The Dragon’s Obsession with Water is Difficult - Chapter 58
Episode 58
Raven bowed his head toward Ludwig and spoke.
“I greet the master of Karsian. I heard you have a command for me.”
“Yes. Not from me, but from Lady Sierra Drenihan here. She has a request for you.”
At Ludwig’s words, Raven lifted his head and looked in my direction.
With fiery red hair and dark bronze skin, he was the typical man of the southern region.
A faint light flickered in the blue eyes that met mine.
“So this is the lady who…”
“…?”
He seemed to already know something about me.
“Don’t just stand there. Come sit here.”
At Ludwig’s command, he sat down on the sofa across from me.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Raven Fidelus, the head of Queensbury.”
Despite his sharp appearance, his voice was polite as he introduced himself.
“I’m Sierra Drenihan. Nice to meet you.”
“What would you like to request from Queensbury?”
“I’m looking for someone.”
“Finding people happens to be one of our specialties. If you provide the details, we’ll do our best to complete the request.”
At his words, I tried to recall everything I could about the genius doctor from the original story.
“His name is Robert. He’s a commoner, so he doesn’t have a family name.”
Raven began to write down the information I gave him in elegant handwriting.
“He was once a renowned doctor in the Empire, but he disappeared four years ago after losing his wife.”
I traced my memory and soon remembered clearly the conversation Jenna had once shared with Robert.
“After that, he lived as a wandering physician, mostly around the southern regions. The last known trace of him was near the Tesaposa Mountains.”
He had first met Jenna at the orphanage beneath Mount Tesaposa.
I didn’t know the exact time, but for now, that was the most recent clue.
When Jenna requested Queensbury to find the doctor in the original story, she had given one decisive hint.
“Lastly, he’s likely volunteering in areas suffering from epidemics.”
Epidemics never stay in one place; they move from region to region.
Robert traveled wherever outbreaks occurred, offering his medical knowledge.
The time he visited Jenna’s orphanage was also during an epidemic near the Tesaposa Mountains.
Raven nodded and tucked the paper with Robert’s details into his pocket.
“This should be enough information.”
“I was worried it might not be, but that’s a relief.”
“Queensbury isn’t like other information guilds. You’ll receive results that will satisfy you.”
There was a quiet pride in his voice when he spoke of his organization.
It was a tone filled with confidence that left no room for doubt.
When he finished speaking with me, Raven turned to Ludwig.
“Then… while I handle Lady Drenihan’s request, shall I suspend the previous assignment?”
“Can’t you proceed with both?”
“As you know, we’re a small elite group. To bring good news to the lady, all hands must be focused.”
At Raven’s words, Ludwig nodded reluctantly.
“Isn’t it troubling if Ludwig’s affairs get delayed because of me?”
When I asked quietly, Raven smiled and shook his head.
“It’s not the Grand Duke’s matter. The task he assigned me was related to you, my lady.”
My eyes widened.
Related to me?
“That’s enough, Raven.”
“Haha, forgive me. That’s all I can say for now. You’ll find out soon enough, my lady.”
“…?”
I tilted my head slightly, looking between the two men.
* * *
After ascending to the position of Grand Duke, Ludwig’s first act was to abolish the Council of Elders.
No one opposed the decision, for the council’s vile reality—once disguised as a group of wise advisors to the Grand Duke—had been completely exposed.
Except for the head of the council, Alfonso, and his son, Gacent.
The two of them were not imprisoned like the other elders.
They had cunningly avoided having their names appear in the accounting books under charges of tax evasion or embezzlement.
If one were to dig deeper, they could have uncovered how they embezzled funds using false names or accepted expensive goods instead of money as bribes.
But Ludwig did not pursue that.
Alfonso was the one who had poisoned his mother using venom meant for high-class demonic beasts.
If found guilty of embezzlement or tax evasion, the imperial family would deliver judgment, but crimes outside those bounds could be punished within the family.
And that was exactly what Ludwig intended.
The prayer room of the first Grand Duke, once used as the elders’ meeting place, was now Ludwig’s chamber for private councils.
