Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume4 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 3===


A large part of why Percy had tried to hold Leo back was because, while they knew that this was probably a trap, they had no time to investigate what the trap was. And Leo himself was also perfectly well aware of that.

Take, for example, the envoys from Dytiann who were coming to visit Oswell's territory. Were they real ones? If they were fake, then they must be assassins aiming for Leo's life. But if they were assassins, then it was hard to believe that they had simply disguised themselves as priests of the Cross Faith. If Leo's side had a bit more time,

then they could have sent messengers to Dytiann to check the identity of these visitors.

''Is Oswell tied to Dytiann?''

Although Leo had considered it, he also believed that Oswell's treacherous connection was with Allion instead. So was it possible that he could be closely linked to Dytiann at the same time?

And then, it was also possible that the priests from Dytiann were no more than bait to lure Leo in, and that something completely different would be used to try and murder him.

Poison, or an attack by soldiers posing as marauders... No, if it was a question of posing as something else, then the chamberlains that were to take care of him at the residence could be replaced by soldiers who might kill him while he slept...

In short, they had no idea what to expect.

Which was why Percy Leegan had been so desperate to get Leo to change his mind.

This was basically jumping naked into the den of a starving dragon.

Yet it was also a good opportunity to get rid of Oswell, who was in Leo's way. Leo was ready to walk towards the dragon which waited for him with its jaws wide open, and so he left Guinbar without telling Percy.

He went with a little less than a dozen attendants. These included Camus, the representative from Conscon Temple, two deacons who were acting as representatives of Guinbar Church, and several of his Personal Guards, Kuon and Aqua included.

Later, the different platoons within the Personal Guards, who had been given orders beforehand, would also depart. Leo had them remain on standby at Olt Rose Castle, which had once belonged to Darren, whom he had only just defeated.

It was the height of the Atallese summer when Leo Attiel arrived at Oswell Taholin's castle. Since most of Atall enjoyed a mild climate, there was no need for him to spend the entire trip jolted about in a carriage. He travelled along the same highway bordered by wheat fields that Neville, Godwin and the others taken about half a month earlier.

Camus' nerves were on edge as he wondered if the entire town might not become the stage for an assassination. Gripping his spear tight, he stayed close by Leo's side and didn't budge from there at all, anxiously peering around in all directions. But, of course, the only thing to greet Leo when he entered the town were the cheers from the crowd, and no arrow suddenly came flying, nor was he abruptly surrounded by soldiers armed to the teeth.



That evening, Leo was invited to a reception held in the castle's great hall. Apparently the idea was for the guests to have a chance to see each other before the real meeting.

“Has it finally come?” as usual, Camus' eyebrows were bristling up like flames.

“No,” Leo's tone of voice was the same as someone trying to soothe an unruly horse. “Quite a few of Aconrey's merchants and bigwigs have been invited to the banquet. I don't think there's any way that they'll try to kill me there. They'll start by giving us a warm reception so that we don't suspect anything.”

“But, my lord, look at Darren, who was willing to kill his own people to give himself an excuse to attack you. And after all, Oswell is a villain of the same stripe. We don't know what might happen.”

At that point, Kuon interrupted:

“Looks like the gates to the castle are going to be left open until the end of the banquet.”

Apparently, that was information gathered from his subordinates in the Personal Guards. He had now gotten to the stage where he could show that much forethought.

“We need to place the Guards inside and out in case we have to close the castle gates in a hurry.”

“Understood. Kuon will be in charge of that.”

“Aye.”

Seeing Kuon nod and give a slight bow, Aqua, who was travelling with Leo as a Personal Guard for the first time, looked at him strangely.

Speaking of Aqua, it hadn't been long since 'he' had gotten into a violent quarrel with Sarah, who had also come along as an assistant to her brother, in his capacity as the representative of Conscon Temple. She was the one who had promptly gone to get information from the monks from Dytiann, and who reported back to Leo about the priest named Gemili.

“There's no doubt that he really is a priest from the 'Current Church faction', but he isn't anyone who particularly stands out within the Dytiann Alliance. He is probably connected to the upper echelons of the faction. We hadn't heard of him either. But he's been working as a parish priest alongside Bishop Baal.”

''Baal?'' Leo shivered suddenly.

He had met Bishop Baal twice in the past. The first had been when he and Arthur, the commander of the Sergaia Holy Rose Division, had met with Leo to talk about volunteering reinforcements to Conscon Temple. Back then, Baal had stared persistently at Leo with eyes as cold as a snake's.

