Chapter 13- Alfred

"Ahem, let's continue moving and provide some privacy for the Marquess," Lady Margaret let out a few coughs before casting a quick look at the group of noblemen who, upon hearing Lady Aecilia's remarks, stood with heightened curiosity. Some of them discreetly tried to steal glances in the direction of the Marquess, causing Lady Margaret to continue forward before signaling for them to proceed.

"Absolutely, let's catch up tomorrow." One of the nobleman shifted his gaze away from the Marquess upon hearing Lady Margaret's words, feeling a sense of awkwardness wash over him as he tried to suppress a wry smile.

"It sounds reasonable." As he scratched his chin, another Noble man stepped forward, nodding in agreement while comprehending Lady Margaret's words.

"I hope Marquess is doing well." The noblewoman briefly looked at Margaret before deciding that it was not yet the right moment to approach the Marquess for a conversation.

And then, not only Lady Margaret, but even the Princess appeared to signal them to keep moving since she was also in her way.

"Indeed."

As one nobleman after another noticed the princess' discomfort and awkwardness, each slowly made their way towards the exit, wanting to avoid falling out of favor with her. The princess appeared to be eager to leave, just as Count Patric had already left, darting down the hallway covered in sweets.

'Vrandin can't be this stupid', A Duke family member looked in disbelief at Patrick, wondering how he could be so foolish as to wander alone around the Royal Palace after using that specific poison on the Marquess.

If he were in his position, he would definitely try to be as close to the crowd of noble men as possible.

In this vast mansion where anyone could disappear without a trace, and after committing a serious crime, it would be foolish to run far away from them.

The priority should be to gain access to the Royal Court before facing the merciless death in a dungeon.

'I need to be first one to meet Marquess tomorrow', Knowing very well that it was impossible for Marquess to die, given the fact that the doctors who had just arrived were the best among the best, several noble men had determined to somehow meet him first tomorrow morning before departing from the Royal Kingdom.

Naturally, they didn't get such opportunities to meet each other in the Kingdom of Thaloris, as each of their lands were separated by large boundary walls.

Until permission was granted from the Royal Palace, no noblemen could meet each other in person. The most they could do was hold a video conference, call etc.

At last, the nobles departed from the garden, leaving behind Aecilia Sertsul, the Marquess, and a group of doctors.

They all gathered with Lady Margaret and the princess as they made their way out of the place.

However, the princess did not stop and instead continued walking without pausing or being interrupted, causing her to quickly get far ahead of them.

"So, now Miss Aecilia", Avendial noticed the nobleman finally leaving the place, so he turned his attention towards the woman who had degraded his social appearance. He didn't care much about his image, as not many of those noblemen would remain alive to care for it either. Thus, he was using this moment for his own benefit." You appear to not understand the effect of your words on others. I must say it's definitely concerning."

"Um, that's my hereditary disease", Aecilia averted her eyes from his gaze while scratching her chin with her finger. She tried to avoid his words and treat the conversation as a normal casual talk, but her twitching smile betrayed her true feelings.

Finding an opening Avendial blankly stated,"I need compensation."

'...another compensation', Aecilia looked toward the man, whose full chin was propped up by his knuckle, with his elbow resting on his thigh. He had a smile on his face and closed eyes, appearing dissatisfied and clearly seeking compensation.

"Alright, please continue Marquess.", Aecilia wanted to reject it outright upon realizing that there was no nobleman present to benefit her in any way. However, upon seeing the critical condition of the marquess, as evidenced by the doctors hurriedly taking blood samples, she hesitated.

"I would like to visit the Red Light Districts in the free cities, would you accompany me there?" Avendial slightly opened his eyes, revealing a hint of blue color as he observed subtle changes in the woman's body language — her widening eyes, anxiety turning into visible coldness, the clench of her fingers, and finally, her parted lips which stopped just before she could say anything.

"I understand", Aecilia nodded in agreement but controlled her emotions as she moved away from that spot. She walked over to a chair, took a seat, folded her hands, and looked away from Avendial to display her dissatisfaction with his words.

'...it was easy', Seeing how easily he had obtained the pass to enter the free cities without any hassle, Avendial felt satisfied. He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands as the doctors approached him with a mixed expression.

Technically, while nobles were allowed to move into free cities as they wanted, each time they needed to provide a valid reason to the royal family for their personal visit. This was necessary even though their proxy could also visit free cities for business reasons, etc. Avendial, however, needed to enter the free city himself.

Causing him to create a pretext being none other than wanting to visit courtesans in red light districts.

With this, his image score dropped to negative from the previous score of 96/100.

"I am aware that I have been poisoned, so please treat me as soon as possible.", Avendial ordered the arriving doctors, who had just received the results from the blood samples they had collected earlier, without turning his eyes away from the woman dressed in black seated on the chair.

Due to the presence of modern advanced technology, along with AI, it was not difficult for them to decipher the symptoms and chemical makeup in the blood being none other than an aphrodisiac.

But their feet stopped when they heard Avendial's words. They were feeling confused, but they also noticed Alfred's gesture towards the head Doctor, indicating understanding of the situation.

If it were a stranger, they would not have understood anything. However, being around a nobleman like Marquess Avendial Croceaus, who never speaks without purpose, they were well-trained to interpret his gestures.

"Hurry everyone, we need to detoxify the...'Poison'", Without delay, Alfred clapped and gestured towards the doctors with his eyes, prompting them to quickly head back to their tents to create an antidote from the blood sample they had collected to counteract the effects of the Aphrodisiac.

"Alfred, Rivia was with me a few moments ago before I got poisoned," Avendial said without revealing anything, already aware of how the pieces of the puzzle could be put together by this competent butler. He kept looking towards the woman, his feet tapping on the ground as he realized the amount of time passing.

'?!'

Proving his competence and not disappointing Avendial's expectations, Alfred realized that the series of events could be summarized as follows: Due to the effects of an aphrodisiac, his Master needed someone to rely on, and that someone turned out to be that woman.

'....is it possible that..', Alfred sighed after discovering that the culprit behind the poisoning incident was none other than his master's bodyguard. He looked down at his naive master, who was mostly focused on his business work and making money, oblivious to the woman who always accompanied him and had slight psychopathic tendencies.

A woman whom Marquess brought as a child from an orphanage is now obsessed with him.

'Should I tell him?', Alfred thought about revealing the information about Rivia's obsession with her master but decided to remain quiet. He thought that there may be someone from the Royal family involved in this poisoning incident.

The main reason Alfred chose not to reveal any information was because the woman was the most reliable guard one could have.

Even the Emperor only had one sword master by his side.

Alfred recognized Rivia's strength and trustworthiness, which made him comfortable keeping her close to Marquess, as he believed she had no ill intentions towards the Marquess.