Chapter 153

Chapter 153

At last, he spoke again. “God bless us. Miss Monica is a guest of our entire Royal Palace. Every one of you must respect her as you respect me.”

“Yes,” everyone answered in unison.

Tu Nan was full of questions, but she had no way to ask them.

Around the dining table, every face looked strange, as if each person wore a mask and smiled with false sincerity.

Finally, dinner came to an end.

The King had eaten even more than he had over the past two days. His face shone with oil, and he seemed unusually excited.

The maids supported him as he left.

The Queen said her farewells to everyone one by one. She seemed to be in an excellent mood, and even gave Tu Nan a cheek kiss.

Tu Nan seized the chance to open her arms and embrace her, tangling the Queen’s hair around her bracelet.

Just as the Queen was about to straighten up, her hair caught on Tu Nan’s bracelet.

“God,” Tu Nan said, feigning panic. “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect this to happen.”

“It’s all right.” The Queen tilted her head, maintaining her graceful smile. “I’ll just have to trouble you to rescue my hair.”

“Of course.” Tu Nan fumbled as she took off the bracelet. While the Queen wasn’t paying attention, she snapped off one of her long hairs and secretly tucked it into her sleeve.

“There.” She separated the Queen’s hair from the bracelet, then said apologetically, “I truly frightened you. This was my fault.”

The Queen glanced at the bracelet in her palm and smiled. “It’s all right. Accidents are unavoidable.”

“Praise your kindness.” Tu Nan took a step back, lowered her eyes, and spoke softly.

The Queen left with elegant steps.

Xu Duoyi came to her side and gave her a look.

Tu Nan followed her to a secluded place. Only after making sure no one was around did she ask in a low voice, “What exactly happened? Why did the King suddenly change his attitude toward you so drastically?”

“Things have gotten a little troublesome.” Xu Duoyi’s expression was exceptionally grim. “I suspect this was the Queen’s real goal all along…”

“What happened?”

“Today, the Queen took me to the Church. After we went inside, that so-called bishop saw me and immediately let out this exaggerated cry. He grabbed my hand and said I was the Saintess the Church had been waiting for.”

Tu Nan frowned. Saintess sounded like a position of great status, but if Xu Duoyi looked that terrible, then it definitely couldn’t be that simple.

Sure enough, Xu Duoyi went on through gritted teeth, “What Saintess? It sounds nice when they say it, but in reality, it just means I’m a sacrifice to be offered to their god.”

“So after taking all these twists and turns, the Queen was trying to use the Church to get rid of you.” Tu Nan frowned. “Why would she do that?”

The two looked at each other, and both had some guesses in mind.

After the Queen learned that Xu Duoyi lived deep in the forest, something about her had already seemed off. Now she was acting so impatiently. Could it be because she was afraid her own identity would be exposed?

“But… why is the King so happy?” Tu Nan asked, puzzled.

“Because the people of the Church said that as long as they sacrifice the Saintess, the gods will bestow a blessing and cure the King’s illness.” Xu Duoyi let out a cold laugh. “How could he not be happy?”

The King’s illness was caused by Eugene drugging him. How could some divine blessing possibly cure him?

One thing after another tangled together, making everything increasingly confusing.

“If they want to sacrifice the Saintess, when are they planning to hold the ritual?” Tu Nan asked.
“After Maria’s Wedding.” Xu Duoyi’s expression darkened. “Looks like we’ll have to pick up the pace.”

Tu Nan felt the Queen’s hair tucked inside her sleeve and made up her mind.

“The Queen goes to attend to the King and give him his medicine at a fixed time every day. It usually lasts about half an hour. I’ll use that window tonight to go take a look in her bedroom.”

“All right.” Xu Duoyi’s face turned grave. “I’ll keep watch around the corner. If anything happens, I can warn you in time.”

Tu Nan nodded.
—
The Queen went to look after the King every night.

As usual, she left her room and instructed the Maid at the door to guard it well.

Tu Nan watched the Queen’s figure disappear around the corner. Only then did she take out the Witch’s potion, pull out the stopper, and drop the Queen’s hair inside.

The potion in the bottle began to bubble and gurgle. The strand of hair was quickly dissolved by the liquid, vanishing without a trace.

Tu Nan leaned close to the mouth of the bottle and caught a Weird smell.

She did not have much time, and there was no room for hesitation. Under Xu Duoyi’s worried gaze, Tu Nan pinched her nose and drank the potion down.

The taste of the potion was far from pleasant. Even with her nose clamped shut, an indescribable flavor still shot straight to her head, as if she had swallowed a bottle of rotten eggs fermented in aged vinegar for an entire month.

Tu Nan forced the liquid in her mouth down her throat, and nausea immediately surged up.

“Are you okay?” Xu Duoyi looked at her worriedly. “Your expression looks awful.”

Tu Nan took a deep breath and managed to say, “That taste is disgusting.”

Then she quickly asked, “How is it? Has my appearance changed?”

The moment the words left her mouth, she suddenly felt a subtle change come over her body.

It was difficult to describe. Tu Nan looked at Xu Duoyi and saw her current reflection in the other woman’s eyes.

There was no dramatic transformation like she had imagined. The muscles of her face shifted in tiny, almost imperceptible ways, and her hair grew rapidly. She stretched out her hand and saw that her nails had become extremely sharp, painted in vivid colors-rather different from the personality the Queen usually presented.

How had she never noticed that before?

“Oh my god,” Xu Duoyi whispered. “You look exactly like the Queen now.”

“Wait here,” Tu Nan whispered back. “If anyone comes, find a way to warn me.”

“Wait.” Xu Duoyi caught her arm, took out a Skill Card, and used it on her.

The dress on Tu Nan’s body instantly changed into an exact match for the one the Queen had been wearing when she left.

“Now it’s foolproof.” Xu Duoyi nodded in satisfaction. “Be careful.”

Tu Nan nodded. Recalling the expression the Queen usually wore, she lifted her chin slightly and walked toward the Queen’s bedroom.

“Queen?” The Maid at the door looked surprised. “Why have you come back?”

Tu Nan glanced at her and was still considering what excuse she should give when the Maid suddenly dropped to her knees in panic. “Forgive me, Queen. I won’t dare do it again.”

Tu Nan raised her brows in faint surprise.

It seemed the Queen’s temperament was not as gentle as she made it appear.

“Get up,” she said coldly. “If there is a next time…”

The Maid shook her head hard, terror written all over her face.

Tu Nan opened the bedroom door and walked inside.

The Queen’s bedroom was every bit as luxurious and extravagant as expected. Gold-inlaid furniture stood everywhere, dazzling her so much she could hardly keep her eyes open.

The Magic Mirror-where would it be…