Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Assassination Attempt
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Sniff sniff. Berik circled around Siaosi, continuously sniffing at him. Was it the ragged clothes that were the problem, or his unwashed body? Siaosi looked down at his own pitch-black hands and stayed silent.
Just then, Ian entered the room, clicking his tongue.
"Not a dog, and yet sniffing around like that."
"It smells like raw beef. Fresh meat smell. Nice."
Mini, who followed behind, set down clean clothes and announced. Both top and bottom were plain jet-black, without any patterns. Perfect attire for slipping through the darkness.
"The bath water is ready."
"Good. Thank you."
"If you need anything else, just call. Then."
He would surely be stripped bare upon capture as an assassin, but he couldn't go around looking like a grubby slave. Ian sat down in front of him and spread out a piece of paper.
"Can you read?"
"No."
"Me neither, me neither!"
"Then etch it firmly into your memory."
Ian sat in front of him and spread out the paper. Even ordinary people often got lost upon first entering the palace. For someone who had spent half his life in an iron cage, reaching the imperial palace—Gail's chambers, no less—was an extremely difficult task.
"This is the entrance. You'll be let off here, so keep the wall on your left and go straight in, passing the largest door. After the garden, second corridor, third room. That's the reception room closest to the target."
Berik, listening beside them, wore a shocked expression. Like he'd heard a complex chemical formula he couldn't comprehend at all. At first he'd insisted he could do it, but now he looked like he was raising both hands and feet in surrender.
"This won't do. Absolutely can't."
"Berik. I know. That's why I chose someone else."
"Siaosi, you can really do this? For real?"
Siaosi glanced at Berik with impassive eyes, then nodded.
"Understood."
"Recite back what I said."
He recalled exactly what he'd heard, without a single mistake. A satisfied smile rose on Ian's lips, and Berik clapped enthusiastically in admiration. It was nothing much, yet this reaction. Siaosi awkwardly lowered his gaze.
"Remember what I'm about to say from now on, too."
* * *
Siaosi tied his mask firmly. The night the full moon rose and then waned. The palace scenery he saw for the first time was so beautiful it couldn't be hidden even by darkness.
To think such a world existed—his admiration was fleeting. He recalled his master's words and kept the wall on his left, hiding his presence.
Tap tap!
The sound of footsteps seemed unusually loud, but it was just his imagination. He instinctively knew. That he was caught up in something enormous. Not only would his life change, but he stood at a turning point in history.
'But what does it matter.'
He knew, but didn't care. A slave's fate was merely to fulfill the given orders. The invisible shackles weighed even heavier. The slave branding, from before his parents and onward, seemed etched into his soul without his realization.
Creak.
Siaosi slowly pushed open the largest door. There was a latch, but it wasn't fastened. In the vast space, the only presence was his own. Late at night, so the servants made sense, but not a single guard in sight.
'Everything's been arranged, so walk confidently.'
His master's words spurred Siaosi's feet. Passing the garden and entering the corridor, he walked without hiding his presence, yet met no one. As if welcoming the intruder.
Swish.
"Huh!"
Entering the corridor, a servant spotted him from afar. Siaosi reflexively gripped his sword, but she, as if she'd seen something she shouldn't, stifled a gasp and vanished into the darkness.
At this point, a chuckle escaped him. He'd thought it a strange mission, but not to this extent. He could see why his master had chosen him.
'Third room. From the reception room, open the door closest to the window—that's the target's bedroom. Go and stab the pillow with your knife.'
Siaosi released his killing intent entirely and simply walked to his destination. Something glinted in the pitch-black darkness. Without thinking, Siaosi turned his head, and met eyes with a bewildered figure.
'A child? Here?'
Silver hair, blue eyes. The child stared at Siaosi from the darkness. Not fleeing like the servant earlier.
What to do in such a case? Maybe the target's son? Or could it be the target? No. He'd been told a black-haired man would be in the bedroom.
'No physical confrontation, absolutely. Just avoid, ignore, and press forward. Even if you run, no one will pursue. Siaosi, getting caught is part of the plan.'
The child stared piercingly through him. He deliberately avoided the gaze and turned away. It gave him chills somehow. Having rolled as a slave and seen all sorts of horrors, this was the first time he'd seen a child with such eyes.
Tap tap!
Siaosi hurried to finish the job and entered the door without hesitation. Reception room, door closest to the window, bedroom, and—
"You're late."
"……!"
A black-haired man lay leisurely on the bed, waiting for him.
"Almost fell asleep."
"……."
"Did Ian cut out your tongue? Well, wise choice."
He beckoned Siaosi closer. Siaosi drew his sword from its sheath and approached slowly. The pillow beside him. That was the target.
