Chapter 157

Chapter 157

“Since he went to all the trouble of preparing a stage for me, wouldn’t it be a shame to let it go to waste?” Maria lowered her eyes. “There will be a crowd of distinguished guests tonight. Let everyone see him on his last legs, and everything will fall into place naturally.”

She lifted her head again and looked up at the sky.

“What lovely weather.” Maria smiled sweetly, spread her arms, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

“Let’s hope everything goes smoothly.” She opened her eyes and looked at Tu Nan. “As for how to make him hover on the brink of death, with only a single breath left in him, I’ll have to leave that to you.”

Tu Nan was not at all surprised that the task had landed on her.

Below the city wall, the group had finished exchanging pleasantries and was preparing to return to the Royal Palace.

“We should head back too,” Maria said lightly. “For tonight’s performance, I must attend in my finest.”
—
As soon as she returned to the Royal Palace, Tu Nan went straight to find Xu Duoyi. Unexpectedly, Xu Duoyi happened to be looking for her as well.

“I have something to tell you.”

They spoke at the same time.

Tu Nan paused. “Then you go first.”

“I received a reply from Nemesis.” Xu Duoyi raised the letter in her hand, her expression grave. “She says in the letter that she must see Aphro, and the sooner the better.”

Tu Nan felt a headache coming on.

Too many things were piling up at once, leaving her with almost no room to breathe.

“But didn’t she say that a Witch can sense another Witch?” Tu Nan asked with a frown.

“She says in the letter that she can temporarily drink a potion that conceals her presence, but it will also make all her magic disappear, leaving her no different from an ordinary person. That’s why she needs our help getting into the Royal Palace.”

Tu Nan thought for a moment. No time like the present.

The Royal Palace was always heavily guarded, but today, in order to welcome the envoy from the neighboring kingdom, the King had ordered a banquet to be held. With so many people coming and going, this was the best opportunity.

“Write back to her at once. Tell her we’ll let her meet the Queen tonight,” Tu Nan said in a low voice.

“Tonight?” Xu Duoyi said, slightly surprised. “Isn’t that too rushed?”

“The Royal Palace is holding a banquet tonight. All we have to do is disguise her as a maid and slip her into the banquet so she can meet the Queen.”

Xu Duoyi lived in the Royal Palace, so she had heard a little about the envoy from the neighboring kingdom arriving.

She nodded. “Then I’ll send her a message right away.”

“Wait.” Tu Nan stopped her. “When you write, ask Nemesis for a bottle of poison while you’re at it. It doesn’t need to kill anyone. It would be best if it only left someone on the verge of death, with one breath remaining.”

Xu Duoyi asked in confusion, “What do you need that for?”

Tu Nan lowered her voice and told her about the plan she and Maria had made.

After listening, Xu Duoyi frowned slightly. “But if we do this, won’t they plan to sacrifice the Saintess ahead of schedule?”

“This so-called sacrifice of the Saintess is nothing more than a scheme the Queen came up with to get rid of you,” Tu Nan said coldly. “Because she knows exactly what caused the King’s illness, she’s been able to act so fearlessly.”

“If the King’s illness suddenly goes beyond their control, and sacrificing you does nothing to improve his condition, it will only put them on the back foot.”

Only then did Xu Duoyi relax.

But Tu Nan spoke again.

“However, I have another idea regarding this matter, and I want to discuss it with you.”

Xu Duoyi was slightly startled and met Tu Nan’s eyes. An unusual light flickered in them, as if a storm were brewing.

Tu Nan leaned close to her ear and quietly told Xu Duoyi her plan.

Xu Duoyi’s pupils contracted.

Plink.

A single drop of rain fell onto the windowsill.
Outside, the sky had been bright and sunny-until rain began falling without the slightest warning.

The window in the room had been left open, and raindrops rode the wind inside, bringing with them a damp chill.

“We need your opinion on this,” Tu Nan said quietly. “I fully respect what you want. If you don’t want to do it, we can think of another way.”

Xu Duoyi said nothing for a moment.

She looked out the window.

In just a few seconds, a downpour had soaked the entire world.

“Why wouldn’t we?” She walked over to the window, a little worried whether Crow could still deliver a letter in weather like this.

“In a place like this, opportunity and danger go hand in hand,” Xu Duoyi said calmly. “Let’s do it the way you suggested.”

She blew the whistle hanging at her chest. A moment later, a Crow arrived through the driving rain.

“See? Even a Crow knows that some things have to be done, even through raging wind and rain.” She paused, then looked at Tu Nan again. “Though I really have to wonder-it’s so tiny. It won’t get blown away, will it?”

Tu Nan glanced at the Crow and nodded with utter seriousness.

“I think that’s a real possibility.”

The Crow angrily pecked Xu Duoyi on the hand.

“Sorry, sorry.” Xu Duoyi clutched her pecked hand and smiled. “I jinxed it.”

What a hellish joke.

To keep the letter from getting wet, Xu Duoyi carefully sealed the paper with wax, then tucked it into a slender little bamboo tube before handing it to the Crow.

“This is important, so make sure it gets there. Don’t get blown away,” she instructed.

The Crow stared at her with its beady eyes, its beak twitching ominously.

Xu Duoyi had learned her lesson this time. Without hesitation, she shut the window, leaving the Crow with nothing but her merciless back.
—
There was a sharp snap.

Maria shut the book in her hands with force, revealing the delicate face behind it. She arched a brow slightly. “Nemesis is coming?”

“Yes.” Tu Nan nodded. “She insists on confirming with her own eyes whether the Queen is Aphro.”

Maria set the book on the table in front of her, indifferent. “If she wants to come, then let her.”

“But she needs a suitable identity,” Tu Nan reminded her.

“You mean you want me to help?”

“Yes,” Tu Nan said softly. “Helping her won’t do you any harm. It might even make her owe you a favor.”

At that, Maria nodded lightly.

“For Aphro’s sake, she’s actually willing to leave the forest.” She sounded intrigued. “It seems she truly hates Aphro to the bone.”

“Is Nemesis unwilling to leave the forest because of outsiders’ misunderstandings about Witches?” Tu Nan asked.

Maria nodded. “Although she never said so outright, I don’t think any Witch would like people who see Witches as some kind of scourge.”

“When I first saw her in the forest, I was startled too. I thought she would kill me, or put some kind of curse on me.” At the memory, Maria couldn’t help giving a self-mocking laugh. “Who could have imagined that it would be a Witch who took me in?”

“Since Nemesis was willing to shelter you, maybe that means she doesn’t hate people from the outside that much,” Tu Nan guessed.

Maria thought back to the scene of her first meeting with Nemesis.

“But I always felt she wasn’t the kind of person who would casually take in a stranger.”

“The first time she saw me, the way she looked at me…” Maria shook her head and gave her verdict. “It was very strange.”