The Inner Palace Is a Den of Vipers
The Imperial Palace was divided into two major sections: the Outer Palace and the Inner Palace. The Outer Palace was accessible to lower-ranking officials and nobles, and it was also where the largest concentration of regular guard forces was stationed. Armand had worked there until he was appointed to the Imperial Princess’s personal guard. Now that he was responsible for her protection, he had been moved into the Inner Palace, a place only members of the royal family and high-ranking nobles could enter.
'It really is different.'
At first, he had assumed the Inner Palace wouldn’t be all that different from the Outer Palace. Aside from being a bit more luxurious and extravagant, it seemed like more of the same. But reality was far crueler than that. There was no denying that every surface was coated in gold, yet beneath that opulence lay a blood-soaked arena no different from a gladiatorial pit.
The Inner Palace was the very heart of power. Schemes and conspiracies were everyday occurrences. Everyone wore smiling masks while hiding daggers behind their backs. It was a place where people killed and were killed for the sake of authority. Of course, it hadn’t always been this brutal. The real bloodbath had only begun once the Emperor grew old and the time to hand over the throne drew near.
The princes bared their fangs at one another over the succession, and the nobles beneath them mobilized every possible method—including hired killers—to align themselves with the next regime. 'They say the Inner Palace is a banquet hall where poisoned cups are passed around…' Armand clicked his tongue and muttered to himself.
Before him stood an assassin cloaked entirely in darkness. And not just anywhere—the man was standing boldly in the very center of the Imperial Princess’s bedchamber. To think he would actually come face to face with an assassin. It really was different from his days in the Outer Palace.
Ah, well… he supposed he was technically an assassin himself—
─Clack.
The assassin in the black robe staggered backward, taking a defensive stance. His murderous resolve had clearly taken a serious hit.
“What are you doing? Just do what you came here to do.”
Armand gave the man another chance. He openly sheathed his sword and stepped aside, clearing a path so the assassin could easily stab the sleeping princess.
“You bastard… Are you mocking me right now?”
The assassin grew even more guarded. He had come to carry out a quiet assassination, yet he couldn’t lower his defenses.
“Not at all. I’m being completely sincere. Come on, stab her comfortably.”
In contrast, Armand was smiling lightly and welcoming the assassin’s visit. Maybe it was because they shared the same goal of assassinating the princess, but Armand was genuinely glad to see him. His eyes sparkled with anticipation that a professional assassin might have some special technique up his sleeve.
“…So you were deployed under his orders as well?”
“His?”
“What? You weren’t hired by the same person? Then why are you abandoning your duty to guard the princess?”
The confused assassin ended up asking the questions instead. It was only natural to grow suspicious when the princess’s own guard knight was being far too cooperative with an assassination attempt.
“For my own survival.”
“…What?”
The assassin let out a dumbfounded voice. Even beneath the shadow of his robe, his bewildered expression was easy to imagine.
“If you’re done asking questions, can you please get on with your job? She’s going to wake up at this rate.”
“If you want the princess dead, why don’t you just kill her yourself?!”
“I already tried, obviously. Turns out it’s not that easy.”
“……?!”
“But you’re a pro, right? So show me some of that professional assassination skill.”
“What the hell are you—”
“Oh, and you do know the princess is part of the dragon race, right? Please don’t disappoint me.”
Armand gestured with his hand, urging the man to come over and take care of the princess. At the same time, he put even more distance between himself and her.
“The Inner Palace really is full of nothing but lunatics.”
Inside the robe, the assassin’s disgusted gaze was plain to see. It was the look of someone wondering how such a madman could even exist. The assassin slowly began to back away as well. Rather than pointing his blade at the princess—the actual target—he aimed it at Armand instead.
“What are you waiting for? Don’t tell me you’re hesitating because you’re afraid I’ll kill you if you fail?”
“Hah. You’re trying to buy time, but such cheap tricks won’t work on me.”
“Huh?”
“You’d better not expect any help from the royal guards outside. They’re already dead by my hand.”
The assassin slowly moved his dagger, showing the dark red liquid smeared across its surface. It was a bloodstain blackened by poison.
'When did he do that? I didn’t notice at all.'
This guy was a true professional among professionals. No matter what method he had used, the fact that he had silently assassinated members of the elite royal guard by himself was impressive.
“Nice! You pass! You definitely pass!”
“…Huh?”
“You might actually be able to pull it off! So come on, show me what you can do!”
Armand shouted in satisfaction, his face beaming. This was a golden opportunity to get the job done without lifting a finger.
“A pathetic provocation. And you think acting crazy is going to make me spare you?”
Unfortunately, the assassin failed to understand Armand’s true intentions.
Swish!
The assassin gripped his poisoned dagger in a reverse hold and charged like a shadow. He could no longer afford to waste time.
'I’ll have to deal with this lunatic first before handling the princess.'
─Clack!
