Chapter 86

As always, the quiet atmosphere lingered in Artasha’s office.

“I’ll be back, Mother.”

Today, as usual, I lightly kissed the lips of my mother, who still possessed an elegant and dignified beauty.

“Tina.”

“Yes?”

“…No, just come back safely.”

Mother smiled faintly and gently stroked my head. Leaving behind her affectionate farewell, I stepped out of the office and was greeted by the deep, serene hallway.

How long had I been walking down this endless hallway when I suddenly heard soft footsteps approaching from behind.

“Young Lady.”

It was one of the few loyal maids in this mansion who followed only my orders, not Mother’s.

She carefully handed me a letter.

“A reply from Count Everlaine has arrived.”

“Mother doesn’t know, right?”

“No, I waited until dawn and secretly retrieved it.”

“Good job.”

As I tucked the letter the maid handed me into my chest, I gave her a gold coin and another letter.

“Deliver this letter to Count Everlaine by 8 PM tonight.”

“Another letter?”

“Yes. You must go secretly again without getting caught.”

A hint of confusion flashed in the maid’s eyes, but she nodded silently. I smiled and placed another gold coin in her hand.

“You know, right? If you get caught, it won’t just be your neck on the line.”

“I-I’ll be careful, Young Lady.”

I smiled with satisfaction.

I had specifically asked Mother to assign me a maid with deep family ties.

After all, there’s no better collateral than a precious family.

This nameless maid, who has a mother and two younger brothers to support, would never defy my orders, even if death came knocking.

What a tragic fate.

“May you be born a noble in your next life.”

With a strange sense of pity in my heart, I walked alone down the hallway again. As I took out Count Everlaine’s letter and read it, I hummed a tune.

※

The Banquet Hall echoed with peaceful and harmonious music. However, in stark contrast, Mardian’s heart burned with an undeniable tension.

‘Let’s put aside the worries. The plan is perfect.’

Harming the Saintess now would be no different from touching the royal family. That’s why Mardian had prepared meticulously over the past period.

She had perfectly cleaned up all traces, leaving no evidence anywhere.

The Everlaine family, while appearing noble on the surface, was deeply intertwined with the underworld.

The actual transactions were carried out by hiring mercenaries from the underworld, and just last night, she received a report that the alchemist who made the poison had been dealt with.

The servant who would pour the poison into the Saintess’s wine glass was also a skilled operative from an underworld guild, disguised as a servant.

She had even secured the guild’s assurance that they would remain silent about her identity, even if things went wrong.

Moreover, thanks to the active social activities she had been engaging in for the past few days, her alibi was perfectly established, so there was no chance of being caught.

The only thing that had been bothering her was the efficacy of the poison.

The Saintess was a being who could perform miracles, even reviving severed limbs.

Ordinary wounds, let alone deadly poisons, would be rendered powerless before her divine power.

Whether this extreme poison would work on her was a deep concern that had plagued Mardian for weeks.

But it was none other than her beloved Tina who had solved this dilemma.

[I happened to see this in a book…? Could you take a look at this?]

What Tina had handed her was a book containing information about black magic, which was banned in the empire.

It was knowledge she had vaguely heard about during her faith lessons.

Though she had considered it useless and forgotten about it, the moment she saw the book, the forgotten knowledge began to resurface.

The blood of a corrupted black mage was contrary to divine power.

If a being filled with divine power drank the purified blood of a black mage, the corrupted blood would slowly eat away at the divine power from within.

Of course, if the divine power was overwhelmingly strong, like the Saintess’s, the corrupted blood would be purified instead, but combined with a deadly poison, the situation would be different.

A poison made by combining a deadly poison with highly concentrated purified blood of a black mage.

It was a concoction aimed solely at the Saintess, made just for her.

Even a skilled alchemist had assured her.

Even if the Saintess drank this poison, nine out of ten times, she would die, and if she miraculously survived, all the divine power within her body would disappear.

‘Tina is quite meticulous.’

Though it was puzzling why Tina hated the Saintess so much, Mardian decided not to dwell on it.

