Ellen Duke's carriage was suddenly entered by his aide.
"Ecarte Lady was just seen returning alone from the forest! She was immediately arrested and taken to prison."
"Alone? What about the Crown Prince? What happened to him?"
"According to her testimony, the fallen Crown Prince was discovered and urgently transferred to the Crown Prince's palace."
"His condition?"
"They say he hasn't regained consciousness yet. And, his ears are a bit... damaged."
The aide leaned in, whispering to the Duke of Ellen, who was listening intently.
"According to the viscount, it hasn't been determined if it was due to poison. However, minor injuries were confirmed on his body."
"Is that so... I see..."
The old man's face brightened.
It was a good decision to instruct the application of poison on some weapons in preparation for the intense battle.
The poison was one they had painstakingly searched for, even in the distant desert lands.
Since its effects didn't appear immediately but gradually spread over a day or two, it was perfect for avoiding suspicion if the assassination failed.
'Maybe we can even hold a funeral this way.'
The Duke of Ellen, imagining a happy future, suddenly had a sharp glint in his eyes.
"Did you clean up well? You said the trail ended at the cliff, right?"
"Yes, my lord. We thoroughly searched the forest, following the trail, and recovered all the fallen weapons. The Reila believers are well hidden in the basement of the Empress's palace."
"Good. The ones who have regained consciousness still don't remember the moments just before they fell, right?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Perhaps it's for the best..."
The Duke of Ellen's eyes sparkled.
How much effort had they put into this operation?
The Crown Prince, upon returning from the war, immediately began severing ties with the Second Prince's faction and the underground forces.
Thus, they couldn't hire assassins as they used to.
So, they had no choice but to recruit ambitious men from the six major families of the Second Prince's faction.
They chose the hunting competition as the day of the operation, transformed these men into capital nobles, and trained them for assassination.
One of them was the distant relative of the Ellen family, Lord Tulet.
But just a handful of six or seven men couldn't handle the Crown Prince.
Fortunately, their interests aligned with the Reila believers.
To bring the supporters inside the palace, they even mobilized the Empress.
Thus, they sent no less than 20 assassins to the Crown Prince.
- What, what?! All of them fainted?!
Upon hearing from the servants sent to clean up that all the assassins were found unconscious, the Duke of Ellen nearly fainted himself.
Fortunately, it wasn't difficult to find the witness and accomplice who had been with the Crown Prince.
- That woman threatened to turn them into idiots if they were hit by crossbows. It must have been that woman who did this to the viscount!
Moreover, the Crown Prince would have undoubtedly slaughtered the assassins.
The Second Prince's faction felt as if the sky was falling when they realized the assassination had failed and there was a witness.
But there's always a way out, isn't there?
"…Now, all that's left is to pin it on the lady."
The Duke of Ellen devised a plan.
They would pin the blame on the lady, the only witness.
Since the lady was already known as the 'Duke's mad dog' with the worst reputation, it would be easy to convince people.
Initially, they planned to muddy the waters by accusing her of noble murder, but the Crown Prince also fell into a coma.
It was clearly the work of the Reila god.
"We can even teach that disgusting Ecarte a lesson!"
The Duke of Ellen chuckled with satisfaction.
The most important thing was to get off the suspect list immediately. Only then could they plan for the future.
In that sense, the lady, the main culprit of the failed assassination, was a perfect scapegoat.
While everyone's attention was on the 'mad dog' of Ecarte, they would expel the assassins sent by the theocracy from the palace and destroy all evidence.
If the Crown Prince, who was on the brink of death, died, it would be perfect. Even if he didn't die immediately, it didn't matter.
Just like the many assassination attempts they had made before, without evidence, the Crown Prince's claims would be meaningless.
"We should also pin the royal murder on her."
When the Crown Prince wakes up, those involved in the assassination won't be able to say a word.
Satisfied with his perfect plan, the Duke of Ellen burst into a hearty laugh.
