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That day, when Azef and Rudhian came to Idris's mansion to visit him, Leticia came up with a plan to lure Deon.
"The Grand Duke will try to put the blame on Idris. So, how about we use that against him?"
"How?"
"We'll give His Majesty a gift first. And tell him to poison it."
"But how do we know what kind of poison that bastard will prepare?"
To Idris's question, Leticia answered with a relaxed smile.
"We don't need to know that."
"You don't need to know?"
"Whatever you gift, they'll prepare the right poison for that gift."
"...That's right."
"So, we just need to prepare another, intact gift to switch it with. Simple, right?"
Only then did Idris and Azef understand Leticia's words and let out a hollow laugh.
As she said, there was no need to know what kind of poison they were preparing.
It was a very clever and cunning bait.
Of course, only if Deon took the bait as she intended.
"But Deon will have other opportunities, even if it's not this time. Will he necessarily take the bait that's been thrown?"
After being lost in thought for a moment, Leticia smiled and replied as if she had come up with a brilliant idea.
"Then let's spread the scent of the bait a little."
Afterward, Leticia attended a tea party held before Azef's birthday banquet and deliberately leaked information.
As expected, Deon took the bait, and after that, it was very easy.
After swapping it with an intact gift, all she had to do was follow the servant lighting the incense to find out who was behind it.
Of course, she didn't forget to create an appropriate situation at the banquet so that Deon wouldn't notice it was a trap.
The result was the current situation.
The liquid that spilled from the broken glass bottle that Idris had broken touched the tip of Deon's shoe, and soon soaked into the carpet with a squelching sound.
The liquid that soaked into the red carpet looked like a bloodstain.
'How much does he know, from what point to what point?'
Deon swallowed hard and took a step back.
Judging from Idris's attitude, he seemed to know the whole story, but he didn't know how much he knew.
But one thing was clear.
He had fallen into the trap that Idris had set.
He could feel cold sweat seeping from his clenched fist.
Deon tried to appear calm, hid his emotions, and parted his lips.
"...I don't know what you're talking about."
It would be foolish to readily agree here.
At Deon's attitude, a cold chuckle escaped from between Idris's teeth.
"You really don't know?"
Idris got up and strode towards Deon.
"Why the incense I gave His Majesty had poison mixed in."
One step.
"Why the antidote for the poison in it is in the Canon family."
Two steps.
"Why you, who inhaled the incense with His Majesty, came straight here."
Three steps.
Idris came right up to Deon's nose in just three steps.
The sound of shards of glass shattered at Deon's feet crunching under Idris's shoes.
"Count Canon knows everything."
Of the two brothers who were staring at each other coldly, it was Deon whose eyes twitched first.
If Count Canon had confessed, there was no point in denying it any further.
Idris continued, looking at the stiffened Deon.
"Why didn't I think of this method sooner? You've always been thinking of killing me and my brother."
"......"
"I didn't think of using that motive in reverse."
It was then, as Deon glared at Idris, who was looking down at him, that Count Canon was seen slowly moving behind Idris's back.
Wanting to make up for his exposure, he was approaching a flower pot nearby.
If so, he had to keep Idris's attention.
Deon chuckled.
"Yeah, that's right. I've always wanted to kill you, Idris."
"......"
"From the day you first came to the Imperial Palace."
Maybe from that day.
From the moment he faced a strange child with eyes that looked just like him, standing next to his father, it may have already been decided.
"...Nice to meet you, brother. I'm Idris."
That the end of the brothers would be so cruelly cold, so terribly piercing.
"Especially, those eyes that are the same color as mine, even though you have the blood of a commoner... I wanted to gouge them out."
"Shut up."
Thud!
At the words insulting his mother, Idris grabbed Deon roughly by the scruff of his neck and slammed him against the wall.
His head echoed as it hit the wall, but Deon smiled as if even the pain was welcome.
Just seeing Idris's stiffened face was satisfying.
At that moment, Count Canon was seen approaching Idris's back with a flower pot.
Deon drew Idris's attention one last time.
"Not content with killing my mother, are you now going to kill even your brother with your own hands?"
The matter of the late Empress was Idris's Achilles' heel.
But Idris brushed it off casually.
"I killed my stepmother too, so killing a brother is nothing."
It was right then that Deon's face stiffened.
Count Canon, who had already approached Idris's back, raised the flower pot in a flash.
At that moment.
"But."
Idris waved his hand expressionlessly without looking back.
An invisible flow of air instantly sent Count Canon flying.
Bang!
"Cough!"
In an instant, Count Canon was slammed against the wall.
In the meantime, Deon tried to shake off Idris's hand, but it was useless.
Even if he had trained in swordsmanship all his life, he couldn't beat a war hero.
Deon gritted his teeth, looking at Count Canon, who had been thrown against the wall and was in a terrible state.
Idris added in a low voice, looking at his brother, who was filled with spite.
"I think you'd prefer to die in front of the people rather than by my hand, so I'll do that for you."
As soon as the words were finished, the imperial knights who had been lying in wait outside heard the commotion and rushed into the office.
Idris handed Deon over to them as if throwing him away and ordered.
"Take him away."
Count Canon, who had been caught, eventually confessed everything.
Thanks to the evidence and testimony he provided, Deon was immediately taken to the Imperial Palace prison without much disagreement.
But even though that problem had been resolved, Idris became busier than before.
"Lord Idris left early this morning. Instead, he told me to tell you that he will be back before dinner today."
Like this, so hard to see even at breakfast.
'Breakfast... Well, I guess His Majesty will take good care of it.'
The reason Idris has been busier recently is because of Deon.
Since there were forces supporting Deon since the late Empress, Deon's support base was solid.
If they were left as they were, he didn't know what variables they might act as, so he had to find them.
Of course, since it was a solid force, there were many people, so he couldn't eliminate them all.
Among them, there were definitely those who were better off embracing than eliminating.
By His Majesty's command, Idris was in the process of finding, appeasing, and classifying them.
Because of that, I hadn't seen Idris for a week already.
'Idris is working hard on his own work, so should I work hard too?'
While the servants were setting up breakfast, I opened the newspaper next to me.
As it had been for the past week, the newspaper was talking about Deon's rebellion.
After turning over a few pages of the noisy front page, the article I was looking for came out.
[The airship project developed by Grand Duke Dellua is about to begin full-scale operation next month......]
[The miracle airship, will it really open the skyways and find a new path for trade?]
That is, the airship project.
It was the work that Idris had entrusted to me, anticipating that he would be busy with this matter.
"I think I'll be busy for a while, so I'd like you to look into the airship project in the meantime. So that we can launch the airship as soon as this matter is finished."
"Ha, but I know almost nothing about airships?"
"That's why I'm asking you."
"That's why, you said?"
"If you don't know anything about airships, you'll know what points to appeal to guests who don't have any knowledge of airships."
For that reason, Idris had entrusted me with all the advertising for the airship project.
But...
'I can't think of a way to promote the airship while overcoming this huge event......'
Even in the newspaper, it barely occupies one space on the back page.
Ugh.
Suddenly, the cutlery in front of me caught my eye as I rested my chin on my hand and pondered.
Spoons of different sizes, even if they are the same type, depending on their use.
The moment I saw it, a brilliant idea flashed through my head.
'If it's this......!'
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