Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 76 - An Unfair Trade

Previously:

After kidnapping Kiel, just as Dusk Rose was about to reach the Muni exit, he ran into Elaru Wayvin. Dusk Rose pretends to be an examinee from the same group as Kiel, and makes Elaru shake his poisoned hand. Elaru offers to show him the way to the infirmary and goes with them. However, after a while, she faints. Dusk Rose catches her body. Elaru Wayvin uses this to launch a sneak attack on Dusk, incapacitating him. Dusk pretends to be innocent, hoping that he could stall for time or catch her off guard. Elaru however, easily reveals his plans. Dusk Rose submits and instead finds pleasure in the fact that even though Elaru's plans ran deep, she couldn't prevent Kiel from missing his exams.

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Dusk Rose's eyes glittered with glee. "Too bad. Even if you take him to the infirmary, they will think it's just a cold. One-touch...I mean Fever Touch is almost undiscoverable. And even if they believed you when you tell them he was poisoned, they wouldn't know how to make the antidote."

She was doomed to fail! Kiel Rroda would most definitely miss his exams!

Elaru had to admit that Dusk Rose was right. Fever Touch was a secret poison of the Etezza family that didn't stay in the blood system for long. Other than the Etezza family, no one else knew how to make the antidote.

Even if she brought Kiel to the infirmary, they wouldn't be able to help him. She couldn't tell them how to make the antidote because she didn't know how to make it in the first place. She didn't even know the composition of Fever Touch, let alone the antidote.

She could give healers the sample of the poison, however, finding the antidote would take days. By the time they found it, Kiel would have recovered on his own anyway.

Elaru's eyebrows furrowed then relaxed, furrowed then relaxed. She seemed to be thinking about something, her eyes staring through things.

Dusk Rose noticed her sudden loss of focus and an idea of rebelling sprung up in his mind. However, before he could consider the thought further, he felt a cold edge pressing down on his throat.

"Don't even think about it." It only took a blink of an eye for Elaru to unsheathe her dagger and press it against Dusk's neck.

"I am not thinking. I swear! Not thinking at all." Dusk Rose smiled wryly and immediately discarded the idea of rebelling. It wasn't a life and death conflict. The woman won't be too heavy handed with him anyway. She'll probably let him go. Unless he insisted on provoking her. And he wasn't stupid enough to invite a calamity that could be avoided.

Elaru Wayvin continued to ponder her options for a while longer. The worry etched on her face made Dusk's lips twitch into an involuntary coy smirk.

After snapping out of her thoughts and noticing the self-satisfied grin etched on Dusk's face, a mischievous gleam flashed in the depths of Elaru's eyes.

She pushed Dusk's body into a sitting position under the tree and then started rummaging through his belongings again.

Dusk's grin widened. "You're wasting your time. No matter how you search, you won't find that which is nonexistent."

"Oh, don't you worry about that." Elaru winked. "What I am searching for is quite corporeal."

She pulled out a small round container filled with hand cream from Dusk's pocket.

Seeing his precious Fever Touch in the hands of the enemy, Dusk Rose turned livid. That was his custom mix! His lifeblood!

"How dare you perform robbery in broad daylight?! Even stealing a poison master's custom mix! Have you no shame?! No sense of honor?!"