Yellian adapted quickly to the shackles.
Watching this, the one who was more baffled was actually Leonard. Of course, there were times when Yellian stumbled or tripped over the chain connected to the shackles, but they didn’t throw a fit demanding to be released.
“Ugh, so heavy. My legs feel like they weigh a ton!”
They did grumble like this, though.
“So, do you dislike it?”
“No, who said I dislike it? I just said my legs feel heavy, that’s all.”
Whenever Leonard tried to say something, Yellian would slyly dodge the issue as if nothing had happened, which was quite exasperating.
Whether Yellian knew Leonard’s feelings or not, they were too busy enthusiastically waving the fishing rod toy for Steamed Gamja and Geumdong.
“Yes! Catch it! Good job! No, not that! You’re supposed to catch this, not me!”
The problem was that Steamed Gamja and Geumdong, even while deeply engrossed in their hunting play, would switch their target from the toy to Yellian and pounce on them the moment they let their guard down.
Neither of them attacked with claws raised, but since they charged with full force, it still hurt quite a bit. On top of that, Geumdong, being a dragon, had an even sturdier body.
“Catch this, not me, got it?”
Yellian showed the two of them the worn-out toy. At that, as if they had never targeted Yellian, Steamed Gamja and Geumdong focused on their prey once again.
It was while Yellian was playing with the two of them for a while that a knock sounded, followed by Elton entering the room.
Since his visits were routine, Yellian didn’t even glance at him and stayed focused on Steamed Gamja and Geumdong, but noticing Leonard standing up with a stern expression, Yellian tilted their head in curiosity.
“I’ll be back, so don’t do anything reckless and stay put.”
“What reckless thing could I do? My legs are in this state. Oh, I’m not complaining, by the way.”
Yellian quickly added before Leonard could say anything. But Leonard didn’t seem to care about Yellian’s words at all. He left the room with hurried steps.
Watching the door close, Yellian couldn’t help but wonder what could be so urgent to make Leonard move with such haste.
* * *
“He’s dead? Are you certain?”
“Yes, it’s certain.”
“I need to see the body for myself.”
“I figured you’d say that, so I’ve already instructed them to prepare the horses.”
After a brief exchange with Elton, Leonard quickly moved forward.
Just moments ago, Elton had delivered bad news. The man who had tried to kill him was dead.
Leonard had specifically told the prison wardens to keep him alive, thinking he could be useful later. So for the man to suddenly die made no sense no matter how he thought about it.
The steeds carrying the two men kicked up clouds of dust as they galloped swiftly. Dismounting, the two hurried into the prison.
“Oh, you’ve arrived?”
“What happened here?”
Hans, the person in charge of the prison’s overall management, stammered as if flustered.
Leonard had previously instructed Hans to keep a close watch on the man and ensure nothing happened to him.
Hans, too, had been carefully monitoring the man who had attempted to assassinate the lord at the imperial palace, so he was simply dumbfounded by the sudden death.
“W-Well… we were keeping a close watch, but… he suddenly took his own life…….”
“He took his own life?”
Leonard’s eyes narrowed sharply. For someone who had been imprisoned for so long to suddenly commit suicide was strange.
If he had intended to take his own life, it would have made more sense to do so during the torture. At this point, they had stopped the torture and left him alone, planning to use him later. So what reason could he have to suddenly kill himself?
“I need to see the body.”
“Y-Yes! Understood.”
Hans led Leonard and Elton to the morgue. He was worried that the man’s death might somehow bring trouble upon him.
Swallowing dryly, Hans guided the two men and finally arrived at the morgue, offering an awkward smile.
“I thought my lord would want to see the body, so I had it preserved here instead of burning it right away. You’ll see it’s clean. There are no signs of torture or beating at all.”
Before Leonard could question whether the man had been tortured or beaten, Hans preemptively clarified. Since Leonard had ordered him to take good care of the prisoner, Hans truly hadn’t subjected him to any torture. He didn’t want to be falsely accused.
“How was he found?”
“Well… one of the guards brought him lunch, but noticing that his breakfast was untouched, he thought it was odd and opened the cell door, only to find him dead.”
Leonard scanned Hans with a piercing gaze as he answered in a trembling voice. There didn’t seem to be any falsehood in his words. In truth, Leonard didn’t think Hans would lie to him. There would have to be something to gain for him to lie, but since Hans was the one most inconvenienced by the man’s death, there was no reason for him to fabricate anything.
“He was strangled to death.”
“Yes, that’s right. He tore up a pillowcase and used it to strangle himself.”
At his words, Leonard furrowed his brow. Something felt off.
“Strangled himself, you say……. Don’t people usually say they hanged themselves?”
“Ah, well, he didn’t hang himself… he was found lying on the floor.”
“Lying on the floor? Is there anywhere in the cell to hang oneself?”
“Oh, no, not at all. There’s nothing like that.”
Watching Hans wave his hands in denial, Leonard tightly shut his mouth. He’d soon find out whether Hans was telling the truth or not by inspecting the cell himself, so there was no reason for Hans to lie. If that was the case, it meant the man died without hanging himself, which raised questions about whether that even made sense.
“Were there any signs of an intruder from outside?”
“Of course not. My lord, you know how tight the security is at our prison. There was no such thing.”
Leonard examined the state of the body with cold eyes. There were no external injuries. No signs of torture or beating either. If someone had strangled him, there should at least be signs of a struggle, but there weren’t even those.
“My lord, doesn’t this seem strange?”
Elton asked in a low voice. Instead of answering, Leonard looked at Hans and said,
“Let’s check the cell first.”
“Yes, understood.”
He led the two to the cell where the man had been held. The stench of the corpse mingled with the musty smell of the prison, filling the room with a foul odor.
Even Elton, who had seen and handled countless bodies, found the smell in the enclosed underground space particularly nauseating. He pulled his sleeve over his nose to block it.
“He was indeed strangled to death.”
Leonard muttered as he inspected the untouched cell. There were traces of excrement, a common sign on bodies that had been strangled to death.
Confirming that the man had truly been strangled, Leonard’s expression darkened. With a face as cold as ice, he stepped out of the cell.
“This wasn’t suicide. You can’t strangle yourself to death without hanging. No matter how hard you try to strangle yourself, you’d lose consciousness and pass out before dying, so it’s impossible to die that way.”
Leonard murmured in a chilling voice. Elton nodded and cautiously spoke.
“Could this be the work of someone behind the scenes?”
“Most likely. They eliminated him to prevent their identity from being exposed. Since they can use a silencing spell, it wouldn’t have been difficult for them to cast a spell to strangle him until he died.”
“I should have been more thorough……. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, Elton. No matter how hard we tried to protect his life, we wouldn’t have been able to stop that person.”
Leonard openly admitted defeat. He didn’t know who was behind this, but he had indeed underestimated them. He had thought that if he waited patiently, they would approach again, and he could find and eliminate them then.
But that person was unexpectedly cunning. They knew how to erase their traces completely. It occurred to him that catching them might be harder than he had thought.
“……The next time will be the last chance, I suppose.”
He instinctively felt that way. For someone who left so few traces, the next opportunity would likely be a matter of either them killing him completely or him capturing them. It would be one or the other.
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