"Elise, make sure you assign enough people to keep watch over Duke Grant around the clock. He is to take his medicine at strictly set times every day. An Arcanist mage existence has an absurdly strong physique, he can take more potion, but he must not take less. Don't give him any chance to wake up."
Watching Grant's eyes rapidly turn vacant, his whole body collapsing onto the stretcher as if he were dead, the curve at Astrid's lips eased, quickly returning to its usual calm. She turned to look at Lyra.
"Spare his life for now. Once we've taken control of all his territories, we'll deal with him slowly. Let him die with a little more value."
As long as Duke Grant was still alive, the lands under his control, legally speaking, all still belonged to this royal duke. Even the exalted King of Velys, under the kingdom's laws, had no right to strip him of his territories without cause.
