Chapter 58

Chapter 58. Are You Planning to Run Away After Death? (3)

Everyone in the dining room turned to look at Butler Prosciutto. The knights, confused, spoke up.

“Why are you leaning against the pillar?”

“More importantly, you said that the poisoner isn’t Elder Panir.”

“What on earth is going on!?”

Amid the chaos, Panir’s booming voice echoed through the dining room.

“Keter, you rascal! What kind of nonsense are you pulling in front of me!?”

Suddenly hearing Keter’s name mentioned, the knights were bewildered. Gasilious also chimed in.

“Master Keter. Could you please come out from behind the pillar?”

At that, Keter actually stepped out from behind the pillar and spoke.

“The atmosphere was too tense, so I decided to do a little performance. Pretty convincing, right?”

“You fool, how dare you act like this here!”

While others were confused, Panir, upon seeing Keter, completely lost his temper and mimed shooting a bow.

But it wasn’t just a mime. A bow and arrow made of aura instantly appeared and shot towards Keter.

However, his arrow was intercepted mid-air. Gasilious, who had anticipated this, shot it down.

“How dare you block me?”

Panir aimed at Gasilious, and Gasilious aimed back at Panir.

As the two 5-star knights began to unleash their aura, the entire building started to shake. The knights turned pale, and some servants fainted.

In the midst of this, Keter intervened. He then calmly spoke to Panir, who was aiming an Aura Arrow at him.

“Old man, you don’t like me, do you?”

“This whole situation is your fault.”

“That might be true.”

“What!?”

“I don’t like you either, old man. That’s why I stepped in. If you’re going to be defeated, it should be by me, not someone else.”

“You’re as crazy as Basil said. That sounds like you knew about this whole thing!”

“I found out an hour ago. I heard that the Lord and you were having a meal together. That’s when I realized. It was a trap.”

“Ha! On what basis?”

“Here.”

Keter tapped his head as he spoke.

“My brilliant mind is the basis itself.”

“……”

The onlookers blinked in disbelief. Those who had seen Keter before had expressions that said, “Of course.”

Panir was momentarily stunned before speaking.

“After all this, that’s what you have to say…!”

“Enough of that, the culprit is among us!”

Keter confidently stated the obvious.

The head butler, Subid, who had been observing, spoke up.

“Master Keter. Now is not the time for jokes. The Lord has been poisoned, so we need to call a doctor immediately.”

At that, Keter glanced at Basil and said.

“Judging by his condition, he’ll wake up soon. The culprit wasn’t targeting the Lord, but Elder Panir.”

“Preposterous. I will take the Lord out. Sir Gasilious, why aren’t you arresting Elder Panir as the prime suspect?”

“Don’t move! The one who moves is the culprit.”

Subid, who was about to carry the Lord, glared at Keter.

At that moment.

“Head Butler Subid. Excuse me for a moment.”

Gasilious stopped restraining Panir and approached the unconscious Lord.

His movement was so swift that Subid had no time to react.

“Hmm… It seems he’s not in critical condition.”

At Gasilious’s words, Subid panicked and said.

“Sir Gasilious. Are you believing that lunatic now? A lowly bastard who doesn’t even know his place is meddling in this matter.”

“Head Butler. Why are you so flustered? This isn’t like you.”

“The Lord’s life is at stake. How can I not be angry when Master Keter interferes without knowing his place?”

“The Lord will be fine. I stake my name on it.”

Gasilious spoke so firmly that Subid turned to the surrounding knights.

“What are you all doing? The Lord is in critical condition, and you’re just standing there?”

This time, Keter stepped forward.

“That’s too much. Are you saying the Lord of Sephira would fall into critical condition from mere poison?”

At Keter’s words, the knights silently nodded.

Lord Basil is a master-level knight. He’s not the kind of man to be taken down by mere poison. Besides, didn’t Sir Gasilious also assure us? The Lord will be fine.

Moved more by emotion than reason, the knights didn’t easily budge under Subid’s pressure.

“So, who is the culprit behind this incident? Master Keter.”

Gasilious asked Keter.

Everyone focused on Keter’s words. Even Panir, who had been excitedly glaring, put away his bow and arrow and stared at Keter.

Keter glanced around at the people nearby. Those who met his gaze flinched but didn’t look away.

Panir glared even more intensely at Keter, while Gasilious remained unchanged.

However, only one person—

Subid unconsciously lowered his gaze slightly before quickly looking back up.

