Chapter 397: 395 Guesses (Part 1)_1
“When did she probably die?”

Colin looked expressionlessly at Lady Sharon’s corpse in front of him, his heart boiling with anger.

Unlike the assassination attempt on Marquis Vincent, this time it was clear that Colin had not orchestrated it himself.

Of course, Colin didn’t feel sorrow over her death. Even though she was Isa’s biological mother, when she attempted to poison Isa during childbirth, Colin had already sentenced her to death in his heart.

The reason he didn’t kill her on the spot was to leave it to Isa to deal with personally.

Unexpectedly, Lady Sharon was also assassinated.

If she had to die, it should have been at Isa’s hand.

“Count, Lady Sharon died of poisoning. Based on the extent of rigor mortis on the body, her time of death was likely last night,”

Colin nodded and fell silent.

He didn’t investigate who had visited Lady Sharon’s room last night, because it probably didn’t matter.

After he had uncovered Lady Sharon’s plot, Colin didn’t pay much attention to her, he had simply casually placed her in a side hall in the Royal Palace.

One couldn’t blame Colin for being negligent. After all, initially, he didn’t think she required heavy guarding.

First of all, Lady Sharon was not a professional. Escaping from the heavily guarded Royal Palace was impossible.

Moreover, after killing Duke Miller, Lady Sharon’s life or death had become irrelevant. This weak woman had lost Isa’s trust and could not possibly stir up any trouble.

However, when Colin discovered that Marquis Vincent had not incited Duke Miller to join the rebellion, he began to realize that Duke Miller’s motive was flawed, and that Lady Sharon might actually be of some use.

Alas, he realized this too late.

By the time he wanted to interrogate Lady Sharon, she was already dead.

However, Colin was able to confirm something—someone was definitely manipulating Duke Miller and Lady Sharon from behind the scenes!

Before, Colin had guessed that Duke Miller might have seen the rebellion coming and was planning to reap benefits from the chaos. But now, looking at the silenced Lady Sharon, Colin understood that they were both just puppets.

What’s more, this person didn’t want their identity to be revealed.

This was interesting.

Colin stroked his chin, lost in thought.

It seemed that this time, apart from the Eastern territory, there was another force that wanted to stir up chaos in the Half-Elf Kingdom.

Who could it be?

…

The back garden of the Royal Palace.

Queen Isa, dressed in a loose white robe, carrying a sleeping Sylv, wandered leisurely on the lush evergreen lawn.

Her beautiful face was glowing with happiness, and her amber eyes were full of soft affection, keeping a watchful eye on her infant daughter in her arms.

The soft autumn sun shone on them, casting a seemingly holy aura.

Following closely behind Isa were two little tails—Prince Harrison and Princess Judy.

They followed in Isa’s steps, curiously staring at the small life in her arms, whispering and then covering their mouths to chuckle, not knowing what they were discussing.

Hearing Colin’s footsteps approaching, Isa stopped and turned around, offering him a sweet smile. She said in a soft and gentle voice, “You have come at an inconvenient time, the little one has just fallen asleep.”

Colin approached, wrapped his arm around Isa’s waist, and asked, “Why did you get up? Didn’t I tell you to rest more?”

Isa leaned in to Colin’s embrace and laughed, “I feel uncomfortable lying down all the time, besides, my body is in good health. There’s no problem with me moving around.”

Knowing Isa was not an ordinary mother, Colin didn’t argue further and bent down to gently kiss the cute little face in her arms.

“Humph! Teacher, you certainly don’t mind the whole world knowing that Sylv is your illegitimate daughter!” Princess Judy seemed uncomfortable and couldn’t resist grumbling.

Colin looked at Judy with a smile and asked, “What about your father? Do you know how many illegitimate daughters he has?”

Princess Judy immediately fell silent, puffing out her cheeks in anger.

Even Colin, who was not very familiar with the nobility circle of the Imperial Capital, knew that Emperor Reinhardt’s illegitimate children were scattered all over the capital. Some people even joked—

Emperor Reinhardt doesn’t have to worry about his heirs. If something happened to his legitimate children, he could adopt one of the many illegitimate ones.

Sometimes Colin couldn’t help but wonder if the reason Emperor Reinhardt didn’t mind them both being sent to Colin’s side was for the same reason.

“Father has 9 illegitimate sons and 7 illegitimate daughters…” A gentle, childish voice broke the silence.

Colin turned in surprise, looking at Prince Harrison, smiling and asking, “You know this so precisely?”

Prince Harrison nodded solemnly, “Yes, even my father’s illegitimate children have clear records within the royal family.”

Suddenly Colin became interested, asking, “So how do you confirm that these children are Emperor Reinhardt’s? I have heard that your father’s lovers are married women!”

“Each of father’s lovers, during the period they are favored, would be lodged in a specific manor, isolated from their husbands…”

“Your father is really a meticulous man.” Colin laughed.

But, then he immediately realized. Wasn’t Emperor Reinhardt deliberately sowing his seeds?

With such a secure and efficient system and detailed records of each illegitimate child, was Emperor Reinhardt’s rampant affairs purely for pleasure, or was there another goal?

Thinking of the Golden Tail Butterfly in the North Territory, the Morrison Family, Colin suddenly became suspicious. Could Emperor Reinhardt, under the guise of carelessly having affairs, be secretly conducting some kind of bloodline experiments?

With this in mind, Colin turned to Prince Harrison, “Harrison, do you remember the detailed information about your father’s illegitimate children?”

Prince Harrison scratched his head, somewhat troubled, “I only remember a part…”

“Then could you write down the information you remember, I want to see it. This information should not be confidential, right?”

“Of course not, I will write it down right away and show you when it’s done.” Prince Harrison nodded and then, as if given an important task, ran away in a hurry.

“What about me, what about me? Don’t I have a task?” The remaining Princess Judy felt neglected and protested loudly.

“You…” Colin’s eyes twinkled, he smiled and said, “You help me design an amusement park.”

“Amusement park?”

“Yes, this amusement park is for Sylv. Please help me design it based on the several adventure stories of heroes I’ve told you before, involving elements like exploration, mazes, puzzle-solving, and treasure hunting.

If you design it well, I can call craftsmen to help you build this amusement park…”

“Great! Great! I’ll design it, I’ll design it!” Princess Judy was so excited, she clapped her hands and shouted until she woke up the little one in Isa’s arms, then she stuck out her tongue cutely and also ran away quickly.

Isa gently patted Sylv’s back until she fell asleep again, then turned to Colin,

“Well, you’ve sent them both away. Do you have something to say to me?”

Colin’s smile disappeared, he held Isa’s soft hand tightly and said in a deep voice,

“Lady Sharon has passed away.”