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Chapter 74: Plot
🕑 Added 2024-05-31 07:12:42 +0000 UTCThe day after that incident, tensions were sky-high. Claire and I avoided each other. Her eyes always looked at me with caution. And rightly so. I couldn't pull back either. I needed to find some sort of opportunity in the castle. I had to interrogate or assassinate Dregorn.
"Eli! Good news. The truce has been agreed upon and finalized. The signing ceremony will be in three days," Ludwin greeted me.
"Oh my, how wonderful, Lady Eli. With peace on the horizon, we can finally spread our ice cream," Safira enthused at the prospect of opening her patisserie with Narwhal. I had paid him to replant the farm that was devastated by Elderan during the war. One of the crops was bananas, and when I told her about banana splits, she was absolutely entranced. Even though she was the one who made it, she ate most of it during our tea party.
"Lady Safira, your ice cream was absolutely delectable. I would ask you to be our patissier in the castle, just for this occasion. Would you mind?" Ludwin smiled.
"As you wish, Prince Ludwin. I would be honored to serve my ice cream. But the ingredients are currently rare."
"As long as it can be bought with money, the castle will cover the expenses. I am sure Shadowstep County isn't the only place with bananas and citrus," Ludwin chuckled. I smiled in return, signaling Safira not to worry. In the future, I hoped for her to be my customer. But not now. Moreover, we couldn't possibly go against the empire.
When the idle talk between me and Prince Ludwin concluded, realization dawned on me. I had to strike within these three days. If the peace treaty concluded, Dregorn would naturally leave. That meant the information about the monster tamer he held would be gone. Eli wanted me to find her mother's killer.
"R25B, I need something. Do you have a paralyzing poison that works instantly, or a sleeping poison that works similarly?" I called R25B while lying on my bed.
"Hm? But that would ruin the stealth part. If you want to incapacitate them, you could simply knock them out, right? Wait, you're a dark mage, so it should be simple for you to incapacitate your foes."
"So, do you have it or not?"
"We have paralyzing gas. It works immediately but needs to touch the skin for a certain amount of time to completely paralyze someone. Or you could use a CO gas canister. It's odorless and can incapacitate your enemy without them knowing, but it needs to be inhaled," R25B seemed confused. "Both of these have side effects if used too much. I wouldn't recommend using them on your friends. And both of these gases could affect you too."
"Ugh... Anything better? "I was hoping for some kind of magic drug that could incapacitate the enemy with a scratch, but I guess that's not available. I should prepare a trap. But Claire could simply rewind time. How am I going to do this?
"If we had anything better, we would include it in your beginner pack. That's where the most-used poisons are. You need to be more specific."
"I see." I rolled around in my bed while talking to him via my reaper card. "I'll think about it. Give me stronger smoke bombs then."
"Done. Minus twenty points. Your points are now 164. By the way, there are several commissions for you. Would you like to look at them?"
"What kind of commissions?"
"One of them is to kill Claire. This one was commissioned by Dregorn. He somehow found a way to our handler. His information network is astounding despite being here for less than a month. He put a crazy price on it too: 2,500 points. Even our princes' heads are only 1,000 each."
My eyes widened at the information. "I thought they were friends…"
"Yeah, Western Nations aren't as monolithic as you think. I have no idea why Dregorn wants Claire dead, though. So, will you take it? You're close to Claire, right? You could simply poison her and put the blame on Dregorn."
"No, I won't take it," I said firmly. It's impossible to kill Claire no matter how you do it. She has the power to rewind time. I then asked him, "I thought you were loyal to the nation."
"What? Why? It would be easy. You could simply sneak into the castle and hit her while she sleeps or put poison in her tea during your tea party," R25B said. "Killing Claire and Heracles would stabilize the throne. We wouldn't need to fear a coup d'etat or civil war anymore. In fact, many operators here have taken the quest, but none succeeded. So, the quest was passed to us. It's our chance!"
I blinked at his smooth reasoning. Then, I suddenly came to a realization. "Wait, stabilize the country? Does that mean Ludwin and I have bounties, too?"
"Of course. But the quest for your assassination is hidden. So, nobody should be able to take it. As I said before, Ludwin's head reaches 1,000 points. A similar price is also attached to the other prince."
I breathed a sigh of relief. I remembered their law: reapers shouldn't assassinate each other. Then I realized another reaper's rule. I couldn't use the fact that Dregorn wanted to kill Claire to my advantage. The reaper's guild forbade information sharing with outsiders. If I broke this rule, the reapers would kill me. If someone like R4 were to come after me, I wouldn't win no matter how many skills I had.
"Are you sure it's fine to tell me that?"
"As long as you don't tell others, it will be fine. This commission was skipped for you multiple times because of that reason. But since other reapers gave up, the offer returned to us nevertheless."
"I see." I nodded. As long as I don't say a word about it, it's fine. Now, how should I use this information to my advantage? Surprisingly, Dregorn hates Claire. Dregorn is Elderan's envoy, which means someone in Elderan wants Claire dead.
Then, a realization hit me. Dregorn tried to poison Claire. The reason Claire didn't touch the tea made by Dregorn in his chamber was because she knew he wanted to poison her. Did he want to kill her so badly that he was willing to risk doing it in his own room? Or was the poison non-lethal? Wait. If his poison was non-lethal, Claire shouldn't be able to activate her time-rewind ability unless she was killed in the near future. Or was the checkpoint for her still far away? The webnovel says that the checkpoint was decided arbitrarily after an arc was done.
An idea then popped into my mind. I couldn't tell anyone about Dregorn wanting to kill Claire. But I could tell Dregorn about Claire. So, if I told Dregorn that Claire wanted to kill him, he could be convinced that I was telling the truth. Should I give a hint about Claire's power? Samuel knew I was a reaper. So, it should be easy to convince him that I was undertaking his commission.
