A Sweet Poison

Thwack!

One clean strike and Dominic’s eyes rolled back. He went limp.

I caught his head before he could hit the ground face-first.

“Hmm. Not dead, is he?”

A human who had awakened magic was considerably more durable than an ordinary person.

Dominic was still breathing.

“Picky eating is bad for you. Sometimes you have to swallow the things you don’t like.”

I gripped his head firmly and focused my mind.

Dark aura was bleeding off the unconscious Dominic in steady waves.

A mind saturated with despair and surrender.

Absorbing mental energy from someone who had closed themselves off to me was strictly off-limits — and from a mind full of negative emotion, it was even more dangerous.

But there was exactly one exception.

“Despair? I’ve got a doctorate in despair, you little wretch.”

In my previous life, I had been through despair far worse than this and come out the other side.

Some brat crying over a few hits — his despair was barely worth a snort.

I absorbed the dark aura until I hit my limit.

“Hah…”

Status check.

My telekinesis had grown stronger.

A few more absorptions like this and I should be able to reclaim the second of my psychic abilities.

“Good. Still time-consuming and tedious, but it works.”

Breaking an enemy’s spirit and then absorbing from them — that was viable too.

My psychic powers had survived the reincarnation, but this particular method was a special case. I had needed to verify it actually worked.

I was going to deal with Dominic either way. Treating it as an experiment at the same time was efficient.

Thud.

I released his head and Dominic toppled sideways.

Even after I had taken my fill, despair and defeat continued seeping faintly off him.

An enemy I had done this to would have the fear seared into their soul.

Dominic would never forget being held helpless by the back of his head as long as he lived.

From now on, just hearing the name Librata would probably make him flinch.

“I held back on this during my emperor days — too much of it turns into a reign of terror…”

Well, I was no emperor anymore.

Clean this up properly and I shouldn’t have to look at him again.

I dusted off my hands and turned around.

Silence.

Everyone who had gathered to watch was staring blankly.

Hm. Did I go a bit too one-sided?

I had made a show of looking pressured at the start.

But pretending it was lucky and the fight had been close — Dominic would probably have come crawling back. Better to end it definitively.

Clap.

I brought my hands together to snap the crowd out of their daze.

“All right. Let’s clean this up.”

“…Oh.”

“A — a stretcher!”

People snapped back to themselves and scattered into motion.

Eyes kept drifting back to me.

The way they looked at me had done a complete one-eighty from before the duel.

Not the dissolute young fool anymore — something unknown and unclassified.

Nobody moved to approach.

I stood alone and shook out my hands.

“Well. No more annoying interruptions for a while.”

The household servants and knights had never looked at me kindly — but that had changed now.

Nobody would be picking pointless fights.

Dominic was handled. Collect the payment and it was over.

Two birds, one stone.

From here on, all I had to do was train and live in peace.

Being alone?

I had always eaten and slept alone, even as emperor.

Same after reincarnating.

“Young Master.”

A voice calling out.

Amelia approached and looked me over.

Her wolf ears had settled — she was worried.

I smiled and waved a hand.

“Right, it’s all done—”

“Come with me.”

She took my arm and walked ahead.

I thought about it for a moment, then went along without argument.

I didn’t even need to read her aura.

The small hand gripping my arm said everything.

The manor’s infirmary.

Amelia brought me in and began checking me for injuries.

I sat on the bed with both hands pressed to my thighs and smiled.

“I didn’t take a single hit, I’m telling you.”

“Better safe than certain.”

Amelia said it crisply and went over me without exception — head, cheek, shoulders, arms, all of it.

She even pressed her nose to my shirt and sniffed.

Checking for internal bleeding with a beastwoman’s sense of smell.

“…You’re genuinely uninjured. Thank goodness.”

“Right. Hey — aren’t you scared of me? Everyone else is.”

“Pardon?”

“They’re all keeping their distance. I did take him apart rather thoroughly.”

Thoroughly enough that Dominic would never be a nuisance again.

And thoroughly enough that nobody inside Librata’s walls would stir up pointless trouble either.

Two birds, one stone — but the effect had been a little stronger than intended.

The household’s people were impressed by my ability and frightened of it in equal measure.