"By the way, about Tulet. Has he still not regained consciousness?"
"Still... no."
"Tsk, what a useless man!"
The Duke of Ellen clicked his tongue at the aide's hesitant response.
"We spent a fortune on the dragon's blood to make him more functional, and now he's even more out of it than before!"
Lord Tulet had always been a slow developer since childhood.
It was absurd that a family as prestigious as the Empress's maternal relatives had no suitable men for the operation.
After much searching, they finally brought in a distant relative who, though a bit dull, was physically healthy.
They spent a fortune on a potion made from dragon's blood, rich in condensed mana, and arranged his engagement to Lady Kellin to make him a proper capital noble.
'He was finally starting to function... tsk tsk.'
The Duke of Ellen, with a displeased expression, suddenly stood up.
"Let's go to Lord Tulet's carriage first."
* * *
Inside Lord Tulet's carriage, chaos still reigned.
"It's a side effect of mana."
The royal physician, after examining the patient, shook his head.
"Side effect of mana...? What, what does that mean?!"
"It's a temporary decline in brain function due to excessive exposure to mana over a short period. There's nothing we can do but wait for gradual recovery..."
The royal physician, expressing regret, left the carriage.
"Hehe, hehe. In the forest, I, I saw the Goddess of Hunting. Hehe, hehe..."
Lord Kellin, standing restlessly, tried to soothe his daughter.
"What a mess, Father! I'm so embarrassed I can't even show my face in public!"
"Glory..."
"Why did you just stand by and let that crazy woman participate in this hunting competition?!"
Glory, with her blue hair in disarray, couldn't contain her anger.
Lord Kellin couldn't bring himself to admit that the condition for receiving the diamond mines was to never mention the incident again.
"Hehe, hehe. Goddess! Goddess..."
Meanwhile, the Duke of Ellen's nephew continued to drool and babble incoherently.
At that moment,
"Lord Kellin."
A figure entered Lord Tulet's carriage.
"My lord, you've come."
"Sit down."
The Duke of Ellen waved off the two people who were about to stand up.
"Lady Kellin is here too. This is good timing."
"It's noisy outside, what's happening..."
"Ecarte Lady has returned."
At the Duke's words, Lady Kellin jumped up.
"Where is she now?!"
"She was urgently arrested and is being taken to prison. It's the work of the gods."
The Duke calmed the agitated Lady Kellin.
"The most important thing now is Lady Kellin's testimony. Can you do it?"
"Of course! I wasn't the only one at the tea party!"
Lady Kellin, trembling with anger, nodded.
Whatever had happened at the tea party with Ecarte Lady, her hatred was burning fiercely.
"I trust you, Lady Kellin."
"Will it be alright, my lord? Ecarte will surely resist fiercely. What if His Highness the Crown Prince regains consciousness soon?"
Only Lord Kellin looked worried.
Ecarte was not an easy opponent.
"Don't worry. There's no evidence, and the Crown Prince, the only witness and victim, is on the brink of death."
The Duke of Ellen, however, smiled confidently and patted Lord Kellin's shoulder.
"Moreover, His Majesty is not in the capital. If things get out of hand, we can pin the assassination on Ecarte and get rid of those disgusting Ecarte people."
This crisis was actually an opportunity.
He had already set everything up to deal with the 'failed assassination.'
Originally, they planned to claim that the Crown Prince, after seeing the bear's blood, suddenly went mad and attacked the nobles, including Lord Tulet.
After all, there was only one Crown Prince, while they had several nobles.
In the deep forest, where there were no witnesses, it wouldn't be hard to insist on their version of events.
But thanks to the unexpected appearance of Ecarte Lady and the Crown Prince's loss of consciousness, the situation was turning in their favor.
"Even if the Crown Prince regains consciousness, he won't be able to act as he did before. By the time he wakes up, everything will be over."
The Duke of Ellen's eyes gleamed maliciously as he stared into the air.