Arien felt great joy for the first time in her life. She was satisfied that she had carried out an evil deed and rejoiced that she had succeeded.
‘Oh, am I too excited? I’m getting dizzy.’
Arien clasped her head. She saw Elisha’s body shaking in front of her. Arien took in a deep breath and smiled. She slowly approached her.
“Elisha, are you ill? Your complexion doesn’t look good all of a sudden.”
Elisha slowly raised her head. Her face was as indifferent as before.
“Oh, actually, I don’t really like white wine. So, after forcing myself to drink it, I feel a little nauseous.
“What?”
Arien doubted her ears for a moment.
‘Obviously, the employee I bought off said she was obsessed with white wine? That’s why the expensive wine… … .’
It was right at that moment— Arien grabbed her heart.
“Huh?”
It was the first time she had experienced such great pain. It felt like her heart was being ripped apart and her intestines were twisting. She felt nauseous, but at the same time she could not vomit anything.
She could not keep decorum. She fell to the floor, crawling, foaming at the mouth, panting and drooling as she suffered.
“*Cough*— huh.”
Arien clenched her neck on her floor and curled up. After she gasped and panted for a while, Elisha slowly got up and looked down on her.
“You know, I gave you several chances.”
“You—you… … .”
“I gave you the opportunity to quit. I promised you, Arien. If you are prepared to harm others, you must be prepared to be injured. As you were prepared to feed me a dreadful ancient poison….”
“… … .”
“Conversely, you should have imagined and been prepared to be poisoned.”
“… … .”
“But I am better than you. I gave you the option to reconsider several times.”
“… … .”
“At this point,”
Elisha whispered softly.
“Even the devil will be moved to cry.”
Arien’s eyes widened. Her whole body was trembling.
“You— what do you mean?”
“Isn’t the name of the poison in your ring called the ‘Devil’s Tears’?”
It was then that the pain of her seizures eased a bit. Arien staggered and got up.
“Oh, did this happen? I was sure I put the drug in your glass!”
Elisha beckoned. The waiter and the clerk entered the room.
“Oh, I’m not so blind that I can’t see you play around with the ring.”
“How do you know the secret of this ring? … .”
“You are asking the wrong questions.”
One of the waiters roughly took the ring off Arien’s hand. Elisha gently reached out her hand, and he placed her ring on her hand. Elisha rolled the ring nonchalantly in her hand.
“It would be right to know when the scheme started.”
“You— you… … .”
Arien looked around.
That Elisha stayed at the cafe at certain times and spent time alone. She had easily bought those employees. And the misinformation. Like Elisha’s preference for white wine.
All of it was false. Like a spider that emits a sticky liquid to attract insects, the falsehoods were the lure.
This cafe, this place itself, was all a trap.
“Then, didn’t it occur to you that our general would have planted a special agent in his wife’s regular cafe?”
Then someone came into the room with a smile. He looked familiar to Arien.
“Welcome, Ian. Is kitchen work cut out for you?”
“Ugh, compared to my usual assignments, this job is like a vacation spot.”
Ian was dressed as an employee who worked in the cafe’s kitchen.
“Speaking of which, how many of the clerks in this store belong to Lucerne?”
At those words, the agents standing there only exchanged awkward glances at each other.
“No way, could it be more than half?”
“… … .”
They still kept their mouths shut as if they had eaten honey. Elisha’s eyebrows twitched.
“Oh my. All the employees in this cafe must be Lucerne agents. No wonder he said I could go out alone.”
“It’s all for the esteemed madam’s safety. Oh— you can’t tell the general that I said that!”
Ian clasped his mouth and smiled.
Meanwhile, the forgotten Arien listened to the conversation with her eyes growing bigger.
“What are you doing! Are you ignoring me and treating me like a fool?”
“There’s plenty of time. No need to rush. The pain will start again soon.”
“What?”
Without any time for Arien to object, the hellish pain began again. This time it was twice as strong as before. She screamed madly as she rolled over the floor.
