I reincarnated as an elf .......and married the yandere villainess.-Chapter 81:Planning on his end.
The library was almost oppressively silent. Atheline sat at the corner of the most table his back to the whole library.
Daylight had already left and the crescent moon hung in the sky like a small jewel.
He turned the page of the book he was reading the noise echoing in the almost empty library.
He had long stopped pretending he was there to learn.
Klaith had already finished his lessons and now he was left with his thoughts after finishing all his assignments.
’This feels like being back in the academy ’
Learning new things always brought him joy, it meant he had increased his knowledge pool that always seemed to thirst for more.
He shook the thoughts away and went back to reading though he was forcing himself.
A worn tome on dark elf territorial laws lay before him, the ink on the pages almost faded but not completely. It was still readable if you had better eyes.
Learning about their border restrictions, royal permissions, and emergency classes continued to open his eyes to the larger chasm that was the difference between the two subspecies.
He traced a line slowly with his finger in hopes of keeping his eyes focused.
’In terms of an emergency, the royal consort may be granted limited mobility under direct supervision
The ink on the lines was clearly new still not carrying age like the other words.
’Really!’
Atheline chuckled inwardly but his mind wasn’t on the words at all but the loopholes it came within it.
There were always loopholes in everything and you just had to be willing to push until they broke.
He was an expert at that.
He believed in the saying that there were a hundred different roads on that one road, you just have to be patient enough to find them.
Loopholes always brought better results than the normal way.
He leaned back on the chair, the chair’s front legs hanging in the air as he swayed leisurely his gaze on the ceiling.
She wouldn’t allow it, not willingly. That much he understood since he had already tried and failed miserably.
Both of them knew deep down that it wasn’t about any politics, logic, or even danger.
It was for a simpler reason that had been coated with all the above.
It was about him.
He still knew that, even if he tried again... she would smile, maybe even indulge him for a moment but the answer would remain No.
’I’ll come back and take you with me’
Atheline chuckled to himself at the ridiculousness of that world. He knew they were just sweet words wrapped in silk and affections meant to pacify him.
So he had come to a conclusion, asking was useless and that meant...
His fingers tapped lightly against the book as his mind ran through possibilities.
’I needed to make refusal impossible.’
His gaze dropped back to the book though he wasn’t reading.
’What could force her hand? Persuasion already failed. Reasoning, doesn’t exist in her vocabulary’
He gently let the seat’s front legs touch the ground and leaned forward his chin supported by his hand.
’I need something that threatens the thing that she values more than her need for control’
Him.
The thought settled heavily yet disturbingly easily. Atheline hated how simple the answer was.
’If I were in danger...’
Atheline shook his head.
’No... that isn’t going to work’
If he were in danger her reaction would be more extreme than how it is right now.
She would definitely lock the palace down before letting him step outside.
’It has to be something only I can solve. Something that would require me to go outside’
He looked around the library. Most of the dark elves had already left but a few remained each buried in books always twice the size of their heads.
It was in this distraction that an idea came to him, uninvited.
’Poison...’
The idea came and stayed refusing to leave his mind even as he tried to think about something else.
’It won’t be the first or the last I’ve taken it’
He started to formulate the poison he would need. Something incurable within the palace. Something that requires a rare antidote... perhaps one that would require a cure that can only be found beyond the borders.
His thumb brushed against the edge of the pages leaving a small trail of red but Atheline was too lost in thought to notice.
She would tear the world apart to save him, burn down a kingdom, slaughter physicians, drain a forest dry... but she would not let it die.
Which meant...
A quiet almost bitter smile formed on his lips.
...She would have no choice but to take him.
His chest tightened, but not from guilt but something far more complicated because he knew what it meant.
He knew he wasn’t just outmaneuvering a ruler but he was manipulating her feelings.
He was using the very thing she gave him so obsessively... against her.
It disgusted him to no end but Atheline couldn’t let her go by herself especially with the warning from the saintess, it just didn’t sit right with him.
His gaze softened, slightly unfocused.
Would she realize?
No.. she might suspect. She was too sharp not to. But even if she did...
His fingers curled slightly.
She would still choose him, every time.
Atheline laid his head on his hands on the table and looked to his right at the rows of study tables and closed his eyes for a brief second.
"Sorry."
The words barely exited his lips because he knew, he wasn’t sorry enough to stop.
"What are you mumbling to yourself about?"
The sudden voice startled Atheline out of his self-pity. He turned his head slightly and Lilith’s face came into view.
She was smiling down at him.
"I was thinking about you," he answered and raised his head.
She smiled and took a seat at the table next to the open tome.
"Good things, I hope."
"Yes."
He chuckled and took her hand placing it on his cheek. He enjoyed the familiar warmth of the decision fermenting with it.
’Luther should be back by tomorrow’
