Adel’s hand, tightly clutching the hem of her cape, trembled noticeably.

“Lies… right?”

“Poor Adel.”

“No…”

Adel pleaded as if she wanted him to say so.

But Stone whispered slyly into her ear, smiling.

“He can never return now.”

Thud.

Adel’s knees buckled as she no longer had the strength to stand. Tears flowed from her eyes before she knew it.

Seeing Adel like that, Stone approached Yan again and implored,

“Your Majesty, please forgive her, for she repents like this.”

Yan looked down at Adel, kneeling and weeping on the ground, and nodded his head. To anyone who saw, she seemed to be repenting and seeking forgiveness.

“I will heed the request of the Viscount. But, everyone listen closely. After this time, there will be no forgiveness for the crime of murder. Adel, you especially must remember and live the rest of your life repenting at Oswald’s house.”

Adel, with her head bowed, gave no answer.

“Answer me, Adel!”

Yan commanded in a dignified voice.

Then Adel muttered in a choked voice,

“Lies…”

“What?”

Yan glared at her, his face filled with rage.

Adel stumbled to her feet and staggered towards Stone.

“All lies. Stone, everything you said is a lie. A lie! A lie! A lie! Ahhh! What did you do to Chris? Give Chris back!”

Adel rushed towards Stone, screaming as if in a fit.

The swiftly approaching guards grabbed her. But all the while, she writhed like an angry beast, howling at Stone.

“You devil! What have you done? Ahhh! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

Stone looked at Adel with a troubled expression and then spoke as if addressing Yan and the others.

“Your Majesty, I didn’t want to say this to preserve Lady Adel’s honor. But now I have no choice.”

“Speak.”

“8 years ago, the night before my father passed away, she came to my room with a tattoo on her back. The same stone, the initials of my name, on her buttocks. Then she rushed at me, wanting to be my woman. Her obsession was beyond bounds, like a mad person. And then the next day she did that to my father…”

Yan’s expression twisted.

Tattoos were the exclusive mark of slaves or prostitutes. A symbol of someone’s possession. Unthinkable for noble women.

“Can you prove what you just said?”

“If you doubt it, check her back.”

People stared at Adel with indecent eyes. They murmured, licking their lips, as if they could see the tattoo on her back.

Adel could only laugh now. Stone’s trap was so strong that resistance was pointless.

He intended to tear her to shreds in front of everyone. To make her live as less than a person.

That’s when it happened.

“Ah! Someone, someone is coming!”

Someone pointed at the entrance to the palace woods.

Two black shadows slowly emerged from within the woods. Silhouettes of two horses. But only one carried a rider. The other horse’s saddle was empty.

“Ugh!”

A guard screamed. Adel had bitten the hand of the guard holding her. In the confusion, she dashed toward the woods.

“……!”

She stopped abruptly.

The figure that slowly materialized was not… Christine. The horse that had carried Christine returned with an empty saddle.

“What has happened?”

Yan’s question was answered by the man who had led Christine’s horse. He was one of the remaining four winners of the contest.

“I found the Viscount’s horse in the Wolf’s Valley. No matter how much I called or searched, the Viscount was nowhere to be found. It seems that…”

An unexpected answer caused the audience to murmur. It was unbelievable that the Viscount, a hero of war, had gone missing in the palace woods.
“Have no worries, the Earl will return safely soon. Therefore, all plans will proceed as scheduled.”

Yan reassured those present, calming the atmosphere. Most of the agitated people then looked relieved. After all, it was the Vice Earl.

“Is this your doing?”

Quietly, so only Stone could hear, Yan asked.

“You’ll find his bones in the Valley of the Wolves tomorrow morning.”

Yan’s face twisted in horror at Stone’s response. But he quickly regained his composure, mindful of those around him.

“Surely… the Earl?”

“I saw him clearly impaled beneath the Wolf’s Gorge.”

“How could that be…! You didn’t kill him, did you?”

Rather than answering Yan’s accusations, Stone tried to persuade him.

“If he can’t be on our side, he’s extremely dangerous. It’s best to take care of him when the opportunity arises, Your Majesty.”

Before the game had begun, the two had made a pact. As evidence, Yan had told Stone where the treasure was hidden and promised to grant him one favor. He hadn’t known the favor would be to pardon Adel.

But to kill Christine as well.

No, could he really have killed him?

Then Stone whispered in a voice even lower, like a demon.

“Don’t you desire the Earl’s vast fortune?”

Yan became very uncomfortable. Stone’s green, twinkling eyes seemed to pierce through him.

In fact, the treasury was nearly depleted after a long war, and the royal finances were at their worst. They were barely maintaining it with bonds from Christine’s bank.

At this time, his wealth was indeed tempting.