I Won’t Pick Up The T*ash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 208

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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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#208

After a long journey of just over a month, Fillen arrived in Casiwood and had to handle a flood of tasks without even having time to recover from travel fatigue.

Since most of the work involved using his sword rather than his head, Fillen handled it with ease.

Every time he swung his sword, monsters and bandit groups would collapse in droves.

The Casiwood security captain was extremely satisfied, saying that public safety had greatly improved thanks to Fillen.

The people of Casiwood also welcomed Fillen. Voices praising Fillen could be heard from here and there.

The people of Williot Estate didn’t particularly like Fillen. Everyone only looked for Leilah.

Not just the estate people, but even the attendants secretly sighed, saying they were more comfortable working with Leilah.

But to receive such a welcome like this. He felt bewildered yet pleased.

Fillen wished Leilah could see this.

Then she would acknowledge me too.

She would return to my side.

‘Please disappear from my life.’

…Would she really come back?

Fillen covered his face with both hands and lowered his head.

Before, he had been certain that Leilah would definitely return.

But after witnessing the relationship between Kalian and Leilah with his own eyes, that certainty had vanished.

‘This won’t do.’

If things continue like this, I’ll lose Leilah to that damn Emperor forever.

The thought of Leilah smiling beside Kalian instead of him, kissing him, sleeping with him, made his insides twist.

He wanted to get Leilah back somehow.

If he could do that, he could even sell his soul to the devil.

“…Yes, I can do anything.”

His golden eyes glinted ominously.

Fillen took out a magic messenger bird from his chest and wound the spring.

* * *

To become close, one had to meet often and have conversations.

Light casual talk about hobbies would be better than stiff topics like work.

“So, how about His Majesty and my three attendants having a small tea party?”

Having a meal together might be good too, but a tea party had a lighter atmosphere than dining.

Most importantly, we always talked about work during meals, so a tea party seemed better in many ways.

Baron Delrond smiled awkwardly at my suggestion.

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

“Is that so?”

I thought it was a good method.

“Then what method should we use so Count Montesol won’t find His Majesty intimidating?”

I felt so sorry for Count Montesol, who trembled like an aspen leaf every time he saw Kalian, that I wanted to help him somehow.

“Well.”

His gaze and voice were lukewarm. He seemed to know something.

“If you have a good method, please tell me.”

Baron Delrond, who had been hesitating, finally told me the method with a short sigh when I repeatedly asked him to tell me.

“Count Aster just needs to stop paying attention to Baron Delrond.”

“What?”

What does this mean?

When I tilted my head at the incomprehensible words, Baron Delrond added an explanation.

“The reason His Majesty is particularly sharp with Count Montesol is because Count Aster takes too much care of Count Montesol.”

“I’ve never done that.”

“It looks that way to me too, but lovers might feel differently about it.”

“Ah.”

So His Majesty is jealous of Count Montesol.

“You’re smiling, so you must be in a good mood, Count Aster.”

“Of course.”

When I answered honestly, Baron Delrond frowned and muttered quietly.

“This is why I hate couples.”

Baron Delrond shook his head and stood up with some documents.

“I’ll go to the Outer Palace for a while. I’ll take Count Montesol with me, so if anything happens, contact the Imperial Palace Office.”

“Yes.”

After Baron Delrond left, I also headed to the document storage room to find materials about the upcoming Foundation Festival.

But the document storage room was locked.

Who has the key? Should I ask the head servant?

“Count Aster?”

While I was pondering, I heard a familiar voice. It was Duke Hudlren.

Duke Hudlren approached me with a good-natured smile.

“Perfect timing. I had something I wanted to ask you about. Could you spare me a moment?”

He has something to ask me?

“What is it about?”

“About the Tebesa County, or rather, I should call it the Aster County now. Anyway, it’s about the gold mine your father owns.”

Ah, so it’s about that.

Having immediately figured out what Duke Hudlren wanted, I smiled and answered.

“If you want the gold mine back, speak to Count Tebesa, not me.”

I should correct the wrong parts too.

“And Count Tebesa is no longer my father. I sorted out the family registry recently.”

Duke Hudlren asked in surprise.

“You sorted out the family registry? You mean you removed Count Tebesa, that is, Count Tebesa from the registry?”

“Yes.”

“But he’s the father who gave birth to you.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to unconditionally acknowledge him as a parent. Just like how he doesn’t acknowledge all the children who share his blood as his offspring.”

Though not as much as Count Tebesa, Duke Hudlren also had a weakness for women.

Just the mistresses I knew of numbered more than three, and he had four children with them.

Of course, Duke Hudlren didn’t acknowledge those children as his offspring. Even though they looked exactly like Duke Hudlren to anyone’s eyes, he thoroughly denied them.

“Ahem, that’s true.”

Having such transgressions, Duke Hudlren cleared his throat and acknowledged my words.

