One of the many tasks which the palace workers seemed to all overlook regarding The Third Prince were the most important of all, that is, if a Royal preferred a peaceful meal time. A food taster. A servant who made sure no malicious intentions were brewed while the soup simmered. Suyi had noticed such significant detail, or a lack of it for the better word. Even a silly little woman like her had seen countless high society men and woman buy a tasty snack at the market, and each and every time someone else had a bite first. At first she had mistaken it for an act of sharing—how nice. Only one bright day, a hated merchant's son had barely avoided the sneakily imposed death penalty of a vigilante, while his maid died in front of all the eyes, along with the spiteful owner of the food stall who then took his own life. That seemingly ordinary sunny day, Suyi had learned yet another hard lesson in the vast complicated world they lived in.

  No one would ever be truly safe at all.

  Not her starving on the side of the road, nor the nobleman’s maid only doing her job.

  Suyi walked towards the kitchen, ready to go and pick up her only meal of the day very late compared to her usual meal time since Moon Dae had continued his painting session far into the darkened evening. She went up a couple of wooden stairs, smelling the menu of the day through the tiny corridor—

  When approaching she heard two whispery voices coming from deep inside the kitchen.

  ’’We need to hurry. Tell me, what is it?’’

  ’’This way, they’ll most certainly place all the suspicion on her.’’

  Suyi lowered her chin, pressing both forearms tightly against her empty stomach, feeling the nearing loud growl approaching.

  ’’Are you sure?’’

  ’’Of course, each maid has taken good care of his meals for years now without anyone bothering enough to check. A new concubine from The Eastern Empire steps in and suddenly her Prince is dead. What is there to question?’’

  ’’The Emperor will know exactly who to blame.’’

  Suyi felt her nails digging deep inside the palms of her hands. She needed the leftovers. Any more and she’d collapse. Thus, despite the ongoing, undoubtedly unpleasant conversation she’d unwillingly come to witness, Suyi continued in and without directly looking, noticed the two shadows of maids flinch from sheer shock, covering their mouths with pointy shoulders facing up.

  Suyi did not acknowledge the two, as if she hadn't even noticed them standing there, and walked towards the barrel where the fresh fruits were kept. Much for her delight she found a single red apple still left on the bottom. One with a bruised side. The thought of it possibly being tossed away irritated her, thus she figured only an apple would have to do, but only because she did not want to risk it staying any longer.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  ’’Oh, did she just hear us? She couldn’t have, could she?’’ Suyi heard one of the women whisper as she calmly began to walk away.

  ’’No, she would’ve reacted somehow. There is no way she could’ve. She truly cannot hear, as they said.’’

  The conversation kept repeating, those whispers of the two woman as Suyi sat there the next day with the looming gaze heavy on the table while Moon Dae’s usual first meal was being brought in. Small plates with plain treats. The Third Prince did not enjoy food with a lot of taste, thus Suyi wondered in which one of those plates would the culprits prefer to hide the taste of the poison in. The maid lowered the plates one after another, and Suyi knew she’d have enough time to make the decision as Moon Dae would never begin his meal before everyone—now except Suyi—were out of his room. A lot of thoughts were able to pass through once she noticed the small bowl with a juicy sliced pear sitting on more moisture tan usual. A small detail which could, or could not, easily go undetected even by the sharp eyed Prince.

  Thus Suyi had acquired her target. She wondered whether she should just let The Third Prince eat the poisoned pear and let it consume him instead. Death was bound to happen at some point and it was only a matter of time, those vicious enough clearly waiting for the perfect scapegoat to come and take the blame.

  On the other hand, her second option was to consume the poison herself. If those working inside the palace were going to place all the blame on her anyway, why wait for the death by The Emperor instead. Going down with sweet, delicious fruits which she rarely got to eat fresh back in The Eastern Empire surely would be nothing more than pleasant in comparison to what the sadistic man on a throne would come up with.

  Suyi made up her mind. Feeling oddly hollow despite. Lately she had been experiencing more emotions and wasn’t sure whether she liked the change or not. It felt reassuring, knowing that she still had it in her to feel nothing in the bitter end.

  With her fate sealed either way, Suyi waited until the sliding doors were shut and before Moon Dae even raised his chopsticks off the table, without hesitation, she took the plate and chucked each and every sliced piece of the poison intended for him.

  Suyi had never eaten a pear before, thus couldn’t imagine what the taste was supposed to be like, but despite that, what she experienced did not quite suit the lovely sugary scent and glistening surface of the dessert. How kind of them to leave the poison as the final meal for The Third Prince to enjoy. How truly thoughtful of them.

  Moon Dae let out an agonizing scream, ever so different from the one Suyi had received on their first day of meeting, a day which felt like another lifetime ago by now, clearly shocked by his precious favorite treat wrongfully gone. In meanwhile, Suyi could feel her stomach burn before all the last bit of content had even reached the bottom of her empty body. She felt her heart begin to push out of the chest, forcing her to clutch the fabric of her robe feeling the horrible sensation against the tight knuckles. Her breathing became frantic, gasping as her body went into shock.

  And through her cloudy vision she wondered—

  Why, in all its truth, did she choose the latter from her short list of options?

  Did she truly think as selfishly, merely wanting to suffer the least painful and the quickest fate.

  Or dared she not watch her one-sided friend of those silent, enjoyable days of painting in serene ambience suffer through what she now faced as her fate.

  For a moment she could’ve sworn The Third Prince had moved closer, which was unheard of, but she could sense his troubled energy and slight panicked pacing near. It must’ve been, for no one other would be even remotely around the entire isolated courtyard.

  And thus Suyi called herself a selfish fool with a smile on her face,

  as the room fell into darkness.

  ─?~???~?─