I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 73
The squirrel, surprisingly strong for a wild animal, was covered in fluffy fur from head to toe, looking plump and well-fed.
Where did this creature come from?
As Rufus stared at the squirrel in dismay, it suddenly yelled out,
“Ugh, shi— Stop sleeping so much and wake up, Lieutenant!”
The squirrel, with its tiny arms, repeatedly hit Rufus’s face. The sensation was too real to be part of a dream.
Rufus finally woke from his dream.
“This damned rodent!”
Fully alert now, Rufus sat up abruptly.
“Ah! I’m not a rat! I’m a cute little squirrel!”
Iruel, caught in Rufus’s grasp, hastily protested.
“Shut up, you witch’s spawn.”
Rufus swung the squirrel with its tail. Iruel screamed continuously.
“Save me, demons! This human is killing a demon! Demon King, save me!”
The mention of the ‘Demon King’ made Rufus stop.
The prince, the prince…
“Where’s the prince?”
“Wh-which prince? Prince Tarek?”
“Stop pretending to be cute, damn it.”
“You’re spinning me around! It hurts, ouch!”
Staggering, the squirrel transformed back into a human. Iruel, now in his human form, lay on Rufus’s bed.
“Get off my bed. Now.”
“I don’t want to lie in the same bed with you either! Ugh, just thinking about it is annoying!”
Iruel’s grumbling further soured Rufus’s mood.
Looking around, he noticed that the witch Odr was nowhere to be seen.
It was deep into the night. By now, she must have returned to the forest where the demons were hiding.
This wasn’t the time for petty banter with Iruel.
“Report first. The poison? Did you manage to put it in the prince’s cup?”
“Ah, well, about that…”
Iruel scratched the back of his head, hesitating.
A sense of foreboding hit Rufus.
“What happened?”
“Well… Prince Tarek doesn’t seem to drink much water.”
“What?”
“He doesn’t drink water.”
Iruel slumped to the ground.
Rufus’s heart sank.
“Prince Tarek doesn’t drink water?”
“Yeah, I was perched above his tent, watching when he would drink water. But that punk of a prince didn’t even touch his water glass for two hours…”
“So? What about the poison?”
Rufus urgently interrupted Iruel.
Iruel shook his head.
“Are you deaf? I just told you that the prince doesn’t drink water.”
Thump.
Rufus slumped onto the bed.
‘…A failure?’
The plan had gone awry. Originally, they intended to paralyze Prince Tarek with poison and easily subdue him, disguised as a demon. However, the prince did not drink the poisoned water.
Then…
“…Can we defeat Prince Tarek?”
Third Prince Tarek was strong. Despite being born to a concubine, he possessed substantial magical powers typical of royal blood.
Could they defeat Tarek, unweakened by poison?
No matter how powerful the demons attacking, victory was not guaranteed.
Think. How can they bring down Prince Tarek? Think, think…
“…So, instead, I put the poison in the water he uses to wash his hands.”
Suddenly, Iruel’s confident voice broke the silence.
Rufus’s head snapped up.
“What did you say?”
“Just as I said. I put the poison in the water he uses to wash his hands.”
“What do you mean? Explain clearly.”
Pressured by Rufus’s questioning, Iruel frowned.
“Didn’t you understand? Since the prince wasn’t drinking water, I put the poison in the water he uses for washing his hands.”
Iruel’s explanation left Rufus dumbfounded.
“Poison in the basin water for handwashing.”
“Yes.”
What does that mean?
“Explain it in a way I can understand. Wasn’t the poison supposed to be in his cup?”
“I never said I put the poison in his cup.”
“Then…”
“I kept watching him. But when I saw no sign of him drinking water, I put the poison in his basin water instead.”
Iruel declared triumphantly.
Rufus was frozen by this unforeseen method.
He had only thought of ‘administering’ the poison through ingestion. But on reflection, it wasn’t necessary. Karosis is lethal. Dissolved in water, mere skin contact would be sufficient to unleash its toxicity.