"Not knowing what nonsense might come from your mouth."
Siaosi made no reply, simply raising his sword high. Whether the man lying before him was a prince or noble meant nothing. Poking a hole in the pillow would put the period on this night's business.
Swish.
"Ah. Hold on."
But the sword halted in midair again. Like when aiming for livestock vitals and stopping. Gail had raised his hand to grab the blade.
"You're an assassin, yet you won't draw a single drop of blood?"
"……."
"That'd be a shame. Palace folk aren't that soft. Appropriate sacrifice lends credibility. Come on, then."
This differed from his master's words. Master had said absolutely no blood, yet the target urged him to cut.
"What's wrong? Gonna stand there? Rudely putting feet on the bed?"
Gail laughed playfully. As expected, Ian had ordered no physical harm to him.
It was a signal flare by agreement, but Gail could later twist it as a weakness—Ian truly tried to kill me.
"……."
Siaosi bit his lip hard and looked at Gail. What to do now? Master hadn't said anything about this.
"If no blood, I won't call anyone. Stay like that till dawn."
At Gail's words, Siaosi sighed and lowered his feet from the bed. Then, without hesitation, he slashed his own left arm.
Slash!
A diagonal wound from shoulder to wrist. Blood soon dripped, staining the marble floor. The sticky, heavy sensation made him nauseous, but he steadied his breathing to stay focused. In that state, he slowly approached Gail.
"…Ridiculous."
Why were all of Ian's people like this? He'd heard of a red-haired mad dog, and the Magic Operations Division mages weren't right in the head either.
Swish.
Siaosi smeared blood on the bed as he passed slowly over Gail. Then, without hesitation, plunged the knife into the pillow. As if the mission was complete. He sat dazedly, waiting for the next step.
"……."
Did he really cut out the tongue? Gail pried open his jaw to check inside—perfectly fine. Incomprehensible. To end the act, Gail groped the bedside table.
Ding—ding ding—
The golden bedroom bell rang pleasantly. Soon, Gail's pitch-black palace lit up. Sounds of approaching servants and guards who had hidden their presence, then the door burst open roughly.
Bang!
"Your Highness, are you alright?"
"An intruder. Capture him."
The servants hesitated at the pooled blood on the floor, but soon realized it wasn't Gail's and relaxed. The guards bound Siaosi, and the servants moved briskly to tidy the room when—
"…Your Highness?"
The head servant called cautiously. Gail, frowning puzzled, turned his head, and the other servants and guards flinched in shock too.
"…Your Highness!"
"Prince Gail!"
"How could—"
"Fetch the doctor! The doctor!"
What was all the fuss? As Gail tried to speak—
He felt an unpleasant trace running down his face. From eyes, nose, mouth, ears. Blood poured from every orifice.
"Cough—!"
"Your Highness!"
No pain. But the backflowing blood made breathing agonizing. As Gail pitched forward, chaos erupted. Even the guards holding Siaosi rushed to check on him.
"You bastard! What have you done!"
"…Didn't do it."
"Devil!"
"I didn't do it."
Slap!
The guard struck Siaosi's cheek. His head snapped sideways violently, but his posture didn't falter. Gail raised a hand to stop his men, but blood kept gushing from his throat, silencing his command.
Slap! Slap!
Siaosi silently endured the beating, watching Gail.
So he was a prince. The emperor's son. Now that lights were on, he didn't look old enough to have a child. Well, highborn folk married young for politics.
"Prince Gail! The doctor's here!"
"Oh my god! What happened?"
"An assassin broke in. Hurry and stop the bleeding—"
"Your Highness, lift your head! Any cuts?"
"It started suddenly."
"Poison, could be poison. Hold on, step back! Head servant! Warm water and clean cloths!"
Gail, still compos mentis, obediently lifted his head as directed. Seeing the sparkling chandelier, Ian's blond hair came to mind.
'...Ian's doing?'
Sudden bleeding without precursors. Impossible without poison, curse, or magic. And bleeding without pain. Not normal.
'Besides, if I were truly in danger now, Ian would be the most troubled. No way.'
Ian never risked danger without calculating the loss. How deftly he balanced between Marib and Gail? No gain for him in my blood.
"Your Highness, can you speak?"
"…Spread it."
"Pardon?"
He didn't know what happened, but good. He'd wanted blood, and here it was. Drama needs its flair.
"An assassin entered my chambers. Tell the whole palace."
"Y-yes!"
This phenomenon he'd investigate later. For now, the signal was fired—time to move. Strike first, stay ahead.
"Also, spread this."
To his own forces.
"Someone in the palace seeks my life. All arm yourselves and enter the palace."