She knew that Zeno McMillian was the type of person who disliked facades and charades. He was the type of person who wanted no bullshit.

"I can accept that you're in the noble faction but know this Sir Zeno. There are neither factions nor royals that will be affected but those in the Pivet Alley. I know that they're just sewer rats compared to the high society but they're living beings. They should not be the casualties in our power plays."

You can't let those innocent dies, can you?

In Tori's estimated ring of affected areas around the darted location of the dam construction, the Pivet Alley which was located at the southernmost part of the capital was the only residential area that would be affected. She concluded that the plague that would kill the second prince was an elaborate plan that caused a hundred thousand more casualties around the empire.

Just to kill the second prince.

"No. Your ring of the affected area is too small. If you are following the river that passes through the construction, there are dried streams that connect to the canals of the capital's plaza. Due to the dam's contraction, the other side of the river will overflow into these dried streams."

Realization dawned upon Tori. "You mean the entire capital city will be affected in terms of water flow? Why are you asking me this?"

Tori did not answer him. Instead, she tiptoed to kiss the side of his lips which stunned Zeno. She then whispered her answer. "Because I know what you're capable of. You created it, right? The illness that is slowly eating this empire and will eat the second prince."

For the nth time this week, Tori was again pushed. She fell to the floor with a thud but the sly smirk she had never faded. "How?"

"How did I know? Will your smart mind believe if I tell you that I know that this would happen, smart sir?"

The coincidence led Tori to deduce that Sabina was used by the first prince to bait Zeno into the noble faction's side just for this large-scale plan.

But in your past life, you could not accept the fact that hundreds of thousands died because of your idea so you created the antidote.

Standing up gracefully, Tori stared right into Zeno's emerald eyes. "You didn't realize it yet, did you? Whatever promises the noble faction told you; for once you never considered the deaths of the innocent. Wake up, Zeno."

Tori erased the initial ring she drew and changed it to Zeno's estimated ring that engulfed the entire capital city. She folded the map. "You are just being used for a massacre, poor you. But there's one thing I want to tell you, I will protect Prince Corean no matter what the cost."

Allistair must have secured the second prince, right now.

Walking away from Zeno who was too stunned to move. "W-wait! Where are you going?"

"To that wretched dam."

"THEY ARE KNIGHTS. YOU'RE making the honorable knights do the construction." Tori's deadpan voice snapped Zeno who was following her silently ever since they left the Rozenreff estate.

The moonlight was helping the knights with the construction but the torches around them aided them as well. Clad in her infamous baggy coat with her hood on, Tori was watching the construction site from the sideline with Zeno in tow.

"You are using the knights. What are you hiding?"

Tori turned to Zeno, her red eyes were taunting him. You brought me here carelessly. It only means one thing; the reason behind the plague is not here on the construction site. But what is it? Where is it?

"You can't come closer. Only authorized personnel can come here. I am breaking the rules when I brought you here." Zeno gently grasped my elbow to lead me away from the site and hid behind the Willow tree.

Tori manipulated the sway of her body to pin 'accidentally' Zeno to the tree with her body pressed to him. "Then tell me, smart sir. Why are you breaking them?" Tori looked up at his flustered face.

Are you breaking them for me? If you are indeed doing this for me, what do you expect from me?

Zeno gently let go of her which shocked Tori. She was so used to teasing Cory that she expected Zeno to act as the second prince. She expected him to be aroused like Prince Corean. But looking at him right now with his sharp cheekbones blushing like a teenager, Tori could not help but smile for real this time.

You're such a genuine person, Zeno McMillian. What pushed you to betray the House of Larat?

"I will not betray the noble faction but I will not condemn the innocent."

"So you are saying that only one must die and I'm assuming that it will be the one person that the noble faction hates." Shrugging like nothing at all, Tori linked her arms to his.

"Since I can't explore the site, why don't we explore the river that will overflow into the dried streams?"

"Wha-what? But it's late night already, Lady Victoria!"

Smiling at him as if she did not hear him at all, Tori practically dragged the poor Zeno McMillian. Without torches to guide their way, the shrubs made it difficult for them to walk faster, especially with Tori's outdoor dress. Zeno, on the other hand, was busy making way for Tori which the latter did not mind at all. She was busy observing the riverside with the little help of the moonlight.

"I don't know what I'm doing here," Zeno grumbled. His sweats covered his face while his smooth hands were pricked by thorns from removing the shrubs using his bare hands.

Tori gave him a sugary smile that was accentuated by the moonlight's glow giving her an ethereal look that stunned Zeno McMillian. "You're here because you're curious about what I'll do."

"Yes. You're right. I am curious why you're doing this when you can ask me instead to stop this."

Tori dropped her smile. "But you won't give me an answer that will satisfy me. And I'm tired of playing mind games with people right now."

The plot is rolling as we speak and even if I secured the second prince right now – I must stop that from happening again. I have hundreds of thousands of lives on my shoulder. Like me and the second prince, they existed to die in this plague for the female lead and the male lead. They're people with no names for the viewers who watched the Netflix series, but I know that they're real people with real lives and with families.

Family, huh? Tori touched her swollen cheek.

Tori showed real emotions for the first time since she became Victoria Rozenreff. She was exhausted but she needed to fight.

In this life and in my past life, nothing changed. My mom, though gentle, was struggling to make ends meet. So I had to step up. I climbed the social ladder while maintaining my scholarship. I refused to be at the bottom just because I had a single parent who worked at the canteen. And now, it's the same vicious circle of to eat or be eaten.

I once thought that if I found my perfect one – everything will be alright. But that stupid idea vanished into thin air when I inherited the original Victoria's memories of her life. She once loved the first prince but what she got back caused her death. I owe it to Victoria, this life. So I am not dying again helplessly like in the car crash or dying stupidly because of love. No. I will play this life like I always do, by devouring all those who stepped on my path.

Raising her walls again, Tori gave her best-wicked smile to Zeno. "It's the Vervain." Her words snapped Zeno from his reverie. He was frowning like he was calculating her momentary slip of emotions. Tori decided to put Zeno's name on her hate list. She disliked his expressive green eyes that peeled her layers every time their eyes met. She loathed that feeling.

"I'm sorry. What?"

Picking the lilac flower hidden by the shrubs that surrounded the riverside, Tori stared at the flower with the curious uneven ground making Tori deduce that these plants were newly planted around the area. They were strategically placed behind the shrubs for diversion.

"The Vervain is a type of plant from the eastern continent. Someone from the Ming Country supplied these plants to you. They looked harmful but when planted in the wrong way they release toxicity from their roots. If a human drinks it even once, diarrhea will result continuously. The Ming doctors prohibited this plant to be used but I guess that you got this in an underhand way."

"You deserved to be the top 1 in Trifecta Academy. You knew that by just one stroll." His expressive green eyes sparkled dangerously under the moonlight. His steps toward Tori were threatening but she did not move nor run from him. She stayed rooted in her spot even when she felt the cold touch of his blade on her neck.

Tori's smiled slyly. She walked towards him, pressing the sharp blade to her neck. "Why are you stepping backward, kind sir?"

I dare you to kill me right now.