“Then does Count Tebesa still own the gold mine?”

“Yes. He’s probably still staying at Tebesa Manor, so you should be able to find him if you go there.”

Even though I took the count title, I didn’t touch the manor, property, or anything else. I didn’t want to lay a finger on anything they had used.

“I know that. I already went to meet Count Tebesa.”

“Did you?”

“Count Tebesa said that Count Aster took the gold mine ownership, so he couldn’t return it.”

“That’s a lie.”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Duke Hudlren’s brow furrowed.

“I suppose I’ll have to meet Count Tebesa again. Thank you for telling me.”

After Duke Hudlren left, I got the key to the document storage room from the head servant.

When I was looking for materials about the Foundation Festival in the document storage room, I didn’t have any particular thoughts.

But after finding the materials I wanted and clearing my mind for a moment, a question arose.

‘Why does Duke Hudlren suddenly want to take back the gold mine?’

What could be the reason he suddenly needed a gold mine that had been neglected for over 10 years?

I remember he gladly handed it over, saying it wasn’t particularly necessary since it was a small gold mine located far from the Hudlren domain.

‘Come to think of it, that gold mine was near Casiwood.’

If I remember correctly, it was located in some mining village about two days’ ride from Casiwood.

That’s why Count Tebesa often grumbled that it was too difficult to go see the gold mine.

Thinking of Casiwood naturally brought Fillen to mind.

It’s been over a month since he left the capital, so he should have arrived in Casiwood by now.

He should live quietly there without causing any trouble.

It wasn’t that I was worried about Fillen.

I was worried he might cause trouble again, and that other people would suffer because of it.

Fillen was utterly incompetent at work.

And yet he was stubborn as a bull, so when he thought he was right about something, he’d push forward no matter how much others opposed him, saying he was wrong.

He really was an exhausting type in many ways.

That’s why he was so clingy with me, only thinking about himself.

Remembering Fillen’s past actions made my teeth clench in irritation.

I shook my head, erasing the hazy remnants of the past that were floating up.

Anyway, there must be a reason why Duke Hudlren suddenly wants to take the gold mine.

‘Should I look into it?’

No. From what I can see, it seems to be Duke Hudlren’s personal reason, so let’s not.

It doesn’t seem like something that would cause trouble for other people either.

If it does cause trouble, it wouldn’t be too late to look into it then.

So I buried Duke Hudlren’s matter in my heart.

* * *

It was only after hearing the secret story about Empress Solia that I noticed there were many books about plants on the bookshelf in Kalian’s study.

There were also many books related to poison, including poison manufacturing methods.

Come to think of it, at the black market before, Kalian told the old woman that the poison he was looking for was colorless and odorless.

Colorless and odorless poisons weren’t common, but they weren’t completely nonexistent either.

Even I, who was ignorant about such things, could think of more than three types off the top of my head.

“But why are you only looking for colorless and odorless poisons?”

A question suddenly occurred to me, so I asked Kalian.

“If you’re looking for the poison that Empress Solia drank, shouldn’t you be investigating all poisons?”

Had he already investigated all the other poisons?

That couldn’t be. There was no way he, who had been on the battlefield for a long time, could have investigated so many poisons one by one.

“I considered several possibilities and eliminated them one by one, leaving only colorless and odorless poisons.”

Kalian explained calmly.

“First, I excluded all poisons that are detected by silver. All the tableware Her Majesty the Empress used was made of silver, so if it had been detected by silver, there’s no way Her Majesty would have consumed that poison.”

That makes sense. I nodded in agreement with Kalian’s words.

“And all these books about plants here belonged to Empress Solia.”

“All of them? Her Majesty didn’t collect them separately to find poisons?”

“That’s right. Her Majesty the Empress had extensive knowledge of herbalism during her lifetime. Thanks to that, she escaped poisoning crises several times.”

But in the end, she died from poisoning.

It was ironic and sad.

“And she also made many antidotes in advance. With Her Majesty the Empress’s antidotes alone, most poisons could be neutralized.”

“If such a person consumed poison, it must have been a very rare poison that even Her Majesty the Empress couldn’t detect.”

It also meant it was so deadly that she couldn’t use an antidote, or that the antidotes she had were useless against it.

So that’s why he went to the black market to look for poison.

Because such poison wouldn’t be circulating in the market.

Kalian’s past actions began to make sense one by one.

“Your Majesty, may I borrow some books?”

“It’s fine, but what are you planning to do?”

“I want to try finding the poison that Empress Solia consumed.”

I wanted to find the poison as quickly as possible and lighten Kalian’s burden.

At my words, Kalian smiled and shook his head.

“It’s fine. This is my matter. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“But…”

“Leilah. I don’t want to burden you with such things. I don’t want to see you worrying and fretting over something like this either.”

Kalian gently took my hand.

“So please leave this to me.”

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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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