An Ode to Divorce - Chapter 84

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#84

I believed that Eurich would find Lairinne’s sudden change in attitude suspicious. He would probably suspect the dagger itself. Maybe thinking it was cursed or something… It was the kind of thought Eurich himself would have.

But he couldn’t openly refuse a gift from the princess.

That was exactly the point I was aiming for.

The dagger was just a decoy. What really mattered was the cloth wrapping the dagger. Just touching the cloth that had been soaked with Tamar’s potion and dried would be enough to break the concealment spell cast on Eurich.

If this countermeasure didn’t work, I would have had a headache trying other means, but fortunately, judging by the signals from the birds and rats, it seemed Tamar’s guess was correct.

Squeak squeak!

After hearing the rat’s report, I nodded my head.

“Hmm… As expected. I wondered where he was hiding.”

Now that the invisibility potion was neutralized, I could also identify where Eurich had made his hideout.

The Temple of the Ancient Gods on the outskirts of the capital.

It was certainly a place I never would have guessed.

Now that I knew where Eurich was hiding, if I had my way, I would have wanted to send an assassin before he could make his move.

Once Eurich was dead, His Majesty would naturally cut ties with him, and my safety would be secured too.

‘…But where would I find such an assassin?’

Asking Tamar, the princess of Okrolandi, was out of the question. And Hilias? Whatever I was plotting would reach Gert’s ears that very day. After all, I was doing all this to keep it hidden from Gert…

Even if I could somehow hire an assassin, since Eurich was a hero capable of joining the expedition, there was no guarantee the assassination would succeed.

Moreover, before killing Eurich on my own, I needed to secure evidence that Eurich had committed crimes.

If I unilaterally executed Eurich without doing so and that fact was discovered later, it would become quite troublesome. By whom?

By Eurich’s father, Stello.

Although Stello had taken the lead in excommunicating Eurich at my birthday banquet, that didn’t mean he didn’t love Eurich.

He simply had tremendous respect for Alkides’ authority.

So if he learned that Eurich wasn’t executed by Gert, but that I, a mere commoner, had personally dealt with Eurich, he would harbor resentment toward me.

Even though he wouldn’t raise his voice once if Gert killed Eurich!

Anyway, since Stello was that kind of person, securing evidence that Eurich moved first was the priority before executing him.

‘It would be even better if I could secure evidence that His Majesty joined hands with Eurich in this matter. If I claim Eurich was anti-Dietrich faction, even Stello would have no choice.’

Stello was a family protectionist. The Previous Queen was also Stello’s younger sister.

If I presented the fact that Eurich was anti-Dietrich faction to Stello, who was politically a steadfast member of the Dietrich faction, he would have no choice but to agree to Eurich’s execution.

‘In the end, going round and round, I have no choice but to let Eurich go and wait for him to make his move.’

I sent the rats back to Eurich’s side. Even if I wasn’t assassinating him, Eurich was essentially in the palm of my hand. I smiled sinisterly.

“Hehehehehe…”

Knock knock.

Just as I was pondering how to strangle Eurich, there was a knock at the door. It was Berta.

There was only one reason Berta would visit my room at this time.

“What is it, Berta? Has Gert arrived?”

“No. His Grace the Duke sent word that he must cancel today’s appointment.”

“Why?”

I was startled by Gert’s unexpected cancellation and my eyes widened. Gert had never broken an appointment even once. Whenever something came up, he always let me know the day before…

“Didn’t he say why he was canceling the appointment?”

“His Majesty urgently summoned His Grace the Duke.”

“His Majesty?”

I frowned. It wasn’t that His Majesty had never summoned Gert before, but the timing was bad. Especially when I couldn’t tell what Eurich was scheming… My thoughts deepened with unease.

***

Summoned by His Majesty, Gert arrived at the audience chamber and calmly received the gaze of His Majesty looking down at him from the high throne, offering a brief bow as greeting.

As a duke, Gert didn’t need to perform formal court etiquette to His Majesty. But even that seemed to displease His Majesty, who regarded Gert as a thorn in his side.

Gert could clearly read His Majesty’s uncomfortable feelings.

‘If you find it so disagreeable, you shouldn’t summon me.’

Like when he summoned him to help with Lairinne’s charity auction, His Majesty often called Gert for trivial matters.

It was to suppress His Majesty’s own anxiety by confirming that he could influence Gert through controlling him.

‘…If only there were no curse.’

He wouldn’t need to deal with such meaningless affairs, but as Gert was still affected by the curse’s aftermath, he couldn’t afford to clash with His Majesty. He could only hope that Dietrich, who was favorable to him, would ascend to the throne as soon as possible.

“Reports have come in that bronze birds have appeared in the Quillberthal region to the northeast. It seems they’re trying to move their habitat there.”

At the mention of bronze birds, Gert’s face hardened. Bronze birds, with wingspans as wide as two people’s height, traveled in flocks and were extremely territorial. Since they unconditionally attacked any creature that invaded their territory, one had to be careful when passing through bronze bird habitats.

Still, the places where bronze birds originally dwelled were sparsely populated areas, so there hadn’t been any particular problems, but the Quillberthal region was a city of considerable size.

If the bronze birds settled in the Quillberthal region and made it their territory, most of the people in Quillberthal would soon end up in the bronze birds’ bellies.

“Several heroes went to eliminate that flock, but they couldn’t penetrate those bronze feathers and suffered defeat. Duke Lüvenhertz, it seems you’ll have to go.”

“…”

His Majesty’s words made sense. Bronze birds were challenging enough that even Gert wouldn’t find them easy to handle. It was understandable that other heroes had given up.

Of course, the reasons Gert and other heroes found bronze birds difficult to deal with were different.

When people approached, bronze birds would attack by shooting their bronze feathers, then enjoyed using their beaks to gouge out the soft flesh of their immobilized prey and eat their organs.

Other heroes had difficulty dealing with the feathers flying toward them and couldn’t penetrate those feathers to deliver effective strikes.

But for Gert, bronze feathers posed no problem at all. What made it difficult for Gert to deal with bronze birds was that the birds would keenly sense the aura of a strong opponent from Gert and immediately fly away.

Moreover, bronze birds mainly stayed near lakesides or swamplands. Such terrain made pursuit difficult.

This naturally led to prolonged battles.

When he was already worried about leaving Orphea alone, having to be away from the capital for a long time to exterminate a flock of bronze birds in this situation…

‘…Could it really be a coincidence that bronze birds decided to relocate at this time?’

When Gert didn’t answer immediately and remained silent, His Majesty’s gaze toward him flickered ominously.

“You don’t seem very pleased. In the past, you would have quite welcomed the appearance of monsters that could suppress your madness for a long time. Did you catch quite a large one in your previous hunt?”

The more blood from strong monsters Gert was drenched in, the longer he could endure the madness.

So the Gert of the past would have, as His Majesty said, rushed out of the castle toward Quillberthal as soon as he heard about bronze birds.

But the current Gert, who regularly listened to Orphea’s songs, was in such a calm mental state that he couldn’t even tell when the madness had last surged. He didn’t need to rush off at the mention of monsters like before.

But it would be troublesome if His Majesty discovered this fact.

‘…Fortunately, he doesn’t seem certain yet.’

Gert met His Majesty’s desirous gaze, wanting to somehow grasp his weakness, and composed his expression as much as possible.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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