The Revolutionary's Toast
The great revolutionary comrade Serian felt a sharp sting in her conscience. Her goal had been to commit a grave offense against the princess and fall out of the Emperor’s favor. But—
Lilliana looked like she was desperately holding back tears no matter how you saw it.
‘Wait, I only said one thing and she’s this upset?’
Even though Serian had steeled herself to get fired, even she couldn’t help but feel a pang when a child this young wore the expression of someone who had lost the entire world.
Aw yeah! She’s young so the guilt trip hits harder! Nice!
She wasn’t so morally bankrupt that she could cheer with a triumphant “Hell yeah~” at the sight. So the tiny scrap of conscience she still possessed was inevitably stinging with guilt.
‘Hmm. Maybe I went too far? She really is just a kid.’
Just as Serian was trying to read Lilliana’s expression, the princess suddenly stood up, covering her small face with both hands.
“I… I’ll step out for some fresh air.”
With that, Lilliana hurriedly left her seat. Serian’s conscience hurt even worse.
She’s definitely going to cry! One hundred percent!
While Serian was writhing in the agony of having made a child cry, Marquis Edan—no, Valerius, senior operative of the Salad Liberation Front—was thinking something entirely different.
This was the perfect opportunity. While the princess was gone, he would inform that comrade from the Astra Empire of their plan!
Of course, even if she didn’t help them, it wouldn’t be a big problem. Their scheme was already perfectly prepared.
Their operation involved adding a colorless, odorless lethal poison—Basilisk’s Tears—to the food the princess would eat. The moment even the slightest amount entered the body, it would petrify the victim and lead to death. Using a secret family recipe passed down through generations, they had diluted its potency. Therefore, the princess would only begin to slowly stiffen with mysterious paralysis symptoms after the banquet ended and she returned to the palace. She would die in her sleep.
Only then would people suspect foul play at the banquet, but by that point it would already be too late. He and his comrades would have already fabricated all the evidence and vanished. The real Marquis Edan, who had been tricked into taking a vacation in a distant coastal city, would be the only one left to suffer the consequences.
Conscious of the many ears around them, he spoke to Serian with meaningful weight.
“It seems Her Highness the Princess is quite upset.”
“Ah… Yes, it appears so.”
“Fortunately, I had already asked the imperial pastry chef to prepare the dessert Her Highness usually enjoys.”
“…Dessert?”
“It contains the pastry chef’s ‘special chocolate,’ so I believe it will lift Her Highness’s spirits considerably.”
Serian nodded with her usual expressionless face. She figured he would understand with this much.
“I should go speak with the pastry chef now. If you’ll excuse me—”
The moment Valerius tried to leave to fetch the princess’s food, Serian spoke up.
“One moment, Marquis.”
Valerius paused and turned around. Her deep blue eyes were gleaming with meaning.
“About that ‘special chocolate.’ You’re not planning to give it only to Her Highness, are you?”
Serian had simply asked out of pure, innocent desire. ‘Special chocolate that the princess gets to eat? I can’t let that slide…!’
But to Valerius’s ears, it carried an entirely different meaning.
‘No way…!’
His heart sank with a heavy thud. What a ruthless, wicked spy! She wasn’t satisfied with a plan targeting only the princess. She was planning a ‘grand feast’ for everyone in this entire banquet hall!
This was an imperial banquet, after all. Numerous members of the royal family, heirs of the Five Great Houses, and the Empire’s key generals were gathered here. In other words, the very heart and brain of the Empire were all present.
His original goal had been to assassinate the Seventh Princess Lilliana and destabilize the imperial succession. The current succession struggle was split evenly between the First Prince, who carried the Empire’s legitimacy, and the Second Prince’s faction, which held the military’s support. The Second Prince and Seventh Princess were born of the same empress; Lilliana was the Second Prince’s most cherished sister and greatest weakness. The plan was to assassinate her, skillfully frame the First Prince’s faction, and let the Second Prince’s rage tear the imperial family apart from within. The Empire would collapse under its own internal distrust rather than any external enemy.
But this woman… She wanted to skip all those steps and simply flip the entire board!
If she poisoned everyone in this hall, there would be no internal conflict—the Empire itself would be paralyzed in a single day.
‘……What a terrifyingly bold woman.’
Valerius took a short breath, then answered in a low voice to show he would join her ‘grand design.’
“…Of course. As the young lady wishes, I will instruct the pastry chef to prepare enough for everyone to enjoy ‘together.’”
He gave Serian a polite bow, then turned away. His steps no longer headed toward the pastry chef. He needed to find his comrades who shared his ‘small plan’ and inform them of this change to their ‘great plan.’
For the independence of his homeland, Salad.
And… to assist the terrifying comrade’s magnificent feat.
