Chapter 134

At Riina’s look asking him to explain what that might be, Max answered again.

“It would be a poison that kills the target at the time desired by the one who used it.”

At Max’s answer, a brilliant smile spread across Riina’s lips.

“Yes. Even if such a poison exists, it would be meaningless if it couldn’t kill the target at the desired time. Feed someone poison and wait until they suddenly die? Such a leisurely yet anxious method could only be used after not only giving the poison to the target but also laying out several other methods.”

Therefore, Jane, who believed Riina was a “fake” and wanted to eliminate her to reclaim her position, couldn’t use such a poison.

Out of a slight worry, she had asked if there was a poison that could cause sudden death at a desired time, but as expected…

But even this needed to be confirmed…

Before Riina could finish her thought, Lione bowed his head.

“I will find out more details from a poison expert.”

As he moved first, Becky raised one hand as if unwilling to lose.

“I’ll find the poison that the shadow has hidden. It wouldn’t be used up all at once, so she must have hidden it somewhere. Since it doesn’t seem like she would have entrusted it to the big guy, it should be inside the mansion, not outside.”

Finally, Max, who had remained, rolled his eyes and exclaimed:

“Then shall I report on the task you assigned me?”

“I’ll hear that together with Einar when he arrives. Since we’ll have to go out to investigate again anyway.”

“Um… that investigation, am I going with you?”

Max asked, taking a step back with a highly defensive attitude.

This was because he had no intention whatsoever of moving between Riina and Einar.

Joining a couple who were not just close but similar in countless ways?

Isn’t there a saying that if you interfere in others’ romance, you’ll get kicked by the hind legs of their words?

He didn’t want to interfere, of course, nor did he want to disturb the couple’s time together for even one second.

Of course, Riina, not recognizing Max’s feelings in the slightest, mercilessly commanded:

“You stay.”

At the tip of Riina’s slender finger pointing at him, Max exaggeratedly gasped, pointing to himself with his own hand, saying, “Me?”

“Yes, you. You two may go.”

Lione, who was about to melt into the shadows as usual, briefly looked at Becky, who was heading toward the door with quick steps, and then followed her.

Max also tried to surreptitiously follow the two, but under Riina’s frosty gaze, he only turned his toes toward the door before dropping his shoulders helplessly.

Riina, who had been staring at the back of Max’s head as if about to drill a hole through it as he looked at the closed door with eyes dripping with lingering attachment, opened her mouth.

“You mentioned a price, didn’t you?”

At her abrupt question, Max shrugged with a smooth face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“There was a request to adjust the price of the deal, but I couldn’t adjust a price that had already been paid.”

But when the words he had spoken came out of Riina’s mouth without a single error, Max froze in that position.

Riina slowly propped her chin with the back of her hand and looked Max up and down as he stood like a pillar of salt.

“Tell me.”

At that single word, Max heaved a deep sigh and flapped his clothes that were sticking to his back due to cold sweat.

After busily brushing off his clothes, wiping his forehead, and rolling his eyes to avoid her gaze for a while, he finally scratched the back of his head and said:

“You’re truly a troublesome person. Well, there hasn’t been anyone associated with Bolshevik who wasn’t troublesome.”

Max’s meaningful remarks were nothing new, but this time she couldn’t just let it slide with a “whatever.”

Now that she knew her father was included in that “Bolshevik.”

“Tell me what deal you made with my father.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s a restriction on the deal itself. Don’t you know? ‘This deal cannot be disclosed to anyone other than the parties involved.’ It’s the basics of any deal.”

“It’s even more suspicious that you adhere to normal and sensible principles in this aspect.”

“I told you I’m a merchant. Deals are always based on trust and honesty.”

“Just as a person who claims to be kind with their own mouth is never kind, one who speaks of honesty and trust from their own lips can never be found to possess such noble qualities.”

“Haha, well, you still want something from me, don’t you?”

The moment Riina felt Max’s eyes strangely flashing, an even stranger voice flowed between his lips.

“Then would you like to make a deal with me?”

A deal with such a suspicious character—she wouldn’t have had even the slightest intention of doing so.

