Villain, Let Me Touch You! - Chapter 113
“Someone must have brought it in,” Vincenzo guessed.
“That much is obvious. Now find out who that someone is.”
Vincenzo bit down lightly on his lower lip. Yeah, he was in a tough spot too. There just hadnât been enough time to dig into anything yet.
Helios let out a faint sigh and walked toward the window. He stepped out onto the balcony, resting his hands on the railing, his gaze fixed on the dense, overgrown garden below.
Vincenzo followed silently, sealing his lips shut.
From behind, Helios looked burdened. The kind of weight that only came with guilt and a deep sense of responsibility for Rienna.
And Vincenzo wasnât exactly innocent in this mess either.
He was the one who dragged Helios out to the hunting grounds in the first place, despite Helios insisting he didnât want to go. That memory now sat like a stone in his gut.
Which is why, unlike his usual logical self, he said something he wouldnât say without proof.
Because right now? He really wanted to catch whoever did this. And make them pay.
“What do you think about the possibility that itâs connected to Her Grace, Imperial Consort Priscilla?”
Heliosâs back tensed, his shoulder muscles twitching.
“Letâs not go there yet.”
He shut the thought down in a single breath, clean and sharp.
The chill in his tone made Vincenzo lower his head instantly.
“That was out of line,” Vincenzo admitted quietly.
Helios ran a hand through his hair, messing it up further before turning to lean back against the balcony railing. He exhaled deeply, eyes lost in the garden below.
“I’m not saying you’re wrong,” he said, voice low. “I’m saying if we poke the hornetâs nest too soon, weâll get stung. Itâs only natural that Priscilla would be a suspect. Sheâs got a history, and lately, sheâs been burning hotter than usual.”
Truth was, Helios suspected Priscilla too. Just like Vincenzo.
She had every reason. That birthday ball not long ago? A complete disaster, thanks to him. Enough motive to make anyone snap.
Sheâs done it before.
But what he couldnât understandâwhat truly twisted the knifeâwas why the target wasnât him, but Rienna.
That part made his blood boil.
Still, he couldnât say he didnât get where Priscilla was coming from.
If this were a battlefield, Helios mightâve done the same â gone straight for the weakness.
And Rienna has become my weakness.
The realization hit him hard. He lowered his head suddenly, the motion sharp and heavy.
His face, shadowed beneath his tousled hair, wasnât just cold. It was frigid.
Heâd gone so far as to propose an engagement just to keep her from becoming his weakness â yet here they were.
If Rienna ever found out, she’d insist on leaving him. No question about it.
There was a bitter taste in Heliosâs mouth.
“She plays dirty,” he muttered. “If we donât have solid proof, sheâll slip through the cracks. And thereâs someone helping her from inside the palace. Thatâs who we need to find first. Thatâs the priority.”
“What about the Imperial Consort?”
“Her… Iâll think about it.”
Right now, Riennaâs recovery came first.
Sheâd made it through the worst with the help of the imprint bond, but without an antidote, that wasnât a real cure.
Would a happy pair have helped her more?
The thought burned in Heliosâs mind.
His own bodyâs resistance to imprinting made his blood simmer with frustration.
“Youâre dismissed. Leave the hunting ground cleanup to someone else.”
Helios couldnât bring himself to say get some rest, so instead, he gave Vincenzoâs shoulder a couple of firm patsâhis way of showing support.
“Iâll report back if anything new comes up.”
Vincenzo left the room, his eyes conveying the message that he wasn’t going to sleep anyway.
Helios stood on the balcony for a moment, letting the cold night air hit his face.
***
âSheâs not dead? How can she not be dead? Does that even make sense? Didnât you say it was a deadly venom? That there was no antidote?â
Priscillaâs voice rose in fury as she cornered Milchin, veins bulging in her neck.
âThe venom is real. One bite, and the victim should be dead within half a day. Thatâs how it always works.â
Two nights ago, Mirchin had slipped into the palace under cover of darkness, summoned by Priscilla herself.
She told him, in a tone colder than ice, that she had someone she needed to disappearâquietly.
And this was what Milchin did best.
He gave her the yellow-banded viper.
