The Rogue System [BL]

Eric gazed at his beloved new husband with a grin. Oh, I’m going to make you suffer for holding me prisoner in this house. He glanced at the plate of fruit on the table, then deliberately gestured toward it with his eyes, making it very obvious what he wanted.

Ryan raised a brow but didn’t move.

Eric narrowed his eyes and gave him an expectant look. Aren’t you going to do that for your beloved wife?

With a quiet sigh, Ryan picked up the cut fruit and placed some onto his plate.

Grinned from ear to ear, he happily picked up a piece, ate it while peeking at the woman across the table with a smug expression. See? Your darling Ryan is working for me.

He was just about to continue annoying her when a servant suddenly entered the reception hall and whispered something into Ryan’s ear. After listening, the man nodded and politely excused himself before leaving the room, leaving him alone with the woman.

Eric watched him disappear through the doorway before slowly turning back toward his tea. Suddenly, he had very little interest in drinking it. He lazily licked the inside of his mouth and looked outside at the scenery instead, pretending the woman sitting across from him didn’t exist.

Unfortunately, she seemed to have no intention of ignoring him.

"What kind of black magic did you use on Ryan?" she demanded, practically panting with rage.

Eric turned his head toward her.

"Ah, that?" His lips curled into a mischievous smile. "I just had sex. Didn’t you know? Your Ryan can’t seem to get enough of me. He kept me up all night and made me scream and cry so much that I could barely sleep. See? That’s why he even made me a cup of tea this morning. To soothe my sore throat."

He picked up the tea and took a slow sip as though it were the most delicious thing in the world.

The woman’s plump red lips tightened. "So... you consummated your marriage?"

"Obviously." Eric looked at her as if she had asked the most ridiculous question. "What else do you think we did last night? Dance on the bed? We made so much love that the bed’s legs were creaking by the end. Tsk, tsk... such low-quality furniture. I’ll have to make my husband replace it."

"You!"

The woman glared at him furiously, but Eric only smiled. She seemed to realize that getting angry was exactly what he wanted, because she quickly forced herself to calm down.

"You can boast all you want, but you’re nothing more than a cowardly prince who has lost his kingdom."

"Hmm..." Eric thoughtfully took another sip of tea. "At least I had enough power to marry the man I wanted. Someone so powerful apparently didn’t."

He looked at her with exaggerated pity.

The woman immediately glared at him.

Eric almost wanted to laugh. It was honestly too entertaining to aggravate people, especially these cute little people who reacted to absolutely everything he said.

"Ryan! Your wife was being disrespectful!" the woman suddenly shouted, looking behind Eric.

Eric turned around and saw a few servants standing there. He looked back at the woman with confusion.

"What? Did you lose your eyes too?" He clicked his tongue. "Tsk, I guess you’re so in love that everyone you look at starts looking like MY husband."

He gave her a smug grin.

Points to me.

Quite pleased with himself, Eric picked up his tea and took another sip. Strangely, it tasted a little sweeter this time. He paused for a moment and glanced down at the cup.

I must have scalded my tongue earlier. My taste buds are probably only waking up now.

He took another sip and nodded thoughtfully.

I guess my husband really does make good tea.

The next second, Eric felt a strange heat rise from his lower stomach and spread rapidly through his body until it reached his throat. His stomach twisted painfully, and before he could even understand what was happening, red liquid poured uncontrollably from his mouth.

He froze.

Looking down at his hands, which were now stained red, Eric slowly raised his head. His accusing eyes immediately landed on the woman sitting across from him.

The princess only smiled sweetly.

"I hope you enjoyed the taste of your Flower Poison." She tilted her head, almost looking cute as she explained it. "It will tear through your insides and damage your organs within a few minutes. After that, you’ll be in excruciating pain, collapse, and die."

She even gave him a small pout.

"What a sad sight that will be."

Eric stared at her in disbelief.

More blood spilled from his mouth, and he hurriedly covered it with his hand, staring at the red stains with growing horror.

What the hell?

His stomach cramped again, harder this time.

Oh.

Oh, this was bad.

Maybe... just maybe... taunting this woman had not been the best idea.

Eric had thought she was merely an annoying, spoiled princess who couldn’t stand seeing Ryan’s attention on someone else. He had expected her to yell at him, insult him, perhaps even complain to Ryan.

He hadn’t expected her to actually poison him.

His fingers tightened around the edge of the table as another wave of heat rolled through his body. His throat burned, and his stomach felt as though something was twisting it from the inside. He tried to swallow, but the movement only made the burning sensation worse.

His vision began to blur.

The princess was still sitting across from him, looking completely pleased with herself.

Eric wanted to say something.

He really did.

Preferably something clever.

But his tongue felt strangely heavy, and before he could think of an appropriate insult, the room began to sway around him.

Wait...

His eyes struggled to focus.

I think I’m actually dying.

The thought finally made his heart race.

His fingers slipped from the edge of the table, and the last thing he saw before his vision faded was the princess calmly watching him collapse.