Dominic stood up with a mysterious smile. "Come with me!"Lily obediently followed behind him, and they walked through the backyard, bypassing a promenade, and walked to a corner at the back. The place used to be a wasteland, but Dominic had somehow renovated it and even built a hut.When Dominic opened the door, the sounds of clucking echoed from the inside."Pigeons?!" Lily widened her eyes in surprise.‘When did he get so many pigeons?!’"They're carrier pigeons!" Dominic corrected her. "These are specially trained carrier pigeons. Don't underestimate them because of their sizes. These birds can fly very far and know exactly where to go."Lily was speechless. Then she frowned and asked, "How far can they fly? Can they fly to Burnwken?""Of course!" He confidently answered, "Besides flying across the Pacific Ocean, my carrier pigeon can go almost anywhere!""Have you tried them?" She was a little suspicious."What don’t you try? Do you think I don’t get bored sitting alone t
As the two walked toward the house, Lily was moved by what he did.Although she said nothing, she did not expect the old man to take the initiative to find out about the situation for her. Regardless of whether he had heard anything back, she was still touched by his actions."Hey, old man…" She called out in a low voice."Yes?""Thank you!" She rushed toward him and hugged him.The old man quickly took a step back with an indescribable expression. He quickly rubbed his arms. "All right, all right!" Lily couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you, old man!" "Enough!" He waved his hands around and spat through gritted teeth, "I'm more used to you telling me that I owe this to you!"This made Lily laugh even more. However, she stopped teasing him. "I know you're worried. It's natural for you to be worried when you don't hear from him, but this also means you're more prone to making the wrong decisions. Take a step back and think things through before you react. You're a smart woman.
"It's fine. He's not heavy!" Dominic spun around twice to show that the child wasn't heavy."Aren’t you afraid of hurting your back?""My back is fine. I'm way stronger than you young people!" The old man grinned happily. Although he would often complain about Galen, he secretly loved Galen from the bottom of his heart. Otherwise, he would not have protected Galen over and over again.Shaking her head, Lily had no choice but to let the two play.Dominic noticed that she seemed better and did not ask any more questions. Instead, he walked around the house and into the backyard with Galen on his shoulders.Lily, worried that Dominic might hurt himself, trailed behind them.The backyard was filled with all kinds of herbs, stretching as far as the eye could see. This place was a herb garden. There was even a faint smell of herbs in the air."Did you use everything you took from me a few days ago?" Dominic asked calmly as he stared into the distance. Lily glanced at him. "Yes.""H
"And?" Dominic was startled as he tried to digest her words.At this time, Galen, who had been riding on Dominic's shoulders, struggled to get off. The old man then slowly sat down on the chair next to him. Lily carried Galen off and noticed Dominic slumped onto the chair, obviously tired."With that old back of yours, how are you so stubborn? Do you think you're still young?" Lily couldn't help but say."Don't look down on me. I'm a lot stronger than most youngsters nowadays!" He stretched his back to prove a point but screamed in pain."Look at you!" Lily grumbled. With that, she pulled Galen into the room."Hey! Where are you going? Are you going to leave me here alone? Hey! Do you even care about me?!" His cries attracted the servants, and they rushed over. "Sir, what's wrong? Sir?""Go! It's none of your business!" He shooed them away impatiently.Then, unable to hold back his pain, he changed his mind. "Go and get me some ointment!"Just as the servant nodded, he saw that
"What are you saying?""All I'm saying is, why did you suddenly think these things might be related? Is there a reason behind it?" With his explanation, everything Dominic said suddenly made sense.'That's right. Why do I feel like these things are connected? There must be a common denominator that I’ve yet to think of.'"The laboratory research, why do they want to fuse highly toxic medicinal herbs and raw materials so people could inhale them silently and unconsciously?" Lily began to analyze, thinking out loud."As for the plague in Burnwken, I heard that the employees had unknowingly inhaled poison. They couldn't find the source of transmission, and it spread very quickly. As for Tasia…"After a pause, Lily continued, "Although there's no connection between the two, Tasia was also chronically poisoned by unconsciously inhaling the toxins. It's just that I managed to trace the source of the poison. It’s mixed with various herbs, and it takes time. It's also a complicated proces
"Hey, didn't you say you would leave him here? W-Why are you changing your mind?" Dominic chased after the mother-son duo without putting his shoes on and complained."I'm not leaving yet. I'll bring Galen over when I am," Lily replied helplessly. "Didn't you tell me to take him elsewhere?""Does Grandpa hate me?" Galen's eyes widened. Hurt was evident on his face, and he dropped the little toy car in his hand out of shock.Seeing this, Dominic was immediately distressed. "No, no. How could I hate you? I will always dote on you!"With that, he pursed his lips and leaned toward Galen's cheek. However, Galen turned away and said, "What do you mean?""It means I like you! You are my favorite person in the world!" It was only in front of Galen that Dominic would proclaim his love so directly like this.Lily could not stand watching this and turned away with a sigh. She did not blame her son for always pulling Dominic's beard or destroying his things. At this moment, Galen had buried
