The cries of newspaper boys pierced through the capital's square in the early morning hours of the empire.
"Extra! Extra! Count Felix assassinated! Beheaded in his own mansion's banquet hall!"
The citizens gathered in twos and threes, unable to believe the news.
Their eyes were fixed on the sensational illustration adorning the newspaper's front page and the red blood writing reportedly left at the scene.
🩸 BLOOD INSCRIPTION 🩸"The Traitor's End"
"Oh my god. That stuck-up Count Felix was a traitor?"
"No wonder. He's been throwing money around like crazy lately. Turns out it was blood money from selling out the country?"
The citizens' reactions leaned more toward satisfaction than fear.
"No way. In a mansion that secure?"
"What the hell were the guards doing? A murderer going around killing nobles!"
In a high-end teahouse in the heart of the capital.
The nobles who usually caroused with Count Felix were pale and trembling.
The teacups in their hands clattered noisily.
"I-I hear it's some unidentified killer demon. We could be next."
"Forget that... the ledger? What happened to the secret ledger the count had?"
A baron whispered in a lowered voice.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"It wasn't at the scene. The killer must've taken it."
"Damn it! If that gets out, we're finished!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Ugh... feels refreshing."
Darcor stretched as he rose from the bed.
His stiff joints cracked satisfyingly.
⚔ STATUS ⚔Madness Level: 7%Condition: Peak
No nagging headache echoed in his mind.
'Punishing villains is the best cure for Madness Level, after all.'
Thanks to last night's thorough cleanup.
"You're awake, Your Majesty."
Edel approached, drawing back the curtains.
Her expression was as impassive as ever, but there were faint dark circles under her eyes.
Likely because she'd tossed and turned until dawn waiting for him to return late.
"Feed me. I'm starving to death."
Darcor yawned hugely and tossed something aside.
Thud.
A thick leather ledger, blood dripping from it, landed squarely on the pristine white bedcovers.
"Oh, right. Before that, Edel, clean this up. Need it for today's meeting."
Edel's eyes widened like saucers.
She alternated between staring at the ledger and the bloodstains on the sheets in horror.
"Your Majesty..."
"What?"
"Please, please! At least throw things away from the bed like a normal person!"
Edel cried out, her face scrunched in dismay.
"These are the sheets we just changed yesterday! Do you know how much work it'll be to get the blood out? And the metallic stench—I'll have to douse it in perfume!"
"That's why I told you to leave it to the maids."
Darcor scratched his ear and headed for the bathroom.
"Haa... seriously..."
She glared back and forth between the bloody ledger and the stained sheets.
Indignation and anger welled up, but her opponent was her liege—and her stubborn childhood friend.
Edel bit her lip and puffed out her cheeks.
Pffuu.
The habit she only showed in front of Darcor when she was mad.
Her pale cheeks ballooned like those of a sulky chipmunk.
"Oh... Lady Edel. You've got wind in your cheeks."
Darcor, on his way into the bathroom, spotted it and burst out chuckling.
He playfully poked her puffed cheeks with his index finger.
Psssh.
"S-s-stop that, Y-Your Majesty!"
A deflating sound escaped as Edel startled back, her ears turning beet red. She huffed cutely.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A heavy silence hung in the air, as if the very atmosphere had frozen.
Dozens of ministers stood in formation, but none dared utter a word.
The imperial audience chamber.
The pro-Daroa nobles, especially those in cahoots with Count Felix, looked as pale as corpses.
"The ledger really wasn't at the scene?"
One baron whispered to the noble beside him in a voice like a mosquito's buzz.
"Gone. The killer took it, no doubt."
"This is insane... If that guy hands the ledger to the emperor..."
"Nah, no way. Don't talk nonsense."
The neighboring count waved it off.
He forced a smile, trying desperately to reassure himself, though his lips twitched.
"The emperor's just a figurehead. Besides, the killer's a maniac butchering nobles. Why would he help the emperor? He'll probably use the ledger to blackmail us for money."
"Y-yeah, you're right? Better if he just demands cash."
The nobles desperately clung to hopeful delusions.
But for some reason, the detail about Count Felix's head being served on a silver platter kept nagging at them.
"His Majesty the Emperor enters!"
With the head steward's booming announcement, the doors to the audience chamber swung open.
Click. Clack.
Darcor strode toward the throne.
Normally, he'd have slumped shoulders and bleary eyes screaming how everything was a hassle.
But today, he was different.
Straightened back.
Smooth skin and a radiant complexion.
And above all, an uncanny vitality gleamed in his eyes.
'Kuh... body feels light as a feather. Must be that passive reward. Even the shoulder knots are gone.'
He settled lightly onto the throne and surveyed the room.
Darcor inwardly cheered to himself.
'Gasp...!'
'W-what's with that expression?'
But to the ministers' eyes, it looked entirely different.
The pro-Daroa nobles sucked in their breaths.
The emperor was smiling even after hearing a count had been gruesomely murdered.
