Eric Gaultiero's conspiracy is the concealed attempt to poison Matheus Lindgern and his family, a plot whose discovery transforms private suspicion into actionable evidence. The conspiracy is not merely an accusation against Eric: the scrying vision shows him speaking with a group of nobles and identifies the poisoning as an imminent attack planned for dinner. Its decisive consequence is Jennifer Lindgern's rapid decision to confront the members of her son's inner circle before they can carry out the scheme.

Suspicion and Investigation

Alice initiates the investigation because she has found a way to determine exactly what Eric has planned and whether he is the person trying to kill her and her family. To obtain the answer, she uses a small bag containing various bones, acacia powder, and a vial of blood collected earlier. She places these materials into a bowl of water before a mirror, turning the investigation into a ritualized act of supernatural observation rather than relying on rumor or political inference alone.

The ritual produces a visible result. Smoke rises slowly from the bowl as a silver mist, curls around the mirror, and begins to shimmer. An image then appears on the glass, making the hidden conspiracy observable to both Alice and Jennifer. The method supplies the scene's central evidentiary reversal: what began as uncertainty about Eric's intentions becomes a witnessed exchange that identifies both the suspected planner and the people connected to him.

The Conspirators Revealed

The image shows Eric standing before a small group of lords and ladies. Although the voices of the other conspirators remain muffled, their faces are visible, allowing Jennifer to recognize them. She explains that they had sat on her husband's council for years, linking the present plot to the former political order and showing that the threat comes from people with established access to Matheus Lindgern's household and government.

Eric's words reveal that he knows Alice has become suspicious. He complains that the “little witch” approached him without provocation, indicating that Alice's investigation has already unsettled him. The exchange therefore exposes both the conspirators' awareness of their vulnerability and the reason they are accelerating their plans: the plot is no longer safely hidden from its intended targets.

Eric then states that the group must act soon or end up like “the little whore” he sent to kill Alice. The remark reveals that the conspiracy includes a previous assassination attempt and that the failed or completed agent is being treated as a disposable instrument. Eric's movement to a counter and his lifting of a vial make the next stage concrete: the conspirators intend to poison their target at dinner that very night.

Immediate Countermove

The revelation changes the value at stake from uncertainty to imminent danger. Before the vision, Alice needs confirmation about Eric's role; afterward, the family faces a specific poisoning attempt with a stated time and method. Jennifer recognizes that the evidence is sufficient, responding that it is exactly what she needed to hear. Her reaction is not passive relief but immediate mobilization.

Jennifer takes a cloak from her closet, pulls it over her shoulders, and tells Alice that they must fetch several people. The physical preparation gives the discovery a compressed, urgent rhythm: the vision ends, and a counter-operation begins. Alice follows Jennifer despite not knowing what she intends to do, while remaining certain that Jennifer is about to bring severe consequences upon the members of her son's inner circle who betrayed him.

Consequences and Significance

The conspiracy establishes Eric Gaultiero as an active threat rather than a distant political suspect. His own speech connects him to the planned poisoning, the earlier attempt on Alice, and a coalition of former council members. The use of the mirror makes the hidden plot legible without requiring Alice or Jennifer to rely on an informant's uncertain account; the conspirators' faces, affiliations, words, and poison vial all appear within the same discovery sequence.

The event also shifts the balance between secrecy and retaliation. Eric believes the conspiracy can still be completed at dinner, but Alice's ritual exposes the plan before the poison is administered. Jennifer's departure with Alice marks the end of the investigative phase and the beginning of direct action against the traitors. In narrative terms, the conspiracy functions as a discovery-and-reversal event: a concealed threat becomes visible, a suspected enemy is confirmed, and the household's response is set in motion before the planned attack can occur.