The Trap Closes

While Vanessa moved elsewhere, Io attempted to negotiate with Iason.

“I have a condition.”

“…What condition?”

“Marry one of the princesses to one of my children.”

“……”

“I’m not saying this just because they’re my children, but they’re truly excellent. My eldest daughter, Chione, is intelligent. And my second son, Neios, is handsome. I think a princess would be a fitting bride for someone from our house.”

Io watched Iason’s expression.

“I heard your mother still has influence within the royal family. Something like this shouldn’t be too difficult. Right?”

Iason remained silent.

Growing anxious, Io clung closer to him.

She didn’t expect to receive the most beautiful or well-known princesses—such as Daphne, famed for her radiant beauty, or Electra, adored by the king for her filial devotion.

Io simply wanted someone who held the title of “princess.”

“She can be ugly. She can be a princess whose existence is practically like a ghost. I don’t care.”

“…You really don’t care who it is?”

“Yes! I’m serious!”

Finally, Iason opened his mouth.

Io nodded eagerly.

“I’ll try to arrange something.”

“Good. Then let’s go to my estate right away. Where did you say the cart was left?”

“Over there.”

Iason immediately slung the sack containing the heads over his shoulder and led Io toward the cart.

Only a horse was attached to the cart.
There was no driver.

Iason had intentionally brought neither attendants nor slaves in order to minimize witnesses.

In the past, Io would have been forced to act as the driver herself.

But not now.

She looked at Iason climbing into the driver’s seat with satisfaction.

Good.

This was true fortune.

The Elders who looked down on her would soon disappear without a trace.
She was making the arrogant Iason work like her servant.
And if she gained a princess as her daughter-in-law, she would have ties to the royal family.

When a new Elder was chosen, no one would dare ignore her.

And if not for Fren, I might even become the true power… wait, Fren?

Io’s eyes widened.

She had completely forgotten Fren.

How could she forget someone like him?

Io urgently asked,

“What about Fren?”

“Why bring up his name now?”

“Does Fren know about this?”

“…No, he doesn’t.”

“Then shouldn’t we make Fren an accomplice too? If he’s on our side, we won’t have to worry about backlash.”

“Do you think he’d agree? Fren was close to both of them.”

“That’s true, but he’s sharp. We should bring him in just in case—”

“Io.”

Iason sighed heavily.

“Do you really want to drag him into this? Do you have no conscience at all?”

“…What?”

“Don’t you remember how well Fren treated you?
He was the only one who didn’t look down on you.”

“……”

“Just make sure we’re going the right way. Is your estate in this direction?”

“…Yes. It’s this way.”

Io wanted to argue—Are you seriously talking about conscience right now?—but she couldn’t.

It was true that Fren had helped her many times.

Still, something felt off.

Is Fren truly uninvolved? If he isn’t… that’s suspicious in its own way. And like Iason said, he was close to everyone.

Even when they reached the hidden entrance to the secret tunnel connected to Io’s estate, the doubt did not fade.

Iason, unaware of Io’s uneasy expression, hurriedly jumped down from the cart.

“We’re here. Hurry, get down.”

“……”

“Your servants should all be asleep by now. There may be guards on night watch, but if you make up something—”

Io grabbed his wrist.

“Wait, Iason.”

“What?”

“How exactly did you learn that they betrayed—”

—Creeeak—

Before Io could finish, the door to the secret passage swung open.

Both Io and Iason froze like stone.

A woman stood inside the doorway, tears running down her cheeks, whispering softly,

“Welcome home, my son.”

Behind her stood royal knights—
and Vanessa, her hood pulled forward over her face.

When Fren ordered Vanessa to eliminate the remaining Elders, she hesitated.

With conspiracy theories already spreading after Artois’s death, if the Elders began dying one after another, Fren would inevitably fall under suspicion.

And Vanessa understood this perfectly.

After long deliberation, she reached a conclusion.

She would make Fren a witness.

The first thing she did was seek out Iason.

All the Elders except Fren had something in common:
each had unresolved conflict with Iason.

So Vanessa approached him and handed him a short message written in Fren’s handwriting.

You were right about your suspicions.

Writing anything too detailed would make Iason suspect Fren.
The key was to appear shocked, as if she had only just learned the truth.

Even with vague wording, the note was more than enough to convince Iason.

To protect his ailing father, Iason acted immediately.

No one could know whether it was the strain of excessive drinking, the explosion of long-suppressed anxiety, or the effects of the drugs in his system for a brief moment—
but the result was the same.

Iason killed two Elders.

He had likely intended only to kill Medeia.

But then he had encountered Odysseus, who had come to Medeia’s home.

Iason knew Odysseus.
Polyphemus constantly complained about him.

Realizing something was wrong, Iason interrogated Odysseus mercilessly.
Odysseus confessed through tears.

“Lady Medeia introduced me to Lord Polyphemus.”

“……”

“He asked me to run away with him to my homeland. I came to consult Lady Medeia about what to do.”

With his pride shattered, Iason killed them both brutally.

He then planned to dispose of their bodies using the Minotaur, which devoured meat whole,
and to rely on his mother’s help to declare the two missing.

They frequently left home on long trips, so the excuse would work.

But the problem was the note left in his chamber.

Slaves cleaning the room found it under the bed and gave it to his attendants.
They immediately contacted the palace.

And why?

Because the switched note contained every detail of the supposed betrayal, written extremely clearly.

Vanessa had switched the notes while Iason and Io were headed to Io’s estate.

The original vague message had been replaced.
The new note described in detail what Medeia and Polyphemus had allegedly done to betray Iason.

So it now looked like Fren had discovered the truth and had tried to warn Iason.

Of course, once the truth came out, Iason tried to accuse Fren of suspicious behavior.

But what difference did that make?

He had already killed two Elders and dismembered their bodies.

Thanks to that, Vanessa achieved her goal.

To make Fren not entirely unrelated to the incident—
yet still appear nothing more than a good-hearted informant.

Exactly neither guilty nor innocent:
perfectly untouchable.

And the royal court would soon conclude that Iason was lying to drag Fren into the crime.

Or worse…

“How could he mutilate the bodies?! Is this something a sane elf would do? And he tried to feed them to livestock?!”

“Iason is insane! He disgraced our families!”

“He must die!”

They would call him mad.

Desecrating a corpse was equal to destroying a noble family’s honor.
Even traitors’ bodies were protected unless condemned for treason.

But now an Elder had disgraced noble houses.
Arrogant elves went wild.

“Tear him to pieces and feed him to the chickens!”

“No, bury him alive in the waste pits!”

“Your Majesty, punish him and restore our honor!”

It was practically a declaration:
If you don’t punish him, we will riot.

Already overwhelmed by Artois’s death, the king spoke wearily,

“Kill them both. Then dismember the corpses and scatter them through the streets.”

“…Even Elder Io? She only attempted a crime and did not succeed.”

“Can you not see the chaos outside? And what if something like this happens again? We must show the world that even cooperating in such matters is a grave crime.”

“You have a point, but still—”

“If we can set an example with just two lives, isn’t that a cheap price? Electra, help your father. I wish to rest somewhere quiet.”

“Yes, Father.”

The king left with his beloved daughter’s support.

No one could say a word.
In truth, they were satisfied.

They valued honor more than anything.

They never noticed Vanessa listening behind the pillar.

“Why did Io help Iason in the first place?”

“Oh, that’s because of Io.”

The advisor frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“You must not have heard the rumors.
Did you know that Io’s mother’s name… is also Io?”