The Divine Hunter

“You mean to say my son has been trapped in a dream for a whole month?” Louisa’s jaw dropped a little, her eyes filled with disbelief. “Everyone dreams, so why is my son trapped in his?”

Roy looked at her closely. Her shock and disbelief didn’t seem fake. It was like she had no idea what happened in the garden that night. I wonder if we’re taking this the wrong way. She probably didn’t go to the garden that night. Roy’s heart sank. No. Louisa is Foltest’s favorite mistress. She’s more cunning than we think. She acts really well. It’s like that novel quote back in my old world. The prettier a woman is, the better she is at lying. We’ll have to use Axii on her.

“You’re right, Louisa. Most dreams only last for a night. Sir Aryan’s condition is really rare.” Letho kept quiet for a moment, and he said, “From what I know, there are three possible reasons this happened.”

“Go on, witcher.” The witch doctor stared at Letho and asked curiously, “What do you have in mind?”

“One, Aryan subconsciously doesn’t want to wake up.”

“Why? Why does he want to torture himself like this?” Louisa’s voice was trembling, and her fingers were white.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to face the truth. Something happened in the garden. Something repulsive and unbelievable. That’s why he ran away from everything and fell into a deep sleep.” Roy stared at the woman, and he saw a flash of panic appear in her eyes.

“My son is trained by the best knights in the city. H-He’s more resilient than most adults. He’d never run away like a coward,” Louisa answered weakly, oblivious to the fact her nails were digging into her hand. “That can’t be the reason.”

“Then let’s move on to the second possibility. The previous suspect, Amos, is a Gwent performer. However, he might also be a professional hypnotist. He could have planted suggestions in Sir Aryan’s head and put him in a deep sleep.”

The witch doctor and Lady Louisa held their breaths and focused on what Letho said next, “But we’ve talked to the troupe members, and from what they told us, Amos is no hypnotist. He doesn’t even know any hypnosis.”

“So you don’t think he’s the culprit?” Louisa licked her lips, and she tensed.

“Amos and Aryan are both victims here,” Roy said confidently.

Everyone fell into a moment of silence. If it’s not Amos, then who did it? The witch doctor looked curiously at the witchers and Louisa. He had a feeling they were hiding something from him, but the witchers were not on Louisa’s side.

A long silence later, Louisa asked raspily, “What’s the third possibility then?” Half of her head was hidden in the shadows, where the sun didn’t shine.

“Ah, that involves a little secret of the castle.” Roy glanced at the witch doctor. “We’d rather talk about this in private, Lady Louisa. If it’s fine with you.”

Louisa weighed her options and smiled apologetically at the witch doctor. “That’s all for today, Master Sasilie. You may leave. Sylvia will show you to your accommodation. We’ll keep this up until the talisman loses its magic.”

“Do you dislike me that much, witchers?” A frown furrowed the witch doctor’s brows. “I’ve told you about the prophecy, and this is how you repay me?”

“This might be more complex than you think, Sir Sasilie. We don’t want to drag you into this,” Roy said genuinely, then he turned to Louisa. “We’ll explain everything in time.”

The witch doctor put his hands on his hips and left the room reluctantly. He shouted, “You promised me a proper guest’s treatment, Sylvia, so get me a baby goat right now! I want a female one!”

***

Louisa closed the door and shut out the voices from outside. “May we go on now, witchers?”

“Of course, Lady Louisa. Let’s talk about the third and final possibility.” Roy smiled. “It’s about something we found in the garden.” Roy took out the card they found in the garden and showed it to Louisa. “Amos left us this clue before he was injured.”

***

Maria Louisa patted Aryan’s face with a wet towel again, as if trying to hold her fear in. “You know this already, of course, but His Majesty and I agreed to meet up in the garden that night—”

Roy interrupted, “Lady Louisa, when exactly did you start having an affair with the king?”

Louisa growled quietly, “Do you really have to pick apart a poor lady’s last shred of dignity?”

The witchers said nothing and ignored her plea. Roy knew how cunning this woman was. She could have been a great diplomat.

“Fine. It was during fall last year, at the king’s banquet. That was the first time he laid eyes on me.” Reminiscence flashed in her eyes, and she looked a little delighted thinking about it. “He was a very dominant man. Wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Wait. This whole affair started last fall?” The witchers exchanged looks, and they thought, And Anais was born about a year later. Foltest is a ‘powerful’ man.

Roy thought, Man, Foltest is really crazy. Princess Adda is a product of his incestuous relationship with his sister, and then he started an affair with his underling’s wife? The baron might snap and start working for Radovid if he finds out. “So what happened next?”

“What else? What can a couple do when they’re alone?” Louisa mocked.

Roy scratched his nose. Wow. A married woman having sex with a king in her husband’s garden. Straight out of SOD, but medieval.

“Aryan and that performer just had to show up right when we were about to climax. They overheard our conversation and realized that Setlov was His Majesty. Aryan was raised to be a knight. He has a strong sense of justice and won’t tolerate any misdeeds. He came right out and confronted me.” Louisa had a look of agony and shame on her face. “I was shocked. I couldn’t think straight. I had no idea how to explain this, and Aryan… Aryan stormed out of the garden.”

“Are you sure you’re not lying?” Roy asked, “Did you really let Aryan go just like that? What if he told the baron what he saw?”

“What else could I do?” Louisa asked, almost roaring. “Did you expect me to attack him? He’s my own son! I-I just hoped he would calm down and keep it a secret from his father. For my sake.”

“So what happened next wasn’t your fault?”

Louisa shook her head in agony. “I should have gone with him. Nothing would have happened if I did, but Amos was a bigger problem. We had to deal with him.”

Roy had more questions now. This isn’t what we expected. Are Amos’ disappearance and Aryan’s curse two different cases? “What’d you do to Amos?” Roy asked, “I’ve seen him before. He’s an annoying guy, but he doesn’t deserve to die. Where are you hiding him? And don’t tell me he ran away!”

Louisa stared at the ground. She said darkly, “Amos the Gwent performer. He was an insatiable man. His Majesty has promised to give him a mountain of coins. Enough for him to live in luxury his whole life. All he had to do was keep things a secret, but that wasn’t enough for him. He tried to blackmail His Majesty into granting him the title of nobility. Laughable, isn’t it, witcher?” Louisa scoffed. “A lowly, traveling performer, trying to become an aristocrat overnight. We couldn’t give him what he wanted, and His Majesty dislikes threats. He prefers negotiations. He pretended to agree so he could approach Amos. Then he stabbed the performer with a dagger, and…” Fear flashed in her eyes. “Strangled him with a talisman.”

“But we never expected that the performer would leave a clue behind in the form of this Gwent card. And then you two found it. You know the rest,” Louisa said weakly.

“He’s a cruel man, that Foltest.” Roy sighed. He was shocked about how easily Foltest could decide on committing murder, but then he thought it was just natural. Foltest must have led an even worse life before he ascended the throne. It would have been impossible to become a king if he wasn’t cruel.

“So where’s the body?” Letho asked. “You framed Amos and got rid of his body in less than half an hour without anybody noticing.”

“Oh, that’s surprising. You couldn’t guess where we hid the body?” Louisa heaved a sigh of relief and smiled smugly. “It’s a garden. It’s filled with flowerbeds. What better place to hide a body?”

***

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