Impromptu Performance

In the sudden urgency of the moment, it seemed no one noticed at first. It wasn't until the spilled wine soaked a large patch of the snow-white tablecloth and Li Yue's handkerchief fell to the table that the crowd's expressions began to betray a hint of panic.

“Everyone, please check the food on your plates immediately!” The nobles surrounding the table pushed their plates away as if avoiding a plague. Their accompanying members began testing the food for toxic ingredients; upon finding that almost none of it was poisonous, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“Just what is going on here!” An old man with a grayish-white beard stood up, looking thoroughly enraged. Several other family heads sitting near him stood as well; it seemed these people were all nobles belonging to the same faction.

“This happens every year, but isn't it a bit early this time?” some began to mutter in low voices. The dancers in the center of the stage had only stopped for a brief moment before they resumed their graceful movements. The onlookers seemed completely indifferent to Li Yue, who was still coughing up blood.

“How is this possible...?” Helen sampled a drop of the wine. A night raven flew out from her side and tasted a tiny bit of the liquid. In an instant, its body began to decay, turning into grayish-white ash. It seemed the poison's effect acted directly upon the essence of life.

“A type of poison I've never seen before... Which great figure is behind this?” Helen was startled and did not dare touch the wine directly with her hand.

“Let's go... back to the room.” Li Yue dropped a blood-stained handkerchief and leaned her weight on Clo's shoulder. Her face was pale, and on her fair neck, bright red blood lines began to appear with striking clarity. They were dense and numerous, looking like a network of cracks tearing at her body, threatening to rip her physical form apart. Under the poison's ravages, she appeared incredibly weak.

“How... do you have any...” Clo wanted to search her storage ring for detoxifying or healing potions, only to suddenly remember that she wasn't wearing the Five Staves ring.

“Tch... To stabilize the situation, I suppose I have to go back to the past...” A faint, orchid-blue light began to glow in Clo's palm. She seemed ready to use her time magic; while she couldn't change the fact that Li Yue had been poisoned, she could at least delay the progression of the toxin as much as possible.

“Shh... Don't make any big moves. Help me to the lounge.” Li Yue leaned in close to Clo's ear, her tone calm and gentle, no different from usual. “I'm fine...”

“Eh?” Clo blinked, stunned. According to the role she was supposed to play, she was indeed powerless right now and could only help Li Yue off the stage.

“Go... quickly.” Li Yue walked with a limp. Seeing this, Clo scooped her up into her arms and quickly moved away from the center of the crowd. In this environment, even if someone were to commit an assassination in plain sight, the guests likely wouldn't react much, let alone try to stop it.

Fortunately, the guarding Royal Court knights soon surrounded the scene. What awaited the nobles was a round of serious questioning and searches. After all, the one poisoned was a family head about to succeed to her title—a member of the core power structure, even if she had been an obscure figure before.

Clo kicked the door open with a bang. Helen remained at the scene; she had to stay to witness the knights' actions and represent the decisions of the Raven's Beak Covenant for now. She had considered that such a situation might occur, but like the other nobles, she hadn't expected everything to happen so early.

“How are you? I'll cast a spell right now. Don't worry, it'll be better soon.” Clo tried to take off the ring that restricted her power, but Li Yue's hand stopped her.

“I'm fine, it was just some bleeding from the gums.” Li Yue wiped the blood from her lips, and her symptoms vanished in an instant. The blood lines on her neck seemed to dissolve back into flowing blood. “Semi-crystallized blood—it looks quite terrifying, doesn't it?”

Li Yue smiled, her deathly pale face slowly regaining its vitality. She looked at her hands and stood up straight once more, her slumped posture vanishing.

“You... you weren't poisoned?” Clo was dazed. The events of the last few minutes had been so shocking that her mind couldn't quite process it all.

“I was,” Li Yue said nonchalantly. “But the toxicity wasn't strong enough.”

Li Yue poked her canine tooth and gave a slight smile.

“I am a snake too, you know. A venomous one. The venom I carry has even killed gods before.” Li Yue ruffled Clo's hair, appearing perfectly healthy and without any issues.

“I just wanted you to play along with my performance. Since they wanted to poison me, it wouldn't be right to disappoint them by not acting the part.”

As Li Yue spoke, she picked up a dinner knife from a plate on the nearby table. She examined it for a moment, then put it back with a look of disdain, as if it weren't sharp enough.

“But since we're performing, we might as well make it look even more convincing.” Li Yue smiled faintly, and a blood blade instantly condensed in her hand.

She gave it a experimental swing before, under Clo's horrified gaze, she thrust it straight through her own beating heart, followed by the heart at the center of her chest condensed from blood crystals.

She plugged the wound that was about to gush blood and began using magic to redirect her blood flow.

“Ha... this way... they can strike at me without any reservations...”