DTBTHS Chapter 14

After Ariadne left carrying the signed contract, the Margrave leaned his head against the sofa.

"Father."

The Archmage was crumpled like a rag in the corner of the sofa.

"What, boy?"

"How was meeting your only granddaughter?"

"I'm the one who brought her here, you brat."

"She were delirious with pain the entire journey. This was the first time you properly talked with her, wasn't it?"

"She's intelligent and mature, isn't she? She resembles Gloria greatly."

"Gloria wasn't quite that intelligent. The child's a genius. She takes after me."

The Margrave looked at his shameless father with exasperated eyes, then just sighed deeply.

He wanted to scoff that it was nonsense, but his father truly was a genius and the Archmage. The cleverness of both Erich and Ariadne was probably indeed thanks to the Archmage's bloodline.

"...Anyway, she does resemble Gloria. At first I thought she was Duke Eldier's exact copy, but the more I look, the more she resembles our youngest. Especially when she smiles."

The Archmage was silent for some time. He stared into space with a complicated expression before asking abruptly:

"Did you choose the child's clothes?"

"No."

"It was Gloria's favorite dress when she was young."

"I know."

"It suits her well."

"I thought so too."

"Still, we should have new clothes made for her."

"I intend to."

"Make the coat from snow fox fur. The child's so pale it will suit her beautifully. You catch a fine specimen and have it made."

"I'll handle such things without being told. Father, you should do what you need to do."

"What should I do?"

The Archmage grumbled and averted his gaze. The Margrave clicked his tongue.

"Don't run away. You keep avoiding her, and the child seems to be misunderstanding. What's so shameful?"

"Can you hold your head up shamelessly in front of her? I can't raise my head, I'm so ashamed."

"If you're ashamed, you should do better. What does running accomplish?"

"I've never felt regret like this in my life. Just seeing that child's face is unbearable."

"I've never regretted anything like this either, so we're the same."

"No, you don't understand."

The Margrave frowned and was about to say something when the Archmage added gloomily:

"When that child first greeted me, I scowled. I just told them to send her away."

"But that young child clung to a nasty old man she'd never sought out before, who scowled the moment he saw her, begging him to please take her away."

The Archmage rubbed his face with wrinkled hands.

"It was a scream for help... a scream. I didn't know until she screamed like that."

"...But you heard and brought her."

"I should have gone sooner. I was late. I'm always late. Gloria too..."

"...You were late for Gloria, but you weren't late for Ariadne."

"Eyes that trust no one."

"Of course she can't trust. It's our fault."

"She didn't let out a single groan while doing that to her own hand... At an age when she'd cry loudly just from falling..."

"The environment didn't allow her to be childlike. So from now on, we must let her be a child."

"Yes, from now on... we must make the effort. So she can live without any worries."

The Archmage's gaze went to the plate Ariadne had left. The cake barely touched.

"Make sure she eats properly. The child's too small and thin."

"Yes."

The Margrave nodded, then asked casually:

"What will you do about Duke Eldier?"

"What else? Crush him."

The Archmage smiled viciously. The Margrave, who'd been considering briefly, asked back:

"Shall I prepare for territorial warfare? You handle the King's tantrum yourself."

The Archmage looked incredulous.

"Boy, does it make sense to start with territorial warfare right off? We need to investigate and obtain custody of the child first."

"Investigation won't find much evidence. The Duke must have pretended to cherish his only daughter so thoroughly. Both you and I were deceived all this time, weren't we?"

"Anyone who sees those scars on the child's arm will be shocked."

"Father, Duke Eldier may not know much else, but he's exceptional at presenting himself. He uses his own appearance very effectively too. He'll have prepared excuses for everything and managed things so no testimony emerges."

"So territorial warfare is better. Just mobilize the knight order and end it quickly. Eldier's Golden Horn Knights' strength compared to our Snow Leopard Knights..."

The Archmage propped his chin and gazed steadily at his son delivering his passionate argument.

"Son."

"Yes."

"Don't do politics."

"Pardon?"

"Who am I?"

"You're my father."

"Boy, does it seem like I'm asking that?"

"...You're the Archmage."

"Is that all?"

