Chapter 57

Chapter 57

“Ah, that’s a blow to my pride. This back alley may look like a place of absolute freedom on the surface, but in reality, it’s all under the strict supervision and management of our guild members…”

“Enough about that. What happened with the necklace I asked you to investigate?”

“Of course, it’s already taken care of.”

What necklace? Leonard wondered, looking puzzled, as Selen took out a box.

She opened the lid, revealing its contents, and Leonard recognized the item at once.

“The necklace the Second Prince gave you?”

It was obvious why Irenea had asked for it to be investigated separately.

Leonard turned to Irenea, looking slightly surprised.

“So you also think there’s something suspicious about the Second Prince.”

“Judging by your words, I take it the Marquis Consort suspects him as well?”

Leonard gave a bitter smile and nodded.

“His Highness and I have already had an unpleasant encounter in the past. He’s not the sort of person who would attend someone’s wedding purely to offer his sincere congratulations. Especially not mine.”

“Haha, so you only have a suspicion, then. For your information, we’ve already uncovered several connections and shady dealings.”

Leonard nodded, paying little attention to Selen’s boastful remarks about how capable her people were.

“But wasn’t this necklace something Her Majesty had prepared personally?”

That was precisely why, despite suspecting the Second Prince, he hadn’t dared voice his suspicions.

“He simply used Her Majesty’s name. That way, I’d be sure to wear the necklace to the railway’s opening ceremony.”

It was a necklace bestowed by the Emperss herself through her son.

Irenea was expected to wear it in person and express her gratitude to the Emperss.

“Even so… If he uses a gift from Her Majesty to plot something and it causes trouble later, how does he intend to deal with the aftermath?”

“Either he’s confident he won’t get caught, or I’ve been entertaining malicious suspicions about someone who’s actually innocent.”

Irenea gave a cold laugh and lightly tapped the box with her fingertip.

She turned to Selen and asked,

“Which is it?”

“Fortunately, the former.”

In other words, the Second Prince really had been up to something.

“What’s fortunate about that?”

“Think about it, Marquis Consort. If he hadn’t tampered with the necklace, wouldn’t you be worried about what else the Second Prince might have come to the wedding to do, if all he intended was to offer his congratulations and leave peacefully?”

That was certainly true.

As Leonard nodded in understanding, Selen pointed to the pitch-black gemstone set in the center of the necklace and continued explaining.

“According to Wood’s analysis, this isn’t a gemstone at all. It’s a crystal container made to look like one. And what’s inside is poisonous gas.”

“What kind of poisonous gas?”

“Apparently, it’s colorless and odorless, so no one would notice even if it spread. But it’s highly toxic. They say inhaling it just once is enough to cause lung disease.”

“I knew it,” Irenea murmured.

Leonard slightly furrowed his brows at her reaction, as though she had already known what the gemstone really was.

“I’ve never heard of a poison like that before. Where on earth did the Second Prince get something so terrifying?”

“Where else? An alchemist made it.”

“An alchemist?”

Leonard raised an eyebrow, as though he hadn’t expected to hear that word.

At his reaction, Selen scratched the back of her neck, hardly behaving in a manner befitting her elegant dress.

“Well, I mean… What’s with that reaction? Have you really never met an alchemist in your life?”

From the way Selen seemed to be watching his reaction, Leonard could be certain of one thing.

“So there’s an alchemist here.”

Leonard paused briefly before adding another question.

“Is that person named Wood, whom you mentioned earlier?”

Selen glanced at Irenea, as if silently asking whether this was really okay.

Irenea smiled as though there were no problem at all and replied,

“That’s right. He’s an alchemist.”

Then she rested her head against Leonard’s shoulder.

A hint of playfulness crept into Irenea’s voice as she continued.

“You’ll keep his identity a secret for me, won’t you? He’s the benefactor I told you about before.”

“Your benefactor? …Ah.”

Leonard quickly remembered.

It was the day he had taken the blame for the alcohol in Irenea’s place.

When he had asked her why she didn’t report Viscount Calio, she had replied that she couldn’t drag her benefactor into it.

“If he’s your benefactor, then he’s mine too.”

It wasn’t as though Leonard had any intention of seriously filing a complaint in the first place.

He was simply a little surprised.

“There’s one thing I’m curious about. Is this person named Wood a man or a woman?”

“A man. Why?”

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous…”

“I’m not.”

Why would asking about someone’s gender have anything to do with jealousy?

Leonard gave Selen a look that suggested he had never met anyone quite like her.

Having made a joke only to receive a thoroughly unimpressed stare, Selen cleared her throat and returned to the matter at hand.