Arien felt great joy for the first time in her life. She was satisfied that she had carried out an evil deed and rejoiced that she had succeeded.
‘Oh, am I too excited? I’m getting dizzy.’
Arien clasped her head. She saw Elisha’s body shaking in front of her. Arien took in a deep breath and smiled. She slowly approached her.
“Elisha, are you ill? Your complexion doesn’t look good all of a sudden.”
Elisha slowly raised her head. Her face was as indifferent as before.
“Oh, actually, I don’t really like white wine. So, after forcing myself to drink it, I feel a little nauseous.
“What?”
Arien doubted her ears for a moment.
‘Obviously, the employee I bought off said she was obsessed with white wine? That’s why the expensive wine… … .’
It was right at that moment— Arien grabbed her heart.
“Huh?”
It was the first time she had experienced such great pain. It felt like her heart was being ripped apart and her intestines were twisting. She felt nauseous, but at the same time she could not vomit anything.
She could not keep decorum. She fell to the floor, crawling, foaming at the mouth, panting and drooling as she suffered.
“*Cough*— huh.”
Arien clenched her neck on her floor and curled up. After she gasped and panted for a while, Elisha slowly got up and looked down on her.
“You know, I gave you several chances.”
“You—you… … .”
“I gave you the opportunity to quit. I promised you, Arien. If you are prepared to harm others, you must be prepared to be injured. As you were prepared to feed me a dreadful ancient poison….”
“… … .”
“Conversely, you should have imagined and been prepared to be poisoned.”
“… … .”
“But I am better than you. I gave you the option to reconsider several times.”
“… … .”
“At this point,”
Elisha whispered softly.
“Even the devil will be moved to cry.”
Arien’s eyes widened. Her whole body was trembling.
“You— what do you mean?”
“Isn’t the name of the poison in your ring called the ‘Devil’s Tears’?”
It was then that the pain of her seizures eased a bit. Arien staggered and got up.
“Oh, did this happen? I was sure I put the drug in your glass!”
Elisha beckoned. The waiter and the clerk entered the room.
“Oh, I’m not so blind that I can’t see you play around with the ring.”
“How do you know the secret of this ring? … .”
“You are asking the wrong questions.”
One of the waiters roughly took the ring off Arien’s hand. Elisha gently reached out her hand, and he placed her ring on her hand. Elisha rolled the ring nonchalantly in her hand.
“It would be right to know when the scheme started.”
“You— you… … .”
Arien looked around.
That Elisha stayed at the cafe at certain times and spent time alone. She had easily bought those employees. And the misinformation. Like Elisha’s preference for white wine.
All of it was false. Like a spider that emits a sticky liquid to attract insects, the falsehoods were the lure.
This cafe, this place itself, was all a trap.
“Then, didn’t it occur to you that our general would have planted a special agent in his wife’s regular cafe?”
Then someone came into the room with a smile. He looked familiar to Arien.
“Welcome, Ian. Is kitchen work cut out for you?”
“Ugh, compared to my usual assignments, this job is like a vacation spot.”
Ian was dressed as an employee who worked in the cafe’s kitchen.
“Speaking of which, how many of the clerks in this store belong to Lucerne?”
At those words, the agents standing there only exchanged awkward glances at each other.
“No way, could it be more than half?”
“… … .”
They still kept their mouths shut as if they had eaten honey. Elisha’s eyebrows twitched.
“Oh my. All the employees in this cafe must be Lucerne agents. No wonder he said I could go out alone.”
“It’s all for the esteemed madam’s safety. Oh— you can’t tell the general that I said that!”
Ian clasped his mouth and smiled.
Meanwhile, the forgotten Arien listened to the conversation with her eyes growing bigger.
“What are you doing! Are you ignoring me and treating me like a fool?”
“There’s plenty of time. No need to rush. The pain will start again soon.”
“What?”
Without any time for Arien to object, the hellish pain began again. This time it was twice as strong as before. She screamed madly as she rolled over the floor.
