Book 4: Chapter 6
It took no time at all for news that Prince Demetrio had been poisoned to spread across the city. For better or worse, he had narrowly escaped death. The incident passed from a poison assassination to a failed attempt.
But that didn’t mean they could be relieved. Demetrio had yet to fully regain consciousness, and the criminal had not been caught yet. Those employed at the manor trembled with fear that they would be the ones blamed and executed, and the faces of the nobles in his faction turned pale at the thought of their uncertain future. Mayor Cosimo looked as if he might faint from the scandal.
As Wein racked his brains over how to weather through the situation, trouble arrived. The city guards had come running, requesting that everyone in the manor, Wein included, come with them to headquarters for questioning.
“Don’t be rude! Do you really think His Highness is the criminal?!”
With Ninym at the forefront, Wein’s attendants rose up in opposition. But the guards would not be moved. From their perspective, there was verbal testimony that the perpetrator had escaped, but there was also the possibility that Wein had compelled everyone on the scene to keep their mouths closed.
To restore their lost honor, the guards had to arrest the criminal. Even if he was the prince of a nation, they couldn’t let him off the hook so easily.
“There’s no other way, huh. I’ll go.” Wein finally gave in, seeing that arguing would be pointless.
But this led to rumors that Wein had been arrested as the assassin. The gossip of the town began to blow it out of proportion, as people speculated that the attempt on Demetrio’s life was the work of Natra and Lowellmina’s factions.
“Gweh?!” Wein imagined Lowellmina would cry out in the future when the news reached her ears.