“The culprit is you!”

Keter’s finger pointed at Head Butler Subid.

* * *

“Haha, hahahaha.”

The accused Subid laughed frivolously. His laughter echoed through the dining room.

Eventually, Subid stopped laughing and shook his head.

“I don’t know how long I have to indulge in such childish antics.”

He made a gesture seeking agreement, but no one joined him.

Just today, Keter had achieved a great feat. He had fought and captured the knights of the Baydant family. Thanks to that, Keter now had a voice.

Subid, understanding this phenomenon, didn’t argue and spoke.

“I’ll listen. Why am I the culprit, who has served two Lords? Master Keter. Do you have any evidence?”

Subid was very confident.

Evidence? There was none. No one knew that the chef and he had conspired. Unless the chef himself revealed it.

But something was off. Keter spoke as confidently as if he had evidence.

“There’s no way there’s evidence. You’re not a fool.”

“……!?”

It was sophistry, but there was some truth to it.

Before Subid could retort, Keter continued.

“Instead, I have a witness.”

“……!”

At Keter’s words, everyone stirred.

“Come on in.”

At Keter’s words, everyone looked towards the dining room entrance.

But no one entered.

Subid chuckled and said.

“Really, how long are you going to keep up this joke…?”

Creak.

The sound of a door opening was heard.

But it wasn’t from the dining room entrance. It was the sound of the kitchen door connected to the dining room opening.

Everyone’s gaze turned in that direction.

“Ah, no?”

“That person!”

Though his face was too battered to recognize, his chef’s uniform and portly figure made it easy to tell who he was.

The head chef of Panir’s mansion, Hulan.

Subid’s pupils began to tremble slightly.

Keter approached Hulan, put an arm around his shoulder, and said.

“Hey, say it again. Who told you to do what?”

“S-Subid Head Butler told me to put poison in the Lord’s soup.”

Even with his teeth missing and his speech slurred, no one failed to understand his words.

Everyone looked at Head Butler Subid with disbelief. Subid spoke in a tone of incredulity.

“Perjury! It’s obvious you forced a false testimony through violence!”

“‘This witness is fake,’ is that what you want to say?”

“Of course!”

“The Lord was poisoned. Is that also fake?”

“That… is true.”

Subid himself was the one who had rushed to the Lord first and fed him the antidote.

“Subid, you acted as if you knew the Lord had been poisoned. Without any confirmation, you immediately fed him the antidote.”

“Are you going to keep pushing this nonsense? There were no intruders, no attacks. If he vomited blood during the meal, what else could it be but poison?”

“I wanted to hear that. ‘The Lord was definitely poisoned,’ those words. Now! Then where was the poison?”

Gasilious answered that.

“The Lord only had soup.”

“Then the poison must have been in the soup.”

Thud, thud.

Keter circled around Subid.

Subid’s tension was at its peak. He couldn’t grasp what Keter was trying to say, making it impossible to prepare a counter.

“Poison is very tricky to store. That’s why it’s kept in specially treated glass bottles. Even Head Chef Hulan here received a glass bottle. From Subid, a glass bottle containing poison.”

Keter, who always took his time, immediately pulled out a glass bottle from his pocket and held it up.

Everyone looked at the glass bottle.

That’s the glass bottle containing the poison that nearly killed the Lord!

At that moment.

Subid shouted.

“Ha! How ridiculous! Are you trying to fool someone with that fake!?”

At Subid’s words, everyone fell silent.

Those who hadn’t grasped the situation just blinked, while the quick-witted ones’ eyes widened.

Keter drove the nail in.

“How did you know it was fake the moment you saw it, old man?”

“Wha-!”

“No!?”

Those who had been silent couldn’t contain their shock.

“Gasp!”

Even the seasoned Subid took a step back, gasping for air.

It was an action tantamount to a confession.

“O-Of course! If the culprit wasn’t a fool, they would have disposed of the poison bottle. Bringing it here intact is obviously fake!”

Subid tried to counterattack belatedly.

But the gaze had already shifted. The eyes looking at him narrowed and sharpened.

“Subid. As you said, this is fake. We need to sort this out here. Was the Lord eating soup by chance? Or was it inevitable?”

Only two people could answer that question. Gasilious and Panir, who were present at the scene.

Gasilious spoke with a grave expression.

“It was Head Butler Subid who recommended the soup.”

