Translator: Nox

Ch#130

Chapter 130

"Did she come herself?"

"No. She sent an assassin, but fortunately, that assassin had made contact with the culprit."

Until then, Edel had thought it was about something she wasn't involved in and was tidying up the surroundings, reaching for the tray.

"What about Lauren and Daria Lancaster?"

"They're dead. Because of the poison needle, we didn't have a chance to intervene."

"Pardon? Who died?"

Edel whipped her head around in shock.

"Ah... Madam doesn't know the details?"

"You just said Lauren and Daria are dead? What on earth happened?"

Nathan glanced at Laslo, who gave a slight nod, before explaining the full story.

"The captain had them sent to the Security Bureau's general jail, which has laxer security, instead of the imperial palace, hoping the true culprit might show up to meet them."

"But instead of the culprit appearing, they sent an assassin to kill the two?"

"Exactly. Our men were watching, but the assassin was quick and skilled, so the hit happened in an instant."

Nathan smacked his lips and shrugged.

He seemed regretful that Lauren and Daria were dead but not particularly sympathetic.

"Edel. Don't pity those women. They would have been publicly executed at the palace anyway."

Laslo showed no emotion about their deaths.

"How much did the assassin confess?"

"He said the ones who hired him were a young man and woman. Both wore hooded robes, and the woman covered the lower half of her face with a fan, so he couldn't see well, but he felt they were quite noble."

- 2 -

"What about the man?"

"The man had his face covered too, but he pretended not to understand and got him to briefly lower his hood. He remembers the face he saw in detail."

"Not a dumb one, then."

Nathan pulled a paper from his pocket and handed it to Laslo. It was a composite sketch made based on the assassin's description.

"We made this based on what he described. But I've never seen the face before, so I'm not sure if it'll help."

However, Laslo lifted one corner of his mouth as soon as he saw the sketch.

"Well, this just got interesting."

"You recognize him?"

"Of course."

Laslo snorted.

"I even know the woman who commissioned it with him."

"Who are they?"

"Angela Bliss. And the man is her fiancé, Liandro Bilbro."

At the name Angela, Edel's eyes widened.

"Why would Lady Bliss do something like this...!"

But Laslo could roughly guess the reason. Ever since marrying Edel, he had kept a close eye on those spreading malicious rumors about them in high society.

"Edel. What kind of person is the Angela Bliss you know? Not appearance or family—personality or tendencies."

"Well..."

Edel took a deep breath and let it out like a sigh.

"She's highly ostentatious and narcissistic. Especially, she often showed a desire to monopolize men's attention."

- 3 -

"And?"

"As a backlash to her narcissism, she had a bad habit of looking down on other ladies. She frequently critiqued others' appearances, and she was quite displeased when a lady less beautiful than her married into a good family."

"You knew her well enough."

Laslo nodded in agreement with Edel's words.

"Everything you just said contains the motive for this incident."

Edel seemed to realize a possible reason while explaining about Angela and didn't ask further. But Laslo spelled it out clearly.

"Pathetically, she must have thought she was superior to you. She must have been pissed that I, who rejected her, married you."

"But she was already engaged before you married, Captain."

Nathan asked in confusion, and Laslo snorted.

"That's the funny part. She already had another man in hand, but that's separate. She won't let anyone who bruised her ego get away with it—something like that."

"That's absurd. Killing over something so trivial?"

"With her fiancé Liandro involved, there's another interpretation possible!"

Recalling how he had shown hostility just for not praising his fiancée enough, it might have been purely to avenge Angela.

But they couldn't overlook that he was an important guest of the Winblair Marquis family.

"Avenge his fiancée, and while at it, take out me—the emperor's guard and closest aide. If he anticipated House Canian getting crushed by us, he might have planned to bury that incident too."

"Killing three birds with one stone?"

"He seems a bit stupid, so maybe not that calculated... No, it's more likely Angela Bliss who planned it."

Choosing Liandro itself could be seen as aligning with the Winblair side.

As a seasoned general in high society, she would have aimed for a way to gain favor with Isaac even through personal revenge.

"Killing Lauren and Daria Lancaster was probably one of the goals too. Those two women are 'blemishes' reminding of the Lancaster Duke family's—and thus the Old Nobility Faction's—failure."

"They were also the emperor's warning."

"Right. They must have anticipated that if they pulled something like this, those two would end up publicly executed or privately retaliated against by me. Removing the blemishes that remind them of their failure."

- 4 -

Edel let out a short sigh beside him: "Ha...!"

It was chilling that she planned revenge for offending her pride, scheming for at least two people to die or get hurt in the process.

"To them, human lives must be a joke."

"Most who kill without getting their hands dirty are like that. They don't know the sensation of murder. Their own lives are precious, but others' are disposable."

Laslo clicked his tongue, feeling somewhat bitter himself.

He too had taken countless lives on the battlefield, but he never forgot what he was doing.

Most fighting in wars were young men, and taking their promising lives couldn't be pleasant.

The reason he rejected other nobles' recruitment offers but allied with Dimarcus was simple.

At least that man knows the weight of life.

Having survived rolling in the battlefield just like him, he wouldn't treat him as disposable.

Lost in those thoughts, Nathan drew his attention.

"What will you do? Drag out Liandro Bilbro and Angela Bliss based on the assassin's testimony and the sketch?"

"This evidence alone isn't enough. The Winblair Marquis will pull strings."

"But if we show them the sketches, the dagger seller might remember. Angela Bliss should be on the Asphe ink buyer list too—that could be evidence."

"There are probably many ink buyers, so it'll be dismissed as fitting the pieces together. The dagger seller will claim we bribed him."

They could deny commissioning the assassination altogether and claim it was all a self-staged play by Laslo.

The servants who delivered the notes at Antesga and Caber hadn't directly contacted Angela or Liandro either.

"But letting it slide like this is infuriating, isn't it?"

"Pressuring them by letting them know we have the facts will be more effective. And we can use this incident as an excuse to execute a plan favorable to us."

Laslo smiled faintly.

But neither Nathan nor Edel were oblivious enough to miss how angry he truly was.

The news of House Canian being humiliated and Count and Countess Criserus being attacked caused a huge stir in high society.

Thus, at the tea party Linia attended, all eyes were on her.

"Miss Linia. Is Count Criserus doing better now?"

"Much better. Thank you for your concern."

"I heard about House Canian too. How is Countess Criserus faring?"

"Ah, my new sister-in-law has been through a lot. But we gave them a stern talking-to this time, so if House Canian has any sense left, they won't try anything shameless again."

People curious about Laslo and Edel's marriage gathered around Linia, asking various questions.

But Linia, now adept at high society rhetoric, only answered what could be publicly shared and ambiguously sidestepped private or misleading ones.

As they exchanged glances without satisfying answers, a voice laced with laughter broke the cautious atmosphere.

"Count Criserus is so unfortunate. If he'd chosen his marriage partner more carefully, he wouldn't have been dragged into such an unsavory incident right after the wedding."

It was a familiar voice.

Linia turned to see Angela, her expression dripping with mockery.

"Lady Bliss. What did you just say?"

The Linia who once cowered under Angela or Camille was nowhere to be seen.

Especially since Laslo had told her Angela was likely behind the attack.

But believing her deed couldn't have been exposed, Angela was utterly shameless.

.