Sarah, his informant then and now, had claimed that “Arthur and Baal have a ''thing'' going on.”

The second time they met was after Arthur's death. On that occasion, Baal had avoided looking at Leo, as though holding himself back. But from time to time, when their gazes happened to meet by chance, Leo clearly caught sight of a fire in Baal's eyes. To put it more bluntly, rather than a fire, it was hatred. Rage and the urge to kill.

Those eyes clearly understood who it was who had lured Arthur Causebulk into a trap, then killed him.

Leo had no doubt at all that Bishop Baal bore a bitter grudge against him. And now, the priest who had come over apparently had some connection to him.

While attending the banquet, Leo could not rid himself of the fear that any and all of the people who greeted him were hiding a blade at their breast, and that at any moment, they might plunge it into his heart or slice through his neck with it. However, the party passed its height without any particularly noticeable occurrence. Just as he himself had said, Oswell surely wouldn't have him assassinated so publicly.

Leo's mental strain gradually melted away. He spoke with Father Gemili. His usual manner returned as he exchanged trifling jokes with Oswell. Whereas earlier, he hadn't touched the wine, he now stretched out an arm to take a goblet, and emptied its contents in one gulp. His throat had been parched, probably because of the stress, and the drink was so delicious that it seemed to flow throughout his entire body.

But... was it a case of negligence?

Camus' vigilant gaze was scanning the entire hall. Kuon was monitoring the escape routes from the castle. It was the same for the other Personal Guards.

For just one second, their attention shifted away from Leo himself.

The wine cup dropped from his hand and rolled on the carpet.

“Prince?”

Camus, who was beside him, was a fraction too slow in turning around. The colour drained from Leo's face as he staggered then, like a doll which had lost its support, he pitched forward, face first.

“Prince!”

“Your Highness!”

As shouts rose up all around, Leo started frothing at the mouth before loosing consciousness.



Early that morning, a thin layer of clouds hung over Aconrey, and a light rain started to fall on the houses and on the streets that people were hurrying along.

“Have you heard?”

Maybe it was because of the gloomy weather, but those who were talking together looked despondent, and spoke in hushed voices.

“They say His Highness, Lord Leo, has died.”

“I heard it too. Even though he was waving at us so cheerfully just the other day.”

“It seems he was poisoned at the welcoming banquet.”

“Shh! Be careful what you say.”

Even though it was still early, armed soldiers could be seen patrolling around the streets, which explained that sudden, sharp tone and the cautious check of their surroundings.

“It's not true that he died. I heard it from a guy who sells vegetables to the castle, so it's definitely reliable.”

“What? That bastard Boyle, acting all puffed up and talking like he knew everything... Right, he's going to give me back what I treated him to yesterday.”

A man who seemed to be well-informed stopped a man who looked like a carpenter as he started rolling up his sleeves.

“Hold your horses. The story wasn't completely unfounded. It looks like it's true that His Highness collapsed at the banquet...” He continued his story with a self-important air.

Three days after Lord Leo arrived at Aconrey Castle, rumours such as those started to circulate on every street corner in the castle town, in every tavern and in every house. Oswell had declared martial law, but it was impossible to stop people from talking.

And it was undeniably true that Leo Attiel had collapsed towards the end of the banquet, after downing a goblet of wine.
Given the timing, it was hardly surprising that people were saying that: “Prince Leo was poisoned.”

And when thinking about the circumstances, the natural progression was to suspect that the criminal was Oswell Taholin, the castle lord of Aconrey. Although, taken the other way around, it also meant that if Oswell were really plotting to assassinate the prince, he surely wouldn't have chosen such a conspicuous method.

And in actual fact, Oswell had been thrown into a panic when Leo collapsed. Had his own plan been pre-empted by someone who wasn't in on it? At first, he had turned to look at Gemili's group, then his gaze had travelled those from his own House, but every last person there seemed as alarmed as he was.

It was the same for the prince's attendants too. While everyone turned ashen, a large priest called Camus lifted Leo into his arms and shouted at Oswell to call for a doctor.

Leo had been taken to a room in the castle and Oswell had done what he could by sending for medical help.

Three days had passed since then.

Oswell had come up with three hypotheses.

The first one was fairly ridiculous: ''since Leo is only a boy, he made himself ill by gulping down too much alcohol when he isn't used to it.''

