Her Graceful War Song

During her investigation, Carissa learned a troubling piece of information from a young chamberlain. The caltrop Cecil had been playing with had indeed gone missing, and a palace maid had picked it up.

The chamberlain had witnessed the moment the caltrop was picked up, and recognized the maid in question as Clara, who served Penelope, one of Salvador's concubines.

It was clear to Carissa that Penelope had no reason to harm Connor. Her relationship with Grace and Sylvia was rather indifferent. Thus, Carissa formally petitioned Victoria for permission to conduct an inquiry within the harem and see if Clara was secretly loyal to someone else.

As expected, Carissa uncovered that Clara had entered the palace years earlier as a low-ranking maid, assigned to laundry duty and forced to endure a hard life. She was from the same hometown as Lyra, one of Grace's trusted maids.

Lyra helped Clara by making arrangements with the head maid, sending her to Penelope's residence to work as a cleaner. Over the years, the quick-witted Clara managed to earn Penelope's trust, becoming one of her closest confidantes.

Further examination of the palace records revealed that when Clara was first sent to Penelope, her place of origin had been altered. Carissa only found her actual hometown in the records from the year Clara entered the palace. If she had not been particularly diligent, she might never have noticed the connection between Clara and Lyra.

Following this lead, it was easy to uncover that Clara had secretly been in contact with Lyra, and it also revealed that Grace had planted people in various places.

Over the years, Grace had acquired many valuable things. Even during the years when she wasn't in charge of the harem, she was still able to easily obtain everything she wanted, whether it was rightfully hers or not.

This was the benefit of the humble and gentle persona Grace had built. Sylvia didn't bother competing with her, while Kylie thought that giving her a few gifts would help build a closer relationship and make it easier to use her.

And because of Grace's kind nature, the other lower-ranking concubines were also willing to give her gifts to please her. She had a good reputation both in the palace and in court.

No one thought about how easily that reputation had been built.

Strictly speaking, Grace hadn't done many humble or compassionate things at all. When Carissa investigated, she discovered that the people Grace had planted would always speak well of her in front of their own mistresses. They would praise her modesty, gentle disposition, and reluctance to engage in conflict. Over time, everyone began to believe it.noveldrama

Would someone so clever have hidden their true nature for so many years just for a good reputation? Clearly, there was something else behind it.

The information Carissa uncovered had already been reported to Victoria and Salvador. The king instructed her to continue her investigation, though he ordered that no action be taken regarding Caden for the moment, as he intended to handle that personally.

Carissa understood Salvador's

strategy. His instruction to continue the investigation was designed to lull Grace and the others in the

harem into a false sense of net

making them believe that the truth might never be revealed. As the weeks passed, they would grow complacent, and only then would Salvador strike with a fatal blow.

Yet, Rafael believed his brother was merely buying time to mentally prepare himself for the harsh reality that his second son might have been involved in the attempted murder of his firstborn.

In the new year, Salvador failed to attend court for three consecutive days, so affairs of state were temporarily entrusted to Jeremiah and Rafael. Derek stayed close by, making sure he never left the king's side. He kept bringing Salvador medicine, as Rowan had said the king couldn't stop taking it.

On the 23rd of the month, Carissa came again to report, detailing how one of Salvador's close attendants, a man named Shawn, was known to be loyal to Grace.

Shawn was Derek's godson. Although he didn't usually serve in the royal study, when Salvador returned to the palace, it was mostly him who stayed by the king's side.

After Salvador fell ill, Shawn also helped with the medicine preparation. Every time Sebastian came to check on the king, Shawn was sent out. But if he wanted to, he could likely find out something.

In other words, Grace must have had at least a partial understanding of Salvador's condition.

Upon hearing this, Salvador's fury was immediate and intense. In a fit of rage, he hurled the vial of medicine on his desk, shattering it upon the floor.

The matter, when viewed through a narrow lens, was simply the ambition of a concubine, seeking to gain favor by using Shawn to spy on the king's habits and preferences. But when viewed more broadly, the possibility of Shawn poisoning the king's medicine was not so far-fetched.

Salvador could no longer tolerate this. He ordered that Shawn be detained

immediately, then headed to Iridescent Palace.