“Even if Subid hadn’t recommended it, would the Lord have eaten the soup?”

“He wouldn’t have. The situation wasn’t like that.”

Gasilious couldn’t believe what he was saying.

Why would Head Butler Subid do this? Why would he poison the Lord to frame Elder Panir?

It was an incomprehensible action. But all the circumstances pointed to Subid being the culprit.

At that moment, Head Butler Subid took off his monocle and spoke.

“So, do you have evidence? Not just words, but solid evidence. Motive and evidence that I poisoned the Lord’s soup.”

It was a last-ditch effort, a solid defense.

Motive and evidence. Even those who had thought Subid was the culprit were stirred by his words.

“Certainly, Head Butler Subid has no reason to poison the soup.”

“Subid served three Lords. He wasn’t on bad terms with Elder Panir either.”

Thud!

Keter stomped the ground to gather attention.

“Then let me ask the opposite. Where is the evidence that Elder Panir poisoned the Lord’s soup?”

“Elder Panir has a motive. Sir Gasilious. You know what I mean.”

“Hmm……”

Gasilious swallowed hard and said nothing. It was a sign of agreement.

“Also, I have solid evidence.”

Subid smirked and clapped his hands.

“……”

But nothing happened.

Subid, panicking, clapped his hands again.

Then Keter spoke.

“Stalling for time? That’s an old trick.”

“Let me go out for a moment. I’ll bring the evidence myself.”

“Is that evidence, by any chance, this?”

Keter pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

Subid’s eyes widened at the sight of the paper. The others, unable to discern what it was, were merely curious.

“How, how do you have that!?”

“A maid was fidgeting and pacing, so I searched her and found this. She said she was ordered by you, Subid, to bring this letter as if she had found it by chance when given a signal.”

“Master Keter. What is that letter?”

When Gasilious asked, Keter spoke in a nonchalant tone.

“It’s a letter about my existence. A letter my mother sent to my father.”

“Why would Head Butler Subid have such an important letter…?”

“Perhaps the Lord lost this letter. If it were found in Elder Panir’s mansion, what would that imply?”

“……!”

Only a fool wouldn’t understand.

If the Lord was poisoned while dining with Panir, and a missing letter was found in Panir’s mansion?

Panir would be branded a traitor without a doubt.

A perfect trap.

“You’re writing a novel. What motive would I have to frame Elder Panir?”

“Perhaps Elder Panir knows?”

All eyes turned to Elder Panir. His words would decide everything.

Keter stared intently at Panir.

This is the final hurdle.

Following the scent of the incident to Panir’s mansion was the right move.

Cornering the anxious Head Chef Hulan to learn the circumstances was good, but there wasn’t enough preparation time.

Searching the mansion and finding the suspicious maid to discover the letter was the best I could do.

‘From here on out, it’s the realm of coercion and perjury.’

Head Butler Subid was no pushover. I pressured him psychologically to make him slip, but he recovered.

As he said, there’s no evidence.

I couldn’t find a motive.

But he’s definitely the culprit.

Here, pushing hard is the most important.

Panir is the key.

It’s very simple. If Subid isn’t the culprit, Panir becomes the culprit. He’ll have to defend himself actively.

‘There’s a choice. Suicide, or confession.’

Just confess. It’s fine to make something up. Just say that Subid is the kind of person who would do this.

But Panir hesitated.

Between suicide and confession, which to choose.

It was because of Keter.

‘No matter why that brat is helping me, I don’t like it. Even if I die, I can’t let that brat run rampant in this family any longer.’

Panir’s thoughts were utterly destructive.

I’d rather die than accept help from that lunatic Keter.

Panir knew it was an irrational decision, but he was tired. Tired of all this intrigue and chaos.

He even thought it would be better to admit to the poisoning and die cleanly. At least then, he wouldn’t harm Sephira.

“I……”

As Panir was about to choose suicide-

“Elder Panir!”

Someone’s voice snapped Panir out of his thoughts.

Panir was furious.

Is this voice another of Keter’s tricks?

It was Catherine’s voice. The one he cherished like a daughter, having no family of his own.

But she couldn’t be here. She was under house arrest.

‘Keter, you plan to mock me till the end. Fine. If I’m going to die, I’ll take you with me.’

Panir, filled with killing intent, glared at Keter.

And the next moment, Panir’s eyes widened to the extreme.

Beside Keter stood a woman.

It was Catherine.