The Path of Ruin

The larger the group traveling, the longer the travel time.

Moreover, when Kael saw the Second Princess's squad, they were still a day away from reaching the town.

If they rested in the town for two days, they should travel around seventeen to nineteen days from there to here.

In short, subtracting the nine days it took Kael to get back to the capital and the distance to the town on the day he saw them... he had nine to eleven days to prepare.

Thinking the worst, Kael made a plan that they would arrive here in nine days.

So...

First, he took a carriage with him. Then he filled it with lots, and literally lots, of plants.

Each one had a different effect.

But they had one thing in common... they were all poison.

All of them.

Some were lethal, some hallucinogenic, some messed with the digestive system, some made it impossible to sleep.

He knew what they were all for. And he was going to use that.

By the time he finished preparing the carriage... the night of the day he arrived in the capital had fallen.

'When they are four days away from the capital, I will start attacking.'

This meant that he had about five days.

If he moved a little faster and took two days to travel, he had three whole days to prepare.

And that was more than enough.

And yet...

'I have to give a perfect performance. Everything... has to happen in the best possible way.'

Hakon could have done this on his own.

And if Kael hadn't acted quickly, he probably would have done the same thing, even if his method would have been slightly different.

He wasn't doing something that only he could accomplish, in short. He was simply seizing an opportunity that he had given himself.

And so, he had to outdo himself, he had to achieve the best possible result. The one that was impossible for him.

Only in this way could he achieve the goal he wanted.

So he revised his plan many times, he would prepare all his traps by thinking over them at least three times.

He had time, and he would make the most of it.

'The order of the poisons...'

He had to arrange the plants to get the best result. The group on the move had to collapse irreversibly.

'How can I use them?'

He had decided the order in which he would use the poisons, but... how would he apply them to the group?

He had many ideas, literally... After all, the intended use of the plants was quite varied.

'Is it wrong to start four days before the capital?'

He had chosen this method to make the most of his time, but now... he hesitated.

Wouldn't it be better to move more slowly, more cunningly?

'Is it enough to use only poisons?'

He could inflict heavier damage.

He could work more effectively.

Instead of relying entirely on poisons, he should use them as a tool.

Of course, he also had to consider the possibility that the group he would encounter would be prepared for these. He didn't know if the Second Princess was among them or not, but he remembered the Pursuer woman he had seen.

There was a good chance that the Second Princess was that woman.

And if it was her, most things would have been carefully checked, most everything would have been done to make sure there were no problems.

He also had to prepare for the measures they could take in case of a problem.

Moreover...

'There are eleven Bearers, six Followers, and one Pursuer among them.'

He didn't know their abilities, he didn't know what their capabilities and experience were. If even a single one of them had the ability to cause trouble for his plans... they could fail.

Kael frowned, narrowed his eyes.

No, they were going to fail.

This had to be a full-fledged group, after all. A group prepared for every possible situation.

There was definitely someone among them who had the ability to foil his plans. The opposite was basically impossible.

Kael sighed deeply as his mind raced, thinking of dozens of things for every situation.

'This... is definitely out of my league.'

It wasn't something one person could handle, let alone himself. He was sure of that.

He had picked himself a big challenge, a mission that he would most likely fail.

Yet he did not despair.

'I can do it.'

On the contrary.

'I'll do it.'

He motivated himself even more.

So, he prepared, prepared... and prepared.

He developed a counter plan for every possible possibility. He even went ahead and prepared even more plans just in case those counter-plans failed.

The days slowly passed one by one. As Kael moved farther and farther away from the capital, he worked on things that would make the group's journey to the capital more difficult.

He did not rest or even sleep.

He was so dedicated, so focused that even though he kept meticulous track of time, he could not stop it from passing away quickly.

Like that... it was exactly five days since he left the capital and started preparing.

If his calculations were correct, he was a day or less away from meeting the group again...

He had finished his preparations, even though there were a few more things he could and would do.

