Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Tech Tree Requires Precision
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“Poison?”
I knew it well, but I deliberately put on an exaggerated look of shock. Lania bit her lip, her face twisted in anguish.
“Yes, poison. But the provider is someone of such high standing, and one Your Highness trusts, so I couldn’t speak rashly.”
“Someone I trust...”
“Your Highness, please believe what I’m about to tell you.”
Lania gently gripped my hand, her expression grave.
“Now that your mind is fully clear is our chance. From now on, if any of those people you hang out with outside offer you something suspicious—especially that sweet medicine...”
Bang!
At that moment, a loud noise erupted from below, followed by someone’s booming voice.
“A mere maid dares block me when I say I’m coming in? What are you doing, little brother? The sun’s high in the sky! Time to head out and have some fun today too!”
“...Albert.”
This was the voice of Albert, the Fourth Prince of the Payud Empire.
My half-brothers and I naturally had a strained relationship, but even amid that, Albert, the Fourth Prince, often made time to “play” with me.
Of course, after learning the truth in my second regression, I was horrified... But now, it was just another passing event.
“Has Your Highness arrived? It’s been a while.”
As I descended to the reception room, there stood Albert, planted firmly with mud-caked feet.
Four years my senior at twenty, he was a big, boisterous man with a large build and face.
“What do you mean ‘a while’? We hung out three days ago, didn’t we?”
“You’re right. Three days ago.”
Three days ago from the current point. Albert had dragged me to an upscale club in the capital, gotten me drunk on strong liquor, and turned the place into a madhouse.
Three days before that, he’d taken me to an exclusive noble gambling den and made me blow through hundreds of silver coins.
And three days before that, he’d rounded up over a hundred beaters for a hunt in the nearby hills.
Albert was the only one who looked after me after I’d been semi-forcibly kicked out of the imperial palace like this. Thanks to him, in my first regression, I’d remembered him fondly...
But his true nature?
He was the loyal lackey of Jess, the Second Prince, who had been slowly driving Claude toward ruin all this time.
“Hurry up and change. We’re heading to the ‘Golden Room’ for a rematch today. You were dying to win back what you lost last time, right?”
Albert shook the thick money pouch at his waist. Following him to the gambling den here was one option (it’d secure a decent amount of starting funds), but I had a completely different plan this time, so I had to refuse.
“Brother, I’m not feeling well today. I don’t think I can manage.”
“What?”
In that instant, Albert’s affable face twisted.
“You look fine. Why? Come on, one drink and a few hands of cards will perk you right up. I even brought the tonic His Majesty bestowed on me for you. But... your nose is bleeding...”
Oh, perfect timing. Just as planned.
I put on a dazed expression and wiped the blood flowing from my nose with my hand.
This was a natural reaction as the elixir from the head maid expelled the toxins accumulated in my body. Of course, to anyone unaware, I’d look like a critical patient gushing black nosebleed.
“Your Highness!”
The head maid who’d come down with me flinched in alarm and dabbed at the blood with a handkerchief. I naturally staggered and collapsed to the floor with a thud.
“Ugh... Looks like you’re really not well, huh?”
“Ugh...”
“No helping it. I’ll go alone then, so at least drink this and recover.”
Albert frowned and pulled a fancy canteen from his bosom, holding it out to me.
This was the poison!
A lethal toxin personally concocted by Second Prince Jess, diluted in a large amount of sugar water and premium distilled spirits. Claude had been sipping this poison for about four years, steadily wrecking his body and mind.
The reason Claude—me—had ended up an irredeemable wreck was, in the end, this poison addiction. Like a drug addict, I trembled my hands in pretense and reached shakily for the canteen.
“This is...”
“Hm? It’s the usual stuff you always drink, right? The tonic Second Brother sent down for you.”
“Second Brother... Ah, r-right, yeah.”
At that moment, a smirk spread across Albert’s face.
‘This punk looks pathetic. Has his memory gone fuzzy now too?’
Something along those lines of mockery. I grinned idiotically and poured the canteen’s contents down my throat.
Gulp, gulp...
Ugh, this sweet, fragrant, addictive taste.
Even after taking the antidote just now, I could feel the poison spreading through my body in an instant. Albert watched my state with satisfaction before turning away.
