Aria looked down at Cuirre's special potion.
A dark-red liquid with an unknown bubble bubbling.
It was a very vicious visual that seemed to take life by vomiting blood the moment it was touched.
'Are you trying to assassinate me so proudly?'
But the doctor's eyes were very solemn. It was full of will to somehow transform her fragile constitution into a healthy one.
It was very desperate, as if someone had threatened to kill him.
"I was told that you collapsed from exhaustion while walking."
Aria heard that and raised her head.
Tristan leaned his back against the post of her bed, looking down at her with a slanted face.
Then Cuirre's shoulders shivered and trembled. He suddenly began to shake his whole body like a blizzard in midsummer.
'It seems this is the one who threatened you.'
She roughly expected it, though.
At that moment, Lloyd, who was standing opposite the Grand Duke, murmured in a low, subdued voice as if scratching the floor.
"I've heard that it's not a physical problem, but…"
Then Cuirre turned his face as well as his blue lips, and started sweating profusely like rain.
'Maybe this one too?'
Cuirre seemed to be suffering all sorts of troubles because he was caught between the two Valentines. He is being threatened with death by the Grand Duke and the Grand Prince at the same time.
'Sorry. I often get sick….'
Aria had no choice but to stare at Cuirre with a very pitiful gaze for a moment.
She thought that from now on, she should not be too reckless and think about the future.
"She must've got the heat. Out of bounds, there was something called heatstroke!"
Dana said very hard to herself. She clenched her fists and groaned, unable to hide bitterness towards her ignorance.
"I didn't think about it and I was afraid that she might catch a cold, so I foolishly wrapped a shawl in the summer…"
Without the shawl, Aria would have already been bitten by the taxidermist and would not be here by now.
Because of the chief lady-in-waiting's excessive worry, she had actually saved Aria's life.
"I shouldn't have left the Miss' side even for a second…"
And Betty squeezed tears. If she hadn't left Aria's side, she would have been like the jaguar.
'No.'
Since the jaguar is a silent beast, it was kept alive without having to kill it. If there were any witnesses, they would certainly have dealt with it mercilessly.
Rather, the two women would have survived because they had not been by Aria's side.
'I can't help it.'
Aria squeezed her eyes shut and gulped down the mysterious potion.
Contrary to the appearance as if possessed by an evil spirit, the taste was surprisingly not as painful as she thought it would be.
'Uh….'
This meant that she could barely swallow it without picking up the taste.
"Ahh, you're amazing."
Dana held out the star candy bottle. Aria took it all in haste and poured it all into her mouth.
She seemed to have lost her sense of taste, seeing that she ate the candy in chunks, but had no taste at all.
'Instead of getting healthy, I lost my sense of taste. Could this be the law of equivalent exchange?'
But, do they really have the same value? She didn't know it would be more of a loss.
Recently, when she was able to understand the saying 'living to eat', she took it seriously.
'Health and taste, which is more important?'
It was cute, though, to see her with a serious expression with her cheeks full of a lot of star candy.
Tristan, who was looking down at the scene, began to speak.
"Is that really all?"
Maybe he knows something?
Aria was so surprised that she almost lifted her head to the point where it was bent.
'No, he didn't notice.'
Even if someone found traces of an intrusion, there was no way that they would have thought that a child had defeated the unidentified assailant alone.
She tilted her head, pretending not to know anything. It's just the jewel-glinting eyes as she stares up and the cheeks munching on the candy, puffed up like a squirrel.
At that moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on Aria and did not fall.
"Huh."
Before Tristan could make a decision, he placed his hand on her head and patted her gently.
And he mumbled and burst out laughing as if it was ridiculous.
"Are you saying this is cute?"
Aria's head was pressed hard by the uncontrollable, merciless hand.
I think I remember being crushed like this before….
'Are you trying to pet me?'
She couldn't even guess. She just thought she wanted to get rid of it.
"Well, don't overdo it."
"….."
"Because I don't know what I'll do if you're hurt too badly."
Her head shook back and forth and her eyes frowned. Aria wanted someone to teach the Grand Duke how to stroke her hair, she thought.
That was the moment.
Lloyd, who hardened his expression, pulled the Grand Duke's hand away from Aria.