Amelia said quietly,

“Knight Garul told me. That the man had said something insulting about me, and that was why you got angry.”

“…”

Ah. Right — Dominic had said something about a filthy beastwoman.

Though that wasn’t actually why I had dealt with him the way I did.

Amelia looked at me for a moment, then leaned forward slightly.

Her face drew close.

The silver-haired maid spoke with quiet concern.

“I am truly grateful for your feelings, Young Master. But please don’t do anything so dangerous again.”

“…”

Amelia smiled softly and brushed my hair back from my forehead.

With the warmth of genuine affection — something beyond the bounds of master and servant.

Like a parent calming a child.

“No matter how strong and steady you’ve become, you’ll always be my little Young Master to me. I’m the one who carried you.”

“Oh, um…”

“I’ll explain to the others why you did what you did and clear up the misunderstanding. So…”

Amelia wiped at my cheek with her sleeve and straightened up.

“Don’t be so lonely by yourself. If you ever feel that way, call for me anytime.”

“…Right. I will.”

“Please stay here for a moment. I’ll prepare a bath and fresh clothes and come back to you.”

Amelia bowed her head politely and left.

Alone in the infirmary, I found myself rubbing my forehead absently.

“How long has it been since anything felt like this?”

That fullness — from being treated as one person by another person.

When I was emperor, everyone regarded me as an object of reverence and worship.

No matter how casually I carried myself, no matter how lightly I spoke, everyone lowered their eyes and read the room.

Even the women I had loved.

The swirl of politics and power and interest and jealousy.

The only constant that never changed was the work — the affairs of the empire.

“I was just…”

Knock, knock.

A soft tap at the door.

It opened and someone stepped inside.

A dark elf man. Heinkel.

“May I intrude for a moment?”

“How’s Dominic?”

“Still breathing. And even if he weren’t — no liability falls on Young Master Rigen. A death during a sanctioned duel carries no criminal culpability.”

Heinkel said it plainly.

“Congratulations on your victory. I never imagined a talent like you — a jewel — was hiding inside House Librata. I’m glad I came to see for myself.”

“Save the flattery. Give me the money. Marquis Burzak agreed to pay thirty million won after the duel, didn’t he?”

Heinkel nodded.

“Of course. As the notary, I will see it executed without the slightest deviation.”

“What’s the real reason you’re here?”

I asked him directly.

He hadn’t come just to offer congratulations.

Actually — from the very start—

“You didn’t come to Librata for nothing, did you?”

“…”

“Your charge just got beaten by me, and you’re sincerely complimenting the person who did it. Then again — you’re a dark elf. You’re a guest of the marquis’s house, not someone who owes him loyalty.”

I kept pulling at the thread.

“House Librata holds official elven patronage. A dark elf showing up here — given that dark elves and elves aren’t exactly on friendly terms — the setup is a little strange, isn’t it?”

“‘Marquis Burzak asked me to escort Dominic’ — that would just be deflection at this point.”

Heinkel nodded.

“Yes. You’re right. I came to gather intelligence on House Librata’s internal affairs.”

“Refreshingly straightforward.”

I smiled. Heinkel smiled back.

“You clearly already suspected it. And from the beginning, I was stationed with Marquis Burzak’s house to keep watch on Librata — and on Melius’s movements. To report directly to my own kind if anything suspicious came to light.”

“…”

I had suspected as much in the back of my mind.

But hearing it stated openly like that?

Heinkel shrugged.

“No need for suspicion. As you well know — as the notary, I am absolutely forbidden from causing you harm.”

“That changes once the contract expires. So why are you telling me all this?”

“There is little point in hiding things from someone this perceptive. Shall I run through what you accomplished today?”

Heinkel began counting on his fingers.

“First — you concealed your ability and provoked Dominic into agreeing to a direct duel. Second — you used me as notary to make the contract airtight. Third — during the duel itself, you baited Dominic into wasting his magic. And last — you took him apart so completely that any future trouble from him has been preemptively eliminated.”

He smiled with one eye.

“It’s a shame I only have the one eye. If I weren’t half-blind, I could have watched more clearly.”

“Smooth flattery makes me more suspicious, not less.”

