Chapter 9

"This one was a North-born orphan whom we took in and raised. We have no idea why a stable boy would poison the Duke's food. When we found him, his tongue had already been cut off! Could there be any relationship between you Northerners and this child?!"

A relationship?

Sighing at Medea's continued plea, the Red Caterpillar expressed his frustration.

"Presumptuous Northerners, our lady is pleading so sadly, and you won't even come out to see?"

So that's how Medea appears to ordinary people.

A frail duchess, pleading sadly, doing her best to solve a problem.

But to me, her words are clear provocations aimed at the North.

Asking if the North knows the Yellow Caterpillar she claims is a poisoner.

Soon after, the entrance to the Blue Star Castle opened.

It was Arcadia who emerged, his platinum hair gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

From Nougents' lips came a chilly voice.

"What do you mean by asking if we have any relationship with this person?"

"Aah, Lord Nougents. Such intentions? It's a grave situation with the Duke being critical. We need to investigate every possibility, don't we? We couldn't understand this boy's intentions, which is why we asked. Please don't misunderstand."

Medea cried out, her voice filled with sorrow.

A misunderstanding.

The bitterness was so strong, I could taste blood in my mouth. Unconsciously, I clenched my fists.

"This boy has always longed for the North, praying for the Northern Knights in their battles against the barbarians."

"If he was such a friend who longed for the North, why didn't you send him back?"

Arcadia's indifferent reply was laced with rising anger.

Ah, no, Arcadia. If you get angry, you'll get entangled in her web.

Medea didn't miss Arcadia's fury.

"We would have liked to, but he was too frail for the long journey. And at this time, when the Northern Knights are here, he commits such an act. We thoroughly investigated and confirmed he is the culprit, but we couldn't understand why. So, we are asking the North."

"..."

Arcadia was speechless. Medea continued.

"But even asking this might be rude, isn't it? What we ask is not to doubt our Southern friendship towards the North because of this. It's our negligence that caused this. So, we will take the punishment."

Medea raised her frail wrist towards the sky. Next to the Yellow Caterpillar, a man plunged a sword into the boy's back.

I covered my mouth with my hands.

Ah…

Cruel you, Medea.

'We will take the punishment.'

The one who lost their life wasn't you but the Yellow Caterpillar.

The boy died without even screaming his death throes.

The Black Caterpillar spoke.

"Remember this. The fate of those who do not show loyalty."

The only time I saw the Yellow Caterpillar defend the North was during an argument with the Red Caterpillar at the training ground, the day before the victory ceremony.

The Red Caterpillar was criticizing the Northern Duke's demand for a ceremony as shameless, and the Yellow Caterpillar simply said how much the North had endured.

[If you don't know, keep quiet! You don't even know how far it is from the North to the Southern border!]

Those few words.

[It's going to be the shabbiest victory ceremony ever seen. I heard it from a maid who serves food. I don't like that.]

It was just those few words to me.

And this person who said such things is the poisoner who tried to assassinate the Northern Duke?

Even if no one else knows, I knew. The Yellow Caterpillar must have been unknowingly entangled in this matter, possibly caught in an unfortunate situation.

The caterpillar's body was moved to the outskirts of Rahel Forest.

On a pitch-dark night, with even the moonlight obscured by clouds, I went to where he had been discarded.

This was the first death I'd witnessed since my return. I wanted to at least lay a flower on his body.

As I walked, my conviction grew clearer: the Yellow Caterpillar wasn't the culprit.

If he were, there would be no need to cut his tongue. He couldn't speak to declare his innocence.

Lying face down in the grass, the caterpillar was abandoned carelessly.

Approaching him, I felt the Southern winter night's chill. But the daytime is as warm as spring elsewhere. Left like this, the boy's body wouldn't last long before returning to nature.

I wanted to bury him. So, I touched his body.

'!'

Something was off.

His back was cold, but not rigid like a corpse.

Examining him further, I realized, 'He's alive, barely breathing!'

My hand found the sword wound.

'The sword pierced near the heart, but at an angle.'

It had narrowly missed the heart, tearing through tissues between the heart and lungs.

He was alive; what more reason did I need?

I carried the Yellow Caterpillar back.

Bringing him to my quarters was more demanding than sneaking into the Duke's chamber through the secret passage.

Soaked in sweat, I laid him on a hay pile, disinfected his wound, and started crushing herbs.

Assassins are trained to heal common wounds themselves. Hence, my room was stocked with various herbs and medicines.

Despite my care, his condition didn't improve overnight. The morning light seeped in, announcing the day.

'Today is the day.'

In my past life, Arcadia died tonight.

But this life has changed. Not Arcadia, but Duke Bellfast was poisoned. And the South cannot escape responsibility.

Quickly finding and executing the Yellow Caterpillar as the assassin will hardly convince anyone. It would seem more suspicious how quickly the real perpetrator was found.

If this news reaches the empire, rumors of the Southern Duke being behind the assassination will soon follow.

That's what struck me as odd.

