Cicline, who was taking good care of the medicinal herbs and recording them diligently, touched the ripe red fruits with her fingertips.
“Huh? When did the fruit ripen so much? We can harvest it in a little while. The Little Madam will be very happy.”
Just then, Luciel entered the greenhouse garden.
“Doctor Cicline.”
“Welcome, Little Madam. Here, look at this. I think we can harvest the Thierry Fruit now. It’s amazing how quickly it ripens.”
“Ah….I see. That’s good.”
Luciel smiled shyly and looked at the ripe red fruit. In fact, before she came, she asked Gillard to cast the <Grow> spell on Thierry Fruit.
Moreover, the effect was immediately evident.
‘Grandpa’s Grow spell is the best. I should have asked for it sooner.’
“Ah, there is one thing I would like to suggest to Doctor Cicline. I’ve already gotten permission from the Duke, but I think you’ll have to pass this test to be fully recognized.”
“What? What’s going on? Are you talking about selling my medicines in the lady’s estate? That said, we still need a little more preparation…….”
Luciel nodded her head.
“Yes, that is correct. It’s one of those preparations. There is a way to become a Bellstein pharmacist.”
At Luciel’s words, Cicline’s eyes widened.
“……H-how can that be? To become a pharmacist, I must graduate from the Academy of Herbal Medicine…….”
Luciel pulled out an article from the Imperial newspaper out of her bag and showed it to Cicline.
Cicline’s fingers trembled as she looked at the article that informed about the ‘Imperial Exam of Qualification for Certified Pharmacists ‘.
“T-This is…….”
Cicline was interested in the test and she had been keeping an eye on in her past. But she couldn’t really prepare to take it because she was currently busy with her life.
“Actually, I think Doctor Cicline is doing just fine as a pharmacist. But if you can officially prove it, no one will be able to dispute what you are doing. How about trying it out here?”
“Of course. But……it’s next month, time is running out.”
“Even if you fail this time, there is always a test after that one. So, let’s try it!”
She is someone who practically lives inside herbal medicine books, wouldn’t she do well in the exams? Her basic skills are outstanding and Luciel had such a belief.
“……In fact, if it’s theory, I’ve read all the herbal booklets I could find. I always wanted to take that exam.”
“Then, you are prepared enough, right? Now all that is left is the mindset that you can do it.”
Reading the confidence in Cicline’s eyes, Luciel smiled broadly and encouraged her.
“Then I’ll explain to Eva about the situation, so let’s go take the exam!”
“Yes, Thank you!”
It was sudden, but Cicline’s heart swelled at the thought that maybe she could become the pharmacist she’s always dreamed of.
She took off her apron and left the greenhouse garden, calming her pounding chest.
While Luciel was there, she looked back at Phoenix’s rose condition and talked to it.
“Phoenix? Would you like some mana?”
Normally, an excited voice would have been heard, but there was no reply.
“Still, just in case.”
Luciel collected mana and delivered it to the Rose with her fingertips. The petals, stems, and roots were evenly covered in white light, then scattered.
* * *
Caw.Caw.
A large crow tried to cross the black wall and landed where Luciel was.
“This crow is here again today!”
It was the crow she had seen before. A crow with long tail feathers that shone in a blue hue.
When Luciel took Bell on a bug hunt, the crow thought she was a small and weak bird and might have recognized Bell as food, so when the crow tried to attack Bell Luciel chased it away with magic.
And today again, the crow flew to Bell, sitting on Luciel’s shoulder.
When she blew a spell to scare him while thinking he was about to attack, a letter fell off the tip of the crow’s toes.
Last time, she also had found a meaningful letter that urged for information, but she tied it back to the crow so that it would not be detected that another read the correspondence.
We had to wait a little longer for more convincing evidence.
‘I think this letter will be decisive evidence.’
This time, it was being sent from the inside to the outside, so this was definitely the proof of someone communicating with an outsider.
Rather than an ordinary crow, it must have been the carrier bird that conveyed the secrets inside the Duke’s Castle to the outside.
Thus, Luciel immediately forwarded the letter and the crow to the Duke.
In the letter it was written:
<Tonight, we are going to rob the ‘Central Administrative Office’ together with the mage we are holding hands with, so please look forward to it.>
After reading the letter, the Duke folded it up and coldly smiled.
“Thank you, Luciel. Apparently, a traitor was hiding in the castle.”
“Who is it?….? I thought all of Bellstein’s vassals were loyal…”
At Luciel’s words, the Duke spoke without wavering.
“The servants trust their monarch, but the monarch does not trust their servants. Except for my family, I trust no one.”
At his words, Luciel became somewhat bitter. With so many people in Bellstein, how difficult it would be if there were only people who you could not trust.
