"Your Majesty, it is Head Steward Dwight. Have you been coughing?"
Knock knock.
The door opened, and an elderly man with a kindly smile entered.
Dwight had served faithfully for decades since the previous emperor—a loyal shadow of the imperial family.
He skillfully prepared wash water and a cup of warm herbal tea.
A gentle smile graced his wrinkled face.
It was the very picture of a devoted retainer who had given his life to the palace.
"Did you rest well through the night?"
Dwight bowed deeply as he offered the teacup.
'Perfect mark for my performance.'
Darcor let out a scoffing chuckle as he took the cup.
A fragrant herbal aroma tickled his nose.
"Rest well..."
Darcor brought the cup to his lips, then paused.
"Well... a rat was squeaking up a storm all night, so I barely got a wink."
"My, the palace management has been lax. I shall immediately discipline the servants and prepare for a thorough cleaning."
Dwight bowed his head without so much as a twitch.
His shamelessness pierced the heavens.
"No need for that."
Darcor's gaze turned icy cold.
"It seems to be right in front of me."
"Pardon? What do you mean by..."
Dwight's pupils quivered ever so slightly.
"Lord Dwight."
"Your command, Your Majesty."
"Isn't it about time you retired?"
The air in the room grew heavy.
Dwight's expression stiffened rigidly.
"What do you... I am honored, but this servant shall serve Your Majesty until the day I die..."
"Is that so?"
Darcor reached into his bosom.
He tossed a soaked, tattered ledger straight at Dwight.
The metallic tang of blood spread through the air.
The ledger bore the unmistakable emblem of the Ether assassin guild.
"...."
Dwight's eyes bulged as if they might pop out.
An item that should never be here.
His darkest secret, one that should never see the light of day...
Why was it emerging from the emperor's hand?
"Carhedin asked me to pass along his regards."
Darcor said, tilting his head at a crooked angle.
"Thanks to you, he had a fine trip to hell. Said you should hurry and join him."
"Th-this is..."
Dwight's lips quivered.
The kindly old man's mask shattered, revealing the ugly truth beneath.
"A frame-up! I know nothing of this. Some treacherous soul fabricated it to slander me..."
"Hah."
Darcor let out a deep sigh.
'Why do all villains pull from the same tired script?'
Not a speck of creativity among them.
"Let's not waste each other's time. You think I just picked this up off the street? I've verified every last detail."
Darcor lightly tapped the table with his finger.
"Who's pulling the strings? An old codger like you wouldn't orchestrate this alone. Who's behind you?"
"....."
Dwight's gaze shifted.
No more flimsy excuses would work.
The tyrant knew everything.
Only one path remained.
'Kill him. I live only if I kill him here.'
A chilling glint of murder flashed in the old steward's eyes.
"Die, you mad tyrant!"
Shing.
Dwight drew a dagger hidden in his sleeve.
An explosive speed unbelievable for an old man.
The dagger's keen blade flew toward Darcor's throat.
But.
'Slow.'
To Darcor's eyes, the motion crawled at a yawn-inducing pace.
Senses honed nightly through murder
were far beyond the reach of a mere steward's ambush.
Clang!
"Gaaah!"
As Dwight clutched his wrist and staggered from the flung teacup,
Boom!
the bedroom door shattered open, and a blue flash burst in.
"Your Majesty!"
It was Escort Knight Edel.
She closed the gap to Dwight in the blink of an eye.
Crunch.
"Gaaaaah."
"To point a blade at His Majesty... have you truly lost your mind?!"
Edel seized Dwight by the hair and slammed him into the floor.
Thud.
The situation ended in an instant.
Darcor calmly straightened his attire.
"Nice timing, Lady Edel."
"Forgive me! I sensed the presence and rushed here, but..."
Edel seethed with barely contained fury.
The most trusted head steward drawing a blade—who could have imagined?
Her sword hovered at Dwight's nape.
"I shall take his head at once!"
"Hold."
Darcor raised a hand to stop her.
He slowly rose and approached the bleeding Dwight.
"You know my temperament, right?"
A dry, low voice.
Dwight trembled in terror.
He knew the tyrant's madness better than anyone.
His life was no more than a fly's.
"But we've got some time left. I'll give you one last chance. Who?"
Darcor's piercing eyes bored into him.
Dwight closed his eyes in resignation.
"...Her Majesty the Empress Dowager."
"Wh-what? Her Majesty? Surely not..."
Edel's hand shook on her sword.
"With Your Majesty's Madness worsening and the empire in peril,
she sought to enthrone the Second Prince. I merely acted for the empire's sake..."
