That being said, here he is a few hours later, sitting down and devouring some delicious meat while admitting to himself how incredibly amazing this privileged life really is. Losing all this luxury would truly suck.
The gorgeous woman sitting right beside him is Noyce Campbell, his mother. She honestly looks like an eighteen-year-old beauty. She happily tells him he looks incredibly happy today.
His father, Lon, chimes in, guessing he is probably just hyped for the big ceremony tomorrow, since it is easily one of the most important moments of his life.
Moon just nods along and says, "Yeah," trying hard not to raise any suspicion.
Meanwhile his mother pouts, claiming she cannot possibly let him attend that banquet. Otherwise all the noble girls will throw themselves at him.
Lon laughs it off. That is impossible, since he already has Princess Celia, and any girl trying her luck would only make the princess extremely jealous.
His mother acts all cute, whining that she dislikes the Celia girl entirely. She is not cute at all, and she does not deserve her precious son.
Moon is just sitting there totally confused. Why do his parents have so much blind faith in him when he was always a massive jerk? And who the heck is Celia?
Then it hits him. She is the third princess. The exact girl he tried to drug, making her a prime target to bring absolute disaster right into his life. In the original story, everyone loved her. A classic tsundere type, totally cold on the outside but warm inside.
Moon feels pretty awful. His parents are actually decent people. He got kicked out strictly because he acted like total trash, and his dad refused to raise a monster. That guilt pushes him. He has to change his destiny. Dragging his entire family down is absolutely not an option.
The real reason his bloodline gets wiped out is simple. People think his dad ordered the princess killed. High treason. So he must take the blame entirely alone, and keep everyone else safe.
The only problem is that the ceremony is already tomorrow. Time is out. He cannot change much.
But here is the weird part. If this event is so close, why is he clueless about the drug being used? Is a contact handing it to him? How does this play out?
While he is putting the pieces together, a maid appears in the hallway and he accidentally crashes right into her. She takes a nasty tumble. She cries out about the madam's spilled black tea. He asks if she is okay, but of course she flinches. She expects a brutal screaming match. Seeing the tea on his clothes, she panics and scrambles to wipe it off, but the damage is completely done.
Game over. She is getting fired and probably eating scraps on the street tomorrow.
Moon realizes his toxic reputation really does precede him. He tells her not to panic. Zero punishment today.
Wait a second. The guy is surprisingly smooth, too. He pulls her into a hug and tells her to relax. She is totally stunned, trying to decode what the young master is doing. Honestly, anyone watching would be wondering the same thing. Watch those hands.
Then Anne steps up and calls his name. He asks the blond girl for her name, and she squeaks out Noel. He tells Anne to look after her.
But Anne objects. She and Noel still have heavy duties for tomorrow. Slacking off is absolutely forbidden.
He shrugs and tells her to hire more help. Seriously, come on. This whole mansion is massive. Hire staff.
Anne bows reluctantly, agreeing. Understood.
Our smooth talker successfully buys himself some breathing room as he walks away. Behind him, Noel whispers to Anne that it is super weird. The young master never let anyone touch him before. He always claimed people were filthy. So this sudden shift is absolutely shocking.
Anne nods in agreement. She senses something is off, too. Maybe they really need to accelerate the plan before things spiral out of control.
Meanwhile, back in Moon's room, he tears through his boxes. Poison capable of taking down the third princess has to be premium tier. Some insanely expensive, heavy hallucinogen.
Right then he spots it. A black market card.
He definitely used this to buy whatever she eventually drank.
Night has completely fallen over the commercial district, and our protagonist tells his crew to hold back. He is going shopping.
He navigates the streets, keeping mostly hidden, relying on his knowledge of the original timeline. Reaching a certain door, he drops the password, sewer rats, and shows his credentials.
The guard welcomes him inside as a VIP guest. Welcome to the Leopold black market. Potions, rare ingredients, magical creatures, synthetic beasts, and of course the classic underworld staple, slaves. One of the protagonist's future allies was bought right here. But that is a side quest, because right now he has massive problems to solve.
Stepping into a private room, a cat-masked merchant greets him. They immediately ask what he needs. They stock every potion imaginable.
Moon asks for something very specific. Colorless, odorless, lethal against mages, guaranteed to knock them out for hours.
He is probably buying this to use, but he definitely will not hurt the princess. Which makes it totally unclear what his actual endgame is. He wants to follow the timeline, and yet.
The masked merchant purrs. He must be planning a wildly fun night. She even offers to throw in some slave recommendations.
He threatens to walk out. She panics and tells him to wait up. She will fetch the exact potion.
Moon stares. He cannot figure out if this merchant is a guy or a girl. And fair enough, the answer is kept perfectly ambiguous. Too risky to guess. Let us keep it neutral.
The merchant grabs a vial while our boy gets completely distracted, thinking about how insane that physique is. Most likely a stunning woman with killer curves runs this entire underground ring.
Right then the door creaks open. Another customer walks in, wearing sleek black tights. You absolutely know what time it is. Does Moon have a radar for details like that?
The newcomer announces they are here to buy a high-grade drug. Something that targets mages and leaves zero trace.
The seller tilts her head, confused. This is a hyper rare potion. Now suddenly everyone wants it.
Moon is caught off guard. He definitely did not think women shared that kind of intense taste. He pities whoever is about to suffer that absolute nightmare. But right now there is zero he can do to help them.
The merchant tosses two glowing vials onto the table. That right there is what everyone is after. Exactly what he needs. Even with its bright color, mixing this liquid into wine makes it completely invisible. Just a few drops will easily knock an elephant out cold for two or three hours.
Moon is absolutely floored by the sheer strength of it. The masked girl tells him to try a taste if he doubts her. He just has to sleep on the floor for three hours, and still pay full price.
The only real catch here is the cost. One hundred and thirty thousand Amelia.
The other masked woman standing nearby speaks up. She has zero Amelia, but she offers a different kind of payment. She pulls out a letter.
The seller hesitates, saying it is pretty tough to accept paper as actual payment. She reads through the note and asks if the information written there is actually true.
The mysterious figure tells the seller to use her own skills to verify.
Mysterious or not, let us be real here. It is definitely Anne. Who else?
The seller finally agrees. The potion is officially hers. The masked woman grabs the vial, offers her thanks, and heads out.
Meanwhile, Moon just tells her to charge his card. The seller hands over a bonus potion. Mix this with the other one, she promises, and the whole experience gets way better.
He thanks her, tucks the bottle into his bag, and asks about the intel that other woman dropped off.
But the seller, clearly not exactly burdened by honesty, claims they are old friends. She offers him the information for a totally fair price. It will cost him nine hundred thousand Amelia.
Moon gives her a flat look and walks away, totally uninterested. That scam artist was trying to charge him seven times the price right to his face. No way he falls for that nonsense. He is from the modern world. He easily spots a trap when he sees one.
The second the door shuts, the seller mutters that she hopes to see him again soon. She pulls off her mask, and yep, definitely a woman underneath.
Now she knows exactly what is about to go down at the Campbell mansion. Now she only wonders who to sell all that juicy information to. Obviously, the most entertaining move is selling it to both sides, just to stir up total chaos.