Chapter 63

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: A Despicable Man
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“Final check on the supply troops!”

With Redius, who had volunteered to be my escort, I went down to where the knights were bustling about.

They were just about to move the wagons loaded with supplies.

“Just a moment.”

The knights' eyes widened when I appeared among them.

“My lady?”

“Greetings, my lady.”

Amid the polite greetings, I could hear surprised voices.

“Why has my lady come all the way down here herself...?”

It was an unexpected visit, so their surprise was natural.

“I heard the supplies were attacked. I came to take a look.”

“Ah, I see.”

The knights became even more courteous.

“We can't have any faulty supplies being sent.”

“Would you like to inspect them, then?”

The knight in command of the scene led me forward.

“The supplies being transported are mostly dry goods. Given the distance, there are limits to transporting fresh fruits and vegetables.”

“That makes sense.”

That's what I was told in the report as well.

It's not that fresh items weren't supplied at all, but most of it consisted of dried and hardened foods.

That's to be expected, of course. It can't be helped.

“Have you checked for poison?”

“Of course, my lady.”

The knight explained in detail.

“When the supplies arrive...”

The inspection he roughly described was as follows.

First, they do a visual check for any problems, then they either taste a small portion or test for a poison reaction.

“I see...”

It was certainly a thorough inspection method. But then, a hard baguette caught my eye.

“Sir Knight, how do you think one would eat that?”

The end of the baguette was slightly cut off. It seemed to have been used for the inspection.

“One could slice it and eat it with butter, or since fire is not scarce in Argenta, it could be heated before eating.”

“That's one way, but...”

I examined the baguette and the meat.

The people receiving these supplies are mostly patients. They're naturally less active, and with little movement, their digestion would be poor, so it's highly likely they would eat it in the form of a thin porridge or stew.

“Wouldn't they usually put this and this together and boil it?”

The knights looked at each other as I pointed to the ingredients.

“If you're referring to stew, it takes time to cook and there are storage issues, so it's difficult to supply it in that form.”

That wasn't what I was asking.

“There are more kinds of poison than you might think.”

Not everything that's a poison starts out as one. Something intended as medicine can become a poison if used incorrectly.

In other words, something that can be a medicine or have no effect at all can become a poison under different circumstances.

And if that's what the people who intentionally left these supplies were aiming for...

“Does anyone have water?”

At my words, a knight took out the waterskin at his hip.

“Would this be all right...?”

Instead of speaking, I drew the water out from it. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

I went around the supply wagons, gathering small amounts of ingredients.

The common supply items: dried meat, bread, vegetables, and various spices.

I tore off small pieces of each and dropped them into the water.

Then I gestured to Sir Redius.

“Please, apply fire to this.”

I couldn't boil a proper stew, but I could heat the water.

Just like how many of the people receiving the supplies would eat it.

Redius, who had been watching us, carefully brought his hand beneath the water. It was a hand holding a flame.

And then.

*Bubble, bubble...*

The water, held aloft by my power, began to boil. The food ingredients inside naturally started to soften.

But.

“What is that...!”

The people were horrified. As was I.

From the food ingredients, which had shown no reaction when simply placed in the water, something gray began to seep out and mix into the water.

“But we checked with both heat and water...!”

the flustered Argenta knight muttered.

“You didn't try boiling them all together, did you?”

At my words, the knight hung his head low.

“...It was my oversight.”

I stopped him as he was about to kneel.

“No.”

You just have to do better from now on. What matters is that we've found it.

Someone who has made a mistake once will be all the more careful.

But more urgent was...

This was clearly not a reaction that should occur in normal food.

My expression hardened without me realizing it.

“Find out what that is immediately. And stop all the supply wagons that have already been sent out. Right now.”

“Yes, my lady!”

The knights began to move quickly.

***

Meanwhile, Rick was guiding Diello toward the annex.

They casually changed direction and headed for the annex's basement, to a place that could only be entered through a secret mechanism.

“...”

He was scanning the documents with a cold expression.

And before him was Benia. The real Pero, Benia.

She had a tense look on her face.

“It seems there has been some progress.”

Diello said, setting down the documents.

Rick bowed his head.

“Yes, my lord. It's taking time to find and cross-reference the records of past Peros, so it will take a little longer to pinpoint the exact conditions.”

His voice was light, but his words were not.

Conditions.

Under Diello's orders, Rick's informants were investigating the conditions for ‘becoming a Pero’.

It was a top-secret operation, unknown to anyone else in Argenta.

*‘If we can discover the conditions for becoming a Pero, Argenta will hold sway over the three families' future.’*

Whatever happens in the process, it will be far more hopeful than a woman like Benia becoming a Pero.

Rick thought, his anger stoked by her atrocious behavior over the past few days.