After all, once this was over, Tina would be entirely hers.

She would turn Tina into a submissive sex slave and ask her directly.

With her mind already dominated by dark desires for Tina, she didn’t want to bother with complicated thoughts.

But the problem was that there was no way to obtain the blood of a black mage.

Black mages, who sacrificed countless humans and made pacts with evil gods, were rare, and even if such individuals existed, it was even rarer for them to willingly give their blood.

Moreover, due to the sinister and cunning nature of black mages, finding them was no easy task.

Even if she managed to find one, she would have to risk confronting them, which was a headache.

But as if heaven was helping, a miraculous opportunity came.

One day, purified blood of a black mage appeared at an anonymous underground auction.

Since it was an anonymous transaction, there was no risk of her identity being revealed, and because the blood of a black mage had such unclear uses, she was able to obtain it at a cheap price.

All the conditions had aligned perfectly.

‘Heaven must be gifting Tina to me.’

Mardian lightly sipped from her wine glass and shifted her gaze across the hall.

In her line of sight was the Saintess, smiling gently among the young ladies.

While conversing with the young ladies, the Saintess occasionally glanced at Tina, who was sitting far away.

Tina, seemingly sensing the Saintess’s gaze, looked uncomfortable and stayed under the protection of the young ladies from the Bersha faction.

‘She’s definitely interested in Tina.’

She probably couldn’t even imagine that the price would be her life.

Mardian downed the remaining wine in one gulp and quietly placed the glass on the table.

A prearranged signal.

As soon as the wine glass was placed on the table, a man in a neat suit approached the Saintess with a tray of various drinks.

The thirsty young ladies called the servant to pour wine, and the servant skillfully filled their glasses.

When the young ladies urged her to drink with them, the Saintess also requested wine.

The servant politely poured wine into her glass.

At that very moment, a small bead hidden in his sleeve slipped into the Saintess’s wine glass.

The movement was so subtle that even Mardian, who was watching intently, could barely see it. He was clearly skilled in such tasks.

The Saintess, without suspicion, raised her glass and clinked it with the young ladies, then brought it to her lips.

Seeing the crimson wine wet her lips, Mardian turned her head. She pretended to engage in casual conversation with other nobles, passing the time.

Not long after, the incident finally occurred.

“Kyaaaah!”

A sharp scream erupted from the center of the hall.

The sound was so piercing that everyone in the hall turned their attention to it at once.

At the source of the scream stood the Saintess.

Her pink eyes trembled uneasily, and her face was pale, almost ghostly. Dark red blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

“Cough.”

With a short cough, the Saintess collapsed to the floor. It was visibly clear that life was slowly draining from her body.

Starting with the blood spurting from the Saintess’s mouth, the Banquet Hall instantly turned into a scene of chaos.

Mardian quickly scanned the situation. The servant who had administered the poison had already disappeared. He was probably riding a horse out of the empire by now.

Guards rushed to the Saintess’s side, and the nobles, their faces filled with terror, began to flee the banquet hall.

It was the scene of the Saintess’s poisoning. In a situation where even a coup wouldn’t be surprising, everyone was in chaos.

In the distance, Tina, with a terrified expression, was seen leaving with the other young ladies.

‘Hehe, Tina has quite a talent for acting.’

Mardian thought with a sinister smile. Turning Tina into a sex slave and making her a useful subordinate seemed like a pretty good choice.

As she left with the young ladies, she glanced around the hall. Given the gravity of the situation, knights were already gathering at the main entrance.

But the number of people gathered was still far too few to control the scene.

Since this banquet wasn’t hosted by the royal family, there would be some time before the imperial order came down.

Mardian leisurely exited the banquet hall’s main entrance and boarded her family’s carriage.

“To the mansion.”

With her words, the carriage slowly departed, leaving the tragic scene behind.

Though she appeared calm on the outside, her fingertips were trembling slightly.

Though she had dealt with countless people before, she had never been this tense.

‘It’s over now.’

