PLMYP 47

Chapter 47 —

“That’s something to be excited about. How often do you see such a young kid not afraid of Heath?”

From a distance, the child’s small head looked about the same size as Heath’s fist.
From the child’s perspective, Heath must look like a giant boulder.

“Yes, you need that kind of courage to learn the sword.”

How could such a tiny girl not be scared when looking at Heath?
It was a very strange family indeed.

“…I think I need to make hand signals.”

“What?”

“We can’t let a noble young lady keep getting dirt on her hands forever.”

Vinn mumbled that at least this way she’d be “earning her keep,” and his eyes unfocused as if he’d already drifted into his own world.

Michelle had no idea that the hand signals he would create like this would later become so systematic that even the Information Guild would use them.

---

While Irenea was busy with her work, Leonard was focused on knight training, and Charlotte was training with the mercenaries…
Time passed, and at last, the wedding day was only one day away.

Irenea, Leonard, and the households of Marquis Blair and Count Elpheus gathered for a light wedding rehearsal.

Meanwhile, the servants were frantically checking—twice, even three times—everything for the wedding and reception: the garden and banquet hall, the guest annex, and all the furniture and tableware to be used.

In the middle of this busy chaos, Irenea heard “that news” on that afternoon.

“The marriage talks with Baron Schultz have finally been canceled? What about the 20 million larc?”

“We’re still confirming the details, but it seems likely he made some sort of backroom deal with the Duke.”

“A backroom deal…?”

From the beginning, Irenea had suspected that the enormous ransom demanded for the dog’s life was connected to this “backroom deal.”

If he pushed like that to get something from my uncle, then…

Irenea instantly thought of one thing—

The train terror attack.

She had every reason to be sure. It had actually happened in the past.

Even back then, the Emperor had been heavily invested in the railroad project. She openly declared her plans to lay rail across the entire Empire, and if any nobles tried to obstruct her, she would dig up their scandals and silence them.

If someone were to blow up a train or attack it, the Emperor’s wrath would be terrifying. That’s why Duke William didn’t use bombs or direct attacks.

Instead, he used an alchemist’s poison—spreading toxic gas inside the train to poison people, and then trying to blame it on coal smoke from the steam engine.

But there was a problem.

The alchemist’s poison, designed to resemble coal gas poisoning, had another effect—

It attracted ancient beasts.

If the train had gone somewhere else, that side effect might never have been discovered.

Unfortunately, the first railway ran through the Marquisate of Weindahl in the Empire’s southwest.

Because of this, ancient beasts from the Great Forest swarmed the arriving train—

Smashing walls and houses, trampling fields, and killing many people.

Certain this was an act of terrorism, the Marquis of Weindahl borrowed imperial knights from the Emperor to hunt down the culprits.

Duke William managed to cut ties and escape blame then, but a few years later, during the investigation of an attempted assassination of the First Princess, it was revealed that he had been behind the attack.

The person who played a key role in securing decisive evidence at that time was none other than Leonard—the “Golden Lion of Weinberg.”

That whole incident would take place about two years from now.
That was also when Kitsch and the other Guardians revealed themselves—at least that’s what she thought…

But right now, the important thing was—

Duke William doesn’t want railroads all over the Empire, because it would increase the Emperor’s influence.

Which meant that the moment Irenea convinced the southern nobles to start the railway construction, she became a thorn in his side.

On top of that, she was also the Emperor’s strong source of funds.
He would want to get rid of her while he still could.

Irenea realized what his plan might be.

“He’s going to try to poison me on the train.”

If the Marquis of Blair died from “coal gas poisoning,” it would cause a huge stir.

They’d spin the story as the tragedy of the train—a young marquis’s life taken by the Emperor’s greed.

If that happened, it wouldn’t just endanger her life; it would also cause problems for coal exports—potentially sparking international conflict between Ilum and the Empire.

So she had to stop this plot before it began.

“Have you found the alchemist the Duke contacted?”

“We’re still searching, but no solid traces outside the mansion.”

“Outside?”

Catching the nuance in that word, Irenea asked again. The shadow nodded.

