Banquet (2)

Chapter 27

"Many times," Laura replied to my question. I stand corrected.

"Then how about we don't speak at all? Just do." I said as I extended my hand towards her, my palm upturned.

She didn't consider it for long before she took my hand. I pulled her slightly, helping her to stand and we both made our way to the middle of the room.

I placed my hand on her back which no one else was doing because it would be rude. Yet she didn't mind. I took her smooth right hand with my left hand and out of instinct, she placed her left hand on my right shoulder.

A classic waltz pose. From the looks of it, the version of this world is a bit reserved and boring and doesn't contain ever so much grace and nobility.

Waltz is a traditional dance that is supposed to be a show of intimacy between two people. Of course, by courtesy, you have to stop your advances if the woman rejects them but since Laura didn't, I pushed forward and now, our bodies were dangerously close.

"You are pushing your luck," Laura said with her eyebrow raised and small hints of a smirk.

"And you're allowing it," I replied as I started to perform the basic steps of Waltz. Since my version was different from this world's, I was the leading party.

And she was a fast learner as well as she followed every movement of my feet flawlessly without committing a mistake.

"Many may misunderstand." She said again. She was trying to put words in my mouth but I wasn't born yesterday.

"The question is; do you want them to misunderstand?" I asked with a smile.

She chuckled slightly, and with a playful look, responded, "Yes. I would like them to misunderstand."

I smiled and leaned in. I whispered in her ear, "Then you wouldn't mind if I lower my hand a little?"

Typically, that sentence would have earned me a slap no matter how charming I was but for some reason, I knew her reaction would be far from that.

"Do you want to?" She whispered in my ear in return.

"I want to kill your maids," I replied. The smile on her face froze for a while. I was actually quite interested in what her reaction was going to be.

"Then who's stopping you." She replied after a few heartbeats that raised my own. She wasn't playing. She was really letting me kill them. This girl was something else.

[Control yourself]

'It's a natural male reaction.' I replied. And it seems it wasn't only Allison who felt that.

"Are you that excited?" she asked playfully but her body didn't move an inch away from me. She even slightly pushed forward.

This girl! As if tempting me with those blue eyes and consent wasn't enough. She had to go ahead and do this.

I turned my head towards Max and Rose who were now standing behind the table of the Ravenknight kingdom. I nodded at them and Max pulled his sword out while Rose pulled the elegant green dagger I had given her.

Before anyone in the envoy could react, Max chopped the head of the left maid while Rose stabbed the other maid on the right in her heart.

"Stewart, stop." Laura loudly yelled and her knight, who was about to draw his sword, stopped. Everyone in the room stopped as well.

"What are you doing?" The crown prince yelled but right at that moment, the head elder spoke, "Sit down."

"But grand el---" Harvey began to speak but only to be interrupted by the emperor, "Quiet!!!!!"

A wave of mana leaked from his voice which halted everyone in the room. I hurriedly held Laura and cast the divine shield around us.

Laura was only an E- rank. Her talent in combat wasn't outstanding hence her low rank. On top of that, she was a non-combatant. A wave like that would be somewhat painful to her.

Once everyone had settled down, he turned to me and said, "You better have a good reason for doing that."

He wasn't talking to Max and Rose but to me. He knew it was my doing. I didn't reply but instead, took a vial out of my inventory and handed it to Laura subtly while whispering in her ear, "Have fun."

I turned to the emperor and said, "My apologies, Your Majesty. Me and Her Highness, Lady Laura had a bet and I won."

I smirked and started heading out of the room but before I left, I turned around and said, "Oh, and you've all been poisoned. Don't know by who. Sadly, an accident occurred and the chefs died."

I laughed and left. Max and Rose closely followed me.

[You have slain a human x2]

[You have received 200000 Exp]

[Level up]

Damn! They were both only Rank D. If they had been D+, I could have leveled up twice. Oh well. You can't always get what you want.

[Why did you do that?]

'Do what?'

[The poison]

Hah! 'It's a mild poison. The most they are going to get from it is painful diarrhea.'

[But the poison was only meant to be for Laura]

'And the interference for that would have put her in the bad books of the empire. Now that everybody is poisoned, not to mention with a different poison, the emperor will have it looked in the staff and with what we did earlier, we'll be hitting three birds with one stone.'

[How so?]

'The two chefs I killed thanks to my intel from the novel, are the two spies of the church, the organization gunning for the emperor.'

'Because of this poison fiasco, the emperor will look into them and it benefits him.'

'The two maids that I killed can be chalked up to my behavior and a deal me and Laura made. No one will talk about that during mass poisoning. But Laura now knows who to look out for. She now has a clue and that's the second benefit.'

