Heinrich and I held each other and cherished the moment we met again.

And, after a while.

After managing to control the intense emotions, I felt as if it was not worth letting go even though we were just right next to each other.

“Heinrich, because you were poisoned… I really thought you couldn’t get up anymore.”

“You said I was poisoned?”

Heinrich had a slightly puzzled expression.

“Yes.”

Actually, I spoke as if I had heard it from a doctor, but it’s certainly a poison. That was a fact I could infer from reading the original.

Heinrich fiddled with the buttons on his vest.

“If the poison had been within ten steps, the color of this button would have changed… It must have been a special poison that left no trace, Sister.”

―It was poison that even evaded magic tools.

I was a little surprised.

Right, the opponent was quite a skillful wizard.

A person who used blood to create a poison that was so bad that it could not be traced could surely make something undetected even by magic tools.

‘He would have wanted to be perfectly careful.’

Still fiddling with the button, Heinrich said,

“But there was a strange smell.”

“Smell?”

“Yes, something like the fishy smell of blood… Actually, I followed the smell first, not Sister.”

“……!”

“Then I found some kind of crazy human with his eyes flipped inside out attacking you?”

Heinrich, who had somehow become more mysteriously beautiful because of his paleness, frowned.

‘Oh, that’s right!’

Clearly, the poison made by mixing the blood of the two families had no effect on their bloodline and the blood could be detected by smell.

This was very convenient information to have.

For example, among flowers that all had the same shape, you could quickly tell which one was poisonous.

‘He’s half-blooded, so it worked the same way.’

The former magic tower lord stayed unconscious, so it was probably for that same reason Heinrich was able to get up again.

The blood of ‘Valentino’ flowing through Heinrich’s body must have saved him.

“But it’s strange. How did I awaken when I’m poisoned? I don’t have poison tolerance. That’s why I made this magic tool.”

“…….”

“Besides, if it was poison that could not be detected even by magic tools, it would have been terrible.”

“…That.”

Gulp—

I swallowed my saliva awkwardly.

‘That’s something I can’t explain…!’

‘This is the information I know from reading the original. And again, there is nothing good for you to know that you were poisoned by your biological father. You might get hurt…’

“Ah. I know.”

At that moment, the purple eyes slowly narrowed.

“……!”

My heart thumped and fell.

With an even more innocent appearance because he collapsed (it could only be seen as the main character’s buff), Heinrich swept his hair and said,

“It happened because I’m a ‘genius’.”

…What? I beg your pardon?

Heinrich added with his beautiful and arrogant eyes twinkling.

“If it’s not detected even by magic tools, it must be something with magical traits, so it doesn’t work on this ‘genius’.”

“…….”

“Aha, I’ve overcome poison now—”

Heinrich looked at me secretly with a puppy-like expression hoping for a compliment.

Ah, ah!

“Right! Heinri is really great~”

‘Huhu, you cute idiot.’

The chihuahua’s shoulders rose as much as his self-esteem had risen.

The puppy, who had been in high spirits for a long time, then muttered,

“That’s right. But more than that, Sister…”

“Yes?”

Heinrich’s face returned to one of seriousness.

“I actually saw a strange sight.”

“A strange sight?”

“The man made eye contact with Prince Gerard before attacking Sister… From then on, all of a sudden, he was extremely agitated and crazy.”

“—I know.”

I answered calmly.

“Gerard must have cast a spell to control him.”

“……!”

“Gerard is behind this.”

I wanted perfect revenge on Gerard.

Slowly, as much as my mother’s frustration and as much as my sorrow, I wanted to strip him of everything.

I wanted to remove the mask of ugly hypocrisy he had built up while doing a lot of bad deeds in front of everyone and inflict the punishment he deserved according to the imperial law.

‘A man who destroys people’s lives and does not hesitate to commit illegal acts in order to achieve his own goals…’

In a different way than Gerard.

I wanted to destroy him according to the perfectly right and proper procedure.

—I thought it would be the way my mother wanted.

And it was my way.

“I was waiting for the Great Temple to make the allegations true, but Gerard is committing evil at a faster rate than that.”

I quietly rubbed my chin.

If so, I couldn’t give the other side more time. I need to change direction.

At that moment, Heinrich’s eyes shone cruelly.

“He is trying to touch Sister, so I won’t let him live. I’ll go ahead and kill him.”

I grabbed my collar and shook my head.

“I don’t want Gerrard to die easily.”

“Then?”

“I want Gerard to lose everything and suffer.”

“……!”

Heinrich made a slightly surprised face. Obviously, it wasn’t something I normally would say.

But I meant it.

