197 Fatal Mistake Part 2 (1/2)
A maidservant rushed in to pick Konrad's silver plate. Lifting it, she bowed toward him, bowed toward the king, then prepared to take her leave.
”Wait. May his majesty dispatch one guard to make sure the girl doesn't embezzle or tamper with the food. I will also do the same.”
Now, there was no longer any need for pretense, and Ernst failed to fake smiles.
”As you wish.”
He then had a royal eunuch escort the girl, while Konrad dispatched a delegation member to do the same. Even if she wasn't well-versed in politics, the maidservant could feel the crushing weight of the plate she held. And the knowledge that she might be bringing poisoned food to a royal made her arms tremble.
If anything happened to the second prince, even if the king didn't immediately blame her, how could he not vent his anger on a later date? Without background, peerless beauty, or strength, a quick death was the best outcome she could hope for.
Still, she could not disobey. Because if she did, she would die on the spot. Droplets of tears filled her eyes as she turned heels and left the banquet hall. Again, a deathly silence dropped on the scene. And this time, music didn't dare resume.
The royals clasped their thighs in anxiety while Krann, the tenth elder and the remaining delegates didn't conceal their seething wrath.
Clearly, if the test proved conclusive, blood would flow.
”What have you done?”
Augusta asked Ernst through a mental message.
”Nothing.”
He categorically denied. Of course, his words failed to put her at ease. Still, she believed her husband wouldn't be retarded enough to not use a slow-acting poison. At least, they should be able to pass this hurdle.
Lena, the first princess, also thought the same. However, as they stared at Konrad's bright smiling face, and how leisurely he petted his cobra, they couldn't repress their apprehension.
Time passed in a tortuously slow manner, with seconds feeling like hours. Following an oppressive thirty minutes of quiet, the delegate returned alongside the eunuch and maidservant.
The maidservant dropped onto her knees and profusely kowtowed.
”Your majesty, please spare me!”
That those were her first words upon return, took the water alliance king aback, but before he could inquire on why he should spare her, the trembling eunuch also fell on his knees.
Only the delegate stood still, his eyes shining with unconstrained rage.
”SPEAK!”
He roared, and the eunuch, whose forehead was already full of sweat, also kowtowed.
”Your majesty…the second prince…the second prince is dead. By the time he finished the wine, blood erupted from all his orifices, and he perished on the spot. There was nothing we could do!”
As those words echoed, the water alliance king staggered and fell back on his throne. Simultaneously, the entire room went into an uproar.
”How…how could it be?”
”His majesty really dared poison Holy Flame Dignitaries to death during the banquet?”
”How could he possibly be this muddled?”
”What is the meaning of this?”
But as the whispers carried on, Krann slammed his hand onto the table facing him.
*BAM*
Then rose from his seat to turn a menacing glower toward the water alliance king.
”You have three seconds to give us a reasonable answer! Otherwise, I must change the monarch!”
He roared while brandishing Olrich's imperial token which he'd received from Konrad. Vast holy force erupted from it, and although the energy signature was that of a peak-stage True Origin Saint, the density already surpassed that of the average Fate Wrestling Saint.
The token's shape matched with the power rippling from it made its origin evident. No one had expected that the Holy Flame Emperor would bestow a token carrying such a substantial amount of his Holy Force onto that adopted human son of his.
And when faced with its dreadful might, Ernst floundered within his seat with sweat trickling down his forehead.