[Warning: Assassination Attempt Detected]
[Source: ???]
[Method: Poison – Delivered via morning meal]
Kaelen's spoon hovered over the bowl of porridge.
It looked innocent enough. Porridge, pale and lumpy, with a drizzle of honey swimming on top. Steam rose in lazy curls. His stomach growled a deep, empty ache that reminded him he hadn't eaten properly since the ride from hell.
Any time he tries to relax, something happens.
The system flickered:
[Poison Identified: Threadvein – Derived from the roots of the Whispering Vine. Paralysis followed by cardiac failure. Onset: 4-6 minutes after ingestion. Mortality: 99.7%.]
[Note: The remaining 0.3% survived only with immediate, high-grade antidote.]
He dropped the spoon. It clattered against the wooden bowl, splattering a thin droplet of honey across the table.
Kaelen pushed back from the table, his chair scraping against the floorboards. His first instinct was rage.
He was hungry. Ravenous. His thighs still ached, his mana pathways still throbbed from the Sovereign's power, and he had not slept well. He just wanted one thingand someone had tried to take it from him. Had tried to take him from him.
"Rin," he called, his voice sharper than intended.
The door opened. Rin stepped in
"Rin," Kaelen said again.
She approached. He pointed to the bowl.
"Who prepared this?"
Her gaze flickered to the porridge, then back to the floor. "I did, my lord. As always."
"And who else has been in the kitchen this morning?"
She hesitated. A small, almost imperceptible pause. "The scullery boy. The cook's assistant. And… a young boy, I did not recognize, just came in today was introduced by the steward."
Kaelen exhaled slowly. "Rin. Get me a rat."
She blinked once, twice, then nodded as if with realization and left.
She returned within minutes, a small wire cage in her hands. Inside, a grey rat scrabbled at the bars, nose twitching.
Kaelen pointed to the bowl of porridge.
"Feed it."
Rin's jaw tightened, but she did not argue. She scooped a single spoonful and tipped it into the cage.
The rat sniffed. Whiskers brushed the pale lump, its nose sniffing then it ate the porridge..
For a moment, nothing happened.
The rat chewed, swallowed, turned in a circle. It scratched its ear. It sniffed again at the corner of the cage, looking for more.
Then it stalled.
Its hind legs stiffened first. The muscles locked, the joints freezing mid-step, so that the rat listed sideways like a small, grey ship taking on water. Its front paws scrabbled uselessly against the bars then went slack.
The trembling started in its tail. A fine, rapid vibration that traveled up its spine, through its haunches, into its chest. The rat's ribs began to move too fast, too shallow, each breath a desperate, clicking gasp.
Its eyes stayed open.
The pupils dilated, wider with each breath, swallowing the dark irises until the rat's gaze was nothing but two black mirrors reflecting nothing. Its mouth opened, closed, opened again. No sound came out. The throat had locked.
Then the convulsions.
The rat's body arched, back bowed so sharply Kaelen heard something *crack*. Its legs kicked, spasms, jerks, nerves firing without orders. Foam bubbled at its lips, thin and white, streaked with pink. It had bitten its own tongue. Or the poison had made it bleed from the inside.
The convulsions faded slowly. The rat's breathing became a rattle. A wet, slow, diminishing sound.
Then nothing.
The cage was still. The rat lay on its side, legs curled, tail limp, eyes still open. A thin trickle of pink foam had dried on its whiskers.
Rin stared eyes wide, her hands were white-knuckled on the cage. Clearly the scene had shocked her.
Kaelen looked at the bowl of porridge. Still steaming.
"That would have been me," he said quietly. "Someone wants me dead."
Her face went pale. "My lord, I would never…"
"I know."
He twirled the spoon through the food then looked outside at the beautiful morning sky sighing.
"I trust you, Rin. Don't worry, I just need you to find out how the poison got into the food."
The system flickered:
[Rin – Loyalty: 91 → 96]
[Power Increase Detected: Rin's awakened abilities have advanced significantly]
[Note: This individual is now capable of limited combat functions.]
"But the marriage alliance, your marriage would be good for the whole estate and would harm no one but you, why would anyone do this."
"You are the only one who thinks that."
He placed the spoon down and pushed the bowl away.
"Burn it. Then find out about the boy."
Rin nodded. Her voice, when it came, was steady. "And the rat?"
"Ask Markus to throw it in the stewards room and watch his face."
His stomach growled and the sorrow on Rin's face paused as she looked at him.
"Ahem, and get me food, test it this time." He looked to the side seemingly admiring the birds outside.
"Yes young master." He was sure he heard a small laugh in those words.
She took the cage and the bowl and left.
Ten minutes later, as Kaelen waited stomach audibly complaining the system chimed again.
[Connection Network Update]
[Protagonist – Respect: 63 → 71]
[Power Increase Detected]
[Mission Progress: 10% completed]
Kaelen sat up straighter. She must have found something.
Rin returned with a tray: bread, cheese, a pitcher of water. She set it down carefully, her movements steadier than before. When she stepped back, she didn't lower her eyes.
"I'll find out who the man was," she said. "Before noon."
Kaelen bit into the bread. It was very tasteless, he needed money for himself, he can't live like this.
"I know you will," he said.
Rin left