[Chapter 147]  The Arrested Duke

After being taken into custody, Ren sat down in the seat brought by the knight of Cledwin.

"I'm not sure if my humble self is disturbing the precious time of esteemed individuals," Ren said softly.

Despite his young age, Ren's face was so innocent that if someone who didn't know him saw him, they would think he was still a student at the academy. However, the purity that radiated from his gentle face made the people around him feel somewhat intimidated.

The people of Maidelland were not particularly passionate about the state religion, Timaios, but if they saw Ren, they would think that anyone would want to go to the temple right away.

"He's really grown up."

However, Nellis, who knew Ren's true personality, was not affected by his changed appearance, which she saw for the first time in years. Seeing him cooperate with Cledwin in a way that was incomparable to his past behavior, she understood his survival strategy.

Moreover, despite his cooperative attitude, he didn't look servile at all. His humble words and tone subtly revealed his unshakeable position, making it impossible for anyone to ignore him.

Nellis hadn't heard much about Ren since he graduated. Seeing him already wearing the robes of a high priest, she thought he must have been quite famous in the theology department, but she hadn't heard about it.

She felt a little glad to see him. Although she didn't show it, Nellis thought so, especially in this situation.

Ren continued to speak beautifully, like a blessing angel.

"Thank you for providing a wonderful feast. I would like to offer a blessing to all of you, but since you've already started eating, I'll postpone it for later."

"What an honor."

Cledwin responded with a smile, but his face didn't seem to think it was an honor. Tiphian, the Duke, gulped down his saliva, feeling like his mind was about to explode.

"He couldn't have known."

Ren Fayel's diocese was quite far from here. It would take at least a few weeks, maybe even over a month, to get here, which meant Ren had left before the Duke's visit. Even if Cledwin was exceptional, there was no rumor about him having prophetic abilities, so this was a genuine coincidence.

But why did the high priest have to come on the day the Duke had planned to poison him? And that too, a priest famous for his immense divine power.

The Duke quickly thought about his options. Would it be better to somehow take Nellis Trude's soup away and make it look suspicious, or would it be better to take the risk and kill her now? Exactly, kill her in a few days...

"No, maybe he'll leave in a few days?"

The Duke's bad expression caught the attention of many people. Cledwin gave him a suspicious glance.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing."

Under pressure, the Duke replied more humbly than ever before. Nellis chuckled and chimed in.

"If you're not feeling well, why don't you ask Ren, the priest, to take a look at you later? You've been here for a while, priest?"

"I'm just a humble tool of God, but if there's anything I can do to help, I'll do my best."

Ren responded with an excessively holy tone. The Duke quickly shook his head. He realized he couldn't take Nellis Trude's soup away now. There were too many eyes on him.

Then, the only thing he could do was to act as naturally as possible to avoid suspicion.

"Oh, no. I think I've disturbed the meal."

"If nothing's wrong, then that's fine. Ah, Ren, the priest, will be staying for about a week, so if you're not feeling well during that time, just let him know."

The Duke's spoon fell to the floor, making a dull sound on the carpeted floor. Although the sound was short and muted, it was enough to draw everyone's attention to him. The Duke couldn't breathe.

Without changing her expression, Nellis's gaze suddenly turned to the Duke.

"She knows."

The Duke instinctively knew. She knew, and Cledwin knew too.

The Duke's plan to poison him today.

The banquet hall fell silent. Nellis smiled at the Duke's face.

"Why are you like that?"

He was trapped. Those words filled the Duke's mind. Cunning, was the soup not poisoned after all? Ah, that must be it. So, she was going to take it away with a smile...!

He cursed everything in the world. He cursed Adrian's incompetent subordinates. He cursed Adrian, who wasn't helping him even in this situation. He cursed the cunning Nellis Trude. And most of all, he cursed Cledwin, the root of all his troubles.

The root of all his troubles asked calmly, with an icy cold voice.

"Why are you like that? Did you put something in the soup?"

Clank, clank. The guards nearby drew their swords. A few knights approached the Duke and roughly dragged him out of his seat. The Duke twisted his body and struggled.

"No! I didn't do anything! I, I, I didn't do anything!"

"Is that so?"

Cledwin responded coldly to the Duke's words. His face now only showed an icy, expressionless mask.

The Duke had seen that face before, a long time ago. It was exactly like the former Grand Duke's face when he was furious.

"Do you think you can touch my advisor and still leave this castle alive?"

"What, what! Ah, nothing happened, and suddenly why... why this!"

The advisor let out a sigh. The Duke felt even her breathing was annoying. Despicable, a spy from the Elantria family!

The Duke didn't even realize that he wasn't doubting her as a spy, even in this situation. Nellis gazed coldly at the Duke, who was now kneeling on the other side of the table.

"Is that so?"

Nellis had originally planned to drink the poisoned soup in front of the Duke. Not the real poisoned soup, but the one Doran had switched in the middle. And then, she would pretend to die a few days later and trap the Duke.

Would Adrian and the Duke, who enjoyed playing dirty tricks, leave an opportunity for someone to poison them in the castle? The discovery by the Silver Moon's secret agency was, of course, a fake chance created by Ellen and Nellis's collaboration.

But with Ren here, there was no need to drag it out for a few more days. She glanced at Cledwin. If she had told him in advance, they could have set up a more dramatic scene. For example, drinking the poisoned soup and pretending to collapse here, followed by a fake investigation.