“Take care then! I’ll come back in three days!”
“P-please be careful on your way, Your Highness!”
The mansion’s maids rushed out to see Albert off. Among them, Lania slipped back into the mansion first and hurried to my side.
“Your Highness! Your Highness, no! That medicine you just drank...”
“Bucket.”
“Pardon?”
“Any bucket. Quick.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and waved my hand wildly. Catching on, Lania spun around and shouted to the other maids.
“Bring an empty bucket quick! Hurry!”
The maids dashed over with impressive speed, empty buckets in hand. Only then did I shove my fingers down my throat and vomited everything I’d drunk into the bucket.
“Urp! Blegh!”
“Your Highness! Over there! What are you doing? Hurry and fetch water for His Highness! And bring the fresh elixir we made this morning!”
“Ugh... Yeah... I get it. I know what’s going on.”
Watching Lania direct the maids, I shook my head with a hollow chuckle.
“I was an idiot. Following that bastard around like he was some saint.”
“Your Highness...”
“The poison you mentioned earlier—it’s this, right? And the ‘high-standing person I trust’ is Second Brother and Fourth Brother?”
“...Yes.”
Lania nodded gravely. Feeling my mind fog again, I grabbed her hand.
“Thanks, Head Maid. No, Lania.”
“Your Highness...”
“Without you, I’d have kept drinking that crap and rotted away. But I think I puked up your elixir too while retching just now...”
“Head Maid, here it is.”
Just then, a young maid returned with a fresh bottle of elixir. I downed it in one go and let out a long sigh.
“Phew, the smell’s really vile. No matter how much I drink, I can’t get used to it.”
“You mustn’t push yourself now. There’s so much poison built up in your body... For now, take the antidote every two hours and rest absolutely. Let’s get you back to bed.”
Lania crouched in front of me, turning her back as if to offer a piggyback.
Hm, how to handle this?
The collapse in front of Albert earlier was fake, so I could walk back on my own if I wanted.
But it wasn’t a major fork in the road—either way wouldn’t matter much. So I obediently leaned against Lania’s back and let her carry me up to the bedroom on the second floor.
Come to think of it, was this the first time she’d carried me?
Anyway, with that, the first event of my tenth—and final—regression had gone off without a hitch as planned.
But that didn’t mean my first day’s tasks were done. The real important changes started tonight.
* * *
As she carried Prince Claude up to the second floor, Lania silently wiped away tears, lost in thought.
‘How can he be so small and light?’
Of course, the fact that her nephew—the legitimate heir of House Lunenbreth and the sole blood kin of her beloved late sister—had regained his sanity was cause for celebration.
But due to the jealousy and envy from his half-brothers, Claude’s body was frail and stunted, unbelievable for a sixteen-year-old.
‘No, it’s not too late yet. He’s the one precious nephew my sister left behind.’
No matter what it took, even surpassing the limits of her alchemical skills, she would restore Claude to a healthy body.
It was a path unprecedented in the history of elixirs. But to Lania, with her resolve steeled, such trials were no obstacle at all.
* * *
Green Deer Palace.
One of the nine annex palaces comprising the imperial palace of the empire, its name suggested a palace, but its structure was a tall tower stretching in a straight line.
At the very top, the eighth floor, a study packed with dusty old tomes was tonight hosting a raucous drinking party instead of its usual purpose.
“Great! Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
Clink!
Fourth Prince Albert of the empire and Baron Fennell, a cousin on the princes’ maternal side, clinked their thick glass goblets brimming with liquor.
“Gah! With Second Brother’s orders lifted, I’m free now! No more hanging out with that filthy mutt to deliver his meds!”
“Still, burning through state funds for easy fun was nice while it lasted. Watching Claude lose big at gambling and squirm was entertaining in its own way.”
Fennell stuck close to the like-minded Fourth Prince, deeply involved in the “Corrupt Claude” project. Albert shook his head slightly, eyes glazed from drink.
“But this is better. I was sick of pandering to that dirty mongrel bastard. And some lowborn wench fiddling with potions worming her way into the imperial family... Anyway, whatever. Brother said tomorrow he’ll summon that guy back to the palace. He’ll handle it from here.”
* * *