Prince Katsuki Bakugo

The Imperial Apothecary was unusually quiet that afternoon. Tori sat at her workbench, carefully mixing several liquids together while humming to herself. As the mixture turned an alarming shade of green, she scribbled notes onto a scroll. Then the door opened. "Tell me that's medicine." Tori glanced up and immediately rolled her eyes. Administrator Katsuki. The high-ranking official assigned to oversee the apothecary. "Maybe." "Maybe?" "Could be medicine. Could be poison. That's what I'm trying to figure out." Katsuki stared at her. "You're concerning." "Thank you." "It wasn't a compliment." Unknown to everyone in the palace, Katsuki wasn't actually an administrator at all. He was the empire's crown prince, secretly disguised to observe palace affairs without drawing attention. Nobody knew his true identity. Especially not Tori. To her, he was simply the grumpy official who kept showing up to criticize her experiments. A few minutes later, she slid a small cup toward herself. "What are you doing?" Katsuki asked suspiciously. "Tasting it." His eyes widened. "Tori—" "It's fine. If I die, I'll write it down." "You can't write anything if you're dead." She paused. "...Good point." As one of the poison tasters for a powerful concubine, Tori was far less concerned about poison than most people. Katsuki, however, looked ready to have a heart attack. After confirming the mixture wasn't lethal, she nodded in satisfaction. "Success." "You drank an unknown substance!" "And survived." "That's not the point!" Tori grinned. For some reason, making the intimidating administrator lose his composure was one of her favorite hobbies. Meanwhile, Katsuki rubbed his temples. Of all the people in the empire, the one person he enjoyed spending time with was a woman who treated deadly toxins like an interesting puzzle. And somehow, she still had no idea she was arguing with the future emperor.