All evidence had been thoroughly erased, and no trace of her remained.

Even if the Saintess miraculously survived, the black mage’s blood would have completely consumed her divine power. There would be no more miracles of recovery for her.

As she tapped the carriage window to calm herself, the carriage arrived at the Everlaine mansion. Mardian, guided by a waiting knight, stepped out of the carriage and gave a brief order.

“I’ll be going to the Blanchard Baronet Family’s mansion tomorrow morning, so prepare in advance.”

“Yes, understood.”

There was no longer any reason to hold back.

She would lock Tina in her room as soon as possible. From now on, the water and food Tina consumed would only pass through her, and all of Tina’s physiological needs would be resolved before her eyes.

Using shame, she would break Tina’s spirit and train her to be a lovely pet who wagged her tail only for her.

Mardian smiled eerily as she imagined Tina, who would soon be hers.

[Master… I’ll serve you…]

Imagining Tina licking her secret crevice with pitiful eyes, her lower abdomen naturally began to moisten.

As she wiped her mouth and the mansion’s main door opened, someone was waiting in front of it.

“…Father?”

The head of the Everlaine family and her father, a man of immense influence in both the underworld and the surface. His face was twisted with anger, and he strode toward her, coldly spitting out his words.

“Follow me.”

“Yes?”

His voice carried a murderous intent that sent chills down her spine. Though she had a bad feeling, she couldn’t refuse the family head. Mardian obediently followed him into the office.

Slap—!

A sharp sound accompanied the sudden pain in her cheek. As she tried to regain her composure and looked up, her father still had his hand raised, his face red with anger.

“Speak clearly, Mardian.”

His trembling voice was a first. Her father, who had never flinched at even the most brutal acts, now looked like a man gripped by fear.

“Did you poison the Saintess?”

Her heart sank.

“H-how did you know, Father…?”

“You damn fool!”

The family head’s hand struck Mardian’s cheek again with force. The pain was so intense that Mardian collapsed to the floor.

“You don’t know your place, daring to touch an enemy you can’t handle!”

His shout echoed as if it would tear her ears, but Mardian’s mind was too preoccupied to even process his words.

‘How did Father find out?’

What had she missed?

She had been thorough in leaving no traces. No matter how much she racked her brain, she couldn’t recall any mistakes.

The underworld guild she had entrusted with the task was an anonymous operation, a force that had kept its clients’ secrets for centuries. There was no way they would leak such information.

“Stupid girl, you don’t even know what hit you. Pathetic.”

The family head threw several letters in front of her with a furious glare. The documents contained neatly written sentences and attached photos.

“These letters arrived an hour ago. They contain all the evidence of what you’ve done. I called you immediately after reading them, but rumors of the Saintess being poisoned had already spread throughout the empire.”

“W-what is this…?”

Mardian picked up the letters with trembling hands.

Each letter contained all her traces.

The scene of her trading with the alchemist for poison, and even the photo of the alchemist’s cold corpse.

Her entering and exiting the underworld guild.

Every detail was clearly captured in the photos.

“T-this can’t be.”

It didn’t make sense. No matter how she thought about it, there was no way someone could have known she was planning to assassinate the Saintess and gathered this evidence in advance.

She hadn’t told anyone about this plan.

Yet someone had meticulously followed her and collected evidence, as if they had known she would assassinate the Saintess.

“I want to tear you apart right now, but I’ll give you one chance.”

The family head coldly tossed another letter.

“If the fact that you poisoned the Saintess is discovered, our family won’t be spared. But it seems this person is willing to give us a chance.”

The letter bore no seal or emblem, just a single line of text. The family head gritted his teeth and gave the order.

“Go and beg. If you can’t secure their cooperation, I’ll end you myself.”

Mardian read the sentence on the letter and froze.

The letter contained a simple, straightforward sentence.

[Camellia Gambling Den, 2 AM. Please come alone, Mardian.]

The handwriting was familiar. There was only one person whose handwriting exuded such loveliness.

“Tina…?”

Why… you?

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