"For the empire."
Darcor sneered coldly.
The same exhausting script.
'Kill me and crown your own son. That's it.'
In the original novel, the Empress Dowager was also one of the masterminds.
But she hadn't drawn her blade this quickly?
"How shall we dispose of him?"
Edel asked coldly.
Her eyes began to flicker with chill resolve.
"Treason. We must behead him immediately and display the head at the city gates as a warning."
"No. Let him live."
"Pardon? But this wretch tried to assassinate Your Majesty!"
Edel countered incredulously.
"Killing him is easy. But the dead don't talk."
"Ah..."
"Lock him in the deepest dungeon cell for now. Gag him tight so he can't bite his tongue. Make sure not even an ant can get near. Only then will the master wonder if her rat lives or dies."
Darcor's lips curled in a sinister grin.
"As you command."
Edel dragged Dwight out like a sack of trash.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Peace reigned in Empress Dowager Elizabeth's palace.
Birds chirped amid the blooming garden, warm sunlight bathed the scene, and the aroma of fragrant black tea wafted through the air.
An utterly elegant and refined world that evoked a romance fantasy novel.
"The scent of these new tea leaves is delightful."
A beauty untouched by time, with impeccable poise.
It was as Elizabeth lifted her teacup amid chatter with her maids.
"Mother."
Step. Step.
A voice that shouldn't be heard echoed from the garden entrance.
The maids gasped in shock and hastily cleared a path.
Emperor Darcor strode in without hesitation.
"Your Majesty?"
Elizabeth's hand froze mid-sip.
An unscheduled visit.
And the atmosphere was far from ordinary.
'Those eyes...'
Flustered for a moment, she deftly donned her mask of elegant poise.
"Your Majesty? What brings you here so early in the morning without notice? A busy man like you."
"The tea smells nice from the start of the day."
Instead of answering, Darcor strode forward and plopped down in the chair opposite her.
A manner utterly dismissive of etiquette.
He snatched a snack from the table and crunched into it.
"I have something urgent to say. We've got a big rat in the palace."
"..."
Elizabeth's eyebrow twitched subtly.
"A rat? The palace management is lax indeed. I shall reprimand the head steward."
She lifted her teacup, feigning composure.
"Exactly. I gave that rat... er, head steward quite the reprimand myself."
Darcor shook his head as he munched on a cookie.
"But get this—turns out the rat grew fat on cheese you gave it, Mother."
Clink.
Her pupils shook violently, as if struck by an earthquake.
'Dwight's been caught?'
Impossible.
Yet the emperor before her brimmed with unshakable confidence.
That relaxed arrogance—only possible for one holding all the cards.
Elizabeth struggled to maintain her smile,
but a spasm tugged at her lips.
"N-no, such a joke is too much, Your Majesty. Me, feeding it?"
"Does it sound like a joke?"
All mirth drained from Darcor's voice.
The garden air froze in an instant.
A powder keg ready to ignite.
Darcor slowly rose,
and brought his lips close to Elizabeth's ear.
In a whisper intimate and low.
"Keep things in order. Mother."
"...."
"Next time, it won't be just the rat..."
His gaze swept over her opulent palace in full.
"I'll burn every last rat hole to ash. You know my temper—nothing stands in my way."
All color drained from Elizabeth's face.
Darcor pulled back and flashed a bright smile.
As if nothing had happened.
"Then enjoy your tea. I've got more cleaning to do."
He departed at a leisurely pace.
Elizabeth remained rigid until Darcor had fully exited the garden.
Crack.
At last, the fine teacup in her grip cracked.
The handle snapped off, spilling scalding tea across her dress.
"Aaaagh!"
A beastly scream erupted from the refined Empress Dowager's mouth.
She swept all the snacks from the table in a frenzy.
"Insolent whelp... that concubine's bastard oversteps his place."
The tyrant had changed.
He was no longer a beast that simply rampaged in madness.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Kyaa... now that's refreshing."
Darcor stretched his arms high toward the sky as he left the palace.
Crack.
It felt utterly cathartic.
The satisfying pop of joints realigning.
Like a decade of pent-up frustration melting away.
'Should be quiet around here for a while.'
He recalled the Empress Dowager's ashen face.
With her weakness firmly in hand, even a viper like her
wouldn't dare raise her tail recklessly.
'The urgent fire's out.'
Darcor's eyes sharpened.
'Time to start the real cleaning.'
Carve out the rotten nobles and the true monster lurking in the shadows.
The real mastermind.
Daroa Empire's spy, Baron.
"Your turn now."
Darcor whistled as he sauntered off at his leisure.
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