"What else is there?"

"This is why you shouldn't do politics. Somehow you're worse at it than me, and I just rotted in the Mage Tower in my youth."

"You're quite good at fighting, so spend your life fighting diligently. For political problems, always consult with your wife."

The Archmage shook his head at his sulking son and continued:

"I'm the former Royal Mage and the current Royal Mage's teacher, I was the highest mage of the Mage Tower, and now I'm a permanent member of the Continental Mage Alliance and an advisory member of the Abivhelle Royal Court."

"And you, my eldest, are Margrave of Weaver, and my second son owns the Garcia Trading Company. If Weaver announces it will halt Labyrinth subjugation, who suffers the greatest loss?"

"The Royal Court."

"Where does Weaver import most of its food from? Is it Eldier, the kingdom's largest food producer?"

"...No, it's the Dueridoth Kingdom. That's closer than Eldier."

"At least you know that. You also know our Garcia Trading Company handles foreign distribution of gold from Eldier's gold mines, right?"

"Of course I know!"

"What good is knowing if you can't use it? Besides, son, tell me: who's your wife?"

"Before marriage she was a daughter of the Quiselas Marquis house and a Royal Guard, and now she leads our family's Snow Leopard Knights—Seliana Quiselas."

"The lifeline that irrigates Eldier's granary is the Ru'oma River. Where's that river's source?"

"...Quiselas."

"Boy, if you know all this, why is territorial warfare all you can think of?"

"What am I to do with this oversized fool? Ugh. Seli is all I can rely on."

The Margrave closed his mouth sheepishly. The Archmage clicked his tongue and added:

"I'll handle Ariadne's custody myself, so you just conduct the investigation."

"Investigation into the experiments the child endured?"

"Yes, and reinvestigate Gloria's accident process too."

The Margrave's eyes deepened.

"...The investigation so far found nothing. You couldn't find anything either, could you, Father?"

"I couldn't. It was clean."

Last year, a Blighted Region formed near Duke Eldier's territory. It was centered on a labyrinth called 'Horse Grave.'

Breaking the core inside a labyrinth closes it. That stops the contamination from spreading further.

Horse Grave was a small, structurally simple lowest-grade labyrinth. Eldier's Golden Horn Knights subjugated the labyrinth without difficulty.

After labyrinth subjugation came purification of the Blighted Region. Purification work required numerous priests and Spirit Mages.

When the follow-up team for purification was assembled, the Duchess volunteered as a Spirit Mage.

Purifying the Blighted Region left by a lowest-grade labyrinth. Relatively safe work with little chance of encountering monsters or accidents.

It was a rare opportunity. It made sense for the Duchess to want to gain experience with spirit magic.

The Duke assembled a follow-up team much larger than usual for the Duchess's first time in a Blighted Region. Contamination prevention was thorough.

Yet the Duchess showed contamination symptoms the moment she entered the Blighted Region.

Actually, accidents where people suddenly became contaminated in Blighted Regions happened occasionally. Like a healthy person suddenly falling ill.

The Duchess died that way.

According to the existing investigation, that was everything. By all appearances, merely an unfortunate accident.

But now that they knew what the Duke had done to Ariadne, vague suspicion arose.

"I'll reinvestigate focusing on the contamination process."

At the Margrave's words, the Archmage nodded heavily.

"If he's experimenting with contamination cures, he could also use it as poison."

Blighted Essence contaminates everything instantly upon contact. Even non-living things were the same.

Therefore, secretly mixing it into food or water to make someone consume it was itself impossible. It simply couldn't be hidden.

Applying it to an object for someone to touch was also impossible, as the object would transform strangely the moment it was touched.

That's why Blighted Essence wasn't used for poisoning. It couldn't be used.

This was why they hadn't suspected someone orchestrated Gloria's contamination.

The Archmage held up the bottle of incomplete Elixir Ariadne had left.

"With this, it might have been possible for him to contaminate Gloria without anyone knowing."

"Yes, it does seem suspicious."

"I'll examine this first."

The Archmage pocketed the Elixir bottle. The Margrave watched, then asked:

"Father, what do you think of what Ariadne said about the Elixir?"