CHAPTER 4 I Would Be Disappointed If I Had to Kill You

Keith

[You have 01:02:46 until Death by Mana Burn.]

"So let me get this straight. You were forced to train as a hero, even though you hate fighting. You leveled all the way up to Sword Master because your parents wanted a warrior heir, and I'm supposed to conveniently dispose of you to hopefully start a war?" Keith paraphrased.

He stared at the mysterious creature sitting across from him at the tea table, taking a sip of his hot cup of nettle tea, full of honey and cream, to calm his nerves. And then he noticed that Princess Henrietta Doryn of Drendil, warrior crown princess and the only child of the king and queen of his enemy kingdom … was staring longingly at the honey and cream. She held her own plain tea but made no move to take any.

He sighed and deftly switched cups with her plain brew. A most mysterious creature, indeed.

"Take mine, so you know it's not poisoned," he fibbed when she looked up at him in surprise.

She gave him a cute, dimpled smile and drank the tea so happily that Keith almost smiled himself. He liked his tea like he liked his cake, and she apparently shared his taste. He took her abandoned cup and deftly added cream and honey to his newly purloined porcelain.

The princess wiped some tea from the corner of her mouth. "Honestly, I'm not sure how this happened. One minute, I was disappointing my parents, and now, I'm here disappointing you—"

"I'm not disappointed. I just wasn't expecting company. Though I would be disappointed if I had to kill you." Keith paused. "It would leave an awful mess, and my necromancer is still on holiday in North Sumbria."

"Oh, yes, that would be an inconvenience, then. Should I come back later?" she replied brightly.

"No need. I'm actually very interested in learning how you managed to bypass my automata and guards. Would you consider staying so I can research how this happened?" Keith tapped his cup with one long finger. "You're the first assassin to get this far, you know. That's something to be proud of!"

Keith didn't know how to handle an emotionally fragile princess who smelled like cookies and expected him to end her … but even he could recognize that she needed a bit of praise for a job well done. She deserved it, too.

"You really think so?" She beamed at him with the biggest, brightest eyes he'd ever seen. "I could stay and help out until your necromancer returns? Though, is it alright if I wander about the kingdom sometimes? I'd love to have tea with Gerda, and Guardsman Sithli wanted me to share my scone recipe with his wife back in Kith Bog Village."

"As long as you don't cause a ruckus or hurt my minions, I don't think that will be a problem. One moment." Keith pulled out a generic contract for a laboratory subject from one of his workroom's filing cabinets. He had a lot of contracts squirrelled away from when he was younger and experimenting on people. He'd dabbled in magical prosthetics and enhancement enchantments before settling on full automata.

Keith scribbled down an extra clause at the end of the contract:

The undersigned will do all in their power not to cause a ruckus or kill the citizens of Nilheim.

There was probably a more legal way of putting it, but Keith didn't have enough energy to care; his [Mana Burn] was still ticking down. "Here. Sign this, and you can do whatever you want until I finish my tests."

"Thank you, Your Viciousness!" The princess glanced over the contract, noted the added line, and signed.

"Don't thank me just yet." Keith flinched as her enthusiasm caused a particular stab in his migraine.

[Mana Burn] killed people. It's why it was so hard to become a high class magic user. If the damage taken didn't outright kill the caster, then they were stuck having to sleep it off immediately—or risk having their mana continue to burn away until they ran out and died—assuming the caster had enough willpower to stay awake through the headache and exhaustion. Keith had a great deal of willpower. He knew this because he had suffered from [Mana Burn] a great many times, hence why he'd set up so many defenses around his workshop. Not that his minions knew that; they were simply told to steer clear and were paid to keep things safe and clean and running. As much as he could pop a ludicrously expensive potion and attempt to fight Hen—the princess, he might actually die if they fought right now. Not that he was going to tell her that.

"I'll set you up with a room, and we'll run the experiments tomorrow morning," he finished.

"What about now? I have nothing else to do if I'm not trying to kill you anymore."

"No!" He coughed. "I have to finish my current golem and clear the workroom."

That was technically true, just not what he was going to be doing immediately following this conversation.

[You have 00:53:28 until Death by Mana Burn.]

"Alright," she agreed.

"Good." Keith ordered one of his automata to ring in the guards' room, and they waited a bit before Chikli came running. The guard seemed anxious until he spotted Henrietta drinking tea with Keith.

"My liege."

"Show my new test subject—I mean, guest to the Nightshade Rooms. She has free reign of the kingdom except for my inner sanctum. Also, she has a sweet tooth, so plan accordingly."

The castle kitchens were barely satisfying his desire for desserts, so a royal princess probably wouldn't be satisfied either. Then again, he didn't know what she had been allowed to eat during her hero training.

That was everything settled.

"Good day, Princess." Keith nodded regally and swooshed dramatically out of the room …

… and straight into bed.