Chapter 175

Chapter 175

“How did you know?” Nemesis demanded sharply. “What do you know?”

“Maria once told me that when you first met her, you reacted strangely,” Tu Nan said. “I didn’t understand why at the time, but seeing your reaction now, it’s easy enough to guess.”

“That’s why I’m going to find her.”

“Have you considered what happens if she isn’t?” Tu Nan looked at her and spoke quickly. “A Witch can sense another Witch. You should know perfectly well whether Maria is a Witch or not. Besides, given your relationship with her, if you suddenly went to her like this, do you think Maria would believe you?”

A gust of cold wind seemed to blow through Nemesis’s fevered mind, and she finally calmed down.

“So I’m supposed to just keep knowing nothing?” she asked with a bitter laugh.

“The only person who knows everything right now is the Queen,” Tu Nan said in a low voice. “We have to focus our efforts on her.”

Nemesis frowned. “But from the look of her, she seems determined not to say a word.”

Tu Nan lowered her head and thought for a moment. “Maybe we can find a breakthrough somewhere else.”

“Where?” Nemesis pressed.

“It’s too late tonight. There’s nothing more we can do.” Tu Nan yawned. After the entire night, both her body and mind were exhausted to the limit. She urgently needed rest.

“You’ve waited twenty years. There’s no need to rush this one moment.” She patted Nemesis on the shoulder. “I’ll find a way to look into it for you tomorrow.”
—
After Tu Nan finally persuaded Nemesis to leave for the time being, she returned from the Garden to the Royal Palace. Instead of going straight back to her own room, she first made a trip to Xu Duoyi’s room.

Standing outside the door, she knocked three short times and one long time. The door was quickly opened.

Xu Duoyi, sporting a pair of enormous dark circles under her eyes, glanced at her and stepped aside to let her in.

Tu Nan entered and sat down on the sofa.

“Handled?” Xu Duoyi asked.

“Eugene is dead, but the Queen… she isn’t Aphro.”

“She isn’t?” Xu Duoyi’s brows drew tight. “Then who could it be? If we can’t find Aphro, we’ll lose Nemesis as an ally…”

Tu Nan briefly recounted the conversation between the people in the Garden.

“Aphro is already dead?” Xu Duoyi’s eyes widened, and even her drowsiness faded a little. “Then what about Nemesis?”

“But… Aphro may have had a daughter,” Tu Nan said softly.

“…” Xu Duoyi stared at her with wide eyes. “There are hundreds of girls in that age range across the kingdom, if not a thousand.”

“That’s why we have to know who Aphro really was.” Tu Nan propped her chin on her hand, faint shadows of blue beneath her eyes. “But that isn’t the most important thing right now. The most important thing is Maria’s marriage.”

“Hasn’t it already been postponed?” Xu Duoyi asked.

“That’s not a long-term solution.” Tu Nan lowered her voice. “Tonight I ran into an acquaintance from the previous Instance. She told me that the Prince intends to attack this country on the day of the Wedding.”

“Since he already has that idea, why would he allow the date to keep being delayed?”

“Things have gotten difficult,” Xu Duoyi said with a sigh. “It wouldn’t be hard to put Maria on the Throne. Eugene is dead now. At worst, we take out Dennis too, leaving the King with no other choice.”

“But…”

The two of them exchanged a look.

“If Maria takes power without the people’s support and without military authority of her own, she won’t be able to hold that position,” Tu Nan said grimly.
“But our mission is only to help her take the throne,” Xu Duoyi said, glancing at her. “Do we really need to do that much?”

Tu Nan lowered her eyes, seeming to waver.

“Once the mission is complete, we can choose whether to leave the Instance at any time,” she said. “Since that’s the case, I want to help her as much as I can, so she can hold on to that position a little more firmly.”

Xu Duoyi looked at her, her expression dark, and said nothing.

“If you don’t want to, you can choose to leave at any time,” Tu Nan added.

“Haha.” Xu Duoyi suddenly laughed. “And here I thought you’d be the one who didn’t want to.”

She bounced over to Tu Nan in a few quick steps, plopped down on the sofa beside her, and slung an arm firmly around Tu Nan’s shoulders. “This Instance isn’t dangerous. With an opportunity this good, maybe we’ll even get an unexpected surprise out of it.”

“An unexpected surprise?” Tu Nan raised an eyebrow.

“Secret.” Xu Duoyi made a shushing gesture, then raised her brows back at her.

“I just learned from the Queen that this so-called sacrificial ritual involves burning you to death.” Tu Nan smiled at her. “Any ideas?”

Xu Duoyi narrowed her eyes and gave two cold laughs. “That’s about what I guessed. When I went to the Church, there was a huge sacrificial altar there. I thought something was wrong the moment I saw it. And the Church is a Rule location. Very creepy.”

“What Rule?” Tu Nan asked at once.

Xu Duoyi shook her head. “I only faintly sensed the power of a Rule. The Queen was right beside me, so I couldn’t go looking for it.”

Tu Nan fell into thought.

It wouldn’t take the Church long to prepare the sacrificial ritual. It seemed there was one more thing she had to do.

“You’re about to be sacrificed. The King is afraid you’ll run, so he definitely won’t let you leave the Royal Palace,” Tu Nan said, looking at Xu Duoyi. “I’ll have to go to the Church myself.”

“Thanks for your hard work.” Xu Duoyi patted her on the shoulder. “The organization will remember your sacrifice.”

Tu Nan smiled kindly. “The organization has other tasks for you.”

Xu Duoyi tilted her head and looked at her in confusion.
—
The first ray of morning sunlight shone into the bedroom, and Tu Nan opened her eyes immediately.

Her head felt unusually heavy from lack of sleep. The longer she stayed in the Instance, the more she felt she truly needed an item that could keep her from having to sleep.

She yawned, sprang out of bed, washed up as quickly as possible, changed into a light dress, and headed out.

Her schedule today was packed.

Tu Nan’s first stop was Dennis’s bedroom.

It was still early, and a spoiled playboy like Dennis would absolutely be sleeping in.

Tu Nan stood at the door and patiently knocked for a while. At last, Dennis came to open it.

“What blind fool is making noise this early in the-” Dennis’s curse cut off abruptly when he saw Tu Nan.

He froze for a moment, then immediately fumbled to smooth out his rumpled shirt.

“Miss Judy…” he said, a little surprised. “Why are you here?”

“Good morning.” Tu Nan beamed at Dennis and said gently, “The weather is lovely today, and I thought… it would be the perfect morning to have breakfast with you. I wonder if I might have that honor?”

She lowered her eyes slightly, revealing a shy expression.

Dennis paused. “…Of course.”