And yet, Riina found herself asking involuntarily:

“A deal?”

“It’s not complicated. I’ll give you what you want. In exchange.”

“You’ll take a price?”

“That’s also the basics of a deal. Give and take.”

He whispered with a smile she had never seen before:

“There’s something you want, isn’t there? For instance, something like ‘free me from my misfortune’?”

Riina stared blankly at Max, who had somehow moved closer by one step.

She had felt it since they first met, but he was in human form yet impossible to perceive as human.

While she slowly observed him, Max didn’t rush her but waited leisurely.

He had infinite time, and since he had made countless such deals, there was no need to be hasty.

How much time had passed?

It felt like quite a long time had elapsed, but perhaps only a few seconds had gone by.

Riina took a short breath and opened her mouth.

“My answer is…”

But before she could finish her sentence, a thunderous sound like a door being torn off rang out.

Bang!

Without even a knock, the door opened roughly, and a person stormed in like a hurricane.

And the next moment.

“Urrrgh?”

Max, who found himself dangling in the air with his collar in the grip of the hand that had rushed in like a gale, struggled, and Riina blinked and called out to the disheveled figure with messy hair and a disarrayed appearance.

“Einar?”

“I had a bad feeling, so I hurried back.”

He growled as if about to cut off Max’s breath right away.

“You, what were you trying to do?”

“Kuh, kuhk. N-nothing…”

“Einar!”

Only after Riina called him forcefully again did Max barely escape the crisis of having his neck broken.

Riina slowly approached Einar and whispered, holding his arm that was gripping Max’s collar:

“I’m fine.”

At her gentle, soothing voice, the strength drained from Einar’s hand.

“Ugh, kuhak! Huk, heuk-heuk.”

As his blocked breath opened up, Max clutched his throat and coughed, and Riina’s words struck his ears like lightning from a clear sky:

“I was about to refuse his offer anyway.”

Despite her still gentle voice, the merciless rejection made Max quickly exclaim, as if his coughing had been a lie:

“What? No, to decide so quickly…”

“Yes. I won’t make a deal with you.”

As Riina refused the deal with frightening cheerfulness, Max blinked and soon burst into laughter.

He laughed so heartily that Einar, looking uncomfortable as if holding something strange, soon let go of his collar as if shaking off his hand, and even though this caused Max to fall to the floor, he didn’t stop laughing.

Then suddenly stopping his laughter with a thud, he jumped up and formally bowed with one knee bent, like an actor greeting his audience.

“As expected, you’re not one to be easily swayed.”

Eventually, the air surrounding him that had felt somehow strange returned to its usual loose, light quality that seemed as if it would blow away with a puff.

Max rubbed his hands childishly and said:

“Still, I’m grateful to be able to witness many interesting things by staying close to you both.”

“Now that you’ve had your fun, you should also report on the task I assigned you.”

Riina, still looking at him as if he were something uncomfortable, calmly retorted while not bothering to push away Einar, who was noticeably blocking her front.

“Ah, right. Now that His Highness the Second Prince has arrived too. About those suspicious groups from foreign countries.”

The information Max laid out was largely similar to what had been investigated at the imperial palace, but it was entirely his achievement to discover what had prompted them to decide to shake the empire.

“So after all that talk about high commissions and whatnot, it turns out they just wanted to swallow land.”

“Put bluntly, that’s it. They created a pretext with the commission issue and planned to gradually expand their borders. And Your Highness, you don’t need to be so cautious. Even if you felt inclined to do so, I couldn’t do anything anyway.”

As Max joked, Einar grinned, showing his teeth.

“Riina, can I remove this?”

“No, the job isn’t finished yet.”

At this perfectly natural conversation, Max, who had suddenly become “this,” exclaimed:

“Why are you deciding my fate, my lady!”

“You said it yourself that you’re no match for my ‘luck.’ To think that something as suspicious as you would be lingering around Riina.”

As Einar openly clicked his tongue, Max sent a pleading look toward Riina.

Receiving his gaze, Riina tilted her head with a radiant smile.

“If the party to a deal disappears, wouldn’t the deal be nullified?”