'The third strike is very simple actually. The emperor is not going to disclose the church matter so everyone will doubt everyone for the case of poisoning. A mass hysteria if I might say and the benefit from that is twofold.'

'One, they will thank me for informing them about the poison on time, and second, they will lose their focus on me while doubting everyone else.'

[So you have turned everyone against everyone]

'Exactly. And it is all thanks to you.' I replied. Without Allison's intel, I couldn't have done it.

Earlier when I left my room for the party, Allison informed me of the traitors who have been periodically and slowly poisoning Laura. Her maids were planted by the twelve families.

Her generosity wasn't free so now I only have 100000 coins left. Still, to have Laura on my side, that was a very cheap sacrifice.

But since I was going to make a scene, so I thought, 'Why not create a big one?'

So I went to the kitchen before going to the hall and located the spies of the church. Those two were specially mentioned in the novel as the church had spent ten years to plant them there.

Anyway, I killed them and poisoned the food with slight stomach disturbance-inducing drugs.

I didn't know who the spies on Laura's side were as Laura had already dealt with them in the novel but it had been too late. This time, thanks to Allison, it wasn't late.

"Are you okay?" While walking, I turned to Rose who was just behind me on my left side.

She smiled and nodded, "I had some trouble but doing it wasn't that hard in the end."

Rose isn't saying that to make me feel better. She really doesn't feel much about killing. Even in the novel, she killed the students who would wrong her when a chance would arrive such as during tests or during classes through various innovative ways.

However I have to say, the Rose in the novel and this Rose are entirely different. It's not because the Rose in the novel was continuously beaten by Adrian, it was Adrian's death. And after that, her family's death.

[But you saved her family]

That I did and I'm glad that Rose is different from the one in the novel. It's one thing to be a little cruel, but being a serial killer without empathy wasn't someone I was looking to be on my side.

"You did great." I smiled in return and praised her. Then I turned to Max who was walking with his head down.

"You did good too." I praised him as well and was equally happy by his reply, "I won't hesitate next time."

I smiled. He was growing. It was good to have kindness but we were soldiers. Soldiers kill. That's the hard job we have to do. If we don't, then people die. If we don't do that job properly because of some superficial beliefs or even kindness, then we are failing to do so.

[Not everyone is like you]

'And I'm not expecting him to be like me. That would be cruel to him. What I want is for him to learn the kind of world he lives in. It would make his life a lot easier.'

We reached my room and I filled a glass of water and drank it down.

"Max," I addressed him and he turned his attention to me, "What can you tell me about the nobles of this empire?"

Since it was a reasonable question Max started explaining every small detail, and seeing from where Max came from, rumors are one thing he would know the most.

And sure enough, for three hours straight, he told me everything he knew from the smallest noble to the highest rank noble which was the family of my former fiancée.

Although no one announced to me the annulment of our engagement, I knew the outcome was going to be so since the crown prince and the first imperial prince were gunning for that family according to Max's report.

In the novel, the imperial family is covered in two whole volumes. The fourth and fifth. In it, not all of the aspects are covered but only important factors such as the moves of the church or the proceedings of the crown prince and his children and the third prince.

But the devil is in the details. Small opportunities are what I am looking for. Places where Eric never bothered to look.

Because I can turn a lizard into a dinosaur. That wasn't a good metaphor. A more elegant one would be, to turn a parrot into a phoenix. And such a parrot was going to meet me soon.

As expected, after a few more hours, a knock was heard on my door. Enough time for things to settle down. Max opened the door but the person in the door was someone I was not expecting.

[A quest has arrived]

[Marriage]

[Initiate and succeed in engaging Asmara Hayez]

[Reward: None]

[Punishment: All levels reset]

'What the hell is this?' I asked Allison, panicking a little. The figure who had come was none other than the Hayez family.

[Aren't you lucky?]

[Now you can stare at her a.s.s all you want]

That is not what I meant! I mean yeah, sure, I'm a sucker for a.s.ses but still, isn't it too sudden?

With Richard Hayez in the lead, followed by his son, his daughter-in-law and granddaughter entered the room. I was worried for the reason of them coming here but still for a respectable soldier, out of respect I stood up and welcomed them.

"Good evening, Sir Richard, Sir Victor, Lady Antassia, and Lady Asmara." I greeted them all while I pointed them to have a seat in the reception room of my chambers since my personal room still had almost everything half eaten.

"Good day to you too, Your Highness." Richard bowed out of courtesy for a prince even though with his rank he didn't need to. Being respectful, I did the same.

Victor greeted me like he was spitting venom while Lady Antassia was just straightforward, with no emotion involved. It was a pity she was married. She's totally my type.

And last but not least, Lady Asmara, who was more embarrassed than angry or unwilling. To have fun, I decided to irritate her a little by giving her the most beautiful and sweet smile that caused her face to turn redder.