Rosa followed Roland to the palace as though her soul had been drained from her, never saying a word along the way.
Her haggard, miserable appearance moved everyone who saw her.
In just a few short months, she had lost one close family member after another. Before she knew it, she was the only one left.
And the country that sustained her title as the eldest princess was already battered by turmoil, teetering on the brink.
How tragic!
Roland's heart ached for her. He wanted to offer some comfort, but when the words reached his lips, he found himself at a loss for what to say.
The moment she saw the bodies, Rosa's eyes filled with tears.
"Mother... my brother!"
She buried herself in Roland's arms and broke into sobs.
"How could this happen? Who could be so cruel?"
This incident involved a struggle between several great empires. With Rosa's intelligence, she could hardly have failed to see that.
But she was powerless to do anything.
Roland gently patted her back, silently shaking his head.
Before long, Linge arrived and said quietly, "This wasn't a murder targeting XV alone. It was a mass poisoning carried out through the water supply.
"But Detect Poison and other divination spells found nothing abnormal. The illness progressed at different rates in different people, yet their symptoms all erupted on the same day. It may be an infection caused by some pathogen capable of sensing things over a distance, or possessing a collective consciousness."
Such methods would have been considered sophisticated even in a high-magic world. It was hardly surprising that the people of a low-magic world had been caught completely unprepared.
Linge added, "It's reasonable to conclude that the poisoning had been going on for some time. I recommend blood tests for everyone who