Calys, who hesitated, reluctantly searched inside his jacket. The one who brought a handful of minerals carefully opened his palm.

“Hmm.”

Cedric, examining the scattered minerals on the table, let out a shallow groan. His expression showed disappointment.

“Is this all?”

Cedric bluntly asked afterward.

When a monster’s heart is destroyed, their physical bodies disappear without a trace, leaving behind the monster’s soul, known as the monster stone. The size and color of the mineral, or the monster stone, were proportional to the monster’s physique and strength. The larger the physique, the larger the monster stone, and the stronger it was, the more beautiful the color.

However, what Calys presented was dirty and small, and the color was even more unsophisticated.

“…Yes.”
Calys didn’t even try to justify himself.

“This is maddening.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t just apologize with words; show it through your actions! I went out of my way to prepare and bring medicines to assist in the Duke’s extermination. But the Duke asks, ‘Is this all?’ Are these creatures that could easily be killed by a child’s tantrum all that we have eliminated?”

“…”

“For heaven’s sake, please! Show some sincerity!”

It was a vehement shout that shook the barracks. This time, Cedric’s face was twisted with a different meaning.

Calys, who had a strong sense of pride, remained silent with a heavy heart.

However, Calys was also unjustly treated.

He never had talent in swordsmanship from the beginning, and since he ascended to the position of a Duke’s knight, he had stopped sword training altogether.

When he set out to exterminate under the name of Duke Arhen, Calys did not personally step forward. Instead, he delegated the task to his knights, and Calys merely played the role of a commander.

Calys Arhen, who had not properly wielded a sword in the past four years, was the result of the combination of non-existent talent and minimal effort. It was a contradiction for him to expect good results in this extermination battle.

“One final piece of advice. Please be of use, Duke. If you don’t want to end up dead like your wife.”

The chilling voice carried a significant meaning. Calys, who had been pondering the words quietly, finally raised his head.

“…What? To end up dead?”
As if expressing uncertainty about understanding English, a questioning remark followed.

Finally, Cedric realized his mistake. Helena was reported to have taken poison and committed suicide, yet here he was, telling a detached story as if it were a unique event! Even if he admitted to the verbal error now, it would not be easily remedied.

Cedric quietly glanced at Calys. Only in such situations did the efficient brain of the clever Calys work rapidly.

“Well.”

Come to think of it, now was the time to reproach Calys. He needed to remind Calys of vigilance and revenge, forgetting his position and carelessly begging for mercy.

“Think about it, Duke. Isn’t the method by which that woman killed herself quite strange?”

“Strange?”

“How could that woman have had poison? The knights would have searched her body before being confined to the poison cell, right?”

“…That’s true, but if she intentionally hid it inside her body, they wouldn’t have found it either.”

“That’s true. But Duke, think carefully. She was detained immediately after the trial verdict. It means the only explanation is that she had prepared the poison in advance.”

Cedric’s words seemed quite plausible.

Perhaps that was why Calys’s face turned confused, gradually showing signs of being swayed by Cedric’s words.

“Unless she made a deal in the black market before standing trial or stole it from the Duke’s mansion, that is. Do you have any suspicions between these two?”

“…I don’t.”
“Alright, then the only explanation is that someone else killed your wife. They either forcibly made her take the poison or created a situation where she had no choice but to take it!”

Unbeknownst to them, Cedric, who had approached Calys, placed his arm on the slumped shoulders of his weakened counterpart. Cedric’s head, naturally lowering, soon approached the man’s ear.

“So, who could it be?”

“…”

“Who killed your wife?”

A small but penetrating, insidious voice, like the devil’s whisper, seemed to manipulate Calys.

“The only person who came to visit that woman that day was you. Therefore, the culprit must be someone who could secretly visit your wife and shake everything about that woman.”

Cedric’s mouth moved to spill out any words, while his mind moved to recall that day.

Cedric Theodore had to choose a person suitable for his words from among the Duke and Duchess of Argen. Writing about both of them could lead to a situation where they collaborated to escape his trap. Therefore, only one person had to be singled out.

Helena was eliminated from consideration. Her identity as a mother overwhelmed her vindictive self, preventing her from killing Jane for revenge. This misstep led to complications.

“I can only think of one person.”

However, unlike the foolish woman who moved for love, Calys knew how to act for his own benefit.

“…Wh-who are you talking about?”
“Seeking revenge against you, yet still dreaming of revenge! That malicious woman!”

The woman who should have been kneeling before him, surpassing him in every way, was now systematically trampling on the achievements they had accomplished together.

How humiliating!

Shame, hatred, anger.

These emotions, ideal for revenge, needed to be maximized.

“There’s a week left. It’s good to make a wise decision during that time. For the sake of your deceased wife, for my sake. It’s better to come prepared with sufficient results. Calys Argen.”

“…”

“This is your last chance!”

Moreover, as the murderer of his long-loved woman, it creates a plausible pretext.

This selfish man would not consider the fact that he was the one who betrayed Helena first.

Now was the time for his foolish words to carry out a long-planned scheme.