episode_0177

Earningstern’s words were enough to leave everyone except a few who knew the situation dumbfounded.

The fact that he suddenly came to tell us about the poisoning incident and asked for Arsien’s cooperation was the same as saying that he believed Arsien was the culprit of this incident.

But even though they knew that, those present were unable to say anything.

“… … .”

What Earningstern brought up was merely a request for cooperation.

In this situation, if you refuse to cooperate or protest by asking if you are suddenly being accused of being a criminal. Because I could really be accused of being a criminal.

That’s why those here couldn’t say anything.

“Since you didn’t say anything, I thought you gave permission… … . Please excuse me.”

Earnest and his junior said so and walked past the head butler, who slightly blocked the way of the maid who was walking behind them and looked down at her with sharp eyes.

‘Chief Maid Liev… … . I must have told you not to cause any further confusion in the family… … .’

‘I remember you said that you would do anything for the future of your family. By any chance, have you forgotten?’

The head maid looked directly into the deacon’s evil shining eyes and gently lifted her chin.

Of the two people who did not back down even an inch, it was none other than the head deacon who backed down first. He let out a long breath and leaned to the side.

‘It’s already happened, I won’t get involved anymore.’

‘Hmph, the old man in the back room is watching.’

Seeing him like that, the head maid snorted and looked straight ahead.

Not a single word was exchanged between the parties, but just by looking at each other’s eyes, they could tell exactly what the other was saying and what they wanted to say.

With that, the head butler left the restaurant, and the head maid moved her gaze to where the two investigators were without even looking back.

“―― is it.”

“―Do you think this makes sense?”

While the conversation was not heard for a moment, Earningstern and Arcien were glaring at each other and engaged in a war of nerves, wondering what was being said.

To be precise, Arsien was only showing hostility unilaterally.

“Crawling into the Duke’s house without permission and suddenly asking for cooperation? To me?”

“Yes. Right now, the only person in the Rochelle mansion who can ask for your cooperation is you.”

It was certainly very unpleasant and irritating to come and ask for cooperation without any message. It was also rude.

But sometimes there is a need to step away.

Causing unnecessary friction was no different from making useless enemies. Reacting sharply was like announcing that it was your weakness.

This is nobility… … . No, it was an obvious fact for those who had reached a certain level of maturity. Arsien was too young to know that.

“That’s unpleasant. I refuse.”

Therefore, he openly refused to cooperate and showed his displeasure.

“Are you sincere when you say that?”

“Okay. And disappear from my sight right now.”

“I hope you realize that what you just said does not have a very good influence on you.”

Earningstern spoke slyly on purpose to provoke Arsien.

Although he learned about kings and how to behave as a noble, Arsien, who was still young and immature, fell into that very obvious trap.

“How dare you threaten the legitimate son of the Rochelle family?”

“What a threatening thing to say. I just gave you some helpful advice.”

“Playing with words… … .”

Arsien frowned and glared at Earningstern, and Earningstern calmly accepted the gaze and smiled.

“Hmm. Well then, let me say it again, Master Arcien La Rochelle. We ask you to cooperate with the investigation of this case.”

“If I refuse, you’ll say the same thing as before, right?”

“I won’t try to persuade you in the same way. Instead, compulsory execution will be carried out according to royal law.”

“In the end, it means I had no choice.”

Arsien said that and kept his mouth shut. Arsien thought for a moment and then nodded and said.

No matter how immature he was, he decided that since he was a nobleman, there would be no benefit in making more of a fuss.

“… … okay. Let’s cooperate.”

“Thank you for your voluntary cooperation.”

Seeing Earningstern smiling calmly, Arsien gritted his teeth and got angry inside.

“So. I said cooperation, but what can I do to help?”

‘Okay. It’ll be okay. My innocence will be revealed naturally anyway. There will be no harm to me if I cooperate. If he keeps complaining about what he was angry about earlier, just tell him that you did it because he came to you so suddenly and was angry at you for his attitude. And if you take advantage of this just a little bit. ‘Maybe we can send the woman who harassed Sarah to prison.’

Arsien, who was trying to control his anger, quickly calculated the gains and losses in his head and spoke. Earningstern nodded and immediately opened his mouth.

“First of all, I would like to check the body of Derquel La Rochelle, the former head of the family. Do you know where you kept it?”

“… … You’re making a pretty rude request right from the beginning.”

“The first step in the investigation is to confirm the victim’s condition, so I hope you will be generous and forgive.”

“… … Follow me.”

Arcien stood up, looked in the direction where Sera was, and began to walk slowly.

Earningstern follows Arsien for a very short time. I glanced at Sarah and started walking again.

“How long has it been since the previous head of the family passed away?”

“Today is exactly the eleventh and third day.”

“13th… … . There must have been quite a bit of corruption.”

“No, my father’s body did not rot. Before my mother collapsed, she completely froze my father’s body, saying that she would find the real culprit who killed my father.”

“I see.”

Are you worried that the body has decomposed? … . Earningstern frowned, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu at the strangely easy solution.

Double trap? No, triple? What on earth is this guy doing that makes such a complicated plan? For what on earth?

Earningstern, who was deep in thought, came to his senses when he heard the sound of a crack and stopped walking, and looked ahead.

“This is the place. The place where my father sleeps.”

The place we arrived at was a huge indoor garden with a circular shape centered around the body of the previous head of the family.

Earningstern blinked as he looked at the freshly blooming plants.

‘There’s no way they left a frozen body and decorated the area with flowers. Above all, these flowers do not bloom in just one or two years. The body was probably brought to the existing indoor garden.’

Earningstern narrowed his eyes and slowly approached the head of the family trapped in the ice.

‘The reason may be the Duchess’s stubbornness of not wanting to let go of the person she loved, her denial of reality as she cannot accept that her husband is dead, or perhaps she was placed here on purpose to remember her memories with her husband.’

Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now. Earningstern, standing in front of Gaju’s body, began to examine Gaju’s body lying in the transparent ice.

The matriarch’s face was covered in small and large spots, as if she had been hit by pebbles thrown from a catapult, and the area under her nose was purple and flushed, and the area between her nostrils and columella was so badly torn that it was even filled with pus.

Not only that, there were quite a few wrinkles on his forehead, and his cheeks were pale. The lips were also dry and cracked, as if they had burst, and there were yellow scabs at the corners of the mouth. Perhaps because he had lost a lot of hair, his forehead was quite wide.

“… … .”

It would have been nice to be able to look a little more at the ship, arms, legs, and other places, but there was no way to look any further since we were trapped in the ice.

However, it was possible to obtain enough information just by looking at the face.

“Senior, this… … . Isn’t that it?”

The big and small spots are skin rashes, and the purplish-colored area under the nose is probably dripping with mucus that keeps flowing and gets dirty as you wipe it.

The pus that formed in the columella was probably caused by the wound that occurred while wiping the nose getting worse over time.

And the wrinkles on the forehead and haggard cheeks were probably caused by a sudden change in weight, and the loss of hair was also probably caused by a sudden change in weight.

The reason my lips were swollen and there were yellow scabs at the corners of my mouth was because my lips were constantly dry and saliva was leaking out of the sides of my mouth.

“Oh, what you think is probably right.”

If there is one, it may be viewed as just a chronic disease or a part of an illness… … . If all of these things appeared at once, there could only be one reason.

After finding out the reason, Earningstern gritted his teeth and frowned.

“It is drug addiction.”

Derque La Rochelle died suddenly from drug poisoning, not poison.