Chapter 20

Rian’s room — a candle flickered, casting a huge shadow on the wall. In his hand hung a small glass vial containing the venom of ‘Silent Belladonna.’ It was evidence of treason, but also the perfect bait to catch the great serpent called Reinhardt.

“The proud prefer certainty over suspicion. The Marquis of the Reinhardt family’s arrogance will make him walk right into the trap himself.”

Rian immediately set the plan in motion. He first spread a new rumor through Old Fox to the capital — a story entirely different from the previous one.

“His Highness the Crown Prince’s illness is not a mere headache but poisoning by an undetectable rare venom. However, thanks to a mysterious herbal tea offered by the Aster family, the toxin is being neutralized and recovery is near.”

This rumor directly countered the Reinhardt family’s claim of ‘black Magic’ and served to elevate the Aster family as the Crown Prince’s savior. But Rian had a different, true aim: to unsettle the culprit and make them act on their own.

Next, Rian handed his older brother Kaion a bundle of herbs, calling it a new ‘antidote.’

“Brother, deliver this to His Highness the Crown Prince. If the previous herbal tea only suppressed the toxin’s influence, this is an antidote that pulls the poison out by the root. And casually let it slip that ‘an old maidservant who knows the secret of this antidote has come to the capital to visit me.’”

“Understood. But… is it really an antidote?”

“The surest way to remove a poison is to stop ingesting it. These herbs merely calm the mind and restore vitality. The real antidote has already begun working.”

Kaion did not fully grasp his younger brother’s deeper meaning, but he trusted him and headed to the imperial palace.

Rumor and antidote — the two baits Rian set struck their mark precisely.

The Marquis of the Reinhardt family trembled with rage as he received the report in his manor.

“An antidote? How dare they ruin my perfect plan…!”

His arrogant pride would not allow this. He suspected either an unfathomable backer behind the Aster family or someone who had accidentally learned the poison’s identity. Either way, the source of that ‘secret’ had to be destroyed.

“Find the old maidservant who knows that secret! By any means, silence her and seize the antidote’s secret!”

The Reinhardt family’s intelligence network was frantic to find the ‘old maidservant.’ Argos, as if waiting for this, fed them false information.

“‘An old maidservant of the Aster family will pray to her hometown deity tomorrow night at a closed the temple on the outskirts of the capital.’”

Everything was part of Rian’s script. He anonymously sent Sir Allen, the escort knight, information about the abandoned temple that would serve as the trap’s stage.

“‘Rebels threatening His Highness the Crown Prince will appear at the abandoned temple on the outskirts of the capital tomorrow night to destroy all evidence and strike down a loyalist of the Aster family. As the Empire’s sword, please root out the rebellion.’”

At last, the appointed night arrived.

Around the abandoned temple, where even moonlight barely reached, elite knights of the Reinhardt family gathered like shadows. Their sole objective was to seize the old maidservant, extract the secret, and eliminate her.

They had just entered the temple and were about to rush the praying figure, hood pulled low.

“In the name of the Empire, arrest all rebels!”

Dozens of torches flared at once in the darkness, lighting the abandoned temple as if it were midday. The place was already perfectly surrounded by the Royal Order of Knights, led by Sir Allen, his face wrapped in cold fury.

The Reinhardt knights were rats in a trap. They fought desperately, but could not match the numerically superior Imperial Order. Above all, they wore armor embossed with the Reinhardt family’s crest — irrefutable proof.

On a distant hill, Rian watched the whole scene from the darkness, hidden. Beside him stood Kael, who had quietly joined him.

“Master, everything has gone according to plan.”

“No — this is just the beginning.”

Rian’s gaze turned from the abandoned temple to the heart of the capital, toward the Reinhardt estate.

“The serpent’s tail has been cut — now it’s time to seize the serpent’s head.”

In the trap carved by shadows, the Empire’s largest viper had finally taken the bait.