"Who is it?" Louis asked, his relaxed demeanor vanishing instantly.
"Count Elias," Maurice replied. "However, before I could reach the two informants who were talking that night, they were already dead."
"Dead? How?" Louis pressed, his eyes sharpening.
"Poison," Maurice answered flatly. "They were silenced before they could utter a single name beyond the Count's."
Damian's frown deepened as he processed the news. He leaned back into his heavy velvet chair. "Elias has been nursing a grudge ever since I refused to marry his daughter," he muttered. "I expected petty political resistance, not assassination attempts."
"That Count holds a lower rank and limited resources," Louis stated, pacing the length of the rug in deep contemplation. "How could he possibly plan something so heinous on his own? I suspect a much larger hand is moving behind him, using his bitterness as a shield."
Damian tapped his desk, his mind already calculating the web of alliances around him.
