Chapter 22: The Poisoned Prince’s Revenge Part 2

While eating, Evan took his time observing each of his family members.

First, the woman seated directly to Clyd’s right—she had long brown hair and a gentle, warm smile that suited her kind expression.

Evan searched his memory and quickly identified her.

‘Roselia.’

She was Evan’s mother and Clyd’s legal wife.

One of the few people in the household who still cared for Evan.

The problem was that after becoming a delinquent, Evan had shifted the blame for his miserable birth onto Roselia.

Ever since then, the old Evan had refused to let her come anywhere near him.

Even now, she could only gaze at Evan from afar, filled with longing.

She was a mother overflowing with love.

In contrast, there was another woman who gave off a completely different vibe.

Sitting on the opposite side, she stared daggers at Evan.

She had purple hair and resembled Hilton.

‘Heres.’

Though beautiful, she was the exact opposite of Roselia in temperament.

You could say her demeanor was sharp and intense.

And yet, Heres seemed to be putting on an act, forcing a smile.

Every time she looked at Evan, her eyebrows twitched and her brow furrowed slightly.

‘Struggling to manage your expression, huh?’

Evan could understand.

From Heres’s perspective, the very fact that Evan was still alive must’ve been hard to accept.

‘This must be the first time she’s seen me in person.’

She was one of the enemies Evan would have to eliminate.

Evan shifted his gaze, continuing past Roselia to the next person.

If Heres and Hilton were enemies, this side would be considered rivals.

A boy with blonde hair just like Evan’s.

His hair was neatly trimmed, and overall he gave off a tidy, composed impression.

Like Roselia, he had a gentle aura, in stark contrast to Hilton’s presence.

‘Delian… the real successor of the family.’

Evan’s younger brother and Roselia’s second son.

Although Delian didn’t stare directly at Evan, he couldn’t hide the surprise on his face.

As Evan looked at Delian, memories related to him came rushing back.

They were filled with jealousy, envy, and inferiority.

But from an objective standpoint, Delian had always been a good younger brother who deeply admired Evan.

Even after their relationship soured due to the succession issue, Delian still tried in his own way to reach out to Evan.

‘This is good, though. Dealing with Delian on top of everything else would’ve been exhausting.’

Evan decided to view him merely as a rival and not someone who needed to be dealt with like Hilton.

He then turned his attention to the girl sitting next to Delian.

‘Next up…’

A young girl with wavy blonde hair and blue eyes just like Evan’s.

‘Emily. The youngest sibling, right? I have vague memories of her…’

Apparently, the previous Evan had barely interacted with Emily.

She was timid and often avoided him.

Not surprising, given what a delinquent he used to be.

Still, overall, the rest of the family seemed decent—excluding Heres and Hilton.

***

Clyd couldn’t shake off a strange sense of unease.

Until now, he had only observed Evan’s changes through reports from Alburton.

He assumed Evan had matured a bit after a near-death experience.

But seeing Evan with his own eyes today, Clyd realized the change was far more drastic than he had imagined.

It wasn’t just about losing weight or looking different.

Evan was acting calm, with no sign of emotional fluctuation whatsoever.

As Clyd fell into silent thought—

“Father? Are you alright?”

Delian’s voice rang out beside him.

He had stopped eating and quietly walked over to his father.

Clyd cleared his throat and shifted his gaze away from Evan.

“It’s nothing. What’s going on?”

Delian’s expression had darkened as he showed Clyd the bracelet on his wrist.

“Father, it’s an emergency call. I should go check it out.”

“Another dimensional rift?”

“It seems that way. Rift incidents have been increasing across the entire kingdom lately. I’ll report back once I know more.”

Clyd simply gestured for him to go.

Delian gave a small bow and turned to leave.

But when he saw Evan, his feet stopped.

His face twisted with a mix of emotions.

‘Does he still have lingering feelings?’

Delian had made a firm resolution when he saw his brother lying on his deathbed.

He had to take on the responsibility of succession.

That incident revealed just how aggressive their enemies could be.

To protect the family and the household, Delian had to stay sharp.

But against all odds, his brother had awakened again—

And he had changed completely.

Seeing that gave Delian a sense of relief.

‘If he had really died, I would’ve lived the rest of my life in guilt and regret.’

Because in the end, Delian had betrayed his brother and taken everything from him.

He still remembered the promise they made when they were children.

‘Delian, when I become the lord after Father, let’s make the countdom amazing together.’

He could never forget the pure, shining look in Evan’s eyes back then.

Delian had admired and followed that older brother with all his heart.

But when he grew older and began formal sword training, tragedy struck.

—[Delian. You’ll have to become the head of the family in Evan’s place.]

Clyd’s shocking declaration left Delian dazed for days.

At first, he refused.

He insisted on supporting his brother and helping govern the territory together.

But the harsh truth was unavoidable.

—[Your brother has no mana. Do you understand what that means? He’s not fit to lead or protect this family. You must become the one to safeguard us. Let go of your emotions.]

In a knight’s household, having no power meant you couldn’t survive.

It was a cruel and heartbreaking reality, but Delian had no choice.

To protect his family, he had to shoulder the burden.

With other factions vying for power, Evan simply wasn’t a viable candidate to lead.

In the end, Delian had no choice but to accept his father’s will.

And after that, he was never seen with his brother again.

Delian quietly left the room.

***

After the family dinner, Evan returned to his room and began organizing the information he had gathered with his spiritual eye.

He focused especially on the key figures he needed to be cautious of.

Naturally, Clyd and Delian’s memories were inaccessible due to the massive difference in their strength.

All Evan could sense from them was the level of power they possessed.

