By the time the afternoon tea trio and Bruce's group arrived, they found Solam, Philip, and someone they had never seen before staring blankly at the corpse of Mr. Terry, the former royal steward. (Philip used an alias in front of others, but I can't be bothered to come up with one, so I won't write it.)
Though everyone was somewhat puzzled by the newly appeared young man, no one voiced any questions. It was not their place to question Solam, so they could only turn their attention to Mr. Terry.
"Lord Solam, this is..." Tili'er, the Knight of a Hundred Flowers, pointed at the old man who had died with a smile on his face and spoke hesitantly.
"Dead," Solam said succinctly.
"By the killer?"
"No. The killer hadn't had time to kill him before we drove him off. He committed suicide—after we saved him!" Solam said with a gloomy expression.
"What?!!!" The others stared at the old man in shock, unable to understand why he had done such a thing.
They wanted to ask more, but they were immediately interrupted by a burst of commotion. Quite a few knights suddenly rushed in from outside, followed closely by Yetana and Sokya, who hurried inside.
"How is Mr. Terry..." Yetana had intended to ask about Mr. Terry's condition, but before she could finish, she saw him lying lifeless in his chair, with traces of dark red blood still lingering at the corners of his mouth and eyes.
Solam gave Yetana a complicated look, shook his head, and said, "He wasn't murdered. He committed suicide. After we saved him, right in front of us, he drank poison!"
Sokya immediately stepped forward to the old man's side, placed his fingers against the old man's neck, then sniffed around his body. He then