Fourth Prince's Debauchery

Five minutes later, General Anson and General Liko were in my house, looking at the young man I was stepping on with furrowed brows.

"Is he the assassin, Prince?" General Anson asked.

I nodded indifferently. "He is. He was an ex-classmate of mine and used that identity to get close to me. Fortunately, I noticed his intentions before it was too late. Otherwise, I could have died. He was very close to succeeding."

General Anson and General Liko looked at each other, both noticing the lies in my words.

No matter how they looked at it, it did not seem as I was in any danger.

"Prince Claus, are your claims really true?" General Liko looked at me coldly, hinting that I was using my power to incriminate an innocent young man.

Oh? So you plan to feign you know nothing about this assassination, huh.

Well, I don't mind playing that game.

I smiled slightly and nodded.

"Of course, it's true. Do you think I'm some monster that likes to incriminate innocents?"

��Of course not." General Liko frowned and directed his gaze towards the young man in the ground. "However, no matter how I look at him, he doesn't look like an assassin."

General Anson put on a pensive expression and looked at Alver as well.

Well, it was true Alver didn't look like an assassin.

He was bleeding from his lips and moaning in pain, unable to speak as I kicked him repeatedly.

Moreover, he was dressed as a soldier.

At first glance, he seemed like a poor soldier being abused by a tyrant prince.

I smiled and pointed to the bag on the table.

"You can check that bag if you want proof. But be careful, it's very poisonous… Well, it's not lethal, so you don't need to worry so much."

General Anson furrowed his brows before calling out to one of his men.

"Jackson, go and check."

"Understood."

Without hesitating, the soldier walked towards the table and opened the bag to check it.

Judging by his aura, he should be an eleventh-layer practitioner or so. With his strength, he should not be afraid of most poisons.

Due to that, the soldier touched, smelled, and even tasted the tea, not at all worried by my claims that the tea was poisoned.

Quickly, he frowned.

"General, it is tea."

"Oh? Is it poisoned?"

"… I'm not sure, but it doesn't look li–"

Before the soldier could finish speaking, his expression changed.

He hurriedly let go of the bag, but it was already too late.

In an instant, his nerves were paralyzed and his mana turned messy and uncontrollable.

Then, he kneeled on the ground before falling face down while groaning.

The two generals looked at each other with surprised and grave expressions.

"Such a powerful poison…" General Liko sighed before looking at me with a complicated expression.

Actually, General Liko was not feigning surprise this time.

He really did not know about this poison. He knew that Alver was planning to kill me, but he did not expect him to use such a vicious poison.

That poison paralyzed an eleventh-layer practitioner without giving him the opportunity to resist. It meant that he, a twelfth-layer practitioner, would have been unable to resist as well.

In fact, perhaps even General Anson, who was at the fourteenth layer, would be unable to resist it either.

"Did he bring that poison?" General Anson asked.

I nodded. "He mixed it in the high-grade tea. Moreover, the poison is in the fragrance, so it's very hard to detect. Fortunately, I'm a bit knowledgeable about poisons, so I managed to detect it before it was too late."

General Anson nodded. Immediately after that, his expression turned stormy.

"To think that someone dared to attempt an assassination in my fort! Prince, what do you want to do with him?"

"Obviously, kill him. Moreover, make it a public execution. I want everybody to know the fate of these who try to kill a prince of the empire."

After finishing these words, I smiled at the other general across me.

"What do you think, General Liko?"

"… I'm okay with that."

"Good. I agree as well." General Anson nodded and looked at Alver coldly. "Someone, come and take this trash out of here!"

Tears of fear escaped from Alver's eyes. He tried to say something, but he could not.

He had been unable to speak since the moment I called the soldiers. He could not write either. That was due to a spell I planted in his soul.

That was to stop him from saying something unnecessary.

I'm sure General Anson will torture him to get information about the person behind the assassination, but it would trouble me if he learns the culpable is Alan's ex-fiancée.

That is something I'm planning to use to blackmail her after this, after all.

Aware of his fate, Alver grunted, screamed, and struggled in an attempt to escape, but the soldier that grabbed him just punched his belly hard to stop him from struggling.

Then, he pulled him away.

Meanwhile, General Anson apologized to me.

"Sorry, Prince Claus. It's my fault that something like this happened. I should have told my men to be more alert."

"You don't need to apologize, general. The general in charge of the fort is another person. He should apologize instead."

General Liko frowned, but his expression remained calm.

"You are right, Prince Claus. I apologize."

I raised an eyebrow and chuckling in amusement.

"Don't should you kneel as well?"

This time, the indifferent expression of General's Liko did crack.

For an instant, a sliver of killing intent leaked from his body, but he suppressed it quickly before smiling.

"Stop joking, Prince. If there is nothing else, I'm leaving. I must report this to the capital."

I chuckled and said nothing, letting General Liko leave.

When he was gone, General Anson narrowed his eyes before glancing at me.

"… Prince, General Liko…"

"It was not him, the culprit is another person. Well, he also wants to kill me, but he had not made a move yet."

"Is it so?" General Anson nodded and narrowed his eyes. "I hope he understands his position. Otherwise, hmph! Right, should I send some of my men to protect you?"

"It's not necessary, General. It's not so easy to kill me."

"If you say so. I'll leave then. Contact me if you notice anything wrong."

"Thank you, General."