Chapter 181: [181] Circle Of Trust

For what should be the 100th time, the room fell into silence.

The baron was the first to speak. His face grew dark, his voice deepening with a tingle of rage. “Are… are you certain of what you just said?”

It seemed he had believed strongly that none of his people could actually betray him.

Eliron nodded. “I can not reveal why, but I am certain of this. Our investigations have made it clear that it is one of the three.”

“This is a hard pill to swallow.” Cornelius’ face hardened. “I refuse to believe it, those three are noble men, they will never turn against Kingsbridge or our baron.”

Cassie immediately cut in.

“I understand your reservations, Cornelius. But we cannot dismiss the investigations of the Elven lord either. If he says it is one of them, then I am certain there is truth to his words.”

“My lady. There is no solid proof of any wrong doing! God knows, it might even be an accidental leak, or a clever spell that exposed the baroness’ location—!”

“Enough Cornelius.” The baron said calmly.

Cornelius opened his mouth then closed it. “Forgive me my lord, I spoke out of turn.”

The baron took some time to digest all Eliron had said. “So, what is the real purpose of this meeting? There still seems to be a severe lack of evidence on your side.”

“It is good we are on the same page.” Eliron smiled. “Don’t worry, baron, I will not accuse any of your men without solid, irrefutable evidence.”

“Before the end of the day, all will be revealed.”

Duke cocked a brow. “The end of the day? Wasn’t it 24 hours you said it would take?” He asked, sounding confused.

They all turned to stare at him.

“Oh… a lie to throw the suspect off.” Duke nodded approvingly.

Eliron then continued. “Before we catch the culprit, there are a few things I must request, my lord.”

Eliron raised his finger.

“First, Yen is not a combatant, since we do not know who we can trust, I want your butler to check on her regularly.”

The baron stroked his jaw. “Would your people not be better for this task?”

Eliron shook his head. “They will be busy with something else. Which brings me to the second request.”

“I want two of my people to join your knights in guarding the baroness. They are high ranking knights that command the rest of your guards, I’m sure you know why new faces are needed.”

The baron sighed. “I understand… is that all?”

Eliron smiled. “It’s great that you are an agreeable man, Baron. That will be all on that front.”

Although the meeting had already spanned for over an hour, they were only done with the first phase.

Eliron breathed out a sigh.

“Now we can move to another important topic…”

“Curing the baroness.”

<••>

“You can cure mom?!” Duke immediately stood up from his seat, a look of pure joy in his eyes and tone as the table rattled.

“Calm down Duke. A leader must never reveal his emotions so plainly.” The baron scolded him.

“I apologize…” Duke said as he sat down.

“Still, I understand your excitement. This is the first time I have heard someone speak so boldly about her condition.”

He looked at Eliron, folding his arms across his chest.

“Forgive me if I don’t seem so… excited. But I have tried everything, naturally I am skeptical of your methods.”

Eliron knew just to what lengths he had gone to save his wife.

From hiring monks and sneaking them underground, to bringing in renowned physicians and spiritualists. Yet, none of them could cure his wife.

Even now, he was expecting another batch of experts. Of course, the operation was so covert that even the estate workers had no idea what was going on…

“As much as I recognize your other talents. I am sorry, but the answer is no. You cannot treat the baroness.”

“I hope this will not affect our relationship in any way…”

Eliron raised a brow. That was not the answer he had expected.

“Dad—” Cassie was about to protest when baron Pieter raised a hand to silence her.

He paused briefly, allowing his words to sink in before he continued.

“My daughter highly recommends you, but you are neither a doctor, an exorcist or a medical expert. I believe you understand my unwillingness to let you treat h—”

“Dark spots underneath the tongue, discolouration around the chest, strangled breathing, night and day time insomnia…”

One by one, Eliron began calling out symptoms.

The baron suddenly froze, he and the butler sharing a look.

“How do you know all this??” He asked.

Some of the symptoms Eliron had mentioned were things it took them months to discover.

There were not things he could find out from meeting her just once!

