10 Chapter 10: Choice

There was a commotion among the crowd, and some started leaving their seats. This was the royal palace. It was close to impossible that there would be a blackout unless someone was behind it among the royal family.

Kendrick was also wary of his surroundings. He plans to follow what Viscount Anwir told him.

"Once there's a blackout in the middle of the ceremony, no matter what, don't move from your seat, you hear me?"

Kendrick recalled what Viscount Anwir said earlier in his head. 

This was a critical point; one blunder and he'd be dead. He also had plans to let Princess Ruri die of food poisoning, just as she did in the otome game. And then, he would avoid the forthcoming events he knew would occur in the future.

He could feel his heart trembling.

As if it was saying to him, "This is not the real you."

After all, he was a human being. Despite knowing how she'll die, he doesn't bother attempting to save her life. How could he possibly live the rest of his life under the influence of his psychopathic father?

The entire palace was in a frenzy. Fearful shrieks sounded from all directions, as though there was about to be an assassination. Everyone was in danger.

Some, like Viscount Anwir and Silvia Frost, have expected the catastrophe and aren't even worrying. And, like them, Kendrick was immobile as a brick wall, his thoughts a jumbled mess in comparison. A part of him wanted him to go and save the princess, but the other part said he shouldn't do anything that might jeopardize his future.

And before he could respond, the lights were turned back on. When the lights came back on, Kendrick could plainly see some scared nobles and calmer nobles moving from side to side. Princess Ruri, on the other hand, was as still as a leaf, maintaining her smile without moving from her seat. It seemed as if her main purpose in life was to serve as a statue.

He never expected to meet someone as stupid as her.

Who on earth can maintain their composure amid a massive blackout as if it were natural?

Kendrick looked at her dumb expression with interest. But as soon as their gazes connected, Princess Ruri blushed and averted her head to the side. Kendrick, on the other hand, couldn't help but lean his head forward.

The royal knights began to disperse. They first inspected every noble within the castle to see whether anyone had been injured, and then they sought to figure out what caused the blackout.

'Of course, they'll never find out...'

According to what happened in the otome game, the royal knights will begin checking all nobles after the blackout, and once they do, they will also begin checking the surroundings. At the end of the day, people will see some broken lights on the ceiling and believe that the lights have just snapped, resulting in a blackout. 

 And, as Kendrick predicted, after inspecting the nobility, the royal knights began hunting for the cause, and at the end of the day, they discovered the apparent trap placed by the enemy. The shattered lights.

 One of the royal knights approached the king and began speaking about the broken lights.

"According to our investigation, the cause of the blackout is that the lights failed. Don't worry, there's no one behind it. The light just ran out of juice and burst, forcing the other lights to dim for a brief moment."

The king paid close attention to the royal knight. His eyes were shining in a menacing hue befitting of a king, compared to the prior demeanor he had displayed for his daughter.

".... Are you sure about that...? Check everything again and again till it's clean. I don't care if you look around a thousand times; just make sure everything is in order. We can't have somebody sabotaging my lovely daughter's birthday celebration. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Your Grace."

The knight withdrew out of the way of the king's harsh stare.

Princess Ruri realized something was awry and chose to leave her seat to speak with her father.

"Did something happen, Father? If something does happen, we can simply call a halt to the festivities."

The king grinned and returned to his easygoing demeanor.

"No, no, no. It's not noteworthy. We had to repair the lights since they were broken. The celebration will go on, so just have fun, honey."

Even with a smile on his face, he couldn't completely erase the chilly stare he had. For a split second, Kendrick was creeped out. With horror in their eyes, the three siblings saw their father's harsh glare. Princess Ruri, on the other hand, was oblivious to all of this. She returned to her seat, laughing without a care in the world.

Kendrick, like the other aristocrats, returned to their respective seats.

And soon after, the celebration resumed.

Lilac was now heading to Princess Ruri's table. Princess Ruri's delighted countenance was obvious on the surface, as she could no longer disguise her pleasure.

Soon enough, it appeared in front of her. It has a divinely lovely scent. The exquisite aroma of the drink could be smelled by other aristocrats from afar, and others just couldn't stop their mouths from watering.

The king had a beaming smile on his face. One of his daughter's wishes had been successfully granted.

Kendrick stared blankly at the drink. He was deep in contemplation just now, pondering what he should do.

As he continued to stare at the drink in front of him, Princess Ruri began to sip it with a soup spoon. 

'What the actual fuck?'

On the other hand, some aristocrats wore wry expressions on their faces as they saw her ready to drink it. Silvia Frost was one of them. Finally, the three siblings were secretly beaming with delight. This was the moment they had been looking forward to.

However, before Princess Ruri could even drink it, Kendrick had finally made up his mind!

Kendrick sprang from his seat and swatted her hand away, knocking the soup spoon on the floor.

"!!"

Everyone, even the king, was taken aback. Viscount Anwir, who was bright-eyed as if he'd won the jackpot, became pale. The three siblings' anger could not be contained. Their eyes were pleading with him, as if they wanted to jump on him and tear him apart right now. And, like them, the king was staring at him in that manner. The king was so enraged that he didn't notice the crimson eyes burning behind him. It came from the three siblings who were staring at Kendrick.

Princess Ruri wiped her brow and inquired, "Dan, is there something wrong...?"

"N- No…. It's nothin—"

But before Kendrick could continue his sentence, the royal knights swooped on him and quickly captured him, pinning him down on the floor.

"An assassin? Who gave you the order to carry this out?!"

"Wait a minute, what did you just do?"

"Were you the culprit behind the power outage? We'll terminate your life if you don't speak out!"

As soon as he was pushed to the ground, the royal knights bombarded him with questions.

Kendrick fought to look around, and his eyes were immediately drawn to Viscount Anwir. Viscount Anwir, on the other hand, isn't looking his way, just as he expected. No, he was more likely avoiding him. He seemed to be saying, "Don't say you're from our household even if you die!" What a self-centered bastard.

He wasn't expecting this to happen. In reality, his body moved before he could think. Since he believed that he knew who the perpetrator was, he should have opened his mouth to speak, so that at least his death would not be in vain. 

Princess Vanessa dashed in the direction of Princess Ruri. Because her plans had been foiled, she needed to act quickly.

"Elder Sister Ruri, if you're not going to drink it, may I have a sip instead?"

Even so, because she didn't want to raise her father's suspicions, she had to be extra careful.

Princess Ruri, as predicted, took the bait and pouted.

"No! Father had given it to me as a birthday present! Why would I hand it over to you? Also, why are they pinning Dan to the ground..."

Princess Vanessa scooped up the soup spoon that had fallen on the floor.

"It's conceivable he's the perpetrator of the previous blackout attempting to murder you, therefore they're tying him down," Princess Vanessa paused and offered her the soup spoon. "If you're not going to accept it, I'll take a sip. So gulp it all down immediately, before I change my mind."

Princess Ruri took the soup spoon and returned her gaze to Kendrick. Her eyes were skeptical that he was the perpetrator. She knew he'd never do something like that. But, because it was most likely her father's order to apprehend him, she was unable to intervene. So, when she grabbed a mouthful of the drink with the soup spoon and was ready to put it in her mouth...

Kendrick didn't bother to continue to resist and muttered, "It is very likely that your drink has been spiked, Your Grace. You should allow your servants to inspect the contents of the glass."

Hopefully, whatever he had said, had been audible to those who were near him.

Other than that, he didn't want to be seen blatantly backing the princess's ascension to the throne.

Who knew what would happen to him after he arrived home?

An attempt to silence him could end up with various outcomes.

The word 'castration' was the last thing he would want to be associated with.