Chapter 147

Chapter 147

“What brings you here so late?” Maria sat down on the sofa, looking at her with leisure.

Tu Nan closed the door, her mind still lingering on Eugene’s reaction just now.

She turned to Maria. “I saw Eugene looking like he wanted to go out just now, but after he saw me, he went back into his room.”

Maria raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not the first time he’s done that.”

“Do you know where he’s going?” Tu Nan asked.

Maria gave a small smile. “Do you know why the King suddenly fell ill?”

Tu Nan was slightly startled, and the realization hit her instantly. “Eugene did it? Why would he do that?”

“Probably because he can’t wait to sit on the Throne,” Maria shrugged. “Lately, he’s been sneaking out of his room every few days. I happened to discover it once by accident and had my maid keep an eye on his movements every night. That’s how I found out about this little amusement.”

Maria seemed to find it incredibly funny, her eyes curving. “My dear elder brother slips into the Kitchen almost every few days to add something extra to the medicine the King is supposed to drink the next day.”

“The number of people in this Royal Palace who want him dead is truly more than I expected.”

Perhaps because she was about to sleep, Maria wasn’t as impeccably dressed or sharp as she was during the day. Her smooth black hair fell over her shoulders, swaying slightly as she laughed, making her look like a carefree, innocent young girl.

“Eugene is the most likely person to ascend to the Throne. Why would he go to the trouble of killing the King?” Tu Nan was still somewhat puzzled. “If he’s caught, the loss would outweigh the gain.”

Maria propped up her head and gave a soft yawn. Her voice was lazy. “That brother of mine is reckless and violent. It’s not surprising he’d do something like this.”

“Even though he’s the most likely heir, he won’t be at peace until the position of King is officially his,” Maria snorted. “Anyway, what he’s doing is beneficial to me and harmless, so I just pretend not to see it. I might even give him a hand. Otherwise, with that idiot’s clumsy ways, he would have been caught long ago.”

At this point, she seemed a bit tired, lowering her eyes slightly as she yawned again.

“What did you come to see me for?”

“I have a question.” Tu Nan looked at Maria.

“Oh?” Maria closed her eyes and asked nonchalantly, “What question?”

“Is the person you’re guessing… the Stepmother Queen?”

Maria opened her eyes in surprise and looked at her. “How did you know?”

Before Tu Nan could speak, Maria smiled again. “I forgot. People like you always have some peculiar talents. It’s not strange for you to know.”

She admitted it.

“Nemesis doesn’t trust you,” Tu Nan reminded her. “If she finds out who Aphro is, will she…”

“I know what you’re going to say.” There was no sign of tension on Maria’s face. “Nemesis does hate me, but she won’t kill me. If she really wanted to kill me, she would have done it long ago.”

“Even though she puts on a cold-blooded and ruthless act, she is essentially a kind person.”

Maria’s gaze didn’t settle on anything in particular, lost in thought.

“Though I sometimes think kindness is a useless thing, I can’t deny that it’s precisely because of her kindness that I can be so bold and fearless.”

Maria had lived with Nemesis for a period of time; her understanding of Nemesis was certainly much deeper than that of Tu Nan and Xu Duoyi.
“You came here so late just to ask me this?” Maria looked at Tu Nan. “Are you planning something?”

Tu Nan nodded. “I want to enter the Queen’s bedroom.”

“Her bedroom?” Maria frowned slightly, asking in confusion, “What are you going into her bedroom for?”

“Because everything so far is just our speculation. No one can be certain whether she is actually Aphro or not.”

“You want me to help you?” Maria crossed her hands, resting her chin on them as she spoke leisurely. “It’s not impossible.”

“But you have to answer one question for me.”

“Why are you intentionally seducing Dennis?” Maria squinted at her.

Tu Nan was slightly taken aback.

She couldn’t exactly say it was because she wanted to be Maria’s sister-in-law.

“I can only tell you that nothing I do will have any negative impact on you,” Tu Nan said slowly, organizing her words. “I have my own reasons for what I must do. I hope you can trust me.”

“By Nemesis’s apple, we must be absolutely loyal to each other.”

Maria stared at her intently for a long time before finally speaking. “Fine, for the sake of the Witch’s apple.”

“Then, about entering the Queen’s room…” Tu Nan prompted tentatively.

Maria rolled her eyes and said softly, “Every day after dinner, the Queen goes to the King’s bedroom to serve him his medicine. She leaves about half an hour later. You can sneak in during that window, but you must be mindful of the time.”

Having obtained the answer she wanted, Tu Nan finally bid Maria farewell and left her bedroom.

The corridor was silent-so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Nights within an Instance were always somewhat unsettling. Tu Nan lifted her skirts and hurried back to her own room.

It wasn’t until she entered her room that she finally breathed a sigh of relief. She lay down on the bed and began to contemplate her next move.

The King was currently clinging to life, and there was no telling when he might pass away. According to the laws of the kingdom, the new successor to the Throne would be designated by the King before his death.

Currently, the most likely person to succeed him was Eugene. If the King found out before he died that Eugene had been secretly drugging him, Maria would lose one competitor.

That left Dennis.

Dennis was a lecher by nature and utterly useless, but if it came down to just him and Maria, the King would likely still choose Dennis.

She needed to figure out how to deal with that rival.

However, the most pressing issue at hand was the upcoming Wedding between Maria and Tracy.

During dinner today, Tracy had also revealed that his country’s envoys would soon arrive with the army the Prince had originally promised the King. The Wedding seemed inevitable.

If Maria wanted to rise to power and secure the Throne, she needed more than just a legitimate succession; she also had to possess her own strength.

Otherwise, even if she ascended the Throne, her ultimate fate would be nothing more than becoming a Puppet.

Tu Nan’s head throbbed from the effort of thinking.

After weighing her options, she realized that for Maria to sit securely on the Throne, the Witches were an ally she absolutely had to win over.

Witches possessed powerful magic. If Maria could gain their support, others would have to think twice before challenging her.

However, Witches were still pariahs within the kingdom, hunted by everyone. Persuading them to help her would be incredibly difficult.

She still needed to go see Nemesis.