“Gerard will be moving again soon.”

Since 10 years ago, I had firsthand experience of Gerard’s ways. So now, I had reached a level where I could read his techniques.

As if it was clear where he would move the next piece of chess.

How did this opponent of mine play chess?

Gerard has always been a cruel and mean player.

“Let’s take precautions, Heinrich.”

Heinrich tilted his head at my words.

“…What precautions?”

“Well.”

I raised the corners of my mouth leisurely. Ironically, bad things were my specialty if I set my mind to them.

“… A couple of ways are coming to mind?”

How do I exterminate the big, evil rat that must be cornered by now?

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

The emperor’s bedroom was almost a void.

In the darkness, there sat a man with a mask covering his ugly distorted face.

Gerard looked at the emperor lying still, and whispered lowly.

“Father…”

The emperor was like a plant that grew out of a rock crevice.

Although his life was sustained with intense vitality, he was virtually incapable of doing anything like a plant.

Inside the silts of the mask, Gerard’s red eyes glowed quietly in the darkness.

“My father believed in me, who is lowly.”

When the empress chased Gerard away, screaming ‘That child is not mine!’

His father comforted the empress over and over again.

“When he grows up, Gerard will surely use his powers, Empress.”

Gerard whispered with an expressionless face.

“The child that was conceived after buying one night for only 50,000 gold… You believed that in the future, he would awaken his powers and become the emperor of this country.”

He said he would sit in the most noble place.

“I’ll try to live up to that belief.”

Slowly, he reached towards the neck of the father whom he was grateful to… and gripped his throat.

The red eyes were brightly lit. Suddenly, he smiled.

“So, go now. When my father dies, won’t I become the emperor?”

“……!!!”

The emperor’s breath, which had barely continued, was easily extinguished. It was too easy for Gerard, like plucking, breaking, and uprooting a plant.

As he came out of the emperor’s bedroom, he felt refreshed.

In the hallway, countless bodies of guards and maids laid limp like decorations.

This morning, Gerard thought as he looked at the skin that had now shriveled up to near his heart.

Now he really didn’t have the time or opportunity.

‘Regression,’ the plan that risked his life, should now be put into practice.

Up until now, he had carried out the plan relatively quietly from behind, but now he had neither the capacity nor the thought to do so.

‘I…’

‘Even if it burns and destroys the entire empire, I must have it.’

The throne of this country.

“Avilus.”

“Yes! Prince.”

His faithful aide, covered in the blood of maids and guards, bowed his head.

“Suppress the empire by dispatching all the troops, including the secret unit.”

“Yes!”

Like a doll made of wax, his face that contained no humanity, smiled softly, red eyes shining as if blood was collected.

“Today, I…”

“…….”

“I will kill everyone who is against me, I will make my glory known to the world, and I will hold El Dorado in my hand.”

Avilus left immediately to carry out his orders.

Gerard walked the blood-soaked hallway with a light gait.

The sun was shining brightly from every window in the hallway.

[My foolish contractor, what do you intend to do in such a big way?]

The black snake swam through the pool of blood and asked.

“I will ‘regress’, tear Sislin to pieces, and return.”

[Hehe! Even if maintaining the time-turning curse is the key? The amplification of Exordium is absolutely necessary!]

“Yes, I’m going to take that power.”

Gerard smiled with a hazy face as if slightly drunk.

When the snake saw that face, it couldn’t help but wonder.

[In what way…?]

Gerard replied with a low smile.

“I forgot. That there is a method that works very well on her.”

[……?!]

“You’ll find out soon.”

The black snake made a curious expression, but didn’t ask. All it could do was expect its contractor to entertain it.

‘Anyway, if he fails today, he will die.’ 

What a fun betting time!

‘Betting with life is always fun no matter how many times I’ve seen it.’

“…….”

Gerard muttered as he slowly gazed out of the bright window.

“It’s a beautiful day.”

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Thud, thud.

I was running down the hallway, looking for Sislin.

Clearly, according to Owin, it would be normal to see him around here, but I didn’t.

‘I need to find him quickly.’

We need to talk right now.

But that was then. I suddenly found something strange, and stopped walking without realizing.

“……?”

I blankly walked to the window in the hallway and looked at the sky through the window.

‘That’s…’

What the hell is that?!

In the skies of El Dorado, a scene that had never been imagined was unfolding.

Woo woo woo—

There, a terribly black, overwhelmingly huge jewel-like object was slowly sucking in the light of the sky.

As if swallowing up the whole world.

Ame: He’s basically going to take the whole empire as hostage…?

Tassie: Well at least his appearance matches his personality now lol