CHAPTER 156: A NEW UNFORESEEN THREAT

I stared at Maximillian for a few brief seconds, before I turned to Leonid and said "Bring me a quill and some parchment. You’ll find some on the desk in my room."

Leonid nodded, before he quickly disappeared into the side door of the room, and this clearly positive answer I’d given drew out a enormous sigh of relief from the concerned family of three, especially Maximillian, who looked like a man forsaken finally offered the smallest semblance of serenity in an ocean of misery.

Yet before any additional words could be spoken, I simply said "Isaac." and my Grand Chamberlin as usual, understood my meaning without the need for further words.

He approached the seated dragon, who instinctually grew wary of the man approaching his cradled wing, before Isaac calmly said as he stretched out his palm "May I?"

They immediately understood the meaning of his actions as a request to check the condition of Morgana, which made sense, since if she was indeed subjected to the cruel of claws of a poisonous or venomous substance, then there were few in this world with more expertise on the subject than the feared head assassin of the Eclipse emperors; besides if we were meant to also find the culprits, then we would need all the information we could get.

Yet even still, Maximillian shook his head, refusing Isaac’s offer as he explained "There is no need to waste your time on this Lord Isaac, she was struck with the Essence of Achlys." His tone growing especially desolate when he spelled the final words.

And as a result, the room again grew deathly still, as we all froze at his words.

The Essence of Achlys was a near mythical substance in this world; for it is the only thing in existence known to possess the terrifying ability to not only lay low, but even kill men and women regardless of their power level, even high gated demi-Gods were not spared this heinous concoction’s horror, that was created by the hand of a legendary man, now known as Venerable of Venom, King Achlys the first, the thirteenth Serpent Sovereign; and thus by definition a descendant of the God of Poison and Seraphina’s ancestor.

"Are you certain?" I asked in half in disbelief half in unimaginable distress, since if this was indeed true, then a terrifying person had just appeared in the world, one who possesses and is not afraid to wield the dreadful power of the deadliest poison ever made, and scarier still was the fact that they were a threat that hadn’t appeared in my past life.

I knew nothing of this person and their possible goals.

I also asked that question in slight hope as well of them being ultimately wrong, because the last time a person had been struck by this alarming entity was many millennia ago, and that poor unfortunate soul was none other than the supposed last keeper of Achlys’ secret, who accidently died while creating the last of that dreadful poison’s batch, which had supposedly also been entirely used throughout the centuries, leaving none to be feared today.

"Do you truly think I would travel all the way here in secret, if I wasn’t absolutely certain of what plights my wife!" Maximillian aggrievedly replied, his tone reflecting the offense he’d just heard, as if I’d just insulted him.

"If it is indeed the Essence of Achlys, and though I have never seen it before to say with certainty, but the symptoms lady Morgana displays, are indeed identical to what the ancient texts describe." Isaac then quickly gave his professional opinion, as he carefully scrutinized Morgana’s condition without touching her, for fear of both upsetting the protective dragon holding her and a precaution against, if by any chance he accidently gets exposed to it; which was, according to the few records we have of this thing, was indeed possible, especially in the later stages of poisoning, which only emphasized Maximillian’s care for her in this moment, since he was still glued to her, even when it posed such a mortal risk to his health.

"Why would anyone want to..." I momentarily paused, debating if I should use the words in my mind or search for another, more appropriate phrasing considering the current circumstances, but I eventually deciding to be truthful to my thoughts, even if they were curtly said.

"Why would anyone want to waste such a precious treasure on Morgana, when they could have just as easily struck a tenth rank, like you, or a pillar from one of the four great powers." I grimly asked, seriously trying to uncover the hidden hand behind this tragedy, no longer simply for his sole sake, but for all of ours, since such an unknown variable can not be permitted to exist, or at the very least allowed to remain without countermeasures in place to combat it.

"We do believe that it was originally meant for our husband, but their plan failed." Sophia answered, when Maximillian grew unnaturally quiet.

"How did the assailants administer the poison?" Isaac swiftly asked, his experienced mind already starting to rack itself to create plans to protect us from a thing he never would have even considered a threat before, as this monstrous poison had long since faded into ancient history, even myth; but here it was now, as real as it could be.

