Looking for a Husband to Confine Me - Chapter 47.2
Chapter 47.2
He had been tasked with suspecting and monitoring his comrades. Gilbert feigned a troubled expression.
“Really…” he murmured, the pretense evident.
“The Crown Prince, the Knight Commander… they’re all fools.” The troubled facade vanished, replaced by a cynical smirk. He chuckled softly as he walked.
“Who did they choose to do the monitoring…?” The thought of Commander Ray Kewind, who had so seriously entrusted him with this task, made him laugh.
The knights he had just been with were innocent. They weren’t Pazl’s accomplice.
“Of course not. It’s me,” he hummed, his steps light.
The Crown Knights had a lofty reputation, but they were also infamous for their strictness and demanding standards. Their regulations were more stringent than those of other knightly orders. Gilbert had initially trembled with anxiety when assigned this task, fearing imminent discovery by the Knight Commander or Vice-Commander.
However, he hadn’t been caught, or even suspected.
“I shouldn’t have worried,” he mused.
Gilbert had accepted this task for one reason: a guaranteed future. While his experience as a Crown Knight would be beneficial, it didn’t guarantee his future prospects. He needed a secure position.
His wife’s family looked down on his current rank, frequently showing their disdain. He wanted revenge. His initial desire for recognition had morphed into something darker. He loved his wife, but not her family. He wanted to get back at them for treating him like dirt. To do that, he couldn’t remain in his current position.
“Pazl’s not likely to reveal his accomplice anyway.” Gilbert’s extended work hours and prolonged absence from home had been a ruse to keep an eye on Pazl, ensuring his own name wouldn’t be mentioned.
“I can’t let things go wrong now.” Unlike Pazl, Gilbert had made a name for himself through this incident. If he could avoid exposure and smooth things over, his future would be secure.
Creak.
Gilbert arrived not at his home, but at a deserted, dilapidated building. He entered without hesitation. He fumbled around the floor of the furthest room, then lifted a section. A part of the floor opened like a lid, revealing a small space he used as a storage area.
“No one followed me, no one suspects me. Once I dispose of this…” Inside were the items he had received: the black oil Pazl had used, various poisons, and other supplies. With the continued overtime and extra shifts, tonight was his only opportunity to dispose of them.
He was scheduled to report to the Commander and Vice-Commander about the other knights tomorrow. He planned to vaguely implicate one of them, claiming they seemed suspicious.
Gilbert reached for the black liquid.
Thud!
A sudden, dull sound made him look up. Something had fallen to the floor.
“…What’s this?” He cautiously reached out and picked up a palm-sized dagger. He frowned.
“Was this here before?” The abandoned building was accessible to anyone. Perhaps someone drunk had wandered in and dropped it.
“Tsk, how annoying.” He grumbled, but upon closer inspection, the dagger appeared valuable. It might fetch a good price at an antique shop.
He was about to pocket the dagger when a voice startled him.
“Excuse me, could you return that?”
“What?!” Gilbert scrambled to his feet. A chilling sensation washed over him. He instinctively recoiled, turning around.
But he was alone in the dilapidated building.
“…Is someone there?” He felt a persistent gaze, a growing sense of unease and fear.
He gripped the sword at his hip and slowly backed away, pressing himself against the wall, bracing for a possible attack.
“Who… who’s there?! Show yourself!”
Only silence answered him. He began to doubt himself, wondering if he had misheard, if it was merely a late-night hallucination. Then, the voice spoke again, cold and close.
“It’s quite precious to me.”
A sharp prickling sensation at the back of his neck accompanied the voice.
“Ugh!” He gasped, clutching his neck, but felt nothing.
“What…?” His eyelids fluttered. He tried to speak, but no sound came out.
What was happening? His hand, reaching for his sword, his head, trying to turn, wouldn’t obey. Time seemed to slow to a crawl.
A figure materialized before him, cloaked in black robes…
“Who… who are…?” The deep hood obscured the figure’s face, revealing only a faintly smiling mouth.
“Found you.” With those words, Gilbert lost consciousness.
***
In the mansion’s sanctuary, Pazl had been spreading the black liquid. Whether out of carelessness or poor judgment, he had muttered to himself, speaking as if he had received the liquid from someone.
This someone was likely the same person who had helped him infiltrate the Kishan princes’ mansion. Finding someone else with the same liquid could expose the traitor.
“Snowy, can you find anything like this liquid?”
“Kyu?”
Snowy, perched on my wrist, tilted its head, blinking its dark eyes.
‘Is this too much to ask?’ I thought. Someone definitely possessed this liquid, but without knowing who, finding them seemed impossible. I only knew Snowy was a magical creature; I didn’t even know its specific abilities. I shouldn’t have asked. I was about to tell it to forget it and return to its bandage form when it chirped.
“Kyu kyu!”
Snowy slipped off my wrist and quickly disappeared. It seemed to understand, to know who I was looking for. Perhaps it was just a coincidence. After returning from the princes’ mansion, I had asked Slinky and the others to help me find Snowy.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long.
“…Will this be enough?” I muttered, looking down at Gilbert Auid, the Crown Knight, bound securely. The snake venom would keep him unconscious for a while.
I finished tying him up and clapped my hands together, brushing off the dust. The abandoned building was filled with it.
“Kyuu, kyuu!”
Snowy, which had transformed into a dagger and been held by Gilbert, had returned to its original form and now approached me.