Eliron’s face was stoic, his tone calm as he spoke. “I know them because I am very familiar with the nature of your wife’s affliction.”

From the moment Cassie told him the surface symptoms, and when he got a look at her himself, Eliron was one hundred percent sure of what the problem was.

In the novel, thousands of people had been afflicted by this same ’disease’ and unfortunately, most of them fell before the solution was eventually discovered by the MC’s party.

“What afflicts your wife is not a disease or spiritual imbalance like you have been told.”

Eliron took in a breath.

“The baroness is cursed.”

The name of the curse was Decay. A nasty curse that ate away at the body, mind and soul, transforming them into undead.

And this curse… it was the specialty of none other than the Lord Of The Dead, one of the twelve titans.

The very thought of it caused Eliron to feel a bitter taste in his mouth.

’What the hell was a curse of his doing this far from Donia?’

Could it be that the lord of the dead had set his eyes on Kingsbridge? Or was it some lackey acting on their own volition.

Either way, Eliron did not like the thought of it one bit!

In the original story, this particular plot line had never happened. If it had, then half of the city, if not more would have been consumed.

It was clear that Eliron still had a lot to figure out, but for now, he pushed it to the back of his mind, choosing to focus on the matter at hand.

He grimaced. “It is a nasty curse. I suspect the baroness’ will is the only thing keeping her together right now. My guess is that she has a few days at best.”

The baron became pale, cold sweat flowing down his face.

“D-days?!” He blurted out.

Eliron nodded.

“My God…”

Every member of the baron’s household bore distraught expressions.

“Please, Lord Eliron.” The Baron pleaded. “What do we do now?”

Eliron smiled. “You are in luck, baron, I know just how to cure her. But it will need some preparations.”

“I will need a carriage and a coach man to take me to a neighbouring city. There are materials that I can only get there. I should be back in three days.”

The baron nodded vehemently. “Consider it done!”

Eliron pushed his chair back and stood up. “That will be all.”

<•••>

After the meeting ended, Eliron and his group returned to his room to make preparations for his departure.

Once they had locked themselves behind the door, Eliron did a stretch and jumped atop his bed.

“Damn it, who would have known this would be so stressful?”

“You worked out such a simple but elaborate plan, it is only natural that it would be a little stressful.” Artie commented as she took a seat by the side of the room.

Eliron sighed, staring straight at the ceiling.

“I guess you’re right…”

“Artie, Ash.” He called out. “While you are in the catacombs, there is something I need you to check out…”

After restructuring the catacombs to fix Marcus’ change, Eliron had sensed a strange energy within it.

He was not one hundred percent sure, but it felt a lot like magic.

Since then, Eliron had been bothered about it. What was the source of magic within the catacombs? And who had placed it there?

Strangely, he felt it might be crucial to their current situation, a missing puzzle piece that was vital to they had.

“Go with Duke and track down the source of that magic.” Eliron instructed the two of them.

“Yes my lord.” Ash replied.

Artie nodded in agreement.

Eliron sat up straight, smoothing down his clothes. “It’s about time I left. Good luck to all of you. Remember, stick to the plan at all costs, let’s end this before the day turns dark.”

They all nodded, dispatching to their posts.

<•••>

By late in the afternoon, the carriage for Eliron’s departure was ready.

He waved goodbye to his companions, entering the carriage as it drove off, heading to the neighbouring city.

Up in one of the rooms overlooking the estate, an individual stood in the darkness, hands clasped behind their back, watching as the carriage moved past the gate.

Their skin was as pale as a sheet of paper, and purple veins were visible on their neck, running from within their shirt, all up the way to their jaw.

Just as the carriage crossed the gates, a wide, eerie smile split his face apart from ear to ear, a sinister chuckle escaping his lips.

“Ah, he’s gone…” he said in a scratchy voice.

He placed his hand in his pocket, feeling the cold edge of a dagger.

Then slowly, as though he was picking up a fragile piece of glass, he revealed the thick blade and placed the tip against his finger, drawing dark, black blood.

“Oh little elf, it’s time to play…

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