The assassin drew a second dagger with his other hand. The first one had been coated with a poison meant for humans—the kind he had used on the royal guards. The newly drawn dagger was coated with a toxin specifically designed to kill dragonkin. Just as knights wielded aura, assassins specialized in hidden weapons laced with various poisons.
─Clang!
The knight’s longsword and the assassin’s dagger clashed at a single point. The assassin’s movements were indeed fast and silent, true to his profession, but he couldn’t pierce Armand in a head-on fight.
“Am I on your assassination list too?”
“If there’s a witness, it’s not an assassination. The iron rule is to eliminate anyone who gets in the way.”
“As expected of a pro. But don’t worry. I absolutely won’t breathe a word of this.”
“Crazy bastard. Who the hell would believe that? Just die quietly.”
Whirl.
The assassin’s dagger pulled back before changing trajectory and slashing down diagonally. Because daggers were light and small, altering their attack path was easy.
'If that’s how you want to play, I guess I have no choice.'
However, Armand was a highly skilled knight who possessed three different auras. The odds of him losing in a direct confrontation were extremely low.
─Clang!
When he twisted his sword slightly to the side, the assassin’s dagger was lightly blocked. If he raised his aura and counterattacked right now, he could easily take the assassin’s head.
“Whoa, you’re actually pretty good?”
But Armand deliberately acted as if he were being pushed back. He maintained a defensive posture and slowly retreated, as if guiding the assassin down a specific path.
“Hah! So you’re just a rookie after all? Not as impressive as the rumors claimed!”
Having gained the upper hand, the assassin increased his tempo and swung his daggers rapidly. A storm of blades rained down from every direction. Yet none of them could reach Armand. They were all stopped at a hair’s breadth.
“Damn it, I can’t draw out my aura if I’m only defending…!”
“Your senses are decent, but your skills aren’t nearly as great as the rumors suggested!”
“Ugh…!”
Armand put on a flawless performance, deliberately provoking the assassin’s attacks. After retreating a few more steps—
Thud.
He had reached the bed where the princess lay.
“Now die obediently!”
─Swoosh!
The moment Armand was backed into a corner, the assassin seized the opportunity. One dagger plunged straight down.
'Perfect. With this trajectory—'
Armand quickly twisted his body in response. As a result, the assassin’s blade fell toward the bed behind him.
─Stab!
The dagger ultimately ended up…
“W-what?!”
…piercing the shoulder of the princess, who had been lying there with her eyes closed. From the very beginning, Armand had guided the attack in this exact direction. He had thought that the assassin’s poison might be capable of killing a dragonkin.
'Tsk. So it doesn’t work without aura after all?'
Unfortunately, the result was less than ideal. The dagger hadn’t even broken through her skin. In that case, the poison was completely useless.
“You should aim for her left breast, not the shoulder.”
“W-what?”
“That’s the vital point.”
Still refusing to give up hope, Armand offered the assassin some helpful advice—from a safe distance away.
“You really are completely insane.”
The assassin was bewildered, but he couldn’t afford to miss this chance. He decided to put Armand aside for now and focused on his original target.
'I’ll deal with the princess first while I still can.'
The assassin hurriedly swung the other dagger he had been holding. It was coated with a special poison designed to kill dragonkin.
Stab!
But the result was the same once again. The sharp blade failed to pierce the princess’s soft skin and was helplessly blocked.
“Are you insane?! Even the Black Heart Poison doesn’t…!”
The poison was equally ineffective. It merely made the princess’s snow-white skin look even more radiant, like an expensive skin lotion.
“Wait, can you not use aura?”
“If I could, I would’ve become a knight!”
“That’s a shame.”
Srrrng.
Armand stepped toward the assassin and raised his sword once more.
“Since you failed, I suppose you’ll have to die as promised.”
Now that the man was useless, it was time to clean up. Besides, the assassin had overheard Armand’s own assassination intentions and was therefore a witness.
'He definitely said Black Heart Poison just now, right?'
Still, it wasn’t a completely wasted effort. A fragment of his past-life memories had resurfaced after a long time. Black Heart Poison. A deadly toxin extracted from the heart of a monster. In the original story, it had played a crucial role. It was a key item used to prevent the resurrection of the Demon King—the mid-boss—before facing the final black dragon of the ultimate mastermind, Choi Heung.
'I was so focused on the princess that I completely forgot something like that existed.'
That Black Heart Poison might actually work. After all, Armand’s aura was capable of piercing the princess’s body.
“A mere rookie whose name is only known through rumors dares to…!”
The assassin, having regained his composure, changed targets once again. Even if the assassination had failed, he could not leave a witness alive.
─Crunch!
The assassin bit down on a pill hidden beneath his tongue and swallowed it. A grinding sound followed as his veins bulged and his entire body’s muscles twisted and swelled. In an instant, his ordinary build transformed into that of an ogre-like muscular monster.
'What the hell is that form? Did he take some kind of elixir?'
Armand was slightly startled, but his sword was already imbued with aura. There was nothing the condensed power of his desires could not cut.