‘That can’t be Professor Thompson, so who is it?’The first person that came to Austin’s mind was Rhea. There was only a few female staff at the institute, and he could only think of one person who loved wearing heels that would work till this hour.‘Why is she coming to look for Professor Thompson at this time?’Austin did not know why, but he changed his mind and instantly retracted his foot into the room. Then he closed the door and even took two steps back. Just after he did that, the woman in heels entered the room.There was more than one person, judging from the sound of the footsteps, and the other person’s footsteps sounded heavier.“Professor Thompson, I’m sure you’ve heard what our superior said earlier. I’d advise you not to be too stubborn about this. We can’t stop this project after how far we’ve come. Plus, you’ve seen the results too. Do you want to see all your hard work go to waste?”It was Rhea’s voice.‘What is she saying? What superior? What do they need to
Before Austin could think any further, he heard Rhea's voice, which was now even colder from outside. There was a hint of warning in her words. “Professor Thompson, I understand you’re an old-fashioned old man, but you need to understand that you no longer have full control of the experiment. Do you want to stop it now? That’s impossible! You can’t quit either! You’re a different case from Lily because you know way too much!”Austin did not hear any reply from Thompson, but he heard the older man’s long sigh instead. ‘Professor Thompson must be feeling helpless about the situation.’However, what had just happened left Austin reeling, perhaps because he had not expected Rhea to dare speak so rudely to Thompson or threaten him. Suddenly, he felt that he knew nothing about this research at all.‘Who’s the superior they’re talking about? Is someone else in control of this besides the investors?’After spending so much time and effort on the experiment, Austin thought he was close to
Lily tilted her head up to fight back her tears, saying, “There’s something I find strange.”“What is it?” Mike asked after comforting his son.“Instead of detaining Prince Ross, Her Majesty has sent him back to Yudonia. If so, why couldn’t we reach him?”After some thought, Mike answered, “There are two possibilities. It’s probably due to poor signals, or he doesn’t want us to contact him.”The two shared a look, knowing what each other was wondering.‘Why can’t we contact Ross? Is he planning something?’…Three days later, Lily inserted the last needle into the queen’s leg and looked up at her, saying, “You should start feeling your legs tomorrow. Still, it’ll take some time before you can stand.”Suddenly, Lily chuckled.“Why are you laughing?” Yasmin touched her legs. She had begun to regain sensation in her legs over the last two days. She then began to believe that she could get up. However, the queen was hesitant when the queen heard Lily chuckle.Lily shook her head
Lily straightened up and said without resentment, “Of course, you wouldn’t.”“That’s… quite a pity,” the queen murmured thoughtfully.“Well, there’s a price to pay for everything. That’s how the world balances itself,” Lily continued, “I can’t stop you if you must carry on with R10. Still, I won’t witness whether or not it succeeds. I just wish the outcome isn’t something you’ll regret.”Lily smiled and turned to head out the door.Rick heard their conversation as he stood guard outside. After exchanging looks with Lily as she brushed past him, he entered the room and saw the needles in Yasmin’s legs. “Your Majesty, those needles—”The queen waved dismissively. “It’s okay. Lily will remove them later.”Even so, Rick was wary. “You’re being too careless, Your Majesty. What if that woman—”“She wouldn’t,” Yasmin interjected, shaking her head."Why do you trust her so much?" Rick asked despite himself. The queen fell silent. If Rick had not asked her that, she would not have rea
Lily took out a cloth and unfolded it, revealing a row of silver needles inside. Yasmin was surprised she carried the needles with her.“Tell me. What do you want?” The queen took a deep breath to calm herself. She then reminded herself that she could always say no to Lily’s request. Still, Yasmin was cautious about Lily trying to trick her.Lily casually said, "I left because Prince Ross wanted to help me. I hope you don’t punish him.""That's it?" Yasmin thought she had misheard Lily. 'Is she trying to talk terms with me just so that I won't punish my son?' she wondered in disbelief."Ross is my son. I won't harm him. Don't you think you've wasted an opportunity by making such a request?" The queen shook her head. "I wasn’t sure if you’d blame him, but he did rescue me once. If I don't do anything, it would be ungrateful of me," Lily said gently, "Also, didn’t you already lock him up?"Yasmin was puzzled. "No, I only sent him back to Yudonia. He kept trying to get me to sto
