Chapter 424: The Poisoned Wine

**Benard Walter’s POV:** When Bertha left, she almost stumbled over her own feet, and I instinctively moved to help her. But before I could, one of her servants caught her. Bertha quickly apologized for her moment of clumsiness and hurried away, clearly as tense as I was. I stood there with my hand half-raised, watching her vanish around the corner. Shaking my head, I forced myself to turn my attention back to the task at hand. There was no time for distractions, especially not with someone like her. The mission itself proceeded without incident. Everything went smoothly—too smoothly, I realized later. No ambushes, no complications, no disruptions. It was almost unnerving. Then the calm shattered. Like a thunderclap out of nowhere, the news came: General Aldrich had been poisoned. The wine that had been transported as part of the welfare supplies was the weapon. I was the immediate suspect. As the person overseeing the transportation, it was easy to assume I had an oppor