Knight and Wand

Chapter 112 "Frame-up"

In the damp and cold dungeon, a strong smell of blood lingered around, and Leon's eyelids twitched every time he heard the shrill screams and pleas for mercy.

During his journey, he had seen all kinds of tragic corpses.

But this was the first time I actually witnessed a living prisoner being subjected to all kinds of fancy professional torture methods.

Seeing such a disgusting scene, Leon was glad that he didn't let Olivia come down with him.

"Sir, if you can't stand it, go back. I'll keep an eye on it here." Marcelo patted the young man on the shoulder.

"Then I'll go back to sleep." Leon nodded.

Anyway, there was no more information to be gotten from this guy. He just kept repeating the same words over and over again, begging for quick death.

Now that he had seen what happened to the thief, the anger in his heart had almost subsided.

Leaving the prison in the basement of the castle, Leon walked up the stairs and returned to the first floor, where he saw Olivia waiting there.

"Let's go, this is none of our business."

He took the girl out of the tower which was used to hold prisoners and returned to the main castle along the way.

The chilly night wind made Leon shiver.

"Be careful not to catch a cold. I'm in good health, so I'll let you wear this." Olivia said, reaching her right hand out of the cloak she borrowed from the castle and trying to untie the tie.

Leon shook his head to refuse, and reached out to forcefully hold the girl’s hand: “It’s just a short distance, let’s just walk faster.”

Holding her in his hand, the two of them quickly walked through the teams of assembled soldiers.

At this moment, all the bonfires of various sizes at the pass in the castle have been lit. The guards are holding torches to block the passages, patrolling back and forth with a guard post every three steps and a sentry every five steps, checking whether there are any suspicious thieves in the castle.

The knights of the Farolis family were cleaning up the mess, and Leon was too lazy to intervene. He had done enough that night, and now he just wanted to take Olivia to have a good rest and leave as soon as possible after dawn.

Those guys were not coming for the two of them, and being affected was purely an accident. Leon didn't want to stay in this place of trouble for long.

Back at the main fortress which was brightly lit with candles, all the drugs in the incense burners in the front and back halls had been cleared out, all the doors and windows were opened for ventilation, and the corridors were filled with elite soldiers transferred from the military camp.

Those killed tonight were guards guarding the inner passages, and their bodies have been collected.

I think after this incident, the Baron's castle will no longer neglect the security of important areas for the sake of the privacy of the nobles. It is impossible to protect the lord's wife by relying solely on the maids, and they no longer care about avoiding suspicion.

Arriving at Olivia's messy room, Leon helped the girl pack her belongings, then rolled up the quilt from the servant's room and carried it on his shoulders, then took her back to his room.

Several elite guards wearing heavy armor stood in front and behind the corridor of the tower. This was also Leon's request.

There was no one guarding the door, and he couldn't sleep well in the Baron's castle.

Knight Balf naturally would not neglect the hero who rescued Lady Fengjun, and immediately transferred several family warriors with good martial arts and trustworthiness from the barracks to protect Leon's room.

Although the principle of the drug is unknown, in fact, it can only effectively affect ordinary people with average physical fitness.

After checking the entire castle, although there were traces of burning incense in the cracks of the doors of all the occupied rooms, according to Marcelo, all the knights who were skilled in martial arts and strong in physique would wake up when they were knocked on the door. The only difference was that some of them slept a little more deeply, and there was no sign of coma.

This may also be the reason why those night guard soldiers were killed. The thieves did not dare to gamble on the physical fitness of the night guards and when they would wake up, so they killed them under the influence of drugs.

After entering the room and closing the door, Leon touched the few unburned incense sticks that he had secretly collected in his pocket.

Although this drug cannot knock out martial artists like himself and Olivia, it still has a miraculous effect on ordinary people.

Knights like Balfe and Marcelo had never heard of this magical drug, and they didn't know its ingredients or its origin.

Leon was not surprised that the mysterious thief who sneaked into the castle and whose identity was unknown could get this thing, but he wondered where did Boris, a mere country ruffian, get this thing from?

It seems that I can only go back and ask the knowledgeable Corvis. I wonder if he can figure out something. If not, I will go to the Mage Tower and ask Miss Lola next time.

Leon didn't want to encounter this damn thing again in the future, and be used by the enemy on people around him. Not everyone around him was a strong martial artist.

Leon thought about it, but he didn't stop walking. He walked to the bed and naturally put the quilt he had carried from Olivia's room on his bed.

"Leon?" A nervous and questioning voice of a girl came from behind.

Leon looked back.

Olivia had already taken off her cloak and sword, but when she saw Leon spread his bedding on the same bed, her cheeks instantly turned red like a ripe apple.

The girl's pupils trembled slightly, and her gaze kept moving back and forth between the bedding on the bed and the boy.

"I... I thought... it was like last time." Olivia was so flustered that she couldn't control her wild thoughts.

Leon raised his eyebrows and had to suggest: “That means I sleep on the floor?”

The girl looked at the cold stone floor and quickly waved her hand in concern, "No, it's so cold now, the ground is so cold."