The second was that: ''maybe he somehow got wind of our plan and is only pretending to be ill. While he lies in bed he will be observing how we react.''

As far as Oswell was concerned, that was not a situation that invited optimism.

However, when the doctor he had sent for came out from seeing Leo, he announced that it was impossible for the prince to be pretending.

It was clear from the way his skin had passed beyond pale and had instead started to darken that there was a problem with his blood circulation. On the night he collapsed, he was seized more than once with convulsions. His fever couldn't be brought down at all, and there was no end to his diarrhoea and vomiting. The doctor had given him a decoction of herbs to drink, but Leo even threw that up, and as his body could not take in any nutrients, he grew increasingly weaker. In just three days time, Leo had wasted away into nothing more than skin and bones.

“What's the cause?”

Upon being asked that, the doctor had shaken his head and replied that he couldn't say for sure.

“It's most likely some kind of snake venom, but the prince's symptoms are unlike those caused by any snakes found around Atall. It might be a poison that was compounded for some specific purpose,” he added, and Oswell Taholin went speechless.

If it was poison, then it strengthened his suspicions, and fell in line with his third hypothesis. Namely –

“There's someone in this castle who wants to kill Lord Leo and frame me.” When thinking about who this 'someone' was, it could only be Dytiann or Allion.

The plan had originally been for Dytiann to share the blame for not having been able to prevent the crimes of the former Holy See, but it was conceivable that they had decided to pin sole responsibility on Oswell.

But... given that Neville and the others had, from the start, come to Aconrey with the intention of carrying an assassination, Dytiann's current government, which was pulling their strings from behind, must surely realise that if Oswell had them arrested and tortured, they would confess everything. Why would Dytiann go to all the trouble of sending assassins, only to create a more dangerous situation for themselves?

''Then... is it Allion?''

That didn't quite fit, either. If Oswell were an eyesore for Allion – which he himself would find hard to believe – then they had plenty of far simpler methods of dealing with him than setting up this convoluted scheme. For example, Hawking could just send one of Oswell's letters to the sovereign-prince with a warning that there was a traitor in the country. Hawking Ingram had exchanged personal dealings with both Oswell and Baal, so he fully grasped all the circumstances and was in a position to make use of them.

''But... what in the world for?''

If his goal was to have Leo murdered, then he just had to sit back without doing anything.

Did he want to cause Oswell's downfall in order to avoid having to keep his promise about appointing Oswell to a position in Allion?

''Argh! I don't know. What is this? What's going on?''

The situation left him drenched in cold sweat. Even if someone was hidden behind all this, if Leo died now, then Oswell would have to shoulder all of the blame and disgrace.

''Please, I'm begging you. Don't die.''

It was almost farcical how a man who had schemed to murder Leo was now the one person in the world who was the most anxious about Leo's wellbeing.

The group from Dytiann, which was originally supposed to be found guilty of Leo's assassination, seemed bewildered by how things had developed. And since they didn't know that Oswell and Baal were connected, he couldn't get in touch with them. For now, they seemed to have decided to stay at the castle 'until Lord Leo recovers.' But then, regardless of how the situation evolved, they probably wouldn't feel the same sense of urgency as Oswell, since Leo's death was exactly what they hoping for.

When the prince failed to regain consciousness after three days, those at his side requested that doctors be invited from the capital. Oswell Taholin had no reason to refuse.

And more importantly, the priest called Camus who made personally came to make the request was glaring at Oswell as he would at an enemy general across the battlefield. He definitely suspected the vassal-lord was the poisoner. If Oswell shook his head in refusal, those powerful hands might wrap around his neck and start strangling him.

A messenger on dispatched from Aconrey on a fleet-footed horse. Yet that night, Leo's health improved ever so slightly. After he managed to drink a little tea and eat a small amount of easily-digestible food, his fever dropped considerably.

After another two days, and without waiting for any team of doctors from Tiwana, he left his bed and went to see Oswell.

“It looks like I've caused you trouble.”

Although his face was still almost bloodless and his entire body was haggard, compared to how he had previously been almost unable to speak, his voice was a lot clearer.

“I'm sorry to have kept the visitors from Dytiann waiting. If possible, I'll meet with them tomorrow.”

Here again, Oswell Taholin had no reason to refuse.

''Thank goodness you survived'' – even though his feeling of relief was so overwhelming that he felt like hugging the prince, he was inwardly going over and over the plan for Leo's assassination on the very next day.

The dark clouds hanging over Aconrey had not yet cleared.


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