“I mean every word of it. And seeing how surprised the others were — Young Master Rigen has been hiding his true ability very carefully all this time. The fool chasing women and getting beaten up was a cover. You’ve just shown your real self.”

No, not quite.

I had gone easy specifically because I was worried about what you might pick up on.

Heinkel spoke again.

“I do not work for House Burzak. I am a dark elf — I act entirely in the interest of my own people.”

I gave a single nod.

Heinkel said it with deliberate weight.

“And yet — I find myself wanting to serve House Librata with everything I have. Because standing beside you, I believe the dark elves would flourish.”

“A dark elf with three hundred years of training is throwing lavish compliments at some nobody from the provinces?”

“A young master of one of the twelve houses.”

One of the twelve houses — those qualified to produce the next emperor.

Was he looking to attach himself to one of them?

I clicked my tongue.

“I want nothing more than to eat well and do nothing. Don’t bring me anything troublesome—”

“There is something extremely important you need to hear regarding House Librata. Will you listen?”

Without waiting for my answer, Heinkel continued.

“There are those who would very much like to see Librata removed from the twelve houses.”

“That’s a dangerous thing to say out loud.”

I personally found the emperor’s seat repulsive — but for most people, it was something else entirely.

One of the twelve houses of the empire.

The next ruler of the empire, the second emperor, would come from among them.

I looked at Heinkel steadily.

“Librata is a borderland count — the weakest of the twelve. But everyone still watches us. The elves have been stationed here for ten years. A dark elf like you comes sniffing around. There’s a reason for all of it.”

“Yes. The twelve houses are nobility among nobility.”

“And someone is telling that nobility to step down? That’s social suicide.”

“Of course, those pursuing this goal aren’t using legitimate means. Emperor Sirik Karakas personally designated the twelve houses — changing that list would mean defying his dying will.”

I never left any such will.

I clicked my tongue and pressed further.

“Removing Librata from the twelve houses — that’s Marquis Burzak’s actual objective? Sending his son to break the engagement wasn’t the whole of it — he’s got two and three layers of traps already set?”

“I don’t know the full details yet myself. But there is definitely movement in that direction. Why not look into it together?”

Heinkel pressed the offer again. I took a moment to think.

When something sounds too good — that’s when you should be suspicious.

“You being a spy was something I’d already guessed, but confessing it yourself is a different matter. That’s well beyond field discretion. Your dark elf superiors could consider this a serious problem.”

“…”

“Attaching yourself to a young master of one of the twelve houses — on the surface, it sounds like a reasonable idea. But why exactly would you go this far, providing intelligence and making your pitch to me specifically?”

I rubbed my chin.

“You think taking down one Dominic is enough to justify this? Even my escort Garul could have done that.”

Of course, I had handled it without using a single drop of magic. But that still didn’t explain why Heinkel would push this hard.

“In other words — this isn’t a unilateral decision on your part. You were given specific orders to bring someone in House Librata into the fold, even if it meant sharing classified information.”

“…Ngh.”

The easy smile Heinkel had worn since entering the room faltered into something pained.

The reaction of someone who had just been poked in exactly the right spot.

“…I assumed you would still be riding the high of your victory. I didn’t expect such a cold-headed read.”

“You come carrying trouble and you expect me not to be on guard?”

I considered it for a moment.

I had planned to collect the payment from the marquis and call it finished — but if there was a genuine scheme to destroy House Librata, that was a different problem entirely.

Someone was planning to burn down the house I intended to live in comfortably.

Heinkel let out a quiet sigh.

“Yes. I am operating under special orders. To observe the conspiracy to remove Librata from the twelve houses, and to maneuver in whatever way best serves the interests of the dark elves.”

“Special orders?”

“Yes. Which is why I’m laying everything out for you directly and offering my support. I’ll need to submit an after-action report, of course, but…”

“Who issued these orders?”

I asked it without much thought.

But Heinkel answered with something close to reverence.

“Her Majesty the Queen.”

The one the dark elves called their Queen…

I went completely still.

The Queen.

The dark elves’ Queen of Assassins.

The third empress of Sirik Karakas.

My wife.

What?

What?!