Raven smiled when he saw her face, which couldn’t really capture her utter weariness that seemed to be quite at a loss.
“You’ve come to see my wife. If you don’t mind me, may I join you as well?”
“Haha, it wasn’t that big of a deal at all. I was just enjoying the conversation I had with my daughter as it had been a while ever since.”
The Count then quickly shifted his head to Molitia.
“Isn’t that right, Molitia?”
“Yes…”
Molitia could never defy the Count’s words. Her chin quivered unnaturally while she still couldn’t hold her eye contact with the Count.
Raven then carefully took a seat next to her. Her body was still shivering and it seemed like she had no intentions of meeting his gaze at all.
What the hell did he say until she got this terrified? Raven desperately tried to hold in his soaring anger.
All things considered, he was actually glad that he had informed the butler beforehand of his early return. He thought of having dinner, together with Molitia and he straight away proceeded to depart on his way home from work.
Upon hearing the news along the way, he hastily compelled his horse to pick up the pace as they galloped to the mansion.
If only he arrived a little later, she would have been through much severe humiliation. Raven gently placed his hand on top of hers that were laid precisely on her puffy skirt while still avoiding the eyes of Count Clemence, who was right in front of them.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, everything’s fine.”
He felt sorry towards her, who was forcing herself to smile with an exceptionally ashen white face today.
Should he just carry her to the bedroom like this? The Count who was right in front of him was utterly ignored. For Raven, the most minimal courtesy was enough for him as she was by far, Molitia’s father.
Didn’t some say that women were unable to omit their own family? Yet recently, Raven felt increasingly skeptical about the fact that whether or not he should be showing any kind of courtesy towards Count Clemence at all.
“And now, I even got to meet the Duke of Linerio. Despite having stumbled across each other like this, don’t we actually have something to talk about? So, why don’t we take on this opportunity to wrap up our chat?”
“Talk to me, then.”
Raven’s lips immediately thinned into a straight line.
‘I was wondering what really brought you here.’
It was because of that after all. As his unbearable fury was soaring through the roof of his head, his straightened lips curved before parting themselves.
“I believe there isn’t really much to converse about.”
“What?”
The Count was baffled as he responded unintentionally with a burst of laughter.
“Haha, you’re going quite too far. I believe that you have already received a letter from me.”
“Oh, that.”
Molitia was trembling evidently at the Count’s words. Seeing that, Raven exerted more strength against his clasp on her hand. Her eyes then turned somewhat slightly as she was brought to face him.
“You’ve already put together a lot of things which are apparently quite hard to obtain. Especially the Trimeric medicinal herbs that are not locally produced in the Empire.”
“That goes without saying. I’ve put in much effort for this business. So, Duke, let us profit from this opportunity that had risen…”
“Do you know that the said drug is able to become a deadly poison, which could easily kill a person?”
“What?”
Count Clemence’s voice echoed in the parlour. He didn’t seem to understand what Raven was saying at all.
“Usually, the ones that are used are only fruits and leaves. But, when you mix them along with the roots, they would develop into a dreadful poison that is lethal even with only a few drops of it.”
“Well, that’s… Trimeric is certainly a panacea of some sort…”
“Where could such a wonderful thing happen to be? I supposed the Count has just been deceived.”
Raven suddenly stopped smiling.
“Or did you deliberately bring it into the Empire with a different set of mind?”
“What are you saying, Duke?”
The Count raised his voice due to anger. His feelings were obviously projected on his face, distorting it dreadfully.
Bringing in poison? It could also be used as a means to assassinate someone. It was beyond a doubt that this would directly hurt the status of the Count in question.
Poison? Without the Empire ever knowing? He had absolutely no idea about this. The Count immediately shuddered at the unexpected controversy that was going on.
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