"How... did you do it?"
Isha could hardly believe that Leon Cosmodeous had just taken her down.
"When we ran into each other in the corridor, neither you nor Rossweisse had a kill card. If you had, you wouldn't have just run away."
"And only ten minutes have passed since then—hardly enough time to complete a task that would grant you a kill card..."
"So how exactly... did you do it?"
Leon's method of taking down her aunt was less important to Noah than one burning question:
Where was her mother?
According to her aunt, her parents had been together. So why was it that only her dad appeared as her savior?
Noah looked up at Leon, eyes wide and questioning.
Leon began to explain calmly, "I didn't have any kill cards. But I did have... [Avenger]."
Isha raised an eyebrow. "[Avenger]?"
"Yes. If I witness a kill firsthand, I gain a temporary ability to eliminate a player."
But even with the [Avenger] card, Isha still didn't understand. "But when I eliminated Muwen and Claudia, you weren't there to witness it, so there was no way to trigger [Avenger]. So how did you—"
Mid-sentence, Isha froze, her crimson dragon eyes widening as they fixed on the cake in Leon's hand, which had a small bite taken out of it.
She knew about Rossweisse's skill as a [Royal Chef]—an ability that allowed her to inflict special effects through food, including [Poison].
And then, it clicked.
"Little Rose ate her own poisoned cake right in front of you, 'eliminating' herself and activating your [Avenger] effect, didn't she?"
Leon nodded.
His face was stoic, unreadable. There was no visible sorrow for "sacrificing" his wife—yet it was precisely because the game blurred lines between real and roleplay that made it feel heavier, harder to even joke about.
Realizing the whole truth, Isha sighed and gave a small, rueful smile.
"I should've known... You and Little Rose together make a powerful team. I should've eliminated one of you sooner."
Leon raised his own question.
"I can guess your method of killing players involved infecting them with a latent disease from your [Apothecary] identity. Then at each meeting, your 'antidote' acted as the trigger for their execution."
"But even so—why kill Claudia first?"
"If it were me, I'd have eliminated her later. She would've been a threat in the endgame."
Isha shrugged lightly. "I couldn't choose."
"You couldn't?"
"Nope. Once a player took my antidote, they were marked. At the end of each meeting, one of them would be randomly eliminated. I had no control over who it was."
"To put it in the words of the [Item Card]: everyone's resistance to poison is different. The timing of its effect varies."
"I see..."
"But still, you're clever, Leon. Figuring out my method while being hunted? That's impressive."
Isha gave her brother-in-law a rare, sincere compliment.
"Even when you were clearing your name, you talked about saving kill cards to start a chain reaction. That gave me the idea to try ending the game in one final round."
"Oh—and your luck really is something. You avoided all my random kills."
Had Leon been selected in one of those meetings, Isha would have already won.
"I was never going to die to your random eliminations," Leon replied evenly.
Isha tilted her head. "Why not?"
"Because I never took your antidote. I used Rossweisse's [Mint Tea] instead."
"You were cautious from the beginning, huh... Fine. I accept my loss."
Isha smiled with genuine grace.
"Congratulations, brother-in-law. You turned the game around."
Leon stared at the cake in his hand, the faint trace of lipstick still on it.
After a quiet moment, he murmured, "If I'd noticed earlier... maybe Rossweisse wouldn't have had to go that far."
Isha's eyes narrowed with intrigue.
"Brother-in-law, one last question."
"Go ahead."
"When Rossweisse ate the poisoned cake in front of you, her body should've been right there. You could've called an [Emergency Meeting] and, with Noah's help, voted me out. So... why did you use [Avenger] instead?"
By now, Noah had connected the dots. She had no doubts about her aunt's role—being chased had made it more than clear.
Leon could've ended it conventionally.
Yet he didn't.
Isha assumed he had weighed multiple factors—maybe fearing she had a [Vote Immunity] card, or maybe uncertain if Noah would back him.
So what was the real reason?
Leon answered without hesitation.
"Because it looked cool."
Isha: "..."
Noah: That's my dad, alright. I wouldn't be surprised if he waited behind that door for dramatic timing.
Isha shook her head with a wry smile. People who share a bed truly do think alike...
If Leon had fallen, Little Rose probably would've done the same—straight for the throat without a meeting.
The game staff arrived to escort Isha out.
She looked back with a playful smirk.
"Well, you've defeated me. Now it's just the two of you. I'll be watching from the Observation Room."
"Aurora, Muwen, Auntie's coming~!"
With that, she was led away.
In the dim corridor of the castle's upper floor, only Leon Cosmodeous and Noah remained.
Noah slowly stepped back, eyes wary.
Leon smiled. "What's wrong?"
"If you were on the good side, the game would've declared it over when Auntie Isha was eliminated. So that means... you're the last wolf."
Leon didn't bother hiding it anymore.
"That's right. But I don't have any kill cards left."
He did, however, still possess a [Super Influence] card—enough to increase his voting power to five. If he called a meeting, it would be five votes to one. He could win right then and there.
But he had promised Rossweisse he'd let Noah win.
He would never break that.
And yet, he also knew Noah.
She wouldn't want a win handed to her.
So he waited—wondering what this daughter of his would choose.
"Finally... Dad, it's just you and me," Noah said.
Her voice was serious.
But Leon saw the spark beneath the seriousness.
"What?"
Was she... challenging him?
Wait, what?
Fight Noah?
He couldn't even beat Little Light in board games—how was he supposed to face Noah in a duel?!
Noah pulled a card from her pocket.
[Cycle of Despair]
"When only two players remain, you can initiate a 1v1 mini-game."
"The winner becomes the true victor of the game."
"So, Dad—"
"Let's duel. Just you and me."