"R25B, could you prepare me an introduction letter to the Reapers guild?" Now that I had formed some kind of idea in my mind, I was getting calmer. Eli wouldn't like it if I got chummy with Dregorn, But it was for the greater good. Dregorn was only in the same organization as the one who killed her mother. Nevertheless, he will die either way. Why didn't I think about this before? I should have approached him not as Elidranthia, but as a reaper.
"Lady Eli, the sun hasn't set yet. You shouldn't be idling away in your bed," Alicia said as she came in with my laundry. I turned off my earclip immediately.
"I have nothing to do today. Should I prepare some clothes for the upcoming peace treaty?" I muttered without thinking. But it actually set off a bomb in Alicia.
"Buying clothes? Yes! Yes! Milady finally took care of her appearance! Is this the power of love? Let us make no delay! We have a shop to catch! The sun will set very soon, and I would be devastated if Milady shamed herself with outdated clothes! We couldn't possibly let the envoy and Princess Claire see you in the same clothes over and over!"
"Huh? Oh… I never thought you would get that excited."
"Let's march to the boutique right this instant!"
Alicia literally threw my finished laundry into the wardrobe and grabbed my hands. She then marched outside, only to be stopped by Ludwin.
"Greetings, Eli, Alicia. What's the hurry?"
"Greetings, Prince Ludwin. We are on our way to a boutique. The sun will set soon, so it would be imperative we depart posthaste," Alicia said. Her bow was quick, signifying how rushed she was. However, Ludwin only tilted his head.
"Hm? Is this your antics with mingling with commoners again, Eli? You can do this anytime, right? Could you wait in the dormitory at least until the peace treaty is concluded? The safety of the capital, especially in the lower district, has been a bit concerning as of late."
"This is a matter of great importance, Prince Ludwin. As you might know, Lady Elidranthia is modest. This has been no problem as she is merely a second daughter of a count. However, now that she is your betrothed, wouldn't it be a bit of dishonor for her to wear the same clothes over and over again?" Alicia was so passionate that it even affected her speech pattern. Where did she learn to speak like that, I wonder?
"Oh. That certainly is a matter of great concern. You may then wait in your dorm. I shall summon the royal seamstresses from the boutique right to your dorm. The peace treaty and the banquet will be held in three days. I shall order them to expedite your order."
"Oh yeah. Royals don't actually go shopping. They summon the shops to their castle," I muttered inside my head. I rolled my eyes at the fact that I was about to join these royals soon.
"I-I-I see. We are certainly grateful to Prince Ludwin for his consideration," Alicia stammered.
In less than an hour, four men and two women from the boutique arrived, carrying several boxes. We sat in our dormitory common room, which, by Ludwin's authority, was emptied for this occasion. There were still other common rooms for the students, so it wasn't too much of a hassle. But the gazes from senior nobles were a bit painful.
"Greetings, Lady Elidranthia. My name is Juliette. Oh my! You certainly have quite modest measurements. Hmm, this outfit will need the fewest alterations." Juliette eyed me, her words stabbed directly into my heart. I certainly have modest measurements. My body is petite, my breast is small, and my stomach is slim. But she didn't have to say it like that. I expected her to be more tactful to her future princess. As I was fuming, She nonchalantly picked up a blue skirt with some cute frills. Alicia helped me change inside a partition set up by the men who followed her. Apparently, Juliette could gauge my measurements just by looking at me. The clothes actually fit. It was a bit loose here and there, but it won't be noticeable to bystanders. Was that a skill?
"No. She is not seven years old," Ludwin frowned. The clothes looked cute, and Alicia beamed when she saw me. But it was hard to satisfy royals. I wanted to question why he was even here, but I refrained. This is his seamstress, after all.
"Oh, my apologies. It certainly is a bit childish. But I made it to counteract her peculiarities. And since it only needed fewer alterations, it could be done by dawn."
"Anything else? We will be using this for a banquet for our country's truce. I want something more dignified. We need to instill some sort of awe. Royals nearing their coming of age will wear this."
"More formal occasion then? Hmm… instead of counteracting her peculiarities, how about we enhance them? This red dress might fill your soon-to-be betrothed with dignity." Juliette then picked up a red dress that flowed like blood. I could imagine myself wearing it. Coupled with my intimidation, people would scram at the mere sight of me. I had been dodging this kind of dress for so long, but Ludwin asked me to try it.
Unlike the blue dress, this red dress was a bit too loose; Juliette had to pin the clothes so I could fit into it. Nevertheless, I looked into the mirror. Even when I controlled my magical impression as best as possible, I still looked intimidating.
"Alicia, do I look like a bloodthirsty queen?"
"You look absolutely stunning, Lady Elidranthia. Everyone who looks at you will feel a sense of awe." Alicia, my yes-girl, seemed to love me wearing anything high quality. Somehow, she has grown to like my menacing eyes, so she adored it when I wore anything to emphasize my intimidation. Both Ludwin and Juliette grinned at me. I twitched my eyebrow when I looked at myself in the mirror. Instead of awe, they would probably flee in fear.
"Good. This will not shame the crown at the banquet. Don't forget to fix the measurements so the clothes don't look like hand-me-downs." He smiled and was about to leave.
"As you wish, Prince Ludwin."
"Ludwin… do I have to wear this?" I frowned.
"The clothes look fine on you, Elidranthia. It's stunning." His smile seemed to disperse all the worries inside me. His voice seemed to soothe me. He then sent a parting word before leaving: "See you at the banquet, dear."
My cheeks grew hot at his flirting, and I briefly released my magical impression. Juliette and her assistants yelped when they looked at me.
"These clothes are no good after all," I thought after coming back to my senses.
