Interlude: Hello, This Is Merii-chan!

After Hugh and Lilly left, Prince Lucas stood before the stain that was once Duke Letchery, accompanied by Deputy Commander Roan of the Kingdom Knights.

“This was really Duke Letchery?”

“So say Hugh and Lady Lilly.”

Like the monsters that attacked the gala, it had melted into a puddle, though this stain was larger.

“Damn, creepy as hell. Never heard of monsters melting like that.”

“Never heard of people turning into monsters either.”

“Ugh, no kidding,” Roan sighed, exasperated.

“What do we do? No one’s gonna believe this was the duke.”

“Once he turned into a monster, it’s all the same. Might as well say it saves us the trouble of covering it up,” Lucas shrugged.

The duke, his servants, and private soldiers—likely all monsters—would be treated as missing. Lucas had wanted to arrest and publicly condemn the duke to strike at Sley’s camp, but that was no longer the issue.

This was bigger.

“Roan, speed up the mansion’s search. Secure any survivors immediately. And don’t forget to collect any of that monster-transforming drug if found.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Roan’s command, the reinforcement knights began searching. They needed clues before Sley’s camp got them.

Fortunately, Sley’s nobles had fled the eerie, monster-attacked mansion. Only Sley and a few close aides remained, holed up discussing their camp’s future, not searching.

(If Marquis Puridy were here, he wouldn’t leave such an opening.)

Lucas considered Puridy the most dangerous in Sley’s camp. Almost certainly, Puridy would be expelled. Such an easy success in sowing discord was pure luck.

Lucas had earned Puridy’s favor. Known for his integrity, Puridy would likely join Lucas’s side, bringing other nobles with him.

Despite the monster attack’s irregularity, things were proceeding as planned. Lucas’s camp was close to formally entering the succession race.

(Tomorrow’s gonna be chaos, so it’ll wait a bit.)

The duke’s kidnapping and trafficking scandal would shake the kingdom. The nobles would scramble for Letchery’s assets and lands, leaving little for the disgraced family.

“Your Highness Lucas, come quick!” Alyssa’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

He looked up to see Alyssa with several knights surrounding a trembling maid. She was as tall as Lucretia, with dull gray hair in twin tails, her youthful face and slight figure eerily familiar.

“Who’s she?”

“Found her hiding in the kitchen’s pantry during the search,” Alyssa said.

Lucas had tasked Alyssa with leading a search team. She’d found this girl.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lucas. Your name?”

“M-Merii…” she stammered.

“Nice to meet you, Merii. Let’s move somewhere calmer. Alyssa, take her to our carriage. Can you stay with her?”

“Got it!”

Ordering the knights to continue searching, Lucas, Alyssa, and Merii headed to a plain-looking but luxurious royal carriage. Merii’s eyes widened at the plush seats.

“Now, tell me what happened in this mansion.”

“Y-Yes…”

Merii, shrinking, began her story.

She was a commoner hired temporarily for the gala. Clumsy and prone to mistakes, she was bullied by other temporary and permanent staff.

“The duke gave us nutritional drinks as a reward, but I didn’t get one…”

“Pale pink ones?”

“Y-Yes! We were told to drink them at the gala’s start. Everyone who did started writhing, then turned into monsters. I got scared and hid in the pantry!”

“Calm down, Merii-chan,” Alyssa said, hugging her.

“S-Sorry…”

(Her words show no signs of deceit. She’s likely trustworthy…)

Lucas had considered her a spy for Sley or another group, but his skill deemed her clean—just an apprentice maid.

“Merii, could those drinks have been served to the gala guests?”

“P-Probably not. They were valuable, the person who brought them said…”

“Who brought them?”

“Um, someone I’d never met, but a regular merchant here. A tall man in a hooded robe, so I didn’t see his face.”

“Was he here today?”

“…Yes, before the gala started. He didn’t meet the duke, just dropped off the drinks and left. Then…”

“I see.”

Merii’s account clarified things. The hooded figure Hugh saw yesterday was likely the same person.

(Why distribute monster-transforming drugs to the staff?)

If the goal was to attack the gala, the motive was unclear. Disrupting Sley’s succession? Too elaborate for that.

Killing the duke would’ve sufficed, with plenty of chances. Using such a drug seemed unnecessary.

(Were our movements predicted?)

Maybe they noticed Hugh’s infiltration and acted to hinder us or save the duke. …No, giving the duke the drug wouldn’t make sense then.

The duke got the drug yesterday, the staff today. If Hugh’s infiltration was detected, their purpose…

“—Silencing them, maybe.”

“Oh, makes sense. No need to kill them one by one,” Alyssa said.

“W-What…?” Merii gasped.

“They likely wanted to erase all traces of themselves. The duke, the staff—everyone. Killing them individually takes time, so they used the drug as poison.”

“S-Such a thing…!”

“Why not regular poison?” Alyssa asked.

“Maybe to cause panic at the gala, or they don’t value the drug much. Or perhaps they were testing it while silencing everyone.”

“So many unknowns,” Alyssa sighed.

Lucas gave a wry smile, agreeing.

(The monsters’ self-destruction to leave no bodies… Their coordinated movements, like they were under orders, are concerning, but we know little now.)

Speculating further was pointless; it clouded the truth.

(Hugh’s skill could uncover definitive clues easily, but that’d get too close to the truth.)

Lucas sent Hugh away not for Sley’s eyes or exhaustion but to avoid revealing too much truth through his cooperation.

(More enemies from that would be troublesome. A few clues are enough for now. Let them scheme, as long as they don’t interfere.)

Lucas clapped his hands to shift his thoughts.

“Now, Merii, about you.”

“M-Me…?”

“You’re the only survivor here. Know what that means?”

“Um, yes! I’m super lucky!”

“Nah, it means you’re in danger,” Alyssa said.

“Super unlucky!?”

“More lucky than not,” Lucas said.