With that, he quietly disappeared into the crowd of the banquet hall.
Serian smiled in satisfaction.
‘Hehe, as expected, a hero’s single word carries real weight. Now everyone can eat it together!’
Thinking of the special chocolate she would soon taste, she habitually bit down on the straw of her now-empty iced chocolate glass. Completely unaware that her one sentence had triggered a colossal ripple.
Shadow. That was Leon’s world.
Ever since receiving orders from His Highness the Second Prince, his eyes had not left his younger sister, Princess Lilliana, for even a moment. And now, his gaze was fixed on another figure.
The Empire’s Flash, Serian Elhardt. The arrogant hero who had drawn tears from the princess’s eyes.
Leon considered her the Empire’s most dangerous internal enemy. To him, every one of her actions was a calculated provocation.
‘What exactly is that woman after?’
At that moment, Serian, who had been fiddling with her empty iced chocolate glass, stood up. She began wandering the banquet hall with elegant but aimless steps, as if taking a casual stroll.
Then, near the orchestra that was in the middle of performing, she pretended to stumble.
Crash!
The music stand she kicked over fell, scattering dozens of sheets of music across the floor. The performance was ruined, of course.
Leon’s brow furrowed.
‘That was… clearly intentional.’
It was far too precise and far too theatrical to be an accident.
‘Why? Why is she trying to ruin this banquet?’
His sharp eyes scanned the musicians who were frantically picking up the scattered sheets. And then he spotted it.
The orchestra’s lead performer. His movements were strange. He ignored all the other sheets and was obsessively focused on only one particular page.
Leon’s superhuman vision did not miss it—the complex diagram drawn on the back of that sheet in faintly glowing magic ink.
It was a map of the emergency escape route beneath the imperial palace.
A chill ran down Leon’s spine.
‘There are insurgents here. And that woman is deliberately showing us their tail.’
He immediately signaled his subordinate hidden in the shadows with a hand gesture.
‘Watch that musician.’
Serian returned to her seat and sat down. The princess had come back. Her eyes were red and puffy.
‘She cried…’
Guilt stabbed at her like a nail.
‘Ugh, maybe I really was too harsh…’
While she was writhing in remorse, Marquis Edan returned with a smile. In his hands was a single tray.
‘Finally, my chocolate!’
Serian’s eyes sparkled. But—
‘…Huh?’
On the tray sat exactly one small slice of chocolate cake.
‘He definitely said he was preparing several.’
With a visibly disappointed expression, Serian spoke.
“Marquis Edan? About the chocolate you mentioned…”
“Ah, thanks to the young lady, a much better idea occurred to me.”
Valerius smiled smoothly.
“Since this is a celebration for everyone, one dessert hardly seems sufficient. So I specially asked the imperial head sommelier to prepare a ‘celebratory wine’ for all the guests.”
Open disappointment spread across Serian’s face.
‘What? So he only prepared the princess’s portion after all. How stingy.’
But Valerius read her expression as a rebuke: ‘Is this all you planned to do?’
He gave her a meaningful glance that said ‘a much larger stage has been prepared,’ then immediately approached the princess and whispered a few words in her ear.
Lilliana, who had been hanging her head dejectedly, showed a subtle change in her eyes. She slowly straightened her slumped shoulders and wiped away the moisture at the corners of her eyes.
It was the dignity of a princess. No matter how hurt she was, if there was something she had to do, she would do it. That was the imperial pride still remaining inside the young girl.
Lilliana clenched her small fists tightly and stood up.
‘Pitiful puppet.’
Valerius inwardly sneered as he watched her back. Soon the princess walked to the central dais of the banquet hall. Her clear voice rang out across the room.
“I would like to thank everyone who has come here today! This gathering is to celebrate the Empire’s victory and the great hero who led us to it—Lady Serian Elhardt!”
At her signal, both doors of the banquet hall opened. Dozens of servants appeared carrying silver trays filled with champagne glasses. Every single glass contained a faint trace of Basilisk’s Tears.
Valerius’s heart raced. This was his revenge. His great deed. And… the opening act of a new era he would open together with his great comrade.
The princess raised her own glass high. That glass contained the most concentrated dose of poison.
“For the glory of the Empire and for our new hero!”
Everyone in the banquet hall raised their glasses in a toast. The golden champagne sparkled like jewels beneath the chandelier light. The heart and brain of the Empire were lifting poisoned chalices, blessing their own deaths.
Valerius held his own glass and watched the scene with a satisfied smile. Everything was going according to plan. No—it had surpassed the plan.
Thanks to the ‘grand design’ of his great comrade Serian Elhardt, the plan had been revised to be even more perfect and daring. She was a true revolutionary who knew how to stop the Empire’s heart in a single stroke.
All that remained was for them to empty their glasses while blessing their own demise.