“There are signs an alchemist might be inside the Duke’s mansion, but no proof yet.”

“What kind of signs?”

“You know the Duke loves dogs, right?”

“I know he especially liked one dog he raised, but is he really a dog lover?”

The shadow nodded again.

“It’s well-known in the slums. If you bring a stray dog to the Duke’s mansion, you get a silver coin as a reward.”

“A silver coin?”

The shadow nodded and added that this gave them a reason to approach the mansion.

“Once, we even brought a sick dog, and they took it without complaint. By now, I’d say more than fifty dogs have been taken in.”

“Fifty? That many?”

“Yes. But we’ve counted less than twenty dogs tied up in the backyard.”

The shadow leaned in and lowered his voice.

“Someone who went there recently said… they smelled burning dog hair.”

“Dog hair?”

“Not just hair. Something else too.”

He shrugged without explaining further. Irenea thought she understood.

That meant the alchemist was likely using the stray dogs for experiments.

“…If the alchemist is inside the Duke’s mansion, it won’t be easy to capture her, right?”

“The security is too strict. The best we’ve managed is spotting a silhouette from afar. I think it’s a woman.”

Unless they could search Duke William’s mansion under imperial authority, capturing her would be very difficult.

In the past, we caught Duke William, but not the alchemist who helped him.

The reason they failed was simple—no one knew she was a mage.

And she possessed a teleportation magic tool—one of only two in the Empire. The other was owned by the Imperial Family.

That magic tool originally belonged to Duke William.

Did she get it from him? Or steal it? And did she still have it now?

“Then can you at least find out what kind of poison she made?”

“We’ll try.”

He said it, but without much confidence.

After all, the Duke was hiding the alchemist, and the alchemist was hiding her research notes.

Finding those notes might be harder than capturing her alive.

If that’s too difficult, I’ll just have to guard against other angles.

Since she knew Duke William was plotting something, she could avoid danger by keeping an eye on Baron Calio—and also the Second Prince.

He used to follow the Duke like an uncle, only to be used and thrown away. This time will be the same.

She remembered the Emperor’s letter, saying the Second Prince was very remorseful and should be given a chance to apologize and make peace.

Remorse, my foot.

If he were truly sorry, he should apologize to Leonard, not her.

But would he ever apologize to Leonard, whom he once looked down on as an illegitimate child and ex-mercenary?

Absolutely not.

The Emperor seemed to have no suspicions, but Irenea was sure the Second Prince was scheming something.

The thing to watch for is probably whatever wedding gift he gives me…

Well, if that’s the case, hopefully it’s something shocking.

Like poison made by the alchemist, for example.

---

“So starting tomorrow, you’ll be a married man, Count?”

It was late at night. The wedding was the next day, but Leonard was still finishing paperwork he couldn’t delay.

Edward, who also got up early like Leonard, was yawning constantly from fatigue.

Even so, the corners of his mouth kept twitching upward. Leonard couldn’t help but ask—

“I’m the one getting married. What are you grinning about?”

“To be exact, I’m happy you’ll officially own that 500 million larc dowry.”

The 10 million larc check Leonard had given him to find a new place to live was still in Edward’s possession—locked away in a bank vault, too afraid to lose it or have it stolen.

He hadn’t deposited it in his account for one simple reason—Leonard might ask for it back someday.

“That 10 million was a bonus for my good work, right? You’re not going to ask for it back, right?”

“Why would I? You agreed to work for free, remember? Actually, good timing—give it back. You still don’t have a place to live.”

“Ah! Count!”

Edward whined about how Leonard could do this to him, but Leonard just laughed.

Without realizing it, some of the tension he’d been carrying eased.

Telling Edward to go get some sleep, Leonard lightly kicked him in the rear.

“I’m going to cry at your wedding tomorrow! I’ll cry like there’s a tragic backstory!”

“Go ahead. That’ll ruin your chances of marriage, not mine.”

Realization dawned on Edward’s face like a shocking revelation. Leonard chuckled—life was never boring with him around—and parted ways.