Wriothesely's POV
So...
Let's rewind a bit.
I got some tea from an unknown sender.
The leaves had been watered with Primordial Seawater during their growth as such they held its properties to a certain extent, though, according to Neuvillette, they could not be used to kill. The most the tea or any other plant grown in such a way could do was make you be unable to move your body for a while. It couldn't even make you pass out fully
It could have been from the same guy who usually sends me tea, but there was no proof of it either.
The first thing I wanted to do was call Timeo in for questioning, followed by the receptionist who receives the packages, but Neuvillette stopped me.
"If you were to receive such a gift, what would your first reaction be." He asked.
"To drink it, of course."
What else would you do when receiving tea?
"And is this common knowledge within the Fortress?"
"I would think so?"
But why?
Wait...
"Are you perhaps thinking..."
"Yes, likely."
Hahaha!
This is...
"That would be entertaining. That, or a waste of time." I laughed.
"Well then, would you like to waste some time with me, Your Grace?"
"Anytime."
Why not?
Nothing bad can happen from sitting around for a bit.
Nothing.
Bad.
Can.
...
"What?"
"How would you feel about losing the use of your body for a little while?" Neuvillette repeated his question.
"You want me to drink the tea?"
Instantly, he started frowning and pushed the cup slightly further away from me.
"Absolutely not. I was just going to relax your muscles for a while."
"And that would do the trick?" I asked skeptically.
It did.
It definitely did the trick.
Neuvillette only had to touch the spot between my eyebrows a single time for me to powerlessly drop back into my chair.
"Here. You can just pinch this to undo it."
He placed a small marble into my hand, and with some difficulty, I managed to nod.
"It would start working right around now. If I were the someone trying to kill you using this method, I would wait another ten minutes before showing up."
"And if no one comes?"
"For a normal person, the effects should last for about three hours. For you, I reckon you would feel the effects fade away in just one. Let's give them some leeway and wait two hours. If no one comes by that time, we can move on to the next step of the investigation."
A perfectly sound plan and one more reason for me not to do my paperwork for the next two hours, maybe more.
But...
After just 10 minutes I realized-
This is insanely boring.
I'm really curious how Neuvillette doesn't seem bored even though he too stopped doing his work and merely stared towards the stairs.
"Hey, Neuv-
"That's makes it four."
"What?"
"Four times that a certain person passed by the doors of your office." He elaborated.
What?
Wait, wait, wait.
"How do you know that?"
"Wriothesely, Meropide is a prison underwater and is filled with water everywhere. It is essentially the best place for me to be as the Sovereign of Water. There is hardly anything I can't keep track of within a certain radius if I try." Neuvillette explained with a matter-of-fact expression.
Right.
I didn't think of that.
So...
"You like it here?"
"Quite so." He nodded.
And for some reason, I was suddenly filled with satisfaction.
Though, whatever that feeling was I had to put it aside for now.
"Four times, huh?"
Inmates usually avoid coming near my office, let alone pass by so often.
"Are we expecting guests, then?"
"Likely."
I smiled before putting on the most pathetic expression I could muster.
I heard a quiet chuckle followed by Neuvillette's fading voice.
"Such an expression doesn't suit you, Your Grace. Your usual no care in the world smirk will do just fine."
My usual what?
I turned to ask him but he was nowhere to be found.
"Neuvi-"
Click.
That was when I heard the door open downstairs.
Here they come.
I watched intently as a figure slowly emerged from the stairs.
Our eyes met and the man started smirking.
"How nice it is to see you in such a pathetic state, Your Grace."
I didn't answer the obvious taunting and he probably wasn't expecting me to either.
He turned away from me, looking around the room only for confusion to fill his face.
"Huh? How did the Chief Justice manage to slip past surveillance?" He mumbled.
Neuvillette?
Were they perhaps-
"No matter. He wasn't part of this plan anyway. It's better now that he's gone."
Phew!
I almost couldn't hold back a sigh of relief.
So they weren't here for him after all.
However, I too would love to know just where Neuvillette had gone.
"Would you care for a talk, Your Grace? After all, we have quite a bit of time on our hands." He laughed.
It was only when I heard that laugh that I finally realized who this guy was.
Ah...
This annoying guy...
"Mallory. What brings you here unannounced? You couldn't even bother to knock."
Mallory Roche.
He was sentenced to life in prison on three counts of murder and two counts of sexual abuse.
Truly a horrible guy who should be locked in a holding cell right now.
"Well, well, well. It seems the Duke knows only to act tough. Please, even a child could see that you cannot move your body as you wish at the moment."
I was just about to undo Neuvillette's little trick when I heard his voice right next to my ear.
"Don't. Not yet. Let him talk."
A shiver ran down my spine as I suddenly felt his breath right on my cheek.
"Oh, wow. Are you perhaps afraid, Your Grace? You're shivering."
He laughed about something else as well, but I couldn't quite concentrate on his voice anymore.
"I am and will remain right here during this conversation. If he wishes to hurt you, he will have to go through me first. So... Will you trust me, Wriothesely?"
Trust...
This is my life we're talking about here.
Do I really trust him that much?
After another moment of thought, I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding and slowly loosened my hold on the small marble.
"Thank you."
Along with his voice came a reassuring squeeze on my shoulder.
Phew...
I allowed my tense body to relax a bit at his touch, knowing that if Mallory really made a move, he would be in for one hell of a surprise.
If Neuvillette wanted to hear him talk, I would get him to talk.
"This is your doing then? Are you not afraid that someone would catch you in the act?"
"Who would? Your subordinates? They are far too busy with trivial things at the moment. Or did you perhaps mean the Chief Justice? Why is he down here anyway? Well, never mind that. Whatever the reason, I'm quite confident that I can take care of any person who comes through that door, even if it is the Iudex himself that shows up. After all, look what I have?"
He pulled a bottle of sparkling liquid out of his pocket. A bottle of a very familiar liquid.
Instantly, I felt Neuvillette's hand around my shoulder tighten and even the room seemed to cool down by a few degrees.
Mallory didn't seem to notice though as he continued smirking.
"Water from the Primordial Sea."
"What an amazing guess, Your Grace!"
You're quite amazing too.
Amazing at pissing Neuvillette off, that is.