At that moment, the topic being discussed was the punishment of Alfonso and Gacent.
“We’ll punish them as the first Grand Duke once punished the traitors who betrayed this house.”
At Ludwig’s words, his retainers stirred uneasily.
The punishment of the first Grand Duke—so brutal it had been abolished long ago.
They said death was a mercy compared to that fate.
Bound tightly in ropes, Alfonso strained his neck veins as he screamed.
“You’ve finally gone mad! How dare the filthy spawn of an evil dragon presume to sentence the elder of this house!”
Beside him, Gacent trembled as he recalled the stories he’d heard about that ancient punishment.
The Grand Duchy had once kept a special poison powder used for interrogations.
Created by an eccentric ancient mage, just a small breath of it could drive a person insane.
In the morning, one’s entire body would itch like madness, eyes rolling in agony. By noon, the body would burn as though set aflame, forcing tears to pour endlessly. By evening, the pain would be so unbearable one could do nothing but scream.
The first Grand Duke had used that poison on criminals, inflicting agony worse than death, then exiling them to the frozen tower of Grendelr, a land surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
When Ludwig mentioned that the poison, likely still sealed somewhere in the family’s relic vault, might be used again, Gacent’s face went pale.
“W-wait! I’ll confess my crimes to the Imperial Court!”
It would be far better to rot in the prison beneath the Imperial Palace.
Ludwig only smiled and shook his head.
“It’s too late. And I won’t allow that. I worked hard to keep you from being taken by the imperial authorities—it would be a waste to let that effort go.”
“Wait… you mean… it was you? Father and I were released after just an investigation because of you?”
He had always believed it was the Emperor’s mercy. But now, Ludwig revealed it had all been a calculated move.
There was no way out anymore.
His vision went dark.
“Aaagh! No! This can’t be! You’re all deceived by that wretch! Low-born blood will always betray itself!”
Gacent desperately wished he could shut his father’s mouth.
Now was not the time to rage—it was the time to beg for mercy, even if it meant scraping the floor with one’s hands and knees.
“L-Ludwig, I understand how you feel. The Council’s corruption deserves punishment, of course. But the punishment you speak of—it’s too much.”
“Too much?”
Ludwig sneered, as though he’d just heard something amusing.
“Poisoning the Grand Duchess with venom forbidden by the Empire, driving the legitimate heir to ruin—and you say this is too much?”
At his words, Gacent’s expression twisted in horror.
“H-how did you…?”
“The entire Council confessed. Right here, in this very room, they revealed every word they exchanged with you.”
“……”
“There’s nothing more to discuss. Take them away.”
“N-no! Don’t! Let me go!”
“How dare you lay a hand on me! Do you know who I am? Fetch Pesil! Bring me Pesil right now!”
Ludwig watched the father and son being dragged away, his eyes cold, then pointed toward Gacent.
“Cut off his wrists.”
“W-what? You madman! Why are you doing this to me?”
“You haven’t forgotten who you dared to touch with those filthy hands, have you?”
“…?!”
Could it be—those crazed eyes were because of Sierra Drenihan?
“Ha… ha ha! I’d love to show Lady Drenihan your vile madness! She’ll run from you the moment she sees the obsession in your eyes!”
“……”
“I heard you’ve been using Queensbury just to serve Sierra Drenihan! He’s insane!”
Even as Gacent was dragged out by the knights, he kept screaming. But the brief moment he locked eyes with Ludwig made him inhale sharply in terror.
So this was what people meant when they said someone’s gaze could cut like a blade.
Before Sierra Drenihan, he hid his tail like a docile animal, but now he was nothing short of a beast.
Ludwig Karsian truly was a madman.
Once Alfonso and Gacent were dragged away, the air inside the prayer room grew chillingly still.
No one dared to speak before Ludwig.
Especially after Gacent’s last words, which had clearly struck a nerve.
“……”
The cold silence finally broke with Ludwig’s voice.
“Then let’s begin the meeting.”