Halfway through her words, Olivia frowned and reacted when she saw the young man in front of her unable to hide his smirk.

She folded her hands and muttered in complaint, ".Are you teasing me again?"

Leon was so happy in his heart that he shook his head and said with a smile: "So, I can't bear to let you sleep on the floor. Let's make do with it tonight."

But he still shrugged and said comfortingly: "Don't worry, I won't do anything excessive, we can just sleep in our own quilts."

Leon bent down and rolled up the edges of the two quilts to separate the beds. Fortunately, the beds in the guest rooms arranged for the nobles in the castle were big enough.

"You won't be shy now, right?" He stood up and spread his hands to the girl, "Or are you still unwilling?"

Without waiting for an answer, Leon immediately pretended to be regretful and sighed: "Why don't I just sleep next door."

"No! No! This is good!" Olivia was shocked and waved her hands quickly.

Naturally, she never wanted the other party to misunderstand that she disliked something.

Seeing the regret on Leon's face, the girl felt a little pain in her heart, so she lowered her head aggrievedly and apologized softly: "I'm sorry, Leon, I don't hate being with you. I just, I'm not mentally prepared yet. I'm a little scared of those things."

Leon laughed, stepped forward and raised his hand, ruffling the girl’s hair unceremoniously: “I told you not to worry, I’m not in a hurry to do anything to you, I’m really just resting tonight, I just want to be a guard to protect your safety, my Miss Olivia.”

Feeling the soft touch, Leon suddenly asked softly: "We are now engaged lovers, right?"

Olivia's heart pounded as her lover heard such an intimate name.

She didn't dare to look the other person in the eye. She felt sweet and shy in her heart. Finally, she nodded gently and obediently acknowledged this intimate relationship.

Looking at the girl in front of him who made his heart beat fast, Leon's hand that was stroking her hair could not help but slide to the girl's increasingly rosy cheek.

He looked at her seriously: "As fiancés, we will belong to each other sooner or later. I don't want to lie. I really want to have you, but I won't be so eager without your permission.

I will wait patiently until the day you are truly willing to accept me."

Leon expressed his love to the girl without any concealment. He put down his hand, pushed Olivia, who was blushing so much that she was about to faint, to sit on the edge of the bed, then bent down and helped her take off her shoes.

Turning around and walking to the candlestick on the table, he looked at the girl with an urging look in his eyes.

The girl came to her senses and turned over in panic, running to the other side of the bed. She crawled into the quilt like an ostrich, hiding her face completely.

Only the beautiful blonde hair was left exposed.

Leon smiled at Olivia's cute reaction and then blew out the candle.

The rest of the night was peaceful, and no more accidents happened
The next morning.

Because of his vigilance, Leon did not sleep deeply. He only felt a soft and itchy touch on the side of his face, as if he was pecked lightly by something.

He opened his eyes with a slightly dazed head.

In his field of vision, he could only see the golden hair and the fair face. The girl suddenly stepped away from the bed in shock, and Leon woke up a little. "Uh~ Good morning, Leon, I'll ask the servants to get some clean water."

Olivia said hello and took a few steps back, then turned around guiltily and fled the room.

Leon scratched his head, puzzled by the girl's haste. He yawned and glanced to his side.

The other bed had already been made tidy, and the girl had obviously gotten up very early.

It's time to go home too.

Leon got up, washed and dressed, and went to the hall with Olivia. He ate breakfast prepared by the servants, then found Knight Balfe, who had obviously not slept all night, and said goodbye.

But they were still retained by Balfe. It turned out that Lady Adeline had woken up and wanted to thank the two in person.

Unable to refuse, Leon took Olivia and followed the guide to another courtyard in the castle.

When I saw the Baroness again, she looked as healthy as before, as if she had not just nearly suffered a disaster.

This is normal. After all, Madam Adelina was completely in a coma last night. When she woke up, everything was settled.

He learned the whole process of the assassination attempt from the knights, and of course he himself had no idea of ​​it.

If it weren't for the words of the most core retainers of the Thorn Flower family, Adelina would have found it hard to believe that she had walked back to the gates of hell just by sleeping.

She was almost insulted. She felt scared, but fortunately she was saved by the brave Knights Marcello and Leon, as well as a maid who was said to have extraordinary martial arts skills.

The meeting went very harmoniously.

At the dinner yesterday, Adelina had already satisfied some of her curiosity from the little knight who was sung in poetry.

But the blonde girl next to him, dressed like a farm boy in coarse clothes and black pants, made her feel that she had broadened her horizons while praising him.

Originally, Adeline learned from Knight Marcello that she was rescued by Leon and his maid who were highly skilled in martial arts. She thought they were tall and strong female heroes who could run horses with their arms and break rocks with their shoulders.

After all, all the female knights with great martial arts skills that she had seen looked like that.

I have never heard of a young warrior girl like the one in front of me who is so petite and beautiful that she looks like a lady from a noble family. I really doubt whether she can wield a steel sword.

Adeline looked at her with not only gratitude, but also love for this pretty girl from the bottom of her heart.

After chatting about family matters for a while, Leon and Olivia finally set out on their return journey.