*******

Baron Dolcan had led a simple life.

The sudden rise of the Empire, swallowing up all the kingdoms around it one by one, did not affect him much.

As soon as he had taken the oath of allegiance, everything had continued as before, and the town he was already going to manage was in his hands as well.

Why should he have a problem with the Empire?

He was successful, he had a beautiful wife, the townspeople loved him very much.

He was a bit... a bad husband, though.

He couldn't control himself sometimes.

So... he kept a few secrets that his wife shouldn't find out.

But other than that, he had no problems.

His life was one of the most humble lives a simple nobleman like him could live.

And then... he received an offer.

"I need to sneak a group of carriages through your territory."

Said one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Her blonde hair, her sky-blue eyes were so... lustful that he couldn't help swallowing.

His instincts were taking over his logic.

He wanted this woman.

But... he restrained himself.

After all, she was someone a simple noble like himself could never touch.

She was the daughter of a count and the daughter-in-law of a duke.

There were few nobles in the Empire who had never heard of Feria Lockhend.

And yet...

"Pardon my rudeness, Lady Lockhend... but may I know what these carriages are transporting?"

He was a baron loyal to his duties and responsibilities.

Even if it was Feria Lockhend he was dealing with... he could at least find out what her purpose was, could he not? The territory she wanted to sneak through was his territory, after all...

But the moment he saw the delicate, small smile of the woman in front of him, he forgot all his responsibilities.

When he heard her next words, the way she spoke them so calmly, despite their content and the fact that they were a grave crime, he couldn't get the words out of his throat.

He couldn't even keep his lips apart.

And...

That conversation was the first moment of the connection between the two of them.

The Baron let the carriages pass.

Even if he didn't want to.

If he hadn't, he would have had to die anyway, because he learned of Feria Lockhend's plans.

He had no choice.

For a few days, he felt remorse. He was gutted that he had allowed a crime to be committed.

But then... Feria Lockhend sent him a letter, a secret letter with exactly the same request as before.

At the end, he was told to burn it.

But the baron didn't.

Because he was scared. He was so scared of the crimes he had committed that if one day it all came to light... he wanted to have evidence to say that he had been forced into it.

So he didn't burn any of the letters he received, even though he had allowed all the crimes to happen over the years.

The money that came into his treasury as a result of his partnership with Feria Lockhend was such that he soon found himself willingly becoming a partner.

Everything was perfect.

As long as they didn't get caught, at least.

But then someone snuck into his mansion and simply ran away.

The Baron spent hours in fear. Who was the intruder? What was his purpose? Why was he here?

He was afraid of being caught.

But then... as if that wasn't enough, he was betrayed.

From the most trusted person in the town, his butler.

He told him that in exchange for taking almost all the money in the treasury, he would leave the town, keep his nose out of his business, and disappear.

The poor baron could do nothing but accept.

He could collect the money back. He would be in a difficult situation for a while, yes... but he could refill the treasury.

So he didn't worry too much about it.

It just... hurt him deeply that his most trusted person, his butler, had betrayed him.

The next day... he found the lifeless body of his butler in the middle of his room.

And as he tried hard not to scream... he found a woman staring back at him.

She had short, brown hair that touched her shoulders. She looked to be in her thirties, with no wrinkles on her face. But the most important thing was... her eyes. Cold, gray eyes that gave him nothing but a sense of danger.

And then he learned the bitter truth.

He had been caught, already.

For a very long time.

Only he didn't realize it.

His life was over...

Or so he thought.

"If you cooperate, we can get you out of this with a simple punishment."

Yes! His life was not over...

There was still a way out.

That's why he never resisted. He even gladly became a 'prisoner' of the group he had learned belonged to the Second Princess. Even though his hands were tied and he was standing behind a carriage like a prisoner, he didn't worry about anything as long as he would survive in the end.

Everything was perfect, once again!

At least... until the tenth day of their travel.