Chapter 24

"W-What? Is the tea poiso-" Aesop asked before suddenly stopping. He suddenly started coughing profusely before coughing out large amounts of bright red liquid.

"AESOP!" Joseph exclaimed as Aesop threw up a huge amount of blood.

"Fuck!" Joseph cursed before carrying Aesop to Emily's room.

---

As Emily was about to take a break, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside her room. "Geez, the kids are running again." She sighed as she stood up and walked towards the door.

"EMILY! ARE YOU THERE?!" Startled, Emily immediately opened the door. Her face paled when she saw Aesop's face devoid of blood.

"Joseph! What happened?!" She said as she hurriedly let him in. "Put him down."

Joseph nodded as he put Aesop on the bed. Emily quickly took his pulse and her face paled. "He's poisoned..." She murmured as Joseph had a look of horror plastered on his face.

He knew this was gonna happen at some point. Although he prepared for it, it was still a shock.

"I-Is he gonna be okay?" Joseph's voice trembled as he bit his bottom lip.

Emily furrowed her brows. "Leave us for now." She then turned her back against the man as she helped stabilize Aesop's condition.

Crestfallen, Joseph left the room. He rarely became uneasy his whole life. And at the times he did, it's always related to Aesop.

Joseph gritted his teeth as he thought about the host. "I'm definitely gonna make that bastard pay."

---

Emily walked out the room as she sighed in resignation.

Joseph abruptly stood up from his seat and hurriedly walked towards Emily.

"Is he alright?"

"He's fine. I managed to stabilize his condition. But, if you want me to completely remove the poison, I need to know what poison it is." Emily paused.

"How did this happen anyway?" She said as she pinched the place in between her eyebrows.

"That damnable host! I'm going to kill him!" Joseph clenched his fist.

"And how exactly are you gonna do that?" She raised her brow. "I know you want to kill him and so do I. But, if you just recklessly barge in his room do you think you'd be able to kill him?"

Joseph furrowed his brows. It's not like he didn't think about that. In fact, he always did.

She added. "This is HIS manor. We're his pawns. And as much as I hate to say it, I can't do anything about it."

"Jack agreed."

"Huh?"

"I managed to get Jack on our side." Joseph took a deep breath.

"W-What? How?"

"You know Jack has always liked Naib. The host obviously found out and-"

"Joseph. Get to the point. As you said, I already know that."

"Right." Joseph then explained to Emily.

---

Back then

"Sorry. You might say I'm selfish but, I'm doing this... For someone." Jack sighed.

"Jack please. I'm begging you. Aesop doesn't deserve this!" Joseph trembled.

"I'm sorry." Jack replied as he shook his head.

"It's Naib. Isn't it?" Joseph retorted. He can't step back now.

"Huh?' Jack looked at Aesop in surprise.

"I know about you and Naib." Joseph took a deep breath.

Jack frowned. Was it obvious?

"I can help you. But you also need to help me. Think about it. If the host dies then won't you be able to be with Naib?"

"Shut up! What do you know? Do you think I haven't thought about that?! If the host was so easy to kill I would've done so long ago."

"I know that! Bu-"

"THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO JOSEPH!" Jack bellowed.

Joseph was shocked. He never saw Jack get agitated.

Jack then took off his mask as he pointed at his face.

"That..." Joseph was dumbfounded.

"I tried killing the host before. This is what happened after he found out."

Jack had a long scar on his face. His face was pale as his emerald eyes met Joseph's. His striking features were so beautiful yet there was a scar that was extremely out of place on his face.

"It's not that I'm scared. It's just if I die, who'll protect Naib? Surely you know what I mean." Jack sighed before putting his mask back on.

Joseph's face was pale. He took another breath to calm himself down.

"Hear me out first. Tell me what you think after hearing what I'll have to say. If you still say no then there's nothing I can do."

"Fine."

"First, we try to weaken him with poison. We'll get the poison from Emily. Second, we get the hunters on our side. You know that some hunters despise the host. Third, once the host gets weakened, we'll let Yidhra get him into a dreamscape. While he's in, we can go ahead and kill him. Of course, if Yidhra fails to do that and the host manages to get out of the dreamscape, even if he's strong, we have an advantage in numbers. Plus, with his weakened state, I doubt he can last long."

"How do we get the poison from Emily? Can we even put it in the host's food? How do we get the hunters on our side? And lastly, how are you planning to get Yidhra on our side? You know she doesn't care about these."

"Emily has enmity with the host. You know that since he ordered you to kill Hildegard."

"How do you know about Hildegard?" Jack frowned.

"Kevin told me."

Jack furrowed his brows but remained silent.

"About your second question. Yes. We can. When Yidhra is invisible even the host can't see her. She can put the poison in when she's in her main form. Third, as I told you. Some hunters have enmity with the host. I noticed it when I talked about the host sometimes and their reactions gave it away. You should've noticed it too."

"Indeed."

"About your last question... That's the only thing I don't know. Yidhra is extremely sadistic and I don't know how we can make her go to us."

"This is indeed a good plan. But... It relies too much on Yidhra." Jack frowned. If Yidhra doesn't join the whole plan will fail.

"That's the only thing. I'm asking you for help since you know the hunters better than me and I figured you would know what Yidhra would like."

"Unfortunately not. Yidhra is too mysterious. I barely know anything about her." Jack shook his head.

"Well, that's the plan. What do you say?" Joseph asked.

"I'll think about it..."

"Alright."

Joseph sighed. Looks like it won't be so easy to get Jack to agree.

-

1062 words.