Swoosh.
He pulled his sword far back, preparing to cut the assassin down in a single stroke. That was when—
─Crack!
“Kuaaack…?!?!”
Suddenly, the assassin’s neck twisted like a dry twig. His enlarged muscles and massive frame were rendered meaningless. Not only that, his body floated into the air. An irresistible force restrained his every movement.
“I was wondering what all the noise was about—”
That power had not come from Armand’s aura.
“Ah, Lady?”
“How dare a bug like you disturb my nap?”
At some point the princess had woken up. With a low, irritated voice, she stretched out her hand as if the assassin’s neck existed in the empty air before her.
“Keurgh—!”
The moment she clenched her fist, the assassin’s breath was cut off pathetically. It was a brutally cold attitude that contrasted sharply with her helpless appearance in front of monsters.
“Whether they’re human or monster… they’re all so annoying.”
When the princess released her grip, the assassin’s body collapsed to the floor.
“Are you alright, Your Highness?”
“I was having a nice dream for once, and that bastard ruined everything. Who sent him?”
“His windpipe is crushed, so interrogation seems impossible.”
“Ah, right.”
The princess swept her indifferent gaze over the assassin’s corpse. It was the same look one might give after swatting a mosquito in their sleep—nothing more, nothing less.
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Obviously. I’m not going to die just because a bug bit me.”
The princess was completely fine. Aside from the fact that the chest portion of her negligee had been slightly torn, exposing her bare skin rather blatantly.
“By the way, what exactly did you do just now?”
“It’s a power of the imperial bloodline. Just like how swords can’t pierce my skin.”
“A power of the imperial bloodline…?”
So she still wasn’t aware of it. Armand swallowed his true thoughts and put on a puzzled expression.
“It’s not strange that you wouldn’t know.”
“There’s no need to be so scared. Think of it like magic. It’s simply borrowing the power of mana.”
“Then why didn’t you use that power when you were facing the monster earlier?”
Armand couldn’t understand it. How could someone with such overwhelming strength tremble helplessly like that?
“Monsters are scary.”
“…Pardon?”
Armand could only stare blankly at the absurd answer.
“Especially their voices… I absolutely hate them. They’ve haunted me like auditory hallucinations ever since I was a child.”
The princess, who had sat up, curled back into the bed like a little girl remembering an old nightmare.
“But you protected me.”
“……”
“You fought that bug for my sake just now, didn’t you?”
The princess slightly lifted her head and asked, wanting to look at the knight who had saved her from her nightmare.
“Of course.”
Armand’s answer was already decided. Guilt made his throat tighten, but for the sake of a perfect assassination, he had to lie.
“Then… will you hold me? You came to nurse me, didn’t you?”
“Even so, how could I possibly dare to embrace Your Highness—”
“What’s the big deal? We already rolled around in the same bed once.”
“That was purely part of the treatment.”
“Then this can be part of the treatment too. If you don’t hold me right now, I feel like I’ll go crazy from anxiety.”
Her tone was full of playfulness, but her violet eyes were trembling. She was desperately trying to hide her fear behind jokes.
“Sigh… Just this once.”
Armand reluctantly nodded. Even if it was like this, he wanted to ease his guilt even a little.
“Ahh, your embrace is so warm. I love it.”
The princess immediately threw herself into his arms.
'How did things end up like this again—'
Armand resigned himself and let her cling to him. However, he deliberately avoided looking at her.
The Black Heart Poison—
The dagger lying abandoned beside the assassin’s corpse kept bothering him. He decided he would retrieve it later. That was when—
“Your Highness! Are you alright?!”
“This is outrageous! Two royal guards have been killed?!”
“I’ll call for reinforcements immediately!”
Three patrol knights burst through the door. They had discovered the bodies of the royal guards outside and come running.
“I’m fine, so stop making so much noise and clean up that filthy thing, will you?”
The princess frowned at the intruders and waved her hand dismissively. All while still buried deep in Armand’s embrace.
“Ah……!”
The patrol knights seemed to understand the situation at a glance and shut their mouths.
The patrol knights quickly collected the assassin’s corpse. Naturally, they also took the dagger he had used.
'Ah, just leave that one…'
Armand could only smile bitterly and sigh inwardly. Since the analysis and investigation of the incident fell under the Intelligence Bureau’s jurisdiction, he had no justification to intervene. If he tried, he might be suspected of trying to conceal evidence.
Just as the patrol knights were grunting and lifting the assassin’s body—
“Armand.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Being held like this… makes me want you to fuck me again.”
“……?!”
The princess suddenly dropped a bomb while pressing her chest tightly against him.
“U-um… We’ll be taking our leave now!”
“We didn’t hear anything!”
“Please rest well!”
At those words, the patrol knights fled the room at lightning speed.
They all wore expressions that suggested they would soon spread some very strange rumors throughout the palace.
'Ah, my life is fucked.'
Armand could only mutter bitterly to himself.