried out the slow poisoning of the Queen Dowager would naturally not have left a trail by accepting a letter of recommendation.

“Investigate every servant who disappeared around the time of my mother’s death.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After Alfonso left, Andrea set the silver incense burner down on top of Raul’s drawing.

The needlessly detailed drawing and the real object were identical.

‘Needlessly good at drawing, tch.’

The image of his own n*ked body circulating through the city surfaced again unbidden, and Andrea pressed his fingers hard against his brow.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Three days passed.

A presumptuous summons arrived from Rufus’s laboratory, and Andrea went in person.

“You have results already?”

Rufus looked like he had spent several days and nights in the laboratory without leaving, and explained in that state.

“It was indeed one of the rare and potent toxins from the eastern continent. The substance is called ‘Akera’s Claw.’ When dissolved in an organic solvent and combined with Ragish reagent……”

Andrea cut off the technical explanation and pressed for the conclusion.

“So it is a poison.”

Rufus scratched his chin and elaborated.

“Well…… it’s not a poison that causes rapid death. But prolonged inhalation of ‘Akera’s Claw’ as it evaporates into the air causes damage to the lungs and muscles, leading to chronic debilitation. Death eventually follows, but without an autopsy it appears to be a natural death after a long illness, which is apparently why it sees occasional use on the eastern continent.”

“Hah.”

A hollow, almost mournful sound escaped Andrea’s lips.

“One and the same, then.”

“It’s a rare enough substance that if we press the trading guilds, we may be able to trace who purchased it.”

A cold, bitter smile twisted at Andrea’s mouth.

“I have another way.”

When the most likely answer is already in sight, working from a fixed conclusion is sometimes faster than an open search.

In short, solve it by deciding the answer first.

The culprit is Queen Fabienne. The one who carried it out is one of her agents. Start from there.

And that agent is one of the servants from his mother’s estate who vanished without a trace. Set that as the premise and run a targeted investigation.

In the end, having confirmed that the Queen Dowager had been slowly murdered, Andrea felt sick.

His grey eyes, cold with the promise of repayment in kind, gleamed like those of a venomous snake.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

“Um…… is something the matter lately, Your Highness?”

Rising onto her toes to drape the robe over Andrea’s shoulders as he stepped out of the bath, Raul asked.

Deep in thought, Andrea surfaced at the sound of Raul’s voice and pulled the robe closed.

He did not forget to add a jab while he was at it.

“I was thinking I ought to keep a close watch on my own body, in case someone decides to steal it and sell it again.”

He had not called for Raul during baths ever since that incident. Even now, he had not called, and the boy had simply shown up on his own initiative to attend him.

“How many times do I have to tell you I won’t do it again? Hmph.”

“What? Hmph?”

The tiny murmured ‘hmph’ had been heard anyway, and Andrea’s eyes sharpened. Raul’s eyebrows drooped in defeat.

Lately Andrea seemed to have developed a taste for tormenting Raul, cutting him down at every turn and making him relive the crime he had committed. He would snicker while doing it, clearly enjoying himself, but that air of suspicion never quite left his eyes.

“Anyway, I have something to ask you. Come with me.”

A moment later, Riley’s old drawings were spread open before her.

Andrea pressed a finger to one section and fixed Riley with a sharp look.

“This incense burner you drew every single time you drew my mother. Do you remember it?”

Riley had been standing on her toes, pressing a towel against Andrea’s wet hair to wring it out, and her eyes went wide.

She looked blankly at her old drawings and tilted her head.

Her expression said she was not sure she had drawn it every time.

It had simply been there in the background, something she must have drawn out of habit without thinking, and she genuinely could not recall it clearly.

“Did I really draw this every time? After the Queen Dowager fell ill, she was always in bed, so I stayed by her side…… The surroundings were always the same, I suppose.”

Andrea pressed on with sharp questions.

“What do you remember about the servants who handled the contents of this incense burner? You must have seen people coming and going.”

Riley blinked at the unexpected question.

“Hmm…… after my mother, who had served as the queen’s lady-in-waiting, passed away, Madame Marine took over that role…… and the room cleaning and other chores were handled by a woman named Dalsy. An older girl, I mean.”

“Dalsy…… Had she been at the estate for a long time?”

Riley shook her head.

“No, no. She was new, came in about half a year before the queen fell ill. But why do you ask?”

Riley was looking up at Andrea with a puzzled expression when a knock sounded and Alfonso came in.

He glanced at Raul, then looked uncertain about whether to give his report.

Andrea answered that with a flick of his hand. “Speak.”

“It has been confirmed that the maid named Dalsy, who vanished immediately after the queen’s passing, resurfaced roughly a year or two later and found new employment at the palace under an assumed name. She came with a letter of recommendation from the Blanc Ducal House.”

Andrea gave a short nod, as though he had expected exactly that, and Alfonso continued.

“She has since spent several years working as one of the maids with access to His Majesty the King’s quarters. The moment Your Highness picked up that piece of evidence and began to suspect, she seems to have sensed it, because she has already disappeared. We have people tracking her, so she should be caught within a few days.”

Andrea’s brow furrowed as he reflected on his own carelessness.

He had been so caught up in the unsettling suspicion that he had simply taken the evidence and handed it to Rufus for analysis.

He should have had every servant with access to the king’s quarters confined immediately. Instead, a gap of several hours had opened up, and in that gap, one had slipped away.

According to Alfonso’s report, the maid in question went by the name Marianne.

He was almost certain that the ‘Dalsy’ of the past and ‘Marianne’ were the same person.

After hearing the full report and sitting with his thoughts, Andrea was asked carefully by Alfonso.

“How is His Majesty the King at present?”

Andrea surfaced from his thoughts and answered with measured calm.

“Rufus says the exposure hasn’t been going on long enough to cause lasting damage, so he should recover soon. Rufus is still analyzing the compound, so an antidote should follow. In any case, the worst has been avoided.”

“Yes. It’s only a matter of time before that ‘Marianne’ is caught, so please don’t worry too much.”

“She must be brought back alive, no matter what. Make sure she can’t bite her own tongue. We’ll need her testimony.”

“Understood.”

Riley had been glancing back and forth between the two of them with her ears pricked up, and asked with an uneasy expression.

“……Wh, what’s happened? Was the Queen Dowager…… was she murdered back then?”

Andrea turned to look at Riley and gave a short, heavy nod.

Only then did it occur to him that he had been too careless, speaking openly in front of this one.

He had momentarily forgotten that the boy had grown up under his mother’s care.

“It appears so.”

He watched Riley’s face go blank at his confirmation, and for a moment he did not know what to do.

Why was it that even the sight of that stricken expression was something he could not bear.

Without thinking, he reached out and stroked Riley’s bowed head, steadying her.

“Don’t cry. What’s done is done.”

The world of palace politics was merciless.

He had been shaken too, but the relief of having pulled the king back from the edge had left him no room to grieve.

He had resolved to keep his eyes forward, and lamenting the past did not suit that resolution.

His mind was already full of nothing but how to repay what had been done.

Yet watching the boy shed tears on his behalf, grieving in his place, unsettled him.

Not knowing how to offer comfort, he had been doing nothing but stroking the boy’s hair, when the urge to pull those small shoulders into a tight embrace came over him without warning.

Startled by it, he withdrew his hand and deliberately shifted the mood.