Cledwin raised an eyebrow at her and sat down in the chair in front of the kneeling Duke, asking confidently.

"Nothing happened?"

"That, that's right!"

The Duke gritted his teeth and insisted. As he thought about the soup not being poisoned, he began to calm down slightly. Hilburn frowned and stepped forward.

"What are you talking about, Your Highness? Are you saying that your uncle, the former Grand Duke, tried to feed something to the advisor?"

"That cursed poison. This despicable guy has already harmed many people with it. And now, he's trying to harm my advisor too. Even if it's 'family ties,' shouldn't we stop him as human beings?"

"What? Do you have evidence?"

"Evidence?"

Cledwin nodded, and Eidan brought out something from outside the banquet hall and presented it to everyone. The Duke gasped for breath.

It was an emerald ring. Nellis had lent it to that secret agency guy to put in her soup. And then, that same secret agency guy was dragged in and knelt beside the Duke.

Cledwin gestured towards Nellis's soup.

"The poison in the ring was put into that soup."

"You're going to kill me!"

The nobles, led by Hilburn, jumped up, ready to grab the Duke. The Duke shouted loudly.

"No, no, no! That soup is fine, fine! I can eat it, I can eat it!"

"Thank you, but that's not necessary."

Nellis spoke calmly.

"There's no need for you to eat it. Who knows if the ring belongs to Your Highness or not?"

The Duke's eyes widened. He couldn't understand why she was helping him. At that moment, Adrian intervened.

"Ah, I've seen it many times. The Duke wearing that ring."

"You're going to kill me!" The Duke's eyes blazed with anger. Only now did he understand. That cunning woman had confirmed Adrian's opinion to prevent any further excuses.

Cledwin waved his hand, looking annoyed.

"If it's a guarantee from the royal family, then it's fine. If not, we can send the ring to the young lord and ask him."

With just a few words, the path to escape was blocked. The Duke gritted his teeth and shut his mouth. If there was no poison in the soup, then there was no problem, so there was no need to stir up unnecessary suspicion. Nellis calmly gazed at Ren.

"Why do we need to make a fuss? We have an expert here."

"An expert?"

Ren laughed brightly. The Duke's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

"No, the soup is fine. There's no problem."

But he couldn't understand why he felt so anxious.

Cledwin smiled peacefully.

"...Can't a priest sense evil objects? Can you do it?"

"I can try to some extent."

"Then, let's have you examine this. You can tell if it's poison or not, right? There's no one who carries poison without evil intentions."

The banquet hall fell silent, like death.

Ren's clear and focused eyes stayed on the ring. The young man with a rosy complexion, like a boy, received the small jewel and gazed at it intently, his face a picture of serenity, even amidst the tense atmosphere in the room.

A moment later, his face turned pale. Ren shouted in shock, his face contorted in horror.

"This is a terrible object! Something like this exists?"

The Duke closed his eyes, and Cledwin smiled wryly.

"Terrible?"

"If consumed, it will harden the body within a few days and cause certain death. It's an extreme poison."

"And the soup?"

The servant, Nellis, placed the soup she had tried to eat earlier in front of Ren. Ren gazed at it for a moment and then nodded sorrowfully.

"Yes, I sense the same evil energy."

"No, no, no... lies...!"

A nearby knight roughly covered the Duke's shouting mouth.

Hilburn's eyes blazed with anger, as if he wanted to kill the Duke on the spot. But it couldn't end like this.

This situation couldn't end like this.

The purpose of today's gathering was to reveal the suspect's crimes, which went back to the past.

Nellis screamed like a dying person, just before the silence fell.

"How could you have such a thing! Perhaps, perhaps...!"

Her gaze fell on another ring she had pulled out. A large, Baroque pearl ring... and the residue of a thick, gloopy liquid that appeared after a few manipulations.

The Duke's face turned pale with fear. Ren spoke in a shocked tone, and now people listened to his voice as if it were the voice of God, hanging on to every word.

"It's the same type of poison. How do you have such a thing?"

"It's a memento from the former Grand Duchess. No, I thought so... but perhaps someone left it by her side... a terrible criminal who committed a heinous crime and tried to erase the evidence from their body."

It was a lie. The Baroque pearl ring was not the item used to kill the former Grand Duchess, but rather a genuine memento she had possessed. Nellis knew this fact well, yet she brazenly said so to imply something to the people present.

The former Grand Duchess had died suddenly at a young age without any warning signs. One of the nobles present had visited the White Swan Castle at the time and remembered the incident.

"...Wasn't it concluded to be a heart attack?"

The suspicious voice whispered, and he wondered why the former Grand Duchess's cause of death was ruled as a heart attack.

No doctor had found any traces of poison. But was there a high-ranking priest present at the time? The noble who had spoken earlier gazed at the Duke with a stunned expression.

Cledwin commanded in a heavy tone, "Take him to the tower. Don't remove the gag until the order is given."

It meant not to give him a single drop of water until he confessed. Not the previous dungeon, but the tower, where only the most heinous criminals were imprisoned.

But what did it matter? Even if he was a high-ranking noble, his crimes were too severe.

The Duke struggled and twisted his body, but he was no match for the White Swan Castle's soldiers.

Finally, the Duke was dragged out, and the banquet hall's door closed behind him. Cledwin smiled wryly and said, "Let's continue the meal."

It was a cruel joke, but...