Considering all this, why would Medea stage such a clumsy play? Was she that desperate?

Even the Emperor, biased towards Raher…

Leaning against the wall, I murmured the names of those involved.

"Arcadia… Medea… Northern Duke…"

Suddenly, I stopped talking.

In my previous life, Medea, along with her father, decided to assassinate Arcadia and sent me to do it. But in this life, that plan must have crumbled.

The attempt on the Northern Duke's life is already entangling the South. Yet, Medea tried to link the poisoning to the North.

Last night.

"When we found him, his tongue had already been cut off! Could there be any relationship between you Northerners and this child?!"

Medea had said that.

'Is this child associated with the North, huh.'

I know Medea. She achieves whatever she wants, by any means necessary.

Hoping that the caterpillar was associated with the North, Medea intentionally steered the conclusion in that direction.

Why, though?

If it turned out that someone from the Northern Knight Order was associated with the attempted assassin of the Duke, it would imply that the North colluded with the perpetrator.

It's essentially saying there's a conspirator within the Knight Order.

To shift the blame from the South to the North?

But there's no evidence.

It's clumsy, uncharacteristic of Medea.

The meticulous Medea considers all possibilities. In my previous life, that's how she secured her position as the Emperor's adopted granddaughter.

She took me in, foreseeing the future, and killed me the night before she became the adopted granddaughter. After soaking the holy sword 'Luchella' in my blood, turning it golden, she probably claimed the change was her doing.

Maybe she kept some of my blood, perhaps for a future moment when she needs to prove it again.

That's how thorough she is. She wouldn't recklessly make such a claim without evidence.

What if she manufactured evidence suggesting the assassination attempt came from within the North?

For instance, if the poison originated from within the Northern Knight Order…?

'…!'

A cold premonition gripped me.

If the poison were found in Arcadia's room, he'd be implicated as the conspirator.

If Arcadia dies like in my previous life…

They'll say he chose suicide out of guilt for attempting to poison his lord.

"Could it really go that far…?"

But once the thought took hold, it wouldn't let me go. Medea had already sown the seed of suspicion that the Yellow Caterpillar's backing might be within the North in everyone present at the Blue Chateau.

The sown seeds would sprout in people's hearts in various ways.

That night, as soon as the sun set, I rushed to the Blue Chateau.

I wore a black cloak to conceal myself, pulling it over my head. At my waist hung a white sword, once given to me by Medea.

'I hope I won't have to use this sword tonight.'

Hours earlier.

Medea Raher was in her office with her father, the Duke. It was an office he had made for her, as she was soon to turn twenty-one.

The elegant birch bookcase, edged in gold, was her favorite in the room. Standing in front of it, she ran her hands over the spines of numerous books she had read.

"Medea, I know you are clever, but this carries a great, no, a huge risk," said Duke Raher, her father.

Medea thought of her father, who appeared frail but was cautious and fearful.

"Father, news that the Duke was poisoned in Raher territory will reach the capital faster than we think."

The Duke placed a hand on his forehead, furrowing his brows.

"I've already thought of what to say to His Imperial Majesty."

"Yes, no one can do that better than you, Father."

"But what then?"

"We've gained something, haven't we?"

"Gained something?"

The Duke looked at his daughter. Medea, his pride, with her sun-like golden hair and noble red eyes.

"Yes, we've gained something."

"Tell me, what is it?"

Medea smiled with her red lips.

"Just because we killed an insignificant caterpillar doesn't mean we'll easily escape blame. It's not convincing to call it a self-orchestrated act by the Duke. Why would he do it? He's a war hero. So, it's better to do something even more unbelievable."

"Something more unbelievable?"

"At this time, it will be rumored that the Southern Duke foolishly tried to poison the Northern Duke. A clear misjudgment in anyone's eyes. To suppress this murmuring, we just need to create someone who made an even bigger mistake. Someone who committed a more unbelievable wrong, namely Arcadia Nugent."

Raher swallowed dryly.

"That he is the mastermind behind the attempted assassination of Zion Belphast, isn't that wonderful?"

"But the risk is high."

"Arcadia, who has always harbored doubts about his father's death, attempted to assassinate the Northern Duke but, unable to bear the guilt, commits suicide. That seems a sufficient reason for suicide."

"..."

"And this opportunity."

Medea smirked bitterly.

"The Northern Duke, already critical from the poison, follows my subordinate in death. Rejected by Southern doctors, how about that?"

Duke Raher abruptly stood up from his seat.

"Is that even possible?"

"An astonishing lie sometimes holds more power than the truth. The Northern Duke will receive his just deserts for his self-orchestrated act, Father. With Arcadia gone, the Knight Order will be shaken, and worsening the condition of the Duke, already spewing blood, is easy."

Duke Raher exclaimed in genuine admiration.

"Medea, you are my daughter, but you are too precious. Even the Emperor will surely recognize your worth."

------------------------------

This novel has been translated up to chapter 66.

To read ahead, join my Patreon, it's totally free.

Find my Patreon in the synopsis of this novel.