"A maid who worked in our castle confessed to pouring a strange liquid into our husband’s bathwater, after a ’merchant woman’ she didn’t know paid her generously to do so, and assured her that the flask held nothing of concern, and was merely a new kind of scented perfume she wished to advertise to us." Sophia replied again, as a trace of bitter hatred crossed her eyes.

"I suppose it makes to believe that no harm would be done, since as ninth and tenth rank masters, it’s widely known that poison has long since lost it’s effect on you, but did she actually believe such a moronic reason as that? What kind of merchant sells you perfume in such a manner?" Leonid astoundedly said, as he brought the items along with my imperial seal, something he’d cleverly brought on his own, evaluating that I might need it as well, which was correct.

"It’s easy to fool someone who wants to be deceived, especially when they are already blinded by their greed as well." Darius calmly said, his words enlightened by the hardships of centuries.

"The poisoned bath was intended for our husband, but he was preoccupied that day in his office, swamped with endless tasks that needed handling, while we assisted him, so Morgana alone went into the bath that night, and when we found her, she was already growing weaker." Eleonora then added, her tone remaining even the entire time, though I did not miss her clenching fists; nor did I miss Maximillian’s darkening eyes. The man was on the brink of imploding in guilt and resentment.

"Can it truly be delivered in such a manner?" Darius turned to Isaac and gravely asked, as he was not nearly as knowledgeable on the subject as him.

"Yes my lord, according to the records we still possess on the Essence of Achlys, it can indeed be administered in all manner of ways; including via injection, ingestion or by simply coming into contact with your skin. It’s one of the many reasons it was such a difficult thing to deal with and helped it gain such notoriety, since everything could be a medium for the toxin, be it a needle, food, or just the door handle to your bedroom. Everything." Isaac grimly explained, causing a shiver to run up our spines.

"What happened to the maid?" I questioned a moment later, as I dipped my quill in ink and began to write down on the white parchment below.

"I took care of her." Maximillian malevolently said, and that was all any of us needed to understand that that woman had most definitely begged for the mercy of death.

"Do you have any suspects?" I asked again, as my pen sped across the paper.

"We have many enemies." Maximillian shook his head.

"But few who could silently approach one of your maids without anyone noticing, and fewer still that can get their hands on such a rare and treacherous treasure." I reminded, wanting him to think harder, since this was a disaster that needed dealing with as fast as possible, with only disaster present in delay.

Yet to my disappointment, they still shook their heads, as he muttered "Even if you say that Eclipse emperor, it changes nothing. Yes you are correct that few can do what has been done, but it is because of that very reason that we are stuck. I mean for the love of the Gods, this thing was supposed to have vanished from this world millennia ago, so why...?" He didn’t finish his words, as he clutched his own skull, almost digging his fingernails into his scalp, before his wives stepped forward to stop him from hurting himself.

Maximillian seemed to regain his bearings, as he showed a small smile to his wives, clearly overwrite that small slip of his before, and remain as strong and steadfast before them as possible.

I then finished the first letter I wanted to write, before I set it aside for the ink to dry and began with the second, as I then asked "To the extent of my knowledge, there is no cure for the Essence of Achlys. Even Adam’s skills might prove lacking before such a venom, so how do you exactly hope to achieve with it?"

"We found a few ancient records claiming that a tenth rank priest’s power is enough to cleanse the body of the poison, or at the very least subdue it." Maximillian answered, his tone carrying unshakable confidence, though I was still able to pick out the uncertainty gnawing away it his soul.

Turning to Isaac, wanting to verify the knowledge, but the man shook his head in ignorance; he was not familiar with any such tales, but he seemed recipient to the plausibility of it, so it was clearly not without merit.

"Alright then." I proclaimed, as I finished the second letter and then stamped them both with my seal, as I looked at Maximillian "The first letter will get you an audience with the Archpriest and he will help you the instant he sees it. And the other is for Valdour; the one your first wife faced three years ago, he now resides in my palace, and in his charge is a young girl, she is of the same lineage of Achlys; and though she is not yet a gated demi-God she might be able to offer insight and information that none of us here are aware of."

Maximillian took the pieces of parchment from my hand as if they were invaluable fortunes, before he then very carefully placed them in his breast pocket, where he wouldn’t lose them, and only then did a relived sigh escape his lungs.

"I will not easily forget this lord of the Eclipse Empire. Thank you." He said, as he and his wives suddenly all bowed in genuine gratitude, yet before any of us could say anything in reply, he shot back up and said "Now for your payment."