Cuckoo

Slowly and steadily, that bastard Patrick continued to get afflicted by the poison.

At first, it only showed symptoms like a common cold but, he didn’t really show any signs of recovering either so Yoran started calling famed doctors from all over the country ro try and heal Patrick.

The doctors were all unable to recognize or notice the poison I had been slowly feeding him, and all of them came up with wrong diagnosis.

I still vividly recall the hilarious sight of Yoran and Patrick, and all the doctors.

But…….suddenly, Patrick began to show signs of recovery.

Feeling doubtful, I decided to search for the reason.

And then I found out that he had stopped eating the meals I had been poisoning.

Why did he suddenly stop? I went to the kitchen and to Patrick to check and found out that his body had become so weak that he had simply become unable to eat anything that wasn’t soup, bread, or thin porridge. It was all easily digestible stuff.

As a result of that, both the head chef and pretty much all the kitchen staff had been punished and removed.

Basically, Yoran thought that someone in the kitchen staff was the one poisoning Patrick’s food, which must have been the reason behind his poor health.

Now that things had come to this, administering poison to Patrick had become tougher for me.

If I were to poison him again, his suspicion would start to spread to others outside the kitchen, and while the chances were low, the suspicion might eventually come to me as well.

So as my next hand, I decided to injure Patrick while orchestrating an accident and render him crippled, so that he would be deemed incapable of inheriting the Svalier household.

For that purpose, I tampered with the carriage he was going to use and as planned, the wheel of the carriage he was riding came off and he was left injured and bedridden yet again.

From here onwards, Patrick became basically unable to move out of the house.

And so, that’s how I became a proxy for him under Yoran’s orders.

A good reason why he did that was also because on the front, I continued to act all obedient and servile towards Yoran as well.

Once I start to gain a little bit of name in society, even Yoran would be left unable to ignore me any further.

Especially if……..I managed to make an ally out of the great Fahlcrantz family, who boasted the greatest army in the entire Empire.

That was what decided the timing for my next scheme.

And so……I decided to go after Lizbeth.

I pretended to be the boy from that day, and while she remained suspicious, I was able to create a connection with her.

Afterwards, as long as I play it well, I could always capture some girl’s heart easily.

And when I told Yoran that.

“Well done! If we can bring the ‘Obsidian War Demon’ to our side, I will be able to bring that man down for good ,…….that false king Karl!!”

“…………………………..”

There was no chance a man like him would ever be able to become an Emperor though.

All he did was pretend to bow his head in the Imperial palace, and make all these shady deals in the background thinking he was being clever but from my point of view, it all seemed laughable.

In the end, this man had neither the wits nor the guts to face the Emperor head on.

Or at least……….that’s what I had thought.

“Kuhaha……….soon the day will come, when the boy he thought was his own son would come to destroy him……..”

“eh…………?”

Forgetting that I was still there, Yoran muttered something I could not ignore.

“F-father………what did you just……….?”

“Tch………you were still here? Leave already!”

Making a bitter face, Yoran quickly drove me out of his room.

But, the words he said………is there something, in the Imperial household?

Curiosity had gripped me, as I began to investigate behind Yoran’s back.

But, perhaps because it involved the Imperial family, I was unable to catch any kind of trail.

That’s why.

“……….Brother, if you know please tell me. What does father know about the Imperial family………no, what is he planning?”

“u, uugh…………”

When I brought the candlestick near his head, Patrick’s pale face groaned and winced in confusion.

Since he had been left bedridden, I would often sneak in at night to take my frustrations out on him, and now he was well and truly filled with fear of me.

Of course, I was not stupid enough to leave any proof that it was me who was doing this to him.

“Brother.”

“F-father presented a woman pregnant with his own child to the Emperor, and schemed to have that child be given the right to succession as well……..and once that boy grows up, he would then use that boy to have the three princes be killed by him.”

I see………meaning that Yoran had planted a cuckoo’s egg inside the Imperial palace.

From the way he spoke, the cuckoo was none other than the fourth prince………Rudolf Fürst Baldyk.

……….no wonder I felt so much instinctive hate towards that boy who was with Lizbeth on that day.

After all, the fourth prince was actually my half brother born from a different mother………..another man with Yoran’s blood in his veins.

“Continue.”

“A-and so, that boy would then kill the Emperor as well, and then the Svalier family will march with just cause to take down this tyrant, and being the only family left with Imperial blood, Father would then ascend the throne as the new Emperor……..”

*Kuhah*, well, this was no laughing matter.

In the end, even the fourth prince was an existence born to become a tyrant only to then be destroyed huh.

But………even so, unlike me, the fourth prince had been granted both the highest social status as well as the best role in this plan.

Even if he was just another tool for Yoran.

Even if he had no other future but to become a tyrant.

Unlike me, a mere spare, who didn’t even have the right to play the villain.

“Hmph.”

“aghhi!?!!”

*kuhah* as always, he really makes the best noise when punched.

But still, this must be my destiny’s call.

If my dear brother from another mother was destined to become a tyrant, I will….

——become the darkest, most rotten hero in history.

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