Chapter 29: Saturation Curse
"According to Arthur's description, the damage silver inflicted on the Princess far exceeded the first time with Geralt. Even a slight touch caused severe burns." Triss looked at Kolgrim, hoping the curse expert Witcher would offer an explanation.
Kolgrim gave a concise analysis: "It means the second curse was stronger. The Princess's nature was closer to that of a monster."
Triss nodded slightly and continued: "We all know that a curse requires an extremely powerful emotional catalyst the Princess's first curse was performed by a minister in a state of extreme despair and rage. However, neither Milhouse nor the Vyrillis family had any personal entanglement with the Princess that would provide the intense emotion needed for a curse."
"This is where the second ritual comes in. It can draw upon the caster's life force, which both intensifies the curse and gives it a much stronger resilience. In other words, if Milhouse hadn't died, even if Arthur had completed the lifting ritual, the Princess would still have reverted to a monster on some future full moon night."
Arthur remarked: "In that case, Milhouse's sudden death was truly timely."
Ves chimed in: "'Sudden death' is just the public term. The latest report we received this afternoon states that Milhouse's cause of death looks more like his life force was sucked dry by dark magic."
"Young man, you seem to have quite the knack for this!"
Several pairs of eyes turned toward him, and Arthur felt the hairs on his neck stand on end: "Are you suggesting I killed Milhouse with dark magic? That's absurd! I was trapped in the crypt with the Princess all night! Adda, tell them, isn't that right?"
Adda shook her head: "I don't remember anything about being a monster, but you smell really good!"
Arthur grew more frantic, turning to the Blue Stripes soldiers present: "Roche, you must have had men nearby that night! The sound of my fight with the Princess was deafening; surely someone heard something!"
Ves replied: "The Blue Stripes have many threats to watch out for. Only Roche and I were on duty nearby yesterday. But all we heard were a few sporadic roars."
Sweat poured from Arthur's brow as he grew desperate. Ves suddenly smiled: "Young man, the next time someone implies you're involved in a conspiracy, you should either point out the flaws in their deduction or simply launch a personal attack. You should never rush to defend yourself."
"See? You're clearly innocent, but rushing to defend yourself makes it look like you actually did it." She stood on her toes and wiped the sweat from Arthur's forehead with her sleeve: "Given your current position, you'll inevitably have to deal with similar accusations in the future. Remember this lesson today, and don't hold a grudge against me!"
"Ha, ha ha, thank you for the advice…" Smelling the scent of lavender on Ves's clothes, Arthur's heart rate slowly returned to normal. I need to stay far away from these people. They almost tricked me.
Innocent? Innocent, my arse!
In White Orchard, he had already absorbed some kind of energy from the griffin, instantly restoring his physical condition to its peak. And on the second day after the curse was lifted, the wounds on his own body had also vanished without a trace now it seemed highly likely that he had unknowingly sucked the life out of Milhouse while unconscious!
Roche stated: "Regardless of the cause of Milhouse's death, the evidence is now conclusive. The secret rooms of both the Vyrillis and Milhouse families contained identical curse rituals, and the target of the curse was the Princess."
"The charge of treason is established."
Triss cleared her throat, subtly changing the subject: "Next are the clues regarding the mastermind. This communicator, though ugly, has a very advanced level of protective magic. I spent the entire afternoon on it and still can't decipher the recorded contents we'll just have to let the court mages try slowly."
Arthur: "So that means there are no current leads to pursue?"
Roche shook his head: "The fact that the protective magic is so powerful even Triss cannot decipher it is itself a clue the enemy is from outside the borders, or is actively controlling the operation remotely from abroad."
Triss nodded approvingly at Roche: "Beyond the protective magic, the functional runes on the communicator itself are more advanced than what is commonly seen on the market. Any court mage could easily use it to transmit messages to neighboring countries."
"No offense intended, but if a Sorceress of your caliber were to use it, what would the maximum communication range likely be?" Roche pressed. Considering the conclusion that the enemy was foreign, Arthur guessed he was trying to assess which neighboring country might be behind the plot.
Triss pursed her lips and pondered before answering: "I haven't tested it, but covering the entire North should be no problem. Hmm, if its creator were to use it, perhaps they could span the entire continent, from Kovir to Nilfgaard."
"A Sorceress even stronger than you…" Arthur intended to ask which countries might harbor such an individual, but Ves abruptly pulled him away before he could finish. Roche also said, in a timely manner:
"Thank you for your assistance, Madame Triss. I have no further questions."
"In that case, you must excuse me from any further involvement in this mission. Such matters are always a terrible headache." Triss smiled sweetly and sat back down next to Adda.
Roche cleared his throat and announced: "Gentlemen, our mission is far from over. The secret rooms at both Milhouse Manor and Amavet Fortress remind us that what happened to the Princess is by no means a simple curse. This is a Saturation Curse orchestrated by a high-level Sorceress and executed simultaneously from multiple locations!"
"I demand that starting immediately, you secretly investigate all recent sudden deaths, monitor the import and export of the items detailed below, and intensify surveillance on the use of telescopes and teleportation towers."
"Furthermore, we need to monitor large-scale transactions involving grain, leather, and steel. This time, we must not only ascertain which nation the buyer represents, but also uncover the specific faction behind the actual traders!"
It was only then that Arthur belatedly understood the gravity of the situation: Triss was already the Royal Advisor of Temeria; if someone was stronger than her, did he even need to ask who it was?!
No wonder the King had knighted him as a Knight of the Throne and insisted Adda accompany him he wanted Arthur to serve as the Princess's human amulet, keeping her far from the center of the political struggle!
Damn it! The hearts of politicians are all rotten!
Arthur must have failed to control his emotions, because Kolgrim suddenly pulled him into a quiet corner:
"What is it? Do you feel like you've been played?"
Arthur shook his head. He had been angry moments ago, but the cool air made him realize: The King certainly tied him down with the title of Knight of the Throne. But if he hadn't accepted the knighthood, would those shadowy conspirators have left him alone? If they couldn't reach the King or the Princess, they could certainly take out a mere Witcher apprentice like him.
Since he was going to face their wrath anyway, having the title of Knight of the Throne would at least make his enemies think twice before acting. From this perspective, Foltest was actually being quite benevolent.
Seeing that Arthur wasn't overthinking the political tangle, Kolgrim moved on to a different topic:
"Last night, Triss found me and said that your magical talent is very high and shouldn't be wasted on low-level tricks like Signs."
"She wants to take you on as an apprentice. What do you think?"
..............................
AN: For early access to advanced 80 chapters on P-a-treon:
Join now: P-a-treon/Chaos_God
(Just remove the- hyphen to access normally)
Thank You so much For your Support and for Reading!