He checked the papers in front of him again. And as expected, they were the same.
'I've once again returned back...', he thought.
Then, the familiar knock-
"Your majesty, are you in there?", the familiar voice.
"You may enter.", he answered with a firm tone.
The same fair maiden wearing the same maid uniform entered.
"The empress is looking for you, your majesty... what should I tell her?"
"Tell her to wait. I'll be there in a few minutes.", he commanded.
The maid nodded and left.
'I need to make a poison indicator... If I remember correctly... I need this, that and... a little bit of this...', he thought as he quickly ran around the office and picked up seeds and flowers and fruit from the indoor plants he had in the office. He always kept vital medicinal plants in the rooms where he frequented, in case of emergencies.
He quickly crushed up the ingredients and mixed them with the anti-sleep potion he had on him.
He closed the potion bottle and put it in his pocket. Then, he proceeded to walk to the breakfast hall, to his wife.
"Good morning, dear...", the empress smiled and greeted him.
"... Hmm.", he responded with a grim tone and sat down, staring at the empty tea cup.
"Is... everything alright?", she asked with a worried tone.
"Hm? Yeah, everything's fine.", he dismissed.
She nodded softly and poured him the tea.
He took out his anti-sleep potion and opened the cap.
"What's that?", the empress asked skeptically.
"Anti-sleep potion... it tastes awful on its own, so I'm gonna drink it with the tea...", he declared as he poured the potion into the cup.
'If the tea is poisonous... the colour will change to purple...', he thought as he anticipated any change.
But, even after about a minute of waiting...
'No change? But... how could this be...'
"Dear? Aren't you going to drink the tea?", the empress asked once again with a worried expression.
"Hmm... Huh? Oh, yeah, of course...", he said as he picked up the tea cup uncomfortably and took a sip.
They chatted for a little more, and as usual went their separate ways after kissing each other.
As he was walking back, he thought, 'How strange... The tea wasn't poisoned... Hmm... maybe those two times really were dreams? -'
But his thought process got interrupted by the same, familiar sting in his heart.
'WHAT?! But... but I checked the tea... fuck...'
He woke up in his office again.
"GODDAMNIT!", he slammed his desk.
'Just what the fuck is happening?!?! I keep dying! It's not pleasant! How did I die that time, though? I checked the tea... I don't consume anything else in that room, or outside of it... wait a minute... I do consume something...'
'Seraphine's spit... I guess apart from the tea, the only thing entering my system is her saliva... Fuck, how the fuck would Seraphine's saliva be poisoned?!'
*Knock Knock*
"Your majesty? Are you in there?"
"Ahem... you may enter..."
"The empress is looking for you, your majesty... what should I tell her?"
"... Tell her to wait a few minutes, I'll be there."
With that, he started making the poison detector.
As usual, he walked to the breakfast hall, where he met the empress again.
But this time, he didn't sit down, instead he walked over to the empress.
"Seraphine... do me a favor and drink this. Keep it in your mouth for a minute or so, and then spit it out.", he commanded.
The empress looked at him confused and weirded out.
"What? Is this... some kind of fetish you just discovered or something?", she asked with a blush.
"Just do it. We don't have much time."
She nodded and took the anti-sleep potion, took a sip and kept the liquid in her mouth.
After about a minute, she spit out the liquid into his empty tea cup.
"Dear god...", he said as his eyes widened.
'It's purple... her saliva really is poisoned... Fuck... Seraphine... she's about to die!'
"Huh... why did it turn purple?", the empress asked with a confused expression.
She then looked at the emperor's shocked expression, and panic started to settle in.
"D-dear... what does this mean...? Wh-why is it purple... Please answer...", she asked worriedly.
The emperor could only stare at her with a shocked expression.
They both stared at each other for a good minute, and then-
"UGH-", the empress clutched her chest.
"M-my heart... burns...", she barely spoke as tears streamed from her eyes.
The servants all started to panic and utter chaos took hold.
The emperor, on the other hand... Quickly went in and kissed the empress deeply, doing his best to consume as much of her saliva has possible.
"Y-YOUR MAJESTY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! SHE'S INFECTED WITH POISON!!!", an imperial guard yelled at the top of his lungs before yanking the emperor off the dead empress.
The emperor brushed his suit and stood up.
And within another minute, his heart also stopped.
And once again, he woke up in his office.
This time, he instantly stood up and burst out of the office, running at full speed to where his wife's room was.
He reached into his coat and took out a speed potion which he always carried for emergency and downed it.
As a result, he blazed through the halls of the palace at super-human speeds.
He burst open the door to the empress's room.
"KYAA-", the empress jumped in shock and quickly covered her undressed body.
"WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!", she exclaimed.
He rushed to her and looked at her face with wide eyes.
"Did you put anything in your mouth recently?", he asked.
"Wh-what are you talking about?!"
He shook her shoulders and yelled, "PLEASE! Tell me, did you put anything in, or near your mouth recently?"
Looking at his desperate expression, the empress calmed down and started to recall.
"Well... I showered just now... I guess... the shower water got in my mouth a little bit? I didn't swallow anything though..."
"Shower water... Shit... Spit everything out, come on.", he instructed.
"Wh-what are you saying?!", she blushed intensely.
"Seraphine... you need to do this... you... I suspect you've been poisoned...", he said with a grim expression.
At this announcement, her eyes went as wide as saucers.
Immediately, he kneeled down and started to gag herself to spit out everything.
Being a noble, she had been trained from childhood about situations like these, she knew exactly what to do for this reason. But even still, it was still utterly terrifying to her.
For about 5 to 6 minutes, she continuously gagged herself and spit out everything that came to her mouth, to the point where her whole mouth was dry.
She huffed and slowly stood up.
"I... I think I got ri-"
But, it wasn't enough.
"UGH! My... heart...", she clutched her chest again and fell to the ground.
"FUCK! GODDAMNIT!", the emperor roared before kissing her deeply again.
'I need to try again...', he thought as he kept reaching deeper in her mouth with his tongue.
After about a minute or so of staring at his wife's lifeless body, his heart stopped again and he woke up in his office.
'I must save my wife... no matter the cost...'