Colton's Entrapment Plan

After the soldiers were alerted in front of Edgar's room, the curious Quentin walked out of the fourth-floor corridor to arrive at the first floor of Calden Castle.

Earlier, Arabelle and Sir Colton had arrived at the dungeon. They were both interrogating Sir Colton for the man's actions in poisoning Edgar.

The evidence was clearly displayed on the Lasage Colton always brought to Edgar's chambers. Ether burn marks were clearly visible on the Lasage in the form of small white stones.

"What have you done to my father?!" Arabelle shouted, asking Colton in a shrill voice.

Colton was in the third, empty cell directly next to Prince Alexander. The two were separated only by iron bars, so they couldn't talk freely.

"I was trapped, My Lady," Colton replied, sitting down on his knees.

"Trapped? Do you think I'm stupid?" asked Arabelle, unable to hide her annoyance.

"You were the one who always brought the Lasage to my father's chamber. I was suspicious of the contents of the Lasage at first, and in the end, my suspicions were confirmed!" insisted Arabelle.

"I did not put Ether in the Lasage. Please, believe me, Lady Arabelle. I have served your father for many years," stated Colton, pleading for mercy from Lady Arabelle.

Arabelle was silent. The fact that Colton had served for many years could not be denied, but there was no doubt that evidence was clear that Ether appeared in Colton's Lasage.

Now, no matter how hard Colton tried to evade and beg for forgiveness, Arabelle would not easily forgive someone, especially after finding her father's condition worsening like that.

The dungeon door opened, revealing the figure of Quentin in a fancy shirt and red coat who looked authoritative stepping down the steps.

The open door made light burst in. Suddenly, Dorren and Arabelle, who were there, turned their eyes to the side, watching Quentin, who had come.

"What should we do with him?" asked Arabelle, pointing at Colton.

Quentin's steps stopped beside Arabelle, looking forward and seeing Colton sitting listlessly with a tired face and dirty clothes that had not been changed.

The direction of Colton's eyes was directed at Quentin. A grinning smile was clearly etched on Quentin's face, feeling satisfied with what had been planned.

"Didn't I tell you Edgar was your responsibility while we were gone?" asked Quentin, emphasizing.

"I know, Lord Quentin. However, I was not the one who placed the Ether inside Lasage," Colton explained, again evading what had happened to Edgar.

"Let me make this clear. Did any other servants drop off the Lasage?" asked Quentin, crouching directly in front of the iron bars of Colton's cell, his eyes aligned with the current position of Colton's body.

"No," Colton replied.

"Then you did it, you bastard!" snapped Arabelle, annoyed at Colton's stubbornness.

Quentin raised one hand and pointed it at Arabelle, asking her to calm herself down and not show her anger. Arabelle took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Then, if you really think you're innocent, can we conduct a search of your room?" Quentin asked.

Arabelle and Dorren were silent, seeing Colton's response to Quentin's request. They both thought it was the best thing to do to prove whether their suspicions were right or wrong.

"Sure. Please search my room," stated Colton.

The man in front of Colton nodded. He stood up from his crouched position as he looked back, staring at one of the soldiers assigned to guard the dungeon.

"Get him out!" commanded Quentin.

"Yes, My Lord," the soldier explained.

He began to take the cell key and opened the third cell, bringing Colton out with his hands and feet still cuffed. Now, they stepped out of the dungeon to reach Colton's room, Colton's study.

The sight of the five people walking together in the corridors of Calden Castle attracted many people, from servants to soldiers. Colton's study was on the third floor, close to Lord Edgar's study.

Arriving in front of Lord Edgar's study, Colton immediately opened the door himself, with Arabelle and Dorren beginning to thoroughly inspect the room.

With iron cuffs on both hands and feet, Colton stepped inside while accompanied by a soldier. Quentin was still outside the room, his attention drawn to the crowd of servants arriving to his right and left.

Among the crowd, Quentin saw the figure of a servant named Lily, his pawn in this plan to trap Colton. Lily nodded slowly, signalling that she had placed the evidence in Colton's study.

Quentin smiled, did not show any head gestures, and chose to walk in to assist with the search of the room.

Not a single servant was allowed to assist in the search, other than the core family of House Helferich and Sir Dorren as the trusted Sage of Calden Castle.

"I can guarantee you that object is not in my room. I am completely innocent!" Colton insisted, still trying to be evasive.

Arabelle was silent, as were Dorren and Quentin. The three were still busy looking for whether or not Ether was in Colton's room. While Dorren was checking behind a picture frame, a small cloth bag fell down and caught Dorren's attention.

The sage pulled the string tying the cloth bag's flap, then opened it quickly. The evidence had been found, to Dorren's surprise with a smile plastered on his face.

"I had expected it," Dorren said, turning around.

Arabelle and Quentin, who were conducting the search, stopped. The two spontaneously looked back and saw Dorren sticking his hand out in front of Colton, with a small rock sitting on top of his palm, Ether.

"Damn you, Colton!" growled Arabelle, walking up to Colton while strangling the old man's neck.

"Wait. That's not mine. I swear!" insisted Colton, still insisting it wasn't his.

"It's in your room. How can you evade me again, you bastard?!" snapped Arabelle.

"Take him back to the dungeon. I'm fed up with his nonsense!" shouted Arabelle, her face bright red from the impact of her irritation.

The soldier nodded, dragging Colton, who continued to scream his innocence, out of the room. Arabelle was still very upset, especially having found a traitor in Helferich's body long ago.

Quentin walked over, pretending to be curious about what Ether looked like, "I only know Ether looked like this."

"For the white stone to appear, it must be burned constantly to create fumes that are harmful to the human body," Dorren replied.

"I didn't expect Colton to have this much Ether," Quentin revealed.

"What will happen to my father now?" asked Arabelle, visibly crying with a flushed face, realizing Edgar's trusted advisor had poisoned Edgar.

Dorren remained silent, then put the Ether stones back into his cloth pouch. He kept the Ether for safekeeping from the other party.

"From the historical records of all Sages and Archmages. No one can survive Illusions Sores," Dorren replied.

"So, my father will die?" asked Arabelle, confirming.

"My apologies, Lady Arabelle," explained Dorren.

Quentin walked over to Arabelle, willingly embracing her body gently. The woman didn't seem to resist; she needed someone's shoulder to express her sadness.

"HWAA!"

"We will punish Colton accordingly. I will make sure of that," asserted Quentin.

"He must! He needs to pay for what he did to Helferich," Arabelle threatened.

Quentin shifted his eyes, looking intently at Dorren, "Colton has already been proven guilty. There's no need for a trial. I want him to be hanged tomorrow."

"Your orders will be carried out, My Lord."