Before leaving, they received a promise from Lady Adelina that she would personally reward the two of them as an expression of gratitude.

Leon naturally couldn't refuse this solemn expression, and could only accept it with Olivia.

He secretly wondered in his heart how many gold coins the proprietress would give him.

During the dinner yesterday, Leon learned from the nobles beside him that Lady Adelina was the daughter of an earl in the Territory of Greater West.

She was seduced by Baron Elliver many years ago, and when she married him from afar, the huge dowry she brought even saved the Farolis family from crisis.

To express gratitude to such a noble lady, the gift would naturally be generous.

With a hint of expectation, Leon and Olivia left Farolis, rode safely all the way, and returned to Selva that afternoon.

After parting with Olivia at the door of the house, Leon went upstairs without stopping as soon as he returned to the house and found Corvis in his bedroom.

The blond boy was sitting on the bed, holding the griffin egg in his hand, casting spells to maintain the magic patterns on it.

"You are back, my Lord."

When Corvis saw the person coming, he put the griffin egg back into the box beside him and stood up to greet him.

"I just got home. How was your rest? Are you feeling better?" Leon walked into the room and greeted with concern.

"I feel much better after a good sleep. I'm totally fine." Corvis patted his chest. What could possibly happen to him? It was just an excuse to create a chance for the other party and the girl to be alone.

Leon nodded, I'm glad you're okay.

He took out a thin strip of satin from his pocket, spread it out on the table, and asked Corvis, "Can you help me look at this thing? I only know that this is a drug. Have you ever seen this thing before?"

Upon hearing this, Corvis walked to the table, lowered his head to look around, and picked up the unburned incense sticks and examined them carefully.

He looked at the characteristics of the thing and then sniffed it with his nose close to it.

After smelling some familiar scents, Corvis put the thing down and nodded to his master: "It should be the 'Spiritual Comforting Incense'."

"What is that? Tell me in detail." Leon sat down and asked

Corvis sat back down on the bed and began to explain.
The Soul-Soothing Incense is not a drug, at least that is not its original function. It is a kind of calming and sleep-inducing substance that is processed from certain specialty plants of the East Continent and is widely used among the Atias wizard community.

However, in order to be able to work on mages who possess enormous magical powers, its ingredients will naturally cause the activity of magic elements in the average person's body to be greatly reduced. Therefore, if an ordinary person who lacks magic elements in his body inhales too much of this incense, he will inevitably fall into a deep sleep.

"Attias's stuff?"

Leon frowned: "How could this thing appear on the land of Orland? Has the Black Robe Empire exported a large amount of this thing to the Western Continent?"

Corvis shook his head blankly. "I don't know about that, but the Soul-Soothing Incense is not very cheap in Atias. You mean a large quantity? How much?"

"There is enough to light up most of the rooms in a castle." Leon touched his chin, feeling the weirdness of the situation.

During the interrogation last night, the castle servant confessed under torture that the two assassins who had paid him a large sum of money were both Baron Gunnar's men.

Leon also learned from his fellow knights that the Thorn Flower Family and Baron Gunnar, who was a pawn of the royal party, had an irreconcilable grudge for many years.

This attempt to humiliate and kill Baron Elliver's wife, and the obvious intention to frame the atrocities on the Anquila family, which has a good relationship with the Thorn Flower family, and the vicious plot to sow discord between them, made sense to be planned by Baron Gunnar.

If it weren't for the unexpected factor of Olivia last night that broke the conspiracy, once it succeeded, no matter whether people believed the poor young man Anguila's self-defense of innocence the next day, the three friendly families, including Lady Adelina's family, would inevitably fall into a serious diplomatic crisis.

That’s not all. Who knows what irrational behavior Baron Elliver, who is still leading his troops at the front line and learning that his beloved wife was insulted and killed, will do.

If it weren't for Olivia's accident last night, everything would have been disastrous.

But the key to the conspiracy, this drug, turned out to be Atias's? How did Baron Gunnar, an Orland noble, get involved with the Black Robe Empire?
And then there was Boris, that insignificant little village thug.

Where did a small gangster get the Atias incense?

Leon was confused.

The information he knew was too little, and he couldn't make any sense of it for a while. Not to mention anything else, he knew very little about the specific grudges between Baron Gunnar and the Thornflower family, so how could he guess the inside story of this conspiracy?

Leon shook his head and gave up thinking for the time being.

Anyway, the conspiracy has been thwarted, and the Farolis family will definitely take strict precautions in the future. The secret of the person behind the scenes is a headache for Baron Elliver.

The best help I can offer right now is to remind Lord Feng of the origin of this thing.

After all, I'm afraid that except for myself, there are few people in the entire kingdom who can recognize where this drug came from.

"Okay, I won't disturb you to continue resting." After getting the answer, Leon put away the cloth and prepared to get up and leave.

"My Lord, I just have something else to do." When Corvis saw Leon, he suddenly reminded him.

"what's up?"

Covey pointed to a box nearby where griffin eggs were kept.

"It's almost time. After incubating for so long, this griffin egg will probably soon be ready to hatch."

(End of this chapter)