Finally, the medicine went down Viscount Sudsfield’s throat without leaving a trace. Millard retrieved the empty glass and placed it back on the tray.
The viscount adjusted his pillow and lay down on the bed. He yawned once and looked back at Millard. For some reason, his eyelids felt heavy. “You may… go now. Thank you… for today as well.”
“It’s nothing. I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”
“Hoho.”
Millard responded with a picturesque smile. It was the perfect image of a devoted son and successor.
Now, truly… I can entrust everything to him without any hesitation. Viscount Sudsfield, touched by his words, parted his lips to tell him to open the drawer beside the bed. Or at least, he tried to. But his lips wouldn’t move. It was as if they were weighted down with thread. Only then did the viscount sense something was wrong.
Is this a side effect of the medicine? It was the same medicine he had taken every day, but medicine can affect the body differently depending on one’s condition. Perhaps this was a side effect that neither he nor the doctor had anticipated.
The viscount thought this as he desperately tried to move his hand. Thankfully, Millard hadn’t left yet; otherwise, he could have been in serious trouble.
He reached out toward Millard, who was standing by the bed and struggled to speak. His voice came out in a strained, metallic whisper. “Mil, g-get the doctor…”
But just before his fingertips touched Millard’s sleeve, Millard stepped back, avoiding his reach. At the same time, the viscount noticed the cold, indifferent look in his son’s eyes.
“W-What…” The viscount, shocked, tried to speak, but even a groan wouldn’t come out. His whole body was beginning to stiffen like a withered tree.
“Hmm.”
Millard tilted his head slightly, letting out a nasal hum. He lightly flicked the viscount’s hand, now frozen like stone, with his finger and smirked. The kind, gentle expression on his face twisted into that of a demon.
“The medicine works well. I guess money is more important than a lifetime of loyalty.”
The doctor…! Viscount Sudsfield’s eyes filled with bloodshot rage as he realized that the doctor had been bribed.
Ignoring him, Millard leisurely removed the pillow supporting the viscount’s head. His movements were graceful and refined. “Don’t worry too much. I’ll take good care of mother until the end. Well, if only you had trusted me, who chose the first princess, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“…”
“Poison would’ve been too obvious, and it would’ve caused you too much pain. I’ll send you off in the most comfortable way possible.”
Millard approached the head of the bed, holding the pillow. The viscount tried with all his might to move his fingers, but his body had turned to stone, unable to budge.
Millard, holding the pillow with both hands, gave him a warm smile. It was the same princely smile that the viscount had always been proud of. “Goodbye, Father.”
“…!”
With those words, Millard pressed the pillow down on Viscount Sudsfield’s face. The muffled sounds of the viscount gasping for breath reached Millard’s ears through the pillow, causing him to click his tongue and press harder.
“Come now, Father. Don’t struggle. Just go to sleep. It’ll be less painful that way.” Millard muttered in a leisurely tone as he gazed out the window. He saw the pale blue moon outside. The white and blue moon reminded him of Rebecca.
Millard’s eyes grew hazy. His heart began to beat faster and faster, the sound filling his ears with excitement and elation. Finally,
Finally, he could stand proudly by Rebecca’s side as her husband. The sweetness of that realization made the time he had wasted under the viscount’s influence seem all the more bitter.
Yes. This is how it should have been from the start. If the viscount had not overreached and extended his ambitions to the third prince, there would have been no problem. He was merely correcting the viscount’s mistakes, restoring things to how they should have been. So, this wasn’t a sin.
Millard thought this as the viscount’s breathing gradually slowed. Just as the viscount’s final breath was about to escape—Crash!
“Uaaack!”
Suddenly, the window of the viscount’s room shattered into pieces. The shards of glass didn’t reach the bed, but the sudden shock caused Millard to drop the pillow and fall backward onto the floor. Startled, he instinctively turned his head toward the broken window, where he saw a small light flickering outside. Realizing what it was, his eyes widened.
“A low-level spirit? Who in the world—!”
“What’s going on in there?”
“Master! Are you alright!”
Voices from outside echoed into the room, possibly awakened by the sound of the window breaking. Before Millard could react, the door burst open, and the butler rushed in.
Oh no…! Millard had forgotten that the butler’s room was adjacent to the viscount’s. It wasn’t surprising, given that he hadn’t anticipated such an event.
“…Milord?” The butler’s face slowly contorted as he took in the scene.
The viscount, with his eyes bloodshot, glared at Millard in a grotesque posture. Millard sprawled on the floor beside the bed. And the pillow lying next to him. It didn’t take long for the butler to understand the situation. He screamed, his voice filled with panic.
“Guards! Seize the young master immediately! He tried to kill the viscount! Guards!”
Millard snapped back to his senses at the butler’s cry and attempted to flee, but the servants grabbed his shoulders and restrained him. Even as he was dragged out by the guards, Millard kept shouting, glancing back at the window. “There’s an intruder! Find whoever broke the window instead of arresting me! Let go of me!” But the servants only looked at Millard with contempt, paying no attention to his words.
After they dragged Millard away, the butler urgently checked the viscount’s condition, then lifted him onto his back and hurried toward the nearest hospital. He had seen the empty glass on the bedside table and decided that even the family doctor couldn’t be trusted.
After the butler disappeared with the viscount, the room fell into an eerie silence, as if the previous commotion had been nothing but a dream.
“…Phew, that was close. To think I thought it was a pointless task when the order came to keep an eye on the viscount. I never imagined something like this would happen.”
A man with a hood pulled low over his face appeared outside the window. Floating in midair, he clicked his tongue and smiled at the small glowing light nearby.
“Good job, Sylph. Now, let’s head back to the base and report to the deputy guild master.”
Flap. The light fluttered its wings in agreement.
With the help of the low-level wind spirit, Sylph, the man leaped over the manor’s roof and disappeared into the darkness, heading back to the Wings Guild headquarters.
It was the night when Diana and Kayden had fallen off the cliff.
* * *
“…It seems they won’t be returning today either.” Duke Findlay, standing with his hands behind his back, quietly muttered as he gazed at the entrance to the northern forest.
It had been two days since the Fourth Order failed to return to camp, with no communication. The sky was already tinged with the hues of sunset.
Rebecca, who was standing beside the duke, bit her lip at his words. She wanted to ask him, ‘What have you done?’ but she clenched her fist instead. If the duke had indeed taken some action, it would be her action as well. So she had to ask something else.
“Shouldn’t we start a search immediately, Duke?”
At her words, Duke Findlay turned to look at Rebecca.
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