Alaric's headache hasn't gone away in days. Not that he expects it to at this point. The emperor has started including him in updates about the incident, letting him know what's been found, possible leads, leads that ended up meaningless, and other bits of information that someone along the way felt were important enough to pass along.
It's been a long time since he's involved himself in politics this way, particularly political schemes, but it's personal this time. He almost lost Lenore, leaving her as another regret in his life, but this time, that regret would include the fact that he hasn't had the chance to tell her that he loves her.
Every time he sees how pale she's become or how difficult the simple tasks of daily living have become for her weakened body, that fear of losing her returns. He joined the investigation partially out of a sense of duty to the imperial family, but primarily because he needs to know that whoever was behind the poisonings can't hurt Lenore again.
