* * *
I urgently chased after the suspicious thief in the direction he’d disappeared, but there was only silence—no trace of the strange presence.
The only things I could sense between the dense trees and overgrown underbrush were the cool pre-dawn air and the thick mist cloaking the night.
“Ha, for a rat, you’re fast.”
Disappearing that quickly meant this wasn’t an ordinary intruder; it had to be someone with special abilities.
Even if the whole thing happened in an instant, I am a Wizard.
With no one around but Asel, there’s no limit to what I can do!
Deciding that running after him was meaningless, I stopped and began casting a detection spell, extending it over all the living things nearby.
The wider the detection range, the faster my magic drains.
Feeling the painstakingly recovered mana slip away stung a little.
But I couldn’t afford to hold back, not when I had a mysterious nighttime intruder on the loose!
If I catch him, maybe Baek Yigang will be grateful.
…No, that’s unlikely.
But still…
Before long, a faint heartbeat echoed at the edge of my detection radius, sharp and unmistakable.
“Got you, you little…!”
With a quick spell, I bound his legs tightly with nearby vines, and then sprinted toward him.
Even with binding magic, it’s just vines.
At best, it’d only hold him for a few seconds.
The target was near the edge of the Crown Prince’s estate, right along the boundary of royal grounds.
In that short time, he’d gotten that far… he wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.
Just as I saw the black figure I’d glimpsed earlier, I flung myself toward him.
Thud!
As we crashed to the ground, a heavy thud rang out through the quiet area.
“Gah!”
It seemed I’d landed on a person; I heard a short, guttural groan as if from a sudden impact.
Seated firmly on his back, I noticed he was clutching something tightly in his hand.
Through the gaps in his black gloves, a glimpse of green caught my eye.
Could that be the reason he was racing across someone else’s courtyard in the middle of the night?
“What’s that? Something you stole?”
“Ugh…!”
When I tried to take it, the man suddenly twisted his body with incredible strength.
His grip was so tight that his black gloves started tearing near his nails, and red blood began to seep through.
Looks like he plans to break free…
That’s a bit insulting, isn’t it?
He thinks he can escape even when I’ve got him pinned?
Sure, Baek Yigang might overpower me sometimes, but that doesn’t make me weak.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Fueled by irritation, I pressed down with all my weight, and the man’s struggles began to subside.
He seemed to realize there was no point in resisting.
“Lord Cheong Dowoon! Are you alright?”
“Asel, stay back for a moment.”
Just as Asel arrived, I waved him off hurriedly.
Asel would probably kill him on the spot if he saw this as an intruder.
He was already drawing his sword, which said it all.
First, I needed to confiscate whatever was in his hand, confirm his identity, and then I could hand him over.
“Hey, you’re not getting away from me. So give up and hand that over. What did you steal?”
“…You’re muttering something.”
The man’s fingers were pried open one by one as I forced him to release what he held tightly in his grip.
From beneath me, a faint voice slowly drifted up.
“What? I can’t hear you, you bastard. Speak up! Is that mouth just for show?”
I snapped irritably, leaning in to catch his words.
Only then did his voice come through clearly.
“You don’t stand a chance. You’ll never get in my way!”
Boom!
Suddenly, a white haze filled my vision, and the next moment, I plummeted to the ground.
Wait, what just happened?
“Uh…? Huh?”
Why am I sitting on the ground?
I swear, I was just riding that rat’s back a second ago!
I’d caught him, mounted him, but with a single blink, he had vanished entirely.
Now, I found myself dazedly sitting in the grass.
“What… what just happened?”
I thought I saw something like a milky smoke drift off, but… could it be?
No, it couldn’t have been magic.
If it were, I would’ve noticed.
“Lord Cheong Dowoon!”
Asel approached and helped me up.
“What on earth… huh?”
As I steadied myself, leaning against Asel with a slightly bewildered expression, I noticed something unfamiliar lying in the grass.
It seemed that the man had dropped it in his haste to escape.
He must’ve been rattled, dropping something he’d been clinging to so tightly.
“Tsk, so careless.”
I bent down to pick it up, but Asel’s hand suddenly blocked me.
“Asel?”
“Please step back, Lord Cheong Dowoon.”
“Huh? Why?”
Asel, who was eyeing the plant on the ground carefully, soon spoke in a low voice, his face set in a grim expression.
“If you touch it carelessly, you might get poisoned. I suspected it when I saw him wearing special gloves, and sure enough…”
“Sure enough…?”
“This is a plant called ‘Aquila,’ known as one of the most toxic plants. From the looks of the stalk fragment left here, he likely took the main plant or root with him.”
Poisonous, is it?
My hand, which had been reaching out to pick it up, quickly retracted as if nothing had happened.
“But isn’t it just one little stalk? And half of it is already gone.”
“The amount doesn’t matter for something this potent.”
Acel drew his sword and crushed the plant in an instant.
The blade darkened, looking as if it had corroded instead of burned.
And that wasn’t all.
Aquila, which had looked like any ordinary grass moments ago, turned blackish and scorched the surrounding grass when disturbed.
“Asel, your sword…!”
“The poison’s stronger than expected. Normally, it wouldn’t be this potent… Lord Cheong Dowoon, it’s best if you move farther back…”
Acel glanced over at me, and I gave a laugh.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve already backed away.”
Seeing me already a considerable distance away, Asel chuckled faintly and continued to crush the Aquila.
I had a general idea of what Aquila was.
In the original work, poisons occasionally appeared as assassination tools, and each time, there’d be mentions like, “Compared to Aquila, this poison is nothing.”
It was known for its deadly potency.
“Asel.”
“Yes.”
I approached Asel, glancing down at the fully crushed remains of the Aquila among the grass.
“To my knowledge, isn’t the cultivation of this poisonous plant prohibited? Does that mean… there might still be remnants in the Poison Garden?”
At my unexpected question, Asel’s blue eyes wavered slightly.
Aquila was a poisonous plant that even most nobles wouldn’t be aware of unless they were royalty.
Furthermore, its cultivation and handling were banned generations ago.
The fact that an outsider like me knew of such a rare poison would be unthinkable.
Even Baek Yigang had never mentioned Aquila to me before.
The Poison Garden itself was a facility created solely for the royal family, and only those with a direct order or the royals themselves could enter the massive greenhouse where it was housed.
And no one knew better than Asel that I had never been there.
Acel couldn’t help but wonder how I knew of it.
“…That’s correct. According to imperial law, all Aquila plants must be destroyed, and even existing stockpiles are to be disposed of.”
Acel merely nodded, seemingly aware that questioning me now wouldn’t yield any answers.
“So how does a fresh Aquila even exist? I may not know much about plants, but this one looked as if it was freshly plucked.”
It didn’t look like it had been stored for days. Its glossy surface seemed deadly enough to kill on the spot.
“That’s…”
Asel trailed off as if reluctant to continue.
For him to hesitate, it meant either it was a secret, or he genuinely didn’t know.
It seemed like the former this time, but since Asel knew, Baek Yigang probably did too.
No point in pressing Asel, then.
I decided to ask Baek Yigang later and shook my head lightly.
“If it’s difficult to explain, don’t worry about it. Besides, I’ve had enough of this walk. Let’s head back.”
Acel nodded silently, carefully gathering the remains of the Aquila from the ground and followed behind me.
By tomorrow, Baek Yigang would probably be fully informed of this by Asel.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted…”
Maybe the strain had worn me out because I felt completely drained.
I wanted nothing more than to bury my head in a pillow and sleep.
Thump.
I reached my familiar bedroom, flopping onto the bed.
* * *
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