“There are two ways to open this crystal container. The first is to use the designated method.”

Selen tapped the top of the gemstone and explained that Wood had opened a lid hidden somewhere around that spot to analyze the gas inside.

“The other way is to force it open. If you pour a special solution over this crystal, it develops tiny cracks just large enough for the gas to escape. They’re so fine that they’re almost impossible to detect with the naked eye.”

“So, in other words, if I’m wearing this around my neck, someone will pour that solution on me and make the poisonous gas leak out?”

“Exactly. And then you’ll inevitably die within a week.”

Selen picked up the necklace from the box and held it near her collarbone.

“If you only inhale a small amount, you’ll end up with lung disease. But if you’re exposed at this distance for just ten minutes…”

Selen let out a brief, sharp choking sound instead of finishing her sentence.

Clicking his tongue, Leonard took the necklace from her.

“So this isn’t a gemstone at all, but a container holding poisonous gas?”

“Yes. Doesn’t look that way, does it?”

“Not at all.”

No matter how he looked at it, it appeared to be nothing more than an expensive gemstone.

A gem appraiser might have noticed the difference, but what daring fool would dare show an appraiser a gemstone personally gifted by the Emperor?

If Irenea hadn’t been the one to receive this necklace, she would probably have worn it without a second thought.

And she would have died without ever realizing that someone had been using her.

The more Leonard lived, the more he felt that the life of a mercenary and that of an aristocrat weren’t all that different after all.

Leonard placed the necklace back in the box and asked Irenea,

“So, what are you going to do with this necklace?”

“Obviously, I’m going to put it to good use. My uncle is probably the one who’s supposed to pour the special solution on me. If everything goes well, I can finally get rid of that insufferable man.”

Irenea beamed as though she could hardly wait for it to happen, prompting Selen to sigh.

“You really do go out of your way to get yourself into dangerous situations… Have you considered going to the Emperss and telling her to take a look at what her son is up to?”

“And to do that, I’d have to explain why I suspected a gift bestowed by Her Majesty in the first place, and who analyzed it and how. Are you going to sell Wood out?”

“Actually, I’ve already come up with a plan.”

What a remarkably swift change of attitude.

Irenea giggled as she listened closely to the plan Selen had devised.

“First, we’ll remove all the poisonous gas from inside this gemstone. Instead…”

“Well, we’d better get going now. …Hmm?”

Unlike Irenea, who stood up after they had finished talking, Leonard remained seated, looking deep in thought.

While Irenea had been impressed by Selen’s plan and praised it as a good idea, Leonard had spent the entire time frowning and asking whether there wasn’t another way.

After the two women had persuaded him that this was the most reliable approach, he had reluctantly nodded.

Was he still unable to accept it?

“Ray.”

She was about to tell him that if he truly disliked the plan, they would abandon it, when Leonard raised his head and addressed Selen.

“I have a request I’d like to make.”

“Oh, a request? I’d be more than happy to hear it.”

Requests from wealthy clients were always welcome.

Selen instinctively let out a whistle, then dropped back into her chair and glanced at Irenea.

“Let’s see. Our consultation policy is strictly one-on-one, but I suppose it’s fine if our lady stays, right?”

Selen naturally expected Leonard to nod.

But contrary to her expectations, Leonard hesitated and glanced at Irenea, as though he would rather she didn’t hear what he had to say.

Perhaps she had noticed his gaze, because Irenea spoke first.

“Then I’ll go spend some time with Julie. You two talk.”

“Uh… Sure. All right, then.”

Even as Irenea left the room, Selen couldn’t help wondering whether this was really the right thing to do.

She glanced unnecessarily toward the closed door before asking Leonard what he wanted to commission.

“But, you see, our lady is a patron of Moonshadow. If she asks what the two of us talked about, it’ll be a little difficult for me to keep it a secret until the end.”

Of course, Irenea respected Moonshadow’s confidentiality policy.

Despite being their patron, she had never once pried into the commissions other people had made.

Even so, Selen had brought it up to sound Leonard out.

Surely he’s not going to ask us to find his first love or something, is he?

“If Rin asks, I have no objection to you telling her.”

Seeing him nod without the slightest hesitation, Selen was relieved that he apparently wasn’t planning to make some shady request.

At the same time, however, she grew curious.

“Then why did you let our lady leave? You could’ve just let her listen.”

“Because it would be rather difficult to explain if she asked what I meant by it.”

“Pardon?”

His answer was already rather vague.

As Selen wondered what on earth he meant, Leonard asked her,

“Before that, there’s something I’d like to ask. What kind of help did Rin receive from the alchemist?”