The Forbidden Fruit

“About Anne, well……….we found out that she had been involved with some banned drugs it seems.”

“”!?!””

Hearing the shocking revelation from Lady Teresa, both me and Liz gulped.

“I-is that really true!?”

“There’s no doubt about it. Her pupils are wide open, and there was even a very peculiar smell on her, so……….”

“no way……..”

But…….in that case, the reason why Anne switched sides to Wilhelm was……

“Th-then, are you saying that Wilhelm somehow forced Anne into getting hooked on drugs??”

“Well, we can’t say that for sure but, at the very least, she had been abusing this substance for more than year at this point. Considering not long has passed since you entered the Academy your highness, I don’t think it’s that obvious.”

Then does that mean that Anne had been connected to Wilhelm for longer than a year?………………..ah.

“Could it be……..?”

“………..Lord Rudy, you came to the same conclusion as well, right?”

It would Liz seemed to have realized it as well.

If we had to think of a moment where Wilhelm would have had the chance to make contact with Anne, more than a year ago, meaning, even before Liz had become my fiancée………that means, it would have to be the day that man lied about his memories of that day to Liz to get close to her.

While trying to trick Liz upfront, in the shadows, he was also hatching these plans as well………!?

“Mother, we still need to wait for Maya’s report but, we have reasons to believe that Anne was actually connected to the scion of the Svalier house, Wilhelm.”

“Lord Wilhelm……….you say?”

Here, Lady Teresa was a bit taken aback.

She must have recalled how he was trying to court Liz a year before we got engaged.

“Ufufufu……….to lay his hands on one of my children, well, well, isn’t he quite the amusing lad eh.”

Lady Teresa smiled, the corner of her lips rose higher than I had ever seen before.

But, her eyes were filled with nothing but killing intent and pure rage.

“Prince Rudolf, Lizbeth. Now that things have come to this, the Fahlcrantz family will not simply stay put either. We will make him regret laying his hands on one of ours, for sure.”

Uwaaah……….she really is Liz’s mother alright……..

I finally understood where Liz got her chilling rage from.

“Then Mother, we need to tell all this to Father……..”

“Of course I will. But, it’ll be me who will be settling this matter. For this doesn’t concern the ‘surface’, this is a ‘underground’ matter after all.”

I see………..Lady Teresa is the one who controls the spies so I suppose it’s only natural that she’s the head of family’s darker side.

“In any case, we will only truly begin once we have gotten the final report from Maya. Before acting on anything, having concrete info is a must after all.”

“Yes, of course.”

Hearing her words, I too nodded.

I doubt the Svalier family could ever stand up to the Fahlcrantz family but, to make sure that we don’t face any unnecessary dangers either, it’s always better to have a perfect grasp on every piece of info on your enemy.

“now then……..It’s rare to have the Prince visit our house as well so, I must properly show our hospitality as well, no?”

“o-oh, no need to be so formal………”

“That won’t do your highness. And besides……….as a mother, I would certainly like to hear all the juicy details of whether you two have been living intimately in the Imperial Palace as well.”

“M-Mother!!”

“a,ahahaha………”

In the end, both me and Liz were trapped by Lady Teresa for a whole two hours and were made to tell in detail, every in and out of my life together with Liz……..

.

.

“I have returned………wait, you two, what happened here??”

“”………………………………””

Having returned from her investigations on Wilhelm, Maya looked at me and Liz sprawled out on the table with our heads down, with confusion.

As for what happened to us, well, after facing the relentless barrage of questions from Lady Teresa, both of us were exhausted, both mentally and physically at this point……….

“auauauau………….t-to ask all that as well…how am I supposed to show my face to Lord Rudy again…….”

“ah…………I see, I get it now.”

Seeing Liz squirm with her head in her hands, her face blushing red, Maya seemed to have more or less understood what had taken place.

I suppose, that really might be the Lady’s true form. She’s going to be a constant menace, I have a feeling.

“an-anyway, Maya, how did things go on your end?”

“Yes……….it’s not good news, I’m afraid……”

Maya then began to give us the details of her investigations.

As it turned out, the town house in the capital that belonged to the Svaliers was in fact completely empty.

The Svaliers were a dukedom, and held a large territory to the east of Empire that went all the way to the borders.

I’m sure the head of the family was probably there as well, in his own territory.

But………even if so, there are still a few servants that remain at the town house to take care of it. But to have nobody there, just what was going on?

“And, after searching through the empty mansion, I found this………”

Maya showed a singular small bottle with some kind of liquid inside.

“And that is?”

“………a tabooed drug, [Apium].” ^{(T/N: it’s clearly mean to be Opium but it’s spelled like this so I’m keeping it this way for now)}

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