"Crowns topple easily. Thrones crumble like dust. Hearts cease to beat. Thorns draw blood."
In a country torn into two, there should have been no room for mistakes. Especially not at the very core of the royal family. That was what she was. Yes, a...
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"You said that poison would kill her."
"It should've killed her. I do not know how it is she lived. The charcoal shouldn't have worked with that type of poison." The grumpy man answered, clutching the satchel hanging from his shoulder.
The young prince sneered in response. "And yet she lived. Why do you think that is?"
"It shouldn't have failed. The only way it could fail is if something unnatural was done." The shabby man said, shifting uncomfortably at the part he played in the failed assassination of a princess. If it had succeeded, he would have already skipped the country and migrated to Shu Han.
Oleg raised a brow, unimpressed by what the other man was insinuating. "What do you mean by that? Unnatural? Like magic?"
"Like small science. Only a Grisha could've been able to deflect the effects of the poison. I think there is a Grisha in your midst." The man suggested, gulping at the thought of a Grisha.
"The Darkling cannot control poison," Oleg answered plainly.
The man shrugged, preparing to stand up. "Then there is another one of them here and if you want your next attempt to work, I suggest finding whoever saved her."
"For your troubles," Oleg said, handing the other man a goblet.
"Ne zalost," The man grinned, downing the kvas in one gulp.
It only took a few moments for the man to convulse and die, blood leaking from his eyes, his ears, and his mouth. A few more minutes and the man had died in a pool of his own blood, even with a small amount of poison in his system.
Oleg let out an amused chuckle, using his foot to move the man around, checking if the man was truly dead. It was too easy to tempt men like him with luxuries that he didn't have. Greed was always the weapon he utilized when all else failed.
"It seems the poison isn't the problem. I guess you weren't lying when you said there was another Grisha. How unfortunate."
Now, the only thing left for him is to find whoever the other Grisha was. Whoever had the guts to save his pathetic sister from death. Whoever chose to stand in his way. Whoever would die next.
Yet he was a fool when he didn't realize that the Grisha who saved his sister and the sister he tried to poison were one and the same.
//
Irina had managed to recover immensely over the past few days.
After having been moved from the medical wing to her chambers, she was now able to sit up in bed and take a few steps from her bed to the door before being ushered back by those taking care of her. Namely, Dima, Igor, and Antero. They were like three nursemaids sent from hell to torment her.
