I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 178
‘Use this.’
Earlier that morning, Rufus had handed Iruel the poison.
‘What is this?’
‘Hiramith, a poison.’
‘Ah, this damned peddler has brought poison again.’
Iruel clicked his tongue.
He was already familiar with Hiramith. It was an extremely lethal poison that, once it penetrated the bloodstream through the skin, paralyzed the entire body and caused death within seconds.
Strangely enough, demons feared Hiramith even more than humans did.
It was true. Although Iruel didn’t know much about poisons, he remembered that the demons in the Demon King’s castle were especially terrified of Hiramith. There must have been something different about how it affected them.
‘But if I kill Prince Camus with this, won’t I be immediately identified as the murderer?’
‘Yes, you will.’
‘Uh… so what do I do?’
‘Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it afterward. Your job is to provoke Prince Camus into a duel and coat your sword with the poison.’
‘Got it.’
Iruel didn’t bother asking more questions. He knew Rufus wouldn’t answer anyway.
As Iruel stretched his muscles in preparation for the duel, he slipped his hand into the pocket of his coat.
His fingers closed around the small vial of Hiramith. As he moved his legs to appear as though he was loosening up, Iruel discreetly removed the cork from the vial inside his pocket.
It all happened in an instant. Iruel quickly tipped the contents of the vial onto his gloves, soaking them in the colorless, odorless poison. Then, with swift, subtle movements, he ran his gloved hand along the blade of his rapier.
It was done.
The Hiramith now coated the blade of his rapier. All it would take was the slightest brush of bare skin, and Prince Camus would be dead.
Forever.
‘Farewell, Camus, you wretched prince.’
Iruel silently offered a preemptive farewell to Prince Camus, who would soon meet his end.
“Hmph.”
Meanwhile, completely unaware of the plot against him, Prince Camus stared intently at the rapier in his hand.
The rapier was a slender, thrusting weapon. Blunted for practice, the tip was dull and posed no real danger.
‘I’m not sure how much I can torment Tarek with this, but at the very least, I can humiliate him in front of everyone.’
Prince Camus swung the rapier a few times, getting a feel for the weapon.
As he practiced, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a figure standing among the crowd.
A woman with ivory hair and golden eyes.
It was Saintess Sarubia.
‘Prince Camus, you will die tonight.’
Her prophecy from earlier resurfaced in his mind.
He had initially scoffed at the idea. Dying tonight? How absurd.
But for some reason, a creeping sense of unease began to take hold of him.
The Saintess who could predict death, Sarubia.
She had saved Prince Tarek from what everyone thought was certain death. Could her prophecy… really be wrong?
The thought sent a chill down his spine.
Surely not.
Surely, I’m not really going to die tonight.
But if I am… how will it happen?
I’m in perfect health. There’s no illness that could suddenly strike me down.
There’s no chance of an assassin entering the palace. The royal guards meticulously checked everyone’s identity before letting them in.
Could the ceiling collapse and crush me?
No, if something like that were going to happen, Sarubia would have already predicted it and warned everyone.
Then… how exactly am I supposed to die?
“What are you waiting for, Brother? Let’s get this duel started.”
Prince Tarek’s raised voice snapped Camus out of his thoughts. He looked up.
“I won’t go down easily. Come at me.”
Tarek stood confidently, raising his rapier.
As Camus stared at the gleaming blade, a sudden thought occurred to him.
Ah.
Could it be?
“What is it, Brother? Surely you’re not backing out already—”
“Tarek.”
Prince Camus interrupted, holding out his rapier.
“Let’s switch swords.”
Iruel’s heart dropped.
“Switch… swords?”
“That’s right.”
Camus strode forward, extending his rapier toward his younger brother.
“For some reason, I prefer your sword. Let’s exchange them.”
A completely unexpected request from Prince Camus. Iruel’s grip tightened around the hilt of his rapier.
“But Brother… they are the same swords. There’s no need to switch…”
“Exactly. Since they’re the same, there’s no harm in swapping. Come on, give me your sword.”
“This is…”
Cold sweat began to drip down Iruel’s back.
No, they’re not the same.
He couldn’t switch swords.
The blade of the rapier in Iruel’s hand was coated in poison. A poison so potent that even the slightest touch would cause immediate death.
‘Coat your blade with the poison and duel with Prince Camus.’
Rufus had given Iruel the vial of poison and clear instructions before the banquet started.
