Chapter 158: Determination of Guardianship

A few days have passed since Tauro’s second assassination attempt and Aeris’s kidnapping attempt.

The truth has come to light.

Among the men captured in the kidnapping attempt were servants of the Van Dyne family who had been hired for their inhibitory skills.

The servant’s testimony revealed that he had deceived them in the name of Count Ayanshi.

The servant was also the one who gave the orders, and his crew included the man who served as a messenger, a man from the assassination guild who used a paralyzing poison on Tauro, and a leader who escaped and was never caught.

According to the statement of the man who served as the instructor, there was also a carriage waiting at the back of the mansion to carry away the kidnapped Aeris, but they also escaped.

It seems that Tauro’s presence this time was a big surprise to them.

The man in charge of giving instructions was only supposed to use his inhibiting skills, but he ended up taking on the role of strangling Aeris.

However, he blurted out that it was all a failure because it was so unexpected.

The assassination guild man was apparently hired by the Marquise de Van Dyne.

The fact that she hired this assassin from the assassination guild proved that she was in touch with the underworld.

After all, assassination guilds are the dark side of this country.

Although it is called a guild, it is not recognized by the government.

On the surface, this existence is “evil,” but whether it is a “necessary evil” or an “absolute evil” may change the pursuit of the Marquise de Van Dyne, depending on how it is handled.

Such information came to my knowledge through a letter from Count Connoen, Commander of the Order of the Kingsguard.

No matter how much she wanted to bring her own daughter home, it was not a good reason to even use the assassination guild to do it, so she wouldn’t be immune from criticism if the world found out about it.

As for Tauro’s assassination attempt, there’s no evidence because it was against a commoner and the perpetrator jumped to his death from the tower.

It would be difficult to pursue the case from that direction.

Now it has created an atmosphere in which Aeris needs a guardian to protect her properly.

The nobles would have no opposition to such an incident that would leave evidence.

All that remained was to decide who would be the guardian, which had been postponed.

After all, the person would be the guardian of the daughter of the Marquise of Van Dyne, a famous family and the guardian had to be a nobleman who could silence the Marquise of Van Dyne….

Tauro reread the letter from Count Connoen and sorted out all this information in his mind.

It was early afternoon.

Prince Flue informed him that he had time for a meeting.

Normally, he would have given Tauro plenty of time to prepare before the date, but this time it seemed to be sudden.

So, he hurriedly prepared for the visit with Aeris.

After getting ready, they got into the carriage and headed for the royal castle.

When they arrived at Prince Flue’s room, his first words of concern were for Tauro.

“Tauro! I heard you were attacked twice by assassins! Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“I’m fine, Your Highness Prince Flue. Oh, by the way, a few days ago there was a commotion over the kidnapping of Aeris.”

“Is that so? Aeris-san, are you all right too? Are you hurt?”

“ Flue-sama, I was fine thanks to Tauro. Thank you for your concern.”

Aeris bowed reverently.

“Don’t be like that, Aeris-san. You’re my friend too. No one is watching us here, so make yourself comfortable. Yes, I’ve called you guys here today because of Aeris-san.”

“Is it…me?”

Aeris had no idea of what was going on, but since she was called together with Tauro, she knew it must be something related to Tauro.

However, she couldn’t imagine it being about her personally.

“Yes. Aeris-san is looking for a guardian, isn’t she? It was a topic of conversation in the royal family, so I told them she was a friend of mine and my mother said she would be her guardian. If the royal family becomes her guardian, no one can complain!”

Prince Flue sniffs proudly.

Tauro did not expect this.

It’s a family affair of one noble family, he didn’t expect the royal family to name a guardian.

Besides, Prince Flue’s mother is, of course, the wife of His Majesty the King, the head of this country.

She’s the most favored person in the world right now and if she were to become Aeris’s guardian, there would be no one better.

As a nobleman in the service of the royal family, their interests are clear, so she won’t be taken advantage of or be vulnerable like with other nobles.

She just has to serve more than ever.

Aeris’s late father, the Marquis of Van Dyne, was also a loyal retainer, so it was simply a matter of following in her parent’s footsteps.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Aeris could barely respond to the offer, which she had not expected.

“Of course. It would also be a way for the royal family to repay the Marquis de Van Dyne for his loyalty. This will put an end to the family feud.”

Prince Flue clapped Tauro and Aeris on the shoulder, happy to have been able to help his friend.

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