"Isn't it painful?"
And he whispered coldly.
"….."
Tristan was staring alternately between his fingers, which were completely bent back and his son.
"It's my fingers that were painful."
"I'm sorry it wasn't broken."
"It would be nice to have a little more power."
What is this bloody atmosphere?
Valentine's two father-and-son's gazes entangled wildly in the air, and a sense of veiling tension passed.
That was then.
With the sound of a brief knock, the Grand Duke's lieutenant appeared.
"Your Grace, I think you should come out for a while, but…"
Without further ado, Dwayne found Tristan and Lloyd, who was exuding a bloody atmosphere.
He just said it was fine.
"Ah, the Grand Prince is also here. I have something to tell you two."
"What's going on?"
"That is..."
Dwayne glared at Aria with a troubled glow on his face. Maybe he thought it wasn't something he would say in front of a small child.
"Tsk."
Tristan left the place with a short click of the tongue. No, he was trying to get away.
Aria, who reached out her hand hastily, grabbed the hem of the Grand Duke's robe and looked up intently.
"Do you have anything to say?"
Well, she guesses she'll have to listen to Dwayne's report, so she caught Tristan.
But she couldn't say that.
Aria pretended she was a little child who was sick and wanted everyone to be by her side, as she lowered her eyelashes and trembled pitifully.
And as she raised her gaze, she hesitated and held out a card.
[I want to be with you.]
"….."
[Father and Lloyd. Together.]
The two father-and-son looked down at the cards for a moment and were silent.
And when they confronted each other, now, with Aria in between, they sat down on either side of the bed.
The tense threatening aura that seemed to eat each other quickly calmed down.
"Report."
"Yes? Here?"
"She wants to be with me."
"…"
Dwayne stared distastefully at the master, who had become unarmed.
But when Tristan smiled with a look that was going to slit his neck, he sighed.
"They say there was an internal division in the gutter."
Internal division?
Tristan and Lloyd, who had had no reaction before, looked at Dwayne with surprised eyes at the same time.
Internal division in that gutter was unthinkable.
"Is this accurate information?"
"Certainly."
If there's one thing that bothers them the most, it's that the gutter rat had never been betrayed by their people.
It's not that the rat is that popular, it's because they were using dirty ways.
"The main figure is a magician named Hans. He was said to be a trusted person at one time, even as a candidate for the closest confidant of the gutter rat."
"At the end of the day, a wizard."
"Yes, he's very lethal. It seems that the brainwashing magic that had been applied to the prey was dispelled, and the men under him gathered and rebelled properly."
The gutter rat must have been careless as it had never been betrayed. When something he didn't even have in mind actually happened, he was naturally confused and slow to react.
"They say they're struggling quite a bit because they couldn't put down the rebels at once. But actually, it's just a matter of time."
"Hmm."
This was also an opportunity to hit the jackpot.
Tristan thought for a moment, tapping the handle of his chair, then he said.
"There must be a spy from the gutter we planted last time."
Last time he was talking about the Vincent case.
"Yes. Once Your Grace gives the order, I told them to prepare to move immediately."
Aria heard those words and thought.
'Yes, I thought so.'
That her own guess was right. In order to secretly get Vincent's mother out of the burrow of the prey, they'll have no choice but to sneak inside.
Spies must have been planted then.
And there is a high probability that it hasn't been noticed yet because it's been a while.
'I thought so, so I urged that limb. He seems to have done a good job.'
She was relieved inside.
As she listened to the conversation, it seemed that there were quite a few spies planted inside at that time.
From those who become the limbs of the rat and deliver information, to those who are deliberately caught pretending to be hostages and leaking fake information.
Internal manipulation was in perfect condition.
'Besides, even the wizard who was trusted by the rat is running rampant.'
Heaven gave them a chance to swallow it whole quickly.
Tristan was silent for a moment as if he had fallen into sleep, and then stared intently at Aria.
"Hmm."
By throwing an insignificant gaze.
She felt the corners of his lips curled at an oblique angle quite uneasy.
"Finally, the time has come to eradicate these damn pests."
Lloyd raised his eyebrows as if he was hesitating, then gave the order instead of the Grand Duke, who had his eyes on elsewhere.
"Clean up."