(From Blue''s Perspective)


    "The maid''s name is Sally," he said. "She is Mother''s maid. I heard other maids talking and found out that she was the one who made honey water and handed it to the other maid. When I asked her what happened, first she gave this weird excuse. She said that the cook slipped and fell since some water was on the floor for some unknown reason. And then she made the honey water to help him.


    Well, she can''t even lie well. When I started asking her more, she suddenly started acting weird, like moving her head and body strangely, screaming for no reason, and then..."


    "Then?"


    "She died."


    "Eh?"


    "She died," he repeated. "That''s what happened. "Ridiculous, ain''t it?"


    "She died? Just like that? I mean, there should be a limit to ridiculous things too, right? But what''s this? Did you make the doctor check her up?"


    "The new Imperial Doctor checked her up. He said nothing is wrong with her. She died because her heart stopped."


    "For no reason?"


    "That''s what the doctor said."


    "I sent a word to Luc as well. He is probably already there to check her dead body. He can see if any magic had been used. You see, if someone uses magic, traces of mana remain in the air. He can know since he is a mage. I came here with your doctor so he could check you, so I could not be there."


    ''You always do that. For me, you leave everything behind. What kind of king would leave his duty just to be with his wife?''


    "You know, you can go there..."


    "I don''t want to. Luc will just write a report to me," he said.


    "But I am fine now."


    "Can''t I be with you?"


    "It''s not like that. I just don''t think it is right to prioritize me all the time, even above your duties as a king."


    "My wife, how many times do I have to tell you this?" he mumbled, rubbing the side of my neck. "I don''t care about anything or anyone else other than you. It''s just you, only you. My duty as a king is nothingpared to my duty as a husband. I like to prioritize my wife more than anything else. You don''t have to feel guilty since it''s my choice."


    His hand felt cold against my skin. His words were not that warm either. In his mind, it was just me. But the way he said it was a bit scary. His voice was cold whenever he talked like that, making me tremble.


    I was wearing a thin gown. Perhaps Ruby put it on me when the doctor came to check me. I was so deeply asleep that I did not even notice. After marrying Dem, my sleep had oddly be deep. Before, I would wake up at the slightest noise. But now, I did not even wake up when someone put a dress on me.


    "What are you thinking?" he asked.


    "... Why do you think that something was in the drink and not in the food?"


    "If Mother did that, she would not mix something in the food. She is not an idiot. Actually, I think that Mother did not do it. But someone else is trying to make it look this way. It''s not that I trust Mother. She is still someone we need to be shady with, but this time, I have a feeling that it''s not her."


    "Yes, I think so too. I mean, why would she do it like this when she will clearly be the first suspicion?" I said. "But I can''t think of anyone else who can do this."


    "Yes, me too. Let''s see Luc''s report. Then perhaps we will find out something."


    "By the way, what did you say to Mother?"


    "Nothing much, I just had a heart-to-heart talk with her," he chuckled bitterly.


    ''Heart to heart talk? Did you yell at her?''


    Judging Dem''s character, it was not impossible. But I was worried that he went overboard. What if we found out that Mother never did anything like this? Even though Dem would not feel anything about it, Mother would be sad. I was in the same boat as him with the decision of not trusting Mother, but I did not want to be rude to her without knowing the truth. It was just not right.


    I would not feel good if my child behaved like that with me. Mother must be the same. But it was impossible to reason with Dem. He just did not care.


    "I sent her to a side pce. Evelyn said her family was going to move to a side pce as well. It''s for the best. I should have done it sooner. That''s how things are supposed to be anyway," he said.


    "Mother agreed?"


    "Yes," he gave a nod. "It wasn''t a suggestion, my darling wife. It was an order of the king."


    ''Giving an order to his own mother? I... have no idea how to feel about this.''


    "But Dem..."


    "It''s done. I am not doing otherwise," he said, cutting me off.


    "I see..."


    It was always like this. I could not change him much. He sometimes behaved as if he would listen to anything I would say. It was true that he listened to my requests and words, but there were some particr ces where he only listened to himself and did things his own way.


    Or how could he kill his own uncle just like that? He also talked about it as if he had killed a bug that had been disturbing him.


    "Will... will you tell me now what happened? Why were you angry? And about your... uncle?"


    "... You really want to know?" he asked and I nodded quickly. "I guess I have no choice but to tell you."


    "Today, I needed to go to the duke because that punk said he got someone for me. I thought it was one of his useless works since thest time he called me like this, he showed me the bastard who was behind the women selling incident."


    "He did a good job though... Why are you mad at him?"


    "He left him for me to kill. I clearly told him to take care of that piece of shit himself," he grumbled though I did not know what was there to be angry about. "I thought he has done something like that this time as well. But after I went there, I found out that it was my dear uncle."


    "Uncle? The duke caught him?"


    "Yes. That bastard uncle of mine was keeping an eye on you with the help of a mage! Well, he wanted to take revenge for his son''s death. But this guy is a pervert as well just like my father! Those two fucking assholes... He is married for god''s sake!


    And married or not, it''s not okay to stalk someone, really!"


    Dem had a questionable personality with some questionable characteristics. But even so, he had some principles that he always followed. One of them was- he did not like to stalk someone if it was not for work. He even hated those who stalked others because they were obsessed with them or liked them.


    "What do you mean by ''kept an eye on me''? It''s not like I do anything that can help him..."


    "He watched you doing everything. What I mean is, he even watched you having a shower, naked... He was telling me about it like a fucking creep!"


    "What...? Ew! That''s gross!" I eximed in disgust.


    I knew that Uncle Vector was not a good person. But I did not think he was like this. Well, perhaps I should have understood this after seeing his son''s personality.


    ''The apple doesn''t fall far from the tree after all.''


    It was clear why Dem killed him. He said countless times when we were doing it that he did not want anyone else to see me like this and would never let me be with someone else other than him. I did not have to ask him anymore why he did it and why he was in a bad mood.


    I sighed and looked away. He leaned his head on my chest and hugged me. He liked to do it a lot.


    "Are you scared of me?" he asked.


    "... I don''t know."


    No matter how much I tried, I always got scared whenever I saw him angry. It was mostly because of the cold look in his ck eyes. They made me shiver for some reason even if the anger was not directed at me.


    "I won''t hurt you. No matter what I do with others, you are someone who I will never hurt. You are my precious wife after all."