I reincarnated as an elf .......and married the yandere villainess.-Chapter 86:Plans.(Bonus)

The servants were near invisible as they moved through the crowd. Plates appeared as if conjured as they organised themselves in perfect symmetry.

Atheline didn’t reach for his food first, the same as Lilith.

He observed a noble to his left taste it, then another, and another.

He let out a small sigh.

He took a small bite as he savored the taste but he could still feel gazes on him, he didn’t care since he was used to that much attention.

The dish was good, something he had never tasted before but it was still edible. He slowly continued his meals as the conversations in the background continued, none of them missing him.

"... trade routes through the swampy regions have been getting more dangerous lately...." one noble complained to his neighbour.

"....The border patrols have increased again...."

"... the human kingdoms have been getting restless again..."

Beside him, Lilith only took a small bite of the food before pushing it aside and turning to the poured wine.

She swirled the wine glass softly as she stared at him occasionally but didn’t drink it.

The wine was much stronger, made from Blood fruits grown in the corrupted zones. They had a suppressing resilience since the trees don’t get infected.

This was a drink that no high elf would drink even in death.

He noted it without appearing to.

More dishes came. Meat slow-cooked so tender that it fell apart at a touch, bitter roots glazed in honey, and bread that was darker than night itself.

And with each course, more drinks came. He watched as Lilith took her second drink and slowly played with it with no sign of getting drunk.

Most of the nobles were calm, even those who had clearly started to get drunk each maintaining a form of decorum.

Atheline let time pass, slowly bidding his time since he wanted everything to appear as natural as possible.

Two hours of non-stop eating and drinking passed with Atheline just enjoying the small desserts. He had to admit that dark elves were good at making them.

The right moment came when her attention shifted briefly from him.

A noble approached clearly not of high rank but probably one of the few who worked under her. He bowed and raised his glass towards her.

Lilith turned her head just slightly, granting him a sliver of her attention.

That was all the time he needed.

His hand that was already on the table naturally moved towards her side, almost absentmindedly as it reached for the nearest glass of wine, which was hers.

This was her fifth glass and she hadn’t tried it yet, a detail he had been observing.

From a distance, it looked simple, intimate even. Anyone would assume it was a husband absentmindedly taking his wife’s drink.

It had been happening around him so anyone who witnessed it thought it was nothing serious since they were so close.

Atheline hadn’t drunk anything except a glass of squeezed fruit juice and water. His act could easily be interpreted as mere curiosity.

Lilith does it a lot when he drinks or eats something when next to her.

He lifted the glass of wine. The scent was stronger up close.

"Do you want to taste?" Lilith who had her attention back to him asked.

Atheline nodded and swirled the glass.

"Yes, you seem to like it.." he said with a smile while looking at the blood red wine,"... I wanted to taste it."

Even in this situation, Atheline was wondering why she was drinking so much. Three was always her limit but this was her fifth and she seemed as though she wasn’t about to stop.

Lilith supported her chin on her hand and smiled mischievously.

"I thought you didn’t like alcohol."

Atheline chuckled softly as he felt the weight of the thin glass and his decisions.

"I like it now since you’ve been drinking it for more than three hours," he answered.

"Try it," she said in a tempting tone," you’ll love it."

Atheline could already feel its taste linger at the back of his tongue even before testing.

Perfect.

His conversation he had had with Luther the day before slowly flowed into his mind as the smell of wine and Lilith’s tempting eyes focused on him.

....

Lilith had gone to her usual meetings and inspections while Atheline was at his usual spot the library after his morning training seated at the furthest corner, almost invisible to everyone.

Luther approached quietly and bowed before him. He was still in his travel clothes but the dark elven disguise had been removed.

"Have you gotten it?" Atheline asked without lifting his gaze from the book.

"Yes, my lord," he quietly responded.

His hand went into his pocket and his slightly trembling hands pulled out a small vial but he didn’t hand it over immediately.

Atheline glanced at him his brows furrowing.

"What?"

Luther swallowed his eyes glancing everywhere but his master as he avoided his gaze.

"Nothing," he said and extended the vial towards Atheline who took it.

Inside, the red almost maroon liquid moved in the small glass container as he shook it lightly.

He stared at it for a moment then turned to Luther.

"From the third human kingdom," he said carefully, " One of ours got it from a trader coming from there, it’s said to originate in a small region near the sea."

Atheline lifted towards the light spilling into the library.

"So it travels far," he murmured.

"Yes my lord," Luther responded.

Atheline placed the vile down on the book and watched it roll around.

"Tell me."

Luther continued after the small pause.

"It does not act immediately, " his voice lowered, "on its own, it’s... dormant. Nearly undetected."

"Nearly?"

The smallest of the mistakes could bring this fragile plan, crumbling down.

"A skilled Aether manipulator might sense something, but not enough to identify it."

He tapped the cup of the cool bottle absentmindedly.

"And how does it activate?"

A flicker of hesitation flashed through his eyes.

"It reacts to alcohol."

"How?"

"It accelerates the compounds in your body and awakens them violently. It mimics the symptoms of internal poisoning. You’ll experience weakness, instability, and eventual collapse."

Silence stretched for a moment.

"Fatal?"

Luther didn’t answer immediately.

"...It can be. Without intervention."

He picked the liquid and studied it again carefully then without any ceremony he slipped it into his sleeves.

"That will do."

Luther didn’t move prompting Atheline to look at him in question.

"Are you sure my lord," he tried to convince him," you can try something else, but..."

"I appreciate your concern," Atheline cut him off and smiled softly," I know what I’m doing. I treasure my life more than anything but I do not wish to be apart from my wife this early in our marriage."

Luther’s hands tightened before he bowed and silently left the library.