Life as a monarch would not have been easy. But Luciel thought that at least some people were reliable.
“Ellington or Eva too?”
“They are like Bellstein’s family.”
“I’m so glad and happy that you think so.”
At the Duke’s words, Luciel was relieved and smiled brightly. Her heart melted softly, and she made Topaz.
“Oh….”
Luciel was ashamed of revealing her emotions without knowing it, so she hurriedly grabbed the jewel. Louivid gently stroked the child’s cheek because she was so cute.
“I guarantee it. They will be a family to you, too.”
“I believe in both of them.”
Seeing such a Luciel, the Duke happily smiled. But when he looked at the letter again, he immediately changed his expression as if he had been someone else.
“There are some people I suspect, but if we wait to see, I think I’ll find it out today. I have gathered all the mages in the Administrative office and if anyone has been bribed, I will have my confession.”
Louivid laughed grimly like a villain. It made it seem like he was enjoying the situation, making the viewer somewhat chilled. Luciel also had a good impression of Bellstein’s vassals, but she remembered a person who had recently been dissatisfied.
‘Viscount Theo has repeatedly challenged my opinion. Why? Does he not like things going well for Bellstein?’
Of course, that alone could not make him suspicious, so Luciel quietly stopped her thoughts. But surprisingly, the Duke mentioned the same person first.
“It seems that Viscount Theo sometimes does things that he wouldn’t normally do. He works overtime every fifteen days. Come to think of it, today is the full moon, isn’t it?”
In order to secretly contact the mage, it is highly likely that they met during the night time, avoiding people’s eyes.
If he was always working overtime, people would not have suspected, but it was strange to hear that he remained at the Administrative Office when there was no work to deal with.
“Oh, I see. Still, it’s better to look into it a little more carefully.”
Luciel said what came to mind while thinking hard.
“How about comparing the handwriting of this letter with the signatures of the vassals?”
“Ellington has a knack for it.”
Because he’s had manipulated documents himself. In fact, he is good enough to make a living in that field alone.
The Duke swallowed such a backstory, summoned Ellington, looked at the signatures of all the vassals and the handwriting of the correspondence, and proceeded to evaluate them.
Among them, there were two candidates with similar handwriting.
Viscount Rufus and Viscount Theo.
But Viscount Rufus was very famous for going home all the time without one single overtime. He said it was to see his cute daughter. So, all that’s left is Viscount Theo. After using a magnifying glass to evaluate the handwriting, Ellington said.
“He deliberately slanted the ends of the letters to deceive the reader, but this is certain to be Viscount Theo’s handwriting.”
“……A transparent rat is inside the Castle. Having a big dream of hitting Bellstein in the back of the head.”
“Hmm. Shall we arrest him now?”
“No. Give him a few more hours of dreaming so we can get him on the spot. Call all the mages belonging to the Central Administrative Office and lock them up. Every single one of them.”
It was a conversation that had not a single word of emotion. Be it hot or cold. The Duke used to be more rational when he was genuinely angry and that was one of the frightening things about him.
“I think his Grace is truly angry.”
Ellington said so while sending her off, because the next steps were not something appropriate to show the Litte Madam.
“Come on, Little Madam, you may go back to your room now. Thanks for your help.”
“Ah, yes. If he is the culprit, please punish him.”
“Of course, ma’am.”
* * *
At midnight, avoiding everyone’s eyes, there was a man teasing his feet like a cat in the Administrative Hall.
He escaped with his face wrapped in a robe and went to the meeting place, a back door of the central Administrative office hall in the Duke’s Castle.
The building of the Administrative Office, which manages the shields of the barrier, was a place with strict security where even the vassals could not enter recklessly unless they were the closest to the Mages and the Duke who was qualified to enter.
Viscount Theo, with his face slightly exposed under his robe, chuckled.
While he was exchanging correspondence with the Imperial Palace using a crow carrier, he learned that the Black Wall’s shield had been relocated since the reception.
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<If you bring me any reliable information, I will promise you a solid reward in the future as consideration for your work. Wouldn’t it be better for you to come over here than to remain in the far-off and closed north?>
This was something that the aide Palos had been advising since the past, but he has been unable to successfully plant a spy and get a big catch, and the Prince was uncomfortable because of that.
However, the barrier’s shield is a confidential matter that is difficult to find out, even for him who was a vassal. Because of that, he has been making efforts, such as approaching the qualified mages and attacking them with gifts.
After discovering Bellstein’s weakness, he will attach himself to the imperial family, and when the prince ascends to the throne……!
‘In that way, I don’t need to watch a little girl running wild, swaying the Duke’s family right and left with her antics anymore, right?’