‘At least I was able to peek into Heres’s memories.’

But even that came with strict conditions.

Evan recalled Heres during the dinner.

She had smiled brightly while chatting with Roselia.

It seemed she managed the family relationships quite well.

To avoid raising any suspicion, of course.

‘If it’s to achieve their goal, they must be thoroughly prepared. Maintain a good relationship, avoid suspicion, and strike at the perfect moment.’

Watching how naturally they could act, Evan thought the mother and son were truly cunning.

While Evan was analyzing all the information—

“Young master, a message from Hilton.”

A maid’s voice came from outside the door.

‘Hilton? Has she already brought the Parnah herbs?’

It hadn’t even been a full day since he mentioned it, and yet she’d already sent the medicine.

‘She really must be eager to get rid of me.’

The effort made him let out a small laugh.

It was unlikely the maid who brought the herbs was just a delivery girl.

“Come in.”

Evan gave his permission without hesitation.

A girl with orange hair tied back entered and stood facing Evan.

She looked nervous, swallowing hard and glancing around.

It was a different maid from the one who had brought him medicine before.

‘The previous girl was a young one with green hair. But this woman…’

She looked older than Evan.

Still, it seemed like she’d gone through a lot—her face looked a little gaunt.

‘If the last maid was timid, this one seems a bit more composed.’

It seemed Hilton had sent a more capable maid to monitor him.

Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous at all.

Evan could see her body trembling slightly.

Naturally, anyone would be afraid of angering a notorious delinquent. Who knew what he might do?

Even if Evan’s appearance had changed, people would assume the inside remained the same.

The maid carefully set the bowl of herbal medicine on the desk and tidied up the surrounding area.

But Evan couldn’t take his eyes off her.

No—more accurately, he couldn’t take his eyes off her status window.

One detail immediately grabbed his attention.

<Ayra> – Alignment: Good – Race: Human – Gender: Female – Affection Level: 0% – Innate Ability: Eidetic Memory, Survival Instinct – Affection Level: 0% – Skills: Memorization Lv.60, Calculation Lv.20, Escape Lv.20, Hiding Lv.20, Mana Sensitivity Lv.2…

*You may view her soul’s memories.

Ayra’s innate ability was eidetic memory.

It piqued Evan’s interest.

‘Not just good memory—but eidetic memory?’

He couldn’t even imagine how exceptional her memory must be.

Curious, Evan accessed her memories.

But what he saw stunned him.

‘What is this…?’

There were over 700 memories available for viewing.

It was the first time he had seen anything like it.

Until now, even his youngest sister Emily had only shown 15 memories at most.

This far exceeded anything he’d seen before.

‘Is this the power of eidetic memory?’

It seemed that the number of memories one could access depended on that person’s memory capacity.

And with 700 memories, her ability was clearly on another level.

Still, it would take some time to sift through them and find anything useful—like connections to Hilton.

‘Just from a glance, most of them seem like a chronicle of her life…’

There were 8 memory views left.

Since Evan didn’t know what might happen when facing Hilton or those connected to her, he needed to use them wisely.

‘If there’s nothing related to Hilton or her people, I don’t need to use it. I still don’t know how close this maid is to Hilton anyway.’

For now, he decided to let it go.

He’d likely see her every day, so there was no need to rush.

Once she had finished tidying up, the maid turned to Evan and spoke.

“Young master, everything’s ready.”

Evan nodded and walked over to the bowl of medicine.

Without hesitation, he picked it up and drank it all in one go.

[You have been poisoned by the Parnah herb.]

As the medicine flowed down his throat, the toxic elements began to mix within his body.

But to Evan, such poisons were nothing now.

[Poison Resistance skill has been activated.]

The skill completely neutralized all the toxic components.

In fact, the poison was so weak that it didn’t even help him improve his resistance skill.

Evan immediately gave the maid a command.

“Take the bowl and leave.”

“Huh? Oh, yes, of course!”

Ayra seemed startled that he had finished the medicine so quickly.

Still flustered, she followed his instructions, picked up the bowl, and quickly left the room.

As soon as she was gone, Evan began absorbing mana.

[Mana increased by 150.]

[Mana increased by 130.]

He absorbed the purified mana effortlessly using the power of the soul.

***

Clyd stroked his beard as he pondered deeply.

It was a habit he had whenever he needed to think.

‘Evan.’

He couldn’t forget the look in Evan’s eyes during their brief encounter at the family dinner.

Evan had changed.

Clyd thought maybe he had been imagining things—but it wasn’t a mistake.

He’d received reports from Alburton about Evan, and also heard a few things through Alan.

Although Alan hadn’t said much else beyond the basics.

Still, those sources were enough for Clyd to be certain of Evan’s transformation.

‘And then there’s the Marquess of Armeria…’

Clyd recalled the proposal about marrying his daughter to Evan.

The proposal itself had been surprising—but the details were even more so.

He remembered what Darwen had said.

“I was impressed by the young master’s brilliance. I believe I can entrust my daughter to him. And while I still have power, I wish to lend it to him.”

Darwen had expressed his desire to support Evan both magically and politically.

Even if Darwen’s house had fallen from grace, his magical skill was still recognized throughout the kingdom.

And since his political stance was neutral, it made him an ideal ally in the current state of affairs.

It was like stumbling upon a golden opportunity from something they’d all but discarded.

‘Is this his way of trying to become a knight?’

His son, who had always turned away and run from that path, was now facing it again.

From that perspective alone, it was good news.

But Evan had no mana.

And that meant his fate was already sealed.

“If only he could just stay out of trouble…”

After thinking for a while, Clyd finally reached out for one of the documents stacked on his desk.

His hand began to move.