Chap 13

But how to prevent it?

Even if we monitor the entire outer castle, it's hard to determine who will be bribed to use poison and in what way.

There are over a thousand servants in the Southern Duke's main castle alone, and more than half of them know how to use a sword or their bodies.

This place is a vast trap set to engulf the North.

The Southern Duke Rahel must have invited the North for a reason difficult to refuse. Likely, he stirred the Emperor's influence, making it impossible for the Northern Duke to decline.

Requesting a victory celebration was a different move from my previous life, but it was the North's minimal dignity they couldn't concede.

I cannot blame the Northern Duke for coming here. It was a dangerous decision for him but gave me the only hope of reaching him.

There's only one way to save Arcadia.

I loosened my clenched fist and relaxed my body.

Since I can't know everything, they must defend themselves.

'I need to meet the Northern Duke and tell him what I know.'

It might be a gamble, indeed, a gamble, but let's try.

But how to meet him?

Will he believe me?

I felt conflicted. But I hope he does.

It's a baseless wish.

Our only interaction in this life was five years ago when our swords briefly crossed. I was fourteen, and he was seventeen.

After the death of the previous Northern Duke, he lived in the capital as a hostage and returned to the North at fifteen. He was driven to various battlefields and briefly returned to the capital by the Emperor's order when he was seventeen.

Would he remember the half-masked monster he briefly crossed swords with for the Duke's amusement?

'Why do you hide your beautiful face with a mask?'

After my defeat, as I lay there, he looked into my eyes and asked that. His warm voice still vivid in my memory.

I hope he remembers me.

The place where the Northern Knights were staying was the southernmost part of the main castle, the Blue Villa, used for external guests.

Excluding the stronghold of the Southern Duke's direct family, it's the tallest and most beautiful castle in the main castle, overlooking the Asséo Lake, famous for its blue salt.

The area is open, making it difficult for outsiders to approach.

'I can't just visit openly.'

I'm not someone who can reach him now.

But this is also a place built by Rahel, so there are secret passages in this villa.

In my previous life, I used one of these to reach Arcadia Nugent's room.

The secret passage used by assassins of the Southern Duke's family for generations is an underground waterway starting from the well in Rahel Forest.

Crawling through the waterway under the well, after a while, one reaches the Blue Villa. The waterway in the basement of the castle connects to the smoke vents of all the rooms in the villa.

These smoke vents, like ant tunnels, are just wide enough for one person. Inside are tiny handholds to prevent assassins from slipping.

But these handholds are insufficient to prevent a fall.

I remember encountering the skeleton of someone who got lost and died in these vents.

But there's no time to hesitate. Once the poison reaches Medeia's hands, it's a matter of time before it's used.

I secretly entered the well in Rahel Forest. The long-unused waterway was sticky with rotten leaves and insects.

For a long while, hunched over in the narrow waterway, I moved forward, focusing only ahead, in the unseen darkness.

The air, stagnant for years, smelled pungent. It became harder to breathe as I moved away from the well.

Finally, I reached a place where I could feel the relatively fresh air from outside. The lower part of the Blue Villa, where the waterway connects to the smoke outlet.

I recalled the 'Secret Passage Map' given by the Black Beetle in my previous life and shifted to the smoke vent.

'Arcadia Nugent's room is the third on the left on the fifth floor. Then, the Northern Duke, Zion Bellfast's room would be…'

Likely next to the aide Nugent's room.

Would it be the left, right, or front room next to Nugent's? My head was spinning. There are three rooms inside the Blue Villa where an Imperial Duke might stay.

Among them, the simplest yet offering a direct view of Lake Asseo is next to Nugent's room on the right. It's the only room on the same floor as Nugent's among the three.

A bitter sorrow filled me.

In my last life, I memorized the location of Arcadia Nugent's room to kill him.

'Do I still remember his room's location?'

I gathered strength and climbed straight up.

Every guest room in the Blue Villa has a high ceiling, meaning the smoke vents are as high. Not overcoming this height with one's strength results in a fall.

Death.

Climbing inside a vent with minimal handholds is like scaling a slippery cliff.

To focus on climbing, I pushed away all distractions. Finally, I reached what I presumed to be Arcadia Nugent's room.

The room right next to it, on the right. Crawling flat inside the vent, I bypassed two openings, leading to a wider vent.

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