Chapter 178

Chapter 178

“Isn’t it too dangerous?” The underground dungeon was always damp, with water seeping in from an unknown source, wetting the floor. Lucius quietly observed a man’s head, fallen to the wet ground between the cracks, submerged in the water, exhausted from torture. Carefully, he gathered the man and moved him aside, an action that seemed surprisingly gentle and paradoxical considering the cruel torture he had ordered thus far.

As he wiped the blood off his gloves, he replied, “Who is this?”

“He is already the third person. The three courtiers who used to guard the empress have disappeared. Wouldn’t she notice something?”

The knight’s voice was filled with anxiety. However, Lucius simply nodded nonchalantly in response.

“Yes, you are right. These people don’t speak much.”

“They were the courtiers serving the royal family, so it might not be easy to get them to talk.”

“Perhaps.”

Considering that all three courtiers they captured so far had refused to speak, it seemed like a plausible statement. However, the source that led to all of this, the fact that it came from a courtier serving the empress, made it uncertain whether the statement was entirely accurate.

“Please, this time, get permission to search her quarters,” the empress said, and it was because of the courtier kneeling before her, offering comfort and passing on a message, that all of this had begun.

“But they will never grant permission until they find and confirm the child’s existence. After all, that room was created based on the knowledge that the child is alive.”

“It gives me chills. Why bother looking for such a child? Is it really true that the princess is alive? Even the empire’s emperor is being hunted down, and not a trace of him can be found.”

“Because the Princess risked her life to escape while she was still alive.”

All those stories flowed through the crack in the door, and Lucius waited briefly before knocking on the door to deliver the emperor’s message to the Empress. The Empress, whose expression turned pale with horror, was worth seeing.

Starting from the clues of the “child” and the “dead princess,” it had come this far. Lucius stood up from his seat and spoke.

“For now, continue the investigation. See if you can find anything.”

“Yes.”

After giving a simple order to continue the interrogation, Lucius, who was about to leave the dungeon, suddenly thought of something and turned back to ask the knight.

“By the way, have you found the doctor who used to attend to the princess?”

“Yes, we have secured the family members as well.”

“He’s an important person, so you need to persuade him carefully, even if it takes time.”

“But shouldn’t we handle it as quickly as possible before the emperor realizes that the physician is missing?”

“Grady.”

In response to the clear summons, the knight immediately complied. Lucius spoke in a calm and gentle voice.

“I know it’s not an ordinary task, and I understand why you’re nervous. But as I said, the results of being cautious and careless are like heaven and earth.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“The less you have, the more certain your preparations should be. You know that, right?”

Lucius patted the knight’s shoulder, and the knight bowed his head instead of giving a verbal response.

Even if he were to find out something, he didn’t have many expectations. He thought of all this as just a precautionary measure. With that in mind, Lucius left the dungeon.

***

The day had dawned.

Deatrice, who usually behaved groggily with extra sleep in the winter, woke up early today, wanting to savor the chilly winter morning.

With a warm cup of tea in hand, wearing thick socks and a blanket draped over her, Deatrice placed a chair near the left side of the bed where Lucius lay and sat down. It was nice to gaze at the frozen window and the scenery beyond it.

It was because snow had been falling steadily since dawn.

Observing the world turning white under the accumulating snow, Deatrice turned her head towards the sound of Lucius getting up.

“Are you awake?”

Realizing that Deatrice was not on the right side, Lucius turned his head towards her.  Despite his disheveled hair and the winter cold, he greeted the morning with his bare upper body.

“What are you doing?”

When Lucius asked with a hoarse voice, Deatrice smiled.

“It’s snowing.”

“Oh no. I have to go hunting.”

Lucius slowly got up from bed and made his way towards her. He kissed the back of her      hand that held the teacup and took a sip of the tea. Lucius leaned in and placed his lips where she had been drinking nonchalantly, only to realize that the tea was not Deatrice’s usual morning lemon water. He quickly tried to compose himself.

“What’s this?”

“It’s flower tea. Look.”

She pointed to the table, where floating flower petals could be seen inside a transparent teapot. Lucius returned the teacup to Deatrice, resembling a fragrance more than tea.

“I just can’t stand flower tea. The scent is mediocre, and the taste is ambiguous. Wouldn’t it be better to smell perfume instead? Besides, what is this? It’s like a mix of flower petals without any distinct identity, as if they were torn from a garden.”

“I made that.”

“What?”

Deatrice calmly smiled at the bewildered Lucius.

“I made it. It’s made from flower petals I picked from the greenhouse. We had tea time in the greenhouse yesterday, remember?”

Unaware of that fact, Lucius had criticized the tea she made since morning, and his face turned red with embarrassment. He quickly took the teacup again, gulping down the remaining tea in one sip.