"Three days," Lily replied.“That’s it?!” Yasmin was in disbelief. She thought Lily would try to buy some more time and suspected she would say the process would take several months or even years.‘I haven’t felt my legs for over a decade. I wouldn’t mind waiting for three more days.’“Are you sure I can get up and walk in just three days?” Yasmin pressed her legs hard but felt nothing. She would have treated her legs long ago if it were that easy.The queen had visited many famous doctors from various countries, but they could only stop her legs from getting weaker. However, Lily confidently told Yasmin that she could fix her legs so quickly.Yasmin wanted to believe it.After some consideration, Lily said, “I can’t guarantee that you’ll walk as fast as you once could. After all, you haven’t used your legs for a long time, and your muscles have atrophied. Still, you’ll recover slowly.”Yasmin nodded repeatedly, thinking it was good enough. She never dreamed of walking as well a
“Because only our opinions matter." Lily thought of something and said, "Unless you choose to believe Rhea.""I… don't trust anyone." Yasmin’s expression stiffened as she turned her wheelchair away."Your Majesty, I know you're dedicated to the experiment, but there are other things in life. Have you ever considered letting go of your burden to sightsee? You’ve done enough as a queen over the last few decades. Aren’t you tired of living a lonely life?”Lily gently spoke as she gazed at Yasmin’s back.The older woman caressed her knees with both hands and stared down at her legs, murmuring, “Sightsee, huh? I’ve forgotten what that’s like.”Yasmin had not used her legs for many years. Initially, she could still stand up and sometimes took a few steps. However, she could no longer get to her feet.She had grown accustomed to sitting in a wheelchair, but she felt a pang of sorrow after hearing Lily’s suggestion.Lily asked, “What if I can help you stand again? What if you can walk a
"Yes, I returned not just for him but also for you," Lily said, "I'm sure you were anxious for my return, weren't you?"Yasmin scoffed dismissively. "Why would I be? I have my bargaining chip. Besides, did you honestly think I couldn’t bring you back?""Bargaining chip? Do you mean Nick?" Lily shook her head with a smile. "Don't forget that he's not my son. Do you think he'll be much of a bargaining chip to you if I choose to ignore him for my three children?"She did not wait for Yasmin to reply and continued, "Besides, Nick still has a father who’s willing to die for him. If Mike decides to take drastic action against you— Yes, you're a queen, and you don't care much about an insignificant businessman.“However, don't forget that his business spans worldwide. There's no guarantee what he might do. Who knows, he might spread information that can affect Your Majesty and Yudonia's reputation?""You…" The queen was exasperated but could not retort.Lily noticed it and casually said
Rick could only remain silent at that moment.Yasmin then turned her wheelchair around and blandly said, “Bring Lily over. I’d like to see what excuses that sly woman can come up with.”"Your Majesty?" Rick was puzzled. "You know she'll just lie to you. Why must you—"Yasmin interjected, "I'd like to hear what she has to say."Rick had no choice but to leave and do as she said.As Lily was about to doze off, she heard noises from outside and opened her eyes. Immediately after, the door opened, and Rick appeared. He glared at her and spoke coldly, “Her Majesty wants to see you.”Lily glanced at Rick calmly and stood up as if she had expected his appearance. On the other hand, Mike rose before her and headed out.However, Rick stopped him as he reached the door. “You stay.”"But we came together!" Mike glanced over his shoulder at Lily, signaling her to persuade the man. Rick added, "The queen doesn’t wish to see you. Just stay here!"Lily patted Mike's shoulder and said gentl
Everyone was shocked when Lily returned to the embassy with Mike. One of the staff members quickly left to report the news to Queen Yasmin.Meanwhile, Lily saw people peering at her and Mike from the corner. Afterward, several guarded-looking men appeared. Lilt recognized them as the queen’s attendants. They brought Mike and Lily inside and then gave the duo a thorough search.The men only relaxed after finding nothing suspicious about the duo. Even so, Lily could not see the queen as the men told her to wait in an innermost room instead.After returning to the embassy, Lily felt a sense of strange familiarity. Although she knew the place well, her mindset had changed.She previously hated the embassy and simply wanted to escape. However, she had returned with a critical mission. Not only did she have to complete it, but she also needed to leave the place in one piece.While she was calm, Mike was somewhat anxious. He clasped his hands on his knees and glanced around as he sat dow
"I promise I'll do anything you want, okay?" Mike begged. He was desperate to see his son, so he decided to follow Lily when she insisted on returning to the embassy.Mike continued, “If any of you go with her, they might stop or suspect you. They won’t do that to me. It’s natural for me to want to see and rescue my son. I’m the best candidate because it makes sense for me to sacrifice myself for him.”After a short silence, Lily said, “You’re right.” She then looked at Alexander, who pondered before slowly raising his head and saying, “Me too.”Dominic tapped the table. "So do I."Cameron thought for a moment before saying, "I've no objections."Seeing this, Austin spread his arms and said, "Since you all agree, what else can I say? Let's do it!"It did not matter whether or not he agreed, but he just wanted to support Mike. The latter nodded and became emotional, saying, “Thanks, you guys!”"Why are you thanking us? Just be careful, and don’t be rash like you promised," Aust