The Genius Villain Dies Tomorrow

Rian decided that if he was going to catch this person, he would have to go the full nine yards to make the suspect believe he did actually ingest the liquid.

Before leaving the balcony, he dipped one finger into the spilled liquid and smeared it beneath his collar. More importantly, that caused the magical tether to attach itself to his clothes.

"Perfect."

By the time Rian came stumbling back into the grand hall, all eyes were on him. He dragged one foot behind the other and he allowed his breathing to become heavy.

Consequently, comments about his rapidly deteriorating health started to emerge as well.

"Young Lord, a—are you okay?"

"Your condition looks terrible. Please sit down!"

"Young Master Rian, what are you doing out of bed?"

Yet he had ignored all the comments, trying to look around for anyone suspicious. It was hard to deduce, mostly because everyone here was from Marianne’s faction, the same one who wanted him dead as well.

It was hard to distinguish ordinary vultures from the real culprit.

But before he could try and offer some bait, Felix seemed to have seen the perfect opportunity to improve his image.

"Rian!"

Quickly, he moved closer and threw one of Rian’s arms over himself, ’supporting his baby brother’ from underneath.

"What are you doing walking around in this condition?" Felix demanded loudly enough for the nearby guests to hear. "Someone call a physician!"

’How touching.’

Felix wore the expression of a worried older brother flawlessly. If he wasn’t part of Marianne’s faction then Rian would’ve asked him to become a stage actor easily.

Rian allowed more of his weight to fall against him while discreetly watching Felix’s reaction.

’Could it really be him?’

It would hardly be surprising. Felix possessed both the motive and connections necessary to orchestrate something like this. But then again, Felix wasn’t an idiot.

Also, the magical tether told a different story.

A few attendants rushed toward them, and Rian followed the nearly invisible strand over his brother’s shoulder. It wound between several of his attendants before disappearing toward the edge of the grand hall.

One man stood among them with an open ledger resting against his arm. Now that everyone was crowded around Rian, Edwin really was the odd one out.

But was it really possible? Mages high-level enough to cast teleportation spells would emit a large amount of mana, no matter how they tried to hide it. Yet with Rian’s heightened mana sensitivity, he simply sensed nothing from the old man.

’Could it really be him?’

However, from the distance, Rian saw a folded piece of parchment concealed against his wrist. It almost fell out, causing the man to quickly and clumsily shove it back inside.

But just enough of the parchment unfurled for Rian to read what it was—

Alter Axis.

’It really was a teleportation spell scroll!’

"Guards!" Rian abruptly straightened and pointed toward the edge of the hall. "Seize Edwin Voller’s right arm! Now!"

The guards hesitated for a second, but upon realizing the strangely specific instructions, as well as all noble eyes on them...

The command was carried out.

Various guards swarmed the bookkeeper, tackling him to the ground and causing the old man to squirm and struggle beneath their force.

"Wha—what is the meaning of this?! What the hell are you all doing?"

Rian abandoned his performance and rushed over. With Edwin’s arm pinned against the floor, Rian reached inside his sleeve and pulled out the folded scroll before the bookkeeper could activate it.

He had already prepared the perfect statement to condemn the culprit, all Rian had to do was carry it out now.

"This man tried to poison me!" he accused Voller in front of the entire crowd. "If my sister Elaine hadn’t been there to cure me, I would’ve died earlier than my destined death!"

An uproar spread through the hall.

"That’s absurd!" Edwin retorted. "I’ve done nothing of the sort!"

He raised the parchment for the entire hall to see. "Then why did you, Edwin Voller, reach for this Alter Axis scroll after you saw me collapse!? Shouldn’t you be concerned for my wellbeing and tried to help?!"

"Ugh..." the man groaned, having no reply of his own.

"That’s all the answer I need."

Rian knew it wasn’t the scroll’s true purpopse. It had been prepared to transport the monster he was supposed to become.

But the crowd didn’t really need to know that. All he had to do was spin a tale that was more believable at the moment.

"He believed his poison had worked," Rian declared. "And while all of you were distracted watching me die, he intended to use this scroll to escape before anyone could connect him to my death!"

If the hall hadn’t been filled with gasps and whispers before...Well, now it definitely was.

"Poison?"

"Why was he carrying that scroll? Was it really—?"

"Edwin Voller? But he’s merely a bookkeeper..."

The gathered nobles continued while Edwin continued struggling beneath the guards, squirming to try and get out to no avail.

But that was when someone finally snapped.

"Enough!"

Felix’s voice silenced the nearest conversations. He pushed through the crowd, his earlier concern replaced by unconcealed anger. "This accusation makes no sense. Edwin served House Rosenheim faithfully for years."

A barrage of questions followed. "All you’ve proven is the spatial scroll. Where is this supposed poison? Where is the evidence connecting Edwin to it? Why hasn’t Rosalia been poisoned when she’s been working with him the most?

Rian simply sighed, answering all of his questions. "Elaine witnessed everything, and since she isn’t here. We can detain him until she returns."

Then he finally turned to face Edwin, still pinned on the ground. "And for your other question..."

"Do you really expect me to know the motives of a criminal? How would you explain this Alter Axis scroll, which costs a fortune to buy?""

"On top of trying to poison me, he can get charged with siphoning from the family resources as well," the youngest continued. "Thank you for helping me remember, brother."

But it seemed those words had been the final straw for Felix. He spoke up through gritted teeth. "Why would anyone bother, Rian?"

Felix gestured toward Rian, no longer caring to maintain the appearance of a loving brother. "Everyone here knows you’re going to die anyway! You have less than a minute left. What could anyone possibly gain by killing you now?!’

The commotion had been so large that Marianne now descended from the stairs above. Her voice rang out in concern, mostly for Felix.

"Felix, don’t you dare say anything else!"

But it was too late to take what had already been said back. The words were so insensitive that shock from Edwin was replaced by shock from Felix.

’So much for the stage actor.’

Rian slowly raised his head toward the enormous clock overlooking the grand hall before pointing towards it.

"Thirty seconds until midnight," he hadn’t raised his voice, but everyone could hear it. "You’re right, brother."

Rian turned away from Edwin and crossed the hall. The crowd parted before him as he approached the coffin waiting beneath an arrangement of flowers. The one that had been decrepitly been set up for his eventual death.

He ran one hand across the polished lid before casually seating himself atop it. "There’s no reason for us to argue when we can simply wait."

A grin slowly spread across his face. "If death wants me. It has ten seconds left to come and collect my body."

Ding!

The second hand reached twelve, causing the first chimes echoed through the hall...then the second, and a third...

All twelve chimes reverberated throughout the manor, announcing the "official death" of Rian Rosenheim.

One by one, faces of the guests turned to stare at the youngest son of Rosenheim, casually seated in his coffin, just waiting for him to fall over.

Yet when he didn’t...

Rian made eye-contact with Felix, driving the point home with a simple joke.

"Well, this is awkward, isn’t it?"

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