“I’m truly sorry, Erina.”

Erina shook her head with a smile at Heila’s apology.

Erina then called for Sandes with a relaxed expression.

“Sandes.”

“Yes, Erina.”

Sandes’ expression was slightly contorted as he watched the struggling Erina.

To ease Sandes’ anxious heart, she gently moved her thumb on their clasped hands, continuously stroking his hand.

“They’ve been, caught.”

Sandes couldn’t add any words as Erina’s expression was so bright.

Like someone who had just shed an overwhelmingly heavy burden.

“They won’t be able, to kill me, anymore.”

Sandes carefully caressed Erina’s face, which was smiling but deathly pale.

As the two gazed at each other for a moment, Bertrel came with a knock, accompanied by an herbalist who was checking on the poison.

“Count.”

Bertrel spoke as he brought the herbalist closer.

“This is someone I’ve arranged in advance to prepare for poison.”

“Greetings, Count.”

Erina, feeling her strength oddly draining, barely managed to nod in response.

“To briefly explain, fortunately, the poison is not a fully developed deadly poison.”

At those words, Bertrel urgently asked.

“Then can an antidote be made immediately?”

“I’m sorry, but it might take some time.”

Sandes frowned at the herbalist’s troubled face and asked.

“Why is that?”

“Because it’s incomplete, finding an antidote has become more complicated. The person who made the poison could find it quickly, but to create it without knowing anything about the poison requires some time.”

At the herbalist’s answer, everyone’s faces in the room fell.

According to his words, Erina would have to continue enduring this painful time until an antidote was found.

Lost in thought with a devastated feeling, Sandes urgently called out to Erina when he felt her small hand squeezing his.

“Erina, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?”

“The person, who made, the poison, tower, Jarham.”

As soon as Bertrel heard Erina’s words, he hurriedly moved again.

“I’m sorry. I’m a bit sleepy…”

With those final words, Erina fell asleep.

Sandes, startled for a moment, quickly got up to check on her.

Feeling her breathing evenly like someone in deep sleep, he let out a sigh of relief.

He looked at Erina for a moment, then quietly covered her with the blanket and moved.

“Heila, guard her well.”

“I will, Marquis.”

As Sandes rose from his seat and turned his back on Erina, his expression was full of killing intent, as if ready to cut down someone.

The herbalist, who had been examining Erina’s symptoms, bowed his head upon sensing Sandes’ expression.

“How does she appear to you?”

“Based on what you’ve told me, the situation isn’t too bad. It seems the antidote passed down in the Sepia royal family that the Count took is playing a big role.”

“Are you certain it won’t get worse?”

“Yes. Even though it’s incomplete, it’s a potent poison. Seeing that she says there’s no pain and simply appears to lack strength, I believe the antidote is in the process of suppressing and overcoming the poison.”

“Hurry and make an antidote.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The herbalist left the room at Sandes’ words.

Sandes turned back and looked at Erina’s face for a moment.

Her pale face looked distressed.

He bent down to brush aside her disheveled hair and briefly kissed her forehead.

“Sleep well and wake up. Everything will be over as you wish when you do.”

[This is the timeline separator]

What startled the Imperial Knights, who were about to depart due to the attack from the Tula Kingdom and Trumto Kingdom, was none other than the gate.

More precisely, it was the mana stone that powered the gate.

“Why on earth is the mana stone…”

“The mana stone is extremely unstable.”

The sages managing the gate under the Imperial family were surprised by the sudden anomaly in the mana stone, stopped the gate operation, and went to find the Emperor.

However, Emperor Enzo was enraged by news even more shocking than the mana stone.

“What on earth do you mean! Count Medelia was attacked?”

“Your Majesty, this is news directly from the Count’s estate.”

“Tell me the details immediately!”

“It’s said that Count Iolls attacked Count Medelia at Rose Asila’s request. When Count Iolls’ attack failed, Rose Asila personally used poison on Count Medelia.”

“Those wretches…!”

“Fortunately, she took the antidote passed down in the Sepia royal family, received from Viscountess Ratsha, and overcame the major crisis, but she couldn’t be fully detoxified, so the Count’s condition is not good.”

Enzo’s sky-blue eyes were stained with deep anger, turning as dark blue as the deep sea.

It was the moment when even the small sympathy he had held in a corner of his heart for Peiron burned away.

“Is Sandes there?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The Marquis said that since the Count’s condition is critical, the mana stone is unstable, and asked to request help from Viscountess Ratsha and the Sepia Kingdom for detoxification.”

