Killing With Poison
Vyvyan leaned onto the rail with her glass of wine in hand. She admired the water in the lake below and complimented: “Wow, this lake looks pretty no matter what you say. Look how pretty the sight of the moonlight reflected off the water surface is.”
The sojourn palace was built next to a lake. Behind it was a dense forest, which allowed elves to feel at home. After dinner, they enjoyed some wine and the cool breeze by the rails.
Elizabeth and Inard stood together. If maids or guards saw them, they probably would’ve been baffled for they never would’ve imagined their Empress could lean on a man in such a meek manner. Most importantly, Inard was an elf who had the usual thin and feeble body of an elf. Hence, it always looked strange for him to be with Elizabeth. Nonetheless, Elizabeth’s bliss was all over her face.
They didn’t respond to Vyvyan’s remark. Therefore, she was discontent. That said, seeing their blissful moment, even Vyvyan felt that she couldn’t get in between them in spite of the fact that the three of them used to hang out together. Vyvyan felt lonely seeing the two of them as husband and wife.
“I’m going back to my room,” stated Vyvyan.
Vyvyan set her drink down onto the table. She then turned and headed to the door. Elizabeth suddenly realised something. She got out of her husband’s arms and ran after Vyvyan. She grabbed Vyvyan by her hand. Vyvyan turned around to look at Elizabeth. After a moment of hesitation, Elizabeth said, “Vyvyan, we didn’t ignore you on purpose.”
“What are you saying?” Vyvyan felt disgruntled: “Brother hasn’t seen you in a long time. You two haven’t met in so long, so you need to spend some time alone now. I’m not bored. Hurry up and get cosy. Oh, right, I’ll have Troy come to my room tonight; therefore, you two can do whatever you like.”
Elizabeth’s face was set ablaze. Nonetheless, she was grateful. Her friend understood her well and wouldn’t get angry over being ignored.
Vyvyan waved with a smile. Then, she pulled the door open. Lucia, who stood to the side, approached Vyvyan and bowed: “Princess Vyvyan. Do you have anywhere you want to go? Do you want a nice cup of tea?”
“Mm, I don’t have anywhere to go. I’ll just return to my room. Just bring me a good cup of tea and warm up my blanket. Oh, right! Bring my cute nephew over. Tonight is Inard and Elizabeth’s night. Not even Troy may disturb them.”
Vyvyan smiled. In truth, she didn’t know who the maid was. The elf had to be a newly appointed maid, she surmised. She didn’t make any mistakes, so that was good enough. Vyvyan turned to head to her room. Lucia followed behind her with an expression hinting that she found herself in a dilemma.
“She must be Vyvyan,” thought Lucia.
Despite husband telling her that this particular Vyvyan and Elizabeth weren’t real, Lucia still couldn’t find it in her to kill the individual who resembled Vyvyan. Without Vyvyan, she would never have met her husband. Furthermore, Vyvyan was an outstanding ruler. Lucia never thought for a moment that there’d come a day where she had to harm her idol.
Vyvyan and Lucia entered the room. Lucia gently shut the door then placed a hot cup of tea down on Vyvyan’s table. Vyvyan was satisfied with the young girl. Vyvyan waved her hand to indicate that Lucia could leave. Lucia didn’t leave, though. Instead, she kept her eye son Vyvyan: “Queen Vyvyan, there is something else that I need to apologise for.”
“What would that be?”
Vyvyan picked up her teacup with a smile for a sip. It was at that moment that she scrunched up her expression. She dropped her cup to the ground, but the carpet absorbed the tea and sound of it landing. Vyvyan strangled herself around her neck and fell to the ground with a shocked expression, groaning.
Lucia walked up to Vyvyan. In a voice containing despair and agony, she softly said, “I lied to you, but you could say that I did not. I am unmistakably Lucia, but I am not the Lucia who is currently with you. That Lucia’s life is fake; it is a mistake. I must rectify the mistakes in this world. Else, my husband will disappear. Therefore, I am sorry, Queen Vyvyan. You may be fake, but I honestly am reluctant to kill you.”
“Ugh!!”
Lucia drew a shiny kitchen knife from her waist. Maids weren’t allowed to carry weapons, but a maid with a weapon from the kitchen? Nobody knew for sure. She took in a deep breath and shut her eyes then thrust the knife toward Vyvyan’s neck.
Vyvyan’s mana was v formidable. As such, the anti-mana stone was destructive to her. Just a tiny bit of a crushed anti-mana stone was enough to kill the most powerful elf.
Vyvyan came out from the wardrobe. The dead Vyvyan on the ground died with her eyes wide open. The live Vyvyan tapped Lucia on her face: “All right, clean up this place. Geez, looking at myself dead sure is freaky.”
Lucia gradually snapped out of it. She panicked for what to do before eventually settling on a deep bow: “I am very sorry, Queen Vyvyan!”
“It’s fine, it wasn’t me who you killed, after all. You did a good job marking. I might not have been able to locate this room. This place is really difficult to navigate. Mm, throw the corpse inside. I’m now Vvyyan. By the way, Lucia, according to what she said, the Troy of this world is still a child, right?”
“Yes. He is also very cute.”
“Really…? Really…? It looks as though I’ll need to act the role, then… Lucia, go and call Troy over, not my son but the fake, the fake child Troy. It’s crucial for Elizabeth to enjoy some time alone with Inard… I want to see the child Troy… Hehehehe…”