The countless Peros of the three families.

Nothing in this world happens without a reason. There must be a reason why they became Peros.

Since a Head's early awakening with a Pero was advantageous, each family had developed its own methods for finding them.

But these were little more than superstitious guesses; Peros always appeared in unexpected places.

It had been impossible to narrow down the conditions for a Pero's appearance any further.

For one, asking a Pero about the ‘conditions for another Pero to appear’ was in itself an act that would shatter their trust.

It could make it seem as if one desired a different Pero.

The Family Heads, for whom the relationship with their Pero was crucial, would never risk upsetting them.

After all, only by having a Pero erase the lily could one become a proper Head.

But Diello Argenta was trampling on that absolute, unwritten rule as if it didn't exist.

“Do you really think you can awaken properly after treating a Pero like this?”

Benia shrieked.

Her appearance was perfectly fine.

If anyone who had been interrogated by Rick saw this scene, they would clutch the back of their neck in betrayal.

A room where most noble ladies would have no complaints.

There were none of the rumored executioner's grim tools.

She was served three meals a day on time. She even got fruit and refreshments. And there was nothing wrong with the food.

But this wasn't the life Benia had dreamed of as a Pero.

At this rate, she would have none of the power, honor, or wealth that a duchess of a great family should naturally possess.

There were no splendid dresses and jewels like the former duchess, nor were there servants kneeling before her.

It was so shabby, beyond comparison to what she had imagined.

She had especially looked forward to seeing the haughty Diello grovel before her, but he didn't even come to see her.

Instead, Rick, who brought her meals, would just ask her various questions.

*‘Do you remember the first time you met the Head?’*

*‘When was it?’*

Mostly things related to Diello Argenta.

At the time, she had assumed.

*‘Just as I thought. What can they do to a Pero? They have to marry me anyway, so they must be looking for some way to grow fond of me.’*

So she had answered diligently.

But the questions grew stranger and stranger.

*‘Diello Argenta is interested in such trivial things?’*

And now that Diello had finally come, Benia understood what those questions had been pointing to.

“Creating a Pero? What nonsense.”

Past Family Heads would never have even imagined such a thing.

Not only is it impossible to know who or where the next Pero will be if the current one dies, but the later one finds a Pero, the later their awakening. Who would dare to harm a Pero?

No one but that madman, Diello Argenta.

“It's more realistic than me taking you as my Pero.”

The corner of Diello's mouth tilted up.

Benia's mouth went dry.

*No way. Is he serious?*

There was no torture, but Diello's attitude, dangling her life just out of reach, was agonizing.

Especially the fact that the next Pero appears only after the current one dies.

In other words, the logical conclusion that for Diello to create a new Pero, Benia herself would have to die, made her throat even tighter.

“I think I have a general idea. Investigate further and find the decisive condition.”

And looking at the documents, Diello seemed to have already narrowed down the ‘conditions for becoming a Pero’ to some extent using the answers he got from her.

“Are you really going to reject a true Pero?”

Benia asked again. Diello's gaze turned to her.

The pure white, pearl-like jewel on her wrist swayed, looking somehow murkier than when she first arrived.

Every time she felt the distinct presence of the pearl on her wrist, Benia felt dizzy.

More than that.

Benia couldn't believe that cold gaze belonged to Diello Argenta.

She'd heard he'd even had an emotional outburst recently. She thought this was just an aftereffect of that.

But his lake-like eyes were calm. Diello Argenta was perfectly sane.

*‘Why did it have to be you?’*

Of course, she had found him strange ever since she came here.

And she knew he was more heartless than he seemed.

After all, whatever the reason, he had stood by and watched his own parents die without batting an eye.

But she never knew he was *this* kind of person.

It didn't take long for Benia to realize that the rumors of his indecisiveness were all fabricated.

This man... he's completely serious.

“Are you crazy?”

“Perhaps.”

Diello's cold smile was directed at Benia.

*Shing!*

In an instant, a drawn sword was at Benia's throat.

“...!”

The draw was so fast Benia couldn't even see it properly.

Frozen, Benia barely managed to speak.

“...Croire Alloje, does that woman know you're this kind of man?”

No, really, why did he marry her knowing she was a fake Pero?

Seeing how he wasn't surprised when the real Pero appeared after the marriage, Diello must have known Croire Alloje was a fake.

It was a situation Benia's mind simply couldn't comprehend.

A Family Head who would reject a real Pero and willingly keep a fake one close.

“No. She doesn't know. That's why I'm worried, too.”

Diello narrowed his eyes at her words.

Then, as if letting out a sigh, he spoke in a relaxed voice.

“What would my bride do if she knew her husband was such a despicable man?”

“She can't run away.”

A voice like an enchanting melody echoed through the room.