“Do so immediately.”

“Lastly, it’s said that the person who made the poison is a sage named Jarham from Meltias Tower.”

“Request the tower to capture that sage immediately.”

“Understood.”

As the aide answered and hurriedly moved, Duke Herigel Emkil soon came to find Enzo.

“Your Majesty!”

“Duke Emkil, are the preparations complete?”

“All preparations are complete, but there’s an issue with the mana stone powering the gate, and the sages have come.”

Enzo’s face wrinkled mercilessly.

Herigel sensed from Enzo’s expression that something had happened.

“Could it be that something happened to Count Medelia?”

“It’s said she was poisoned by Count Iolls and Rose Asila.”

“No, how could this be!”

“Count Iolls wasn’t going to apologize for the past incident.”

“Your Majesty.”

“He foolishly threw himself into love and rushed to die.”

Herigel sighed, feeling the anger burning inside Enzo.

It was regrettable, as Herigel also knew how much Enzo had trusted and believed in Peiron until he committed such a foolish act.

There was nothing more painful than betrayal by someone you trusted.

“According to Sandes’ report yesterday, the focal point of the Tula Kingdom and Trumto Kingdom is Rose Asila. He says she’s currently imprisoned for the crime of attacking Count Medelia, so quickly monitor the movements of the two kingdoms.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As Herigel disappeared, Enzo moved quickly to handle the requests Sandes had made.

[This is the timeline separator]

The social circles of the Empire, already tense with untimely news of war, were once again thrown into turmoil.

This was because all the mana stones possessed by the nobles had become unstable, causing artifacts to malfunction.

The subsequent news was that Count Erina Medelia was in critical condition due to Peiron Iolls and Rose Asila.

The nobles, already confused by the mana stones, were outraged when they learned that these two were the reason for the instability.

“My goodness, there’s being crazy and then there’s attacking the owner of the mana stone mines!”

“How could she, an adulteress, try to harm the Count!”

“It seems her angelic appearance was just a mask.”

“There’s a right way to go mad, how could they do this?”

There were countless people affected by the unstable mana stones.

Those who had started new businesses with artifacts or those who had begun new lives with the power of artifacts openly cursed the two.

People, not satisfied with just that, began to submit petitions demanding the immediate execution of the two.

Those full of anger due to the instability of the mana stones began to burn again with another piece of news.

It was revealed that the Tula Kingdom and Trumto Kingdom had moved because Count Iolls and Rose Asila had used the two kingdoms to attack Erina.

At the same time, the soldiers of the two kingdoms who had been continuously attacking villages stopped moving.

Enzo tried to quickly move troops by operating the gate to take advantage of this opportunity.

However, the sages dissuaded him due to the unstable mana stones.

When Enzo strongly insisted that it had to be now, the sages replied that the amount of mana stones used would have to be doubled.

He readily agreed to their answer, saying it didn’t matter how much was used, just move.

At Enzo’s order, the Imperial Knights hurriedly moved to the border.

The soldiers of the two kingdoms were subdued in an instant, and the war that wasn’t quite a war was quickly concluded.

The soldiers of the two kingdoms, who had become prisoners in this absurd situation, were detained by the Empire.

Then, the Tula Kingdom and Trumto Kingdom, which had been moving fiercely, began to hesitate.

This was because all contact with Rose, who had been the focal point of the two kingdoms, had ceased.

Moreover, the two kingdoms were in disarray, unable to get their bearings upon hearing the news that Rose had failed in everything and been captured.

Meanwhile, Sandes and Terik began to reveal one by one the information that Erina had been preparing to expose.

That Rose had commissioned a deadly poison from a sage at Meltias Tower who was blinded by money, in order to kill Erina.

That Rose Asila had used the deceased Countess Connie Jabel and Marchioness Serene Borbom to communicate with the two kingdoms.

That Peiron had made Rose shake up the two kingdoms and attack the border in order to kill Erina.

People reacted with intense anger each time a piece of news was heard.

Some extremists even went so far as to attack the estates of the Iolls and Asila families.

Most of these were people who absolutely needed to use mana stones for their work.

Enzo quietly observed people’s intense reactions and then quietly transferred the two people imprisoned in the Count’s estate to the imperial prison.

This was because they needed to be legally punished for attacking the owner of the mana stone mines.

At the same time, Enzo requested the Empress and Viscountess Ratsha to invite those famous for detoxification from the Sepia Kingdom.

All these events occurred within 3 days of Erina being poisoned.