'He's definitely insane... Looking so pleased after a count's death.'
'A psychopathic tyrant for sure. He must get excited by the smell of blood.'
His eyes sparkled as if something hilarious had happened.
'Ugh... gotta wrap this up quick and eat. Breakfast was salmon steak, right?'
Terror washed over the nobles, but Darcor merely propped his chin, lost in thoughts of breakfast.
"Report."
At Darcor's curt command, the guard captain stepped forward.
He was drenched in cold sweat, visibly tense.
"R-reporting, Your Majesty. Last night, there was an incident at Count Felix's mansion on the capital's outskirts. The count, fifty private guards, and thirty nobles—all dead."
The captain swallowed hard.
"Additionally... a blood inscription reading 'The Traitor's End' was left at the scene. The perpetrator is estimated to have single-handedly annihilated the mansion. It appears to be the work of an unidentified killer demon."
The audience chamber buzzed.
Darcor arched an eyebrow, feigning surprise.
"Hoh... a killer demon, eh? Quite the skilled fellow."
"...Pardon?"
The guard captain doubted his own ears for a moment.
Did the emperor just praise the murderer?
Then Baron Balt, Felix's closest ally, exploded in outrage.
"Your Majesty! How can you say such a thing? A noble count of the empire has been slain! This is a challenge to the throne and a disgrace to the empire—why not bolster security at once...? We must capture that mad killer and tear him apart, not praise him!"
The baron's face flushed red.
'We need to catch the killer and kill him quick... That'll bury the ledger!'
But Darcor merely tilted his head, chin still propped.
"Catch him and do what?"
A sly smile curled his lips.
"Pardon?"
"Give him a reward?"
"Y-Your Majesty! What...!"
"A friendly killer, that one."
Darcor cut the baron off and reached into his robes.
All eyes locked onto his hand.
"Sent me a very entertaining gift."
He casually tossed something to the floor.
Thud.
A heavy leather ledger.
Though Edel had cleaned it, the deep bloodstains in the leather remained vivid.
And on the cover was the crest of House Felix.
"Gasp!"
"T-that's...!"
Baron Balt and several nobles turned ashen in an instant.
Suffocating dread gripped their throats.
'The ledger! The real ledger's here!'
Darcor leaned deeply into the throne and continued.
"Came with an anonymous tip. Says the late Count Felix sold military secrets to the enemy Daroa Empire."
The audience chamber fell silent as if doused in ice water.
Darcor's gaze drifted upward.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Scanning traitor list in the ledger... Implicated parties confirmed.
A red marker only he could see.
Red arrows floated above the heads of nobles in the chamber—one, two, three... a total of twelve.
"Tsk tsk. How disappointing."
Darcor shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Selling military secrets wasn't enough... they even lusted after my woman, the empress."
His voice dropped low.
The playfulness vanished, leaving only chilling killing intent.
"Oh, and look—some accomplices right here?"
Darcor began pointing them out one by one.
"You."
"....!"
"You."
"Eek!"
"And you."
His finger nailed Baron Balt right between the eyes.
"F-frame job, Your Majesty! This is a conspiracy!"
The pointed nobles shrieked desperately.
"You believe a ledger forged by some gutter murderer? We're innocent!"
"The evidence is fabricated! How can you suspect loyal retainers?"
They screamed for their lives.
Instinct told them defeat here meant death.
'R-run! If they catch me, it's torture!'
At that moment, a chubby viscount in the corner darted his eyes wildly.
Seizing the chaos, he bolted for the side door.
Just as his hand grasped the handle...
Boom!
"Argh!"
The viscount's scream rang out as Darcor's hurled spear embedded deep into the door.
The blade grazed his ear, pinning his collar to the wood.
Dangling.
A hair's breadth closer, and his head would've burst like a watermelon.
The viscount's legs gave out as he soiled himself.
"..."
Not a breath could be heard in the chamber.
All stared at the emperor in stunned horror.
That distance, that precision, that power?
Too overwhelming to chalk up to luck.
"We'll have a trial, of course."
Darcor dusted off his empty hands and resumed his seat.
"I'm no tyrant, after all. Can't just execute them outright. But everyone named in the ledger—drag them to the underground dungeons."
"Yes, Your Majesty! Your will be done!"
Royal Guard waiting outside rushed in.
"But anyone who resists or flees—behead them on the spot. My mercy ends here."
"Spare us, Your Majesty! We're innocent!"
"Let go! Do you know who I am?!"
The nobles' screams faded as they were dragged away.
Moments later.
The cleaned audience chamber fell quiet once more.
'Now this feels like an emperor.'
Darcor chuckled down at the empty hall.
It felt like a massive weight had lifted from his chest.
Grrrowl.
Right on cue, his stomach clock rumbled.
'Work done clean. Breakfast's gonna taste amazing.'
Rubbing his empty belly, he rose from his seat.
The tyrant's morning business had been a resounding success.