Fred woke up in pain, yelping as his eyes snapped open. He wanted to move his arms but could not. Turning his head, he saw several people holding his arms and legs down.Some noticed he was awake and said, “Sorry about this, Your Grace. I must do this to fix your arm.”The pain caused Fred to stay wide awake. He glanced at the wall clock and then the doctor, asking, “How much longer?”"About 30 minutes," the doctor replied as he carefully applied the splint to Fred’s arm.“Is it broken? Can you save my arm?” That was what Fred cared about most.The doctor shook his head. “Your Grace, you didn’t exactly break your arm. However, it is dislocated.”“Dislocated?”“A unique force somehow dislocated your arm at the joint without damaging the bone. Still, I must apply a splint and properly bandage it. It’s best not to use your arm for some time after I finish, okay?" The doctor explained with a frown while applying the splint.“Hey, why are you applying the splint if it's not broken?”
Fred recalled what Lily did when he spied on her and asked, “Can’t you just feel my wrist and tell me if I’m poisoned?”The doctor answered calmly, “You’re talking about checking your wrist pulse, huh? I’m sorry, I’ve never undergone such training before. However, I am interested in learning about it. I tried before, but I couldn’t master it.”The doctor looked regretful while Fred rolled his eyes.When the doctor finished drawing blood, Fred held a piece of sterile cotton against his vein and stood up. “How long will it take to know the results?”“About 30 minutes.”“30 minutes again?” Fred gritted his teeth and glared at the doctor. “Fine, I’ll give you 30 minutes! Report to me once the results are out, got it?”‘If the analysis indicates that I’m not poisoned, I’ll make Lily pay for this!’As he was leaving, someone stumbled in. “Your Grace, those men have started sanitizing the embassy!”“What?!” Fred widened his eyes in disbelief. “How dare they do it without my permission
“Fred,” a low voice came through the phone.Fred answered, “Yes?”“Let them do it.”Fred widened his eyes and subconsciously glanced over his shoulder. The man in the hazmat remained standing there, seemingly waiting for his answer.Fred walked away a few steps and lowered his voice. “Your Majesty, you know what they’re up to. They aren’t here to disinfect the embassy. They are here to—"“Find someone, right?” The queen interrupted.“You knew, yet you…” Fred was puzzled. He thought the queen did not know what the men in hazmat suits were up to. However, she knew, and he wondered why she would let them in.‘If they do, wouldn’t they…’“Fred, you must know this is the embassy, not the Royal Palace of Yudonia. How many times can you turn them away? They will keep coming back.” The queen paused momentarily, then said, “Just let them do whatever they want.“They’ll only give up after conducting a thorough search, and they’ll have no more excuses next time.”Fred nodded. “Yes, Your
The embassy was a vast place with many staff. Some of them cursed Alexander in Yudonian, while others remained courteous.Since the Yudonians could not see his face because of the hazmat suit, he ignored them and continued his search. Alexander carefully checked the rooms and realized they were ordinary offices.‘It doesn’t look like there are secret passages or chambers around.’Since he had some in his house, he could more or less spot traces of their existence. However, it was evident there were none in those rooms.Alexander failed to find anything when he finished checking the whole building. Soon after, he met with the others and learned they had also found nothing. Still, he did not give up and moved to the next building.Meanwhile, Fred sat in his office and looked at the surveillance feed. He saw the five people exploring each room indifferently until he saw one of the men heading toward the medical room.Anxious, Fred clenched his fist and moved the mouse to bring up th
Fred smiled. “I’m not asking for much. I only hope you guys stop coming here after finishing your work today. We can cooperate, but you will disrupt our daily work if you keep coming here for inspections.“As you understand, there are confidential materials in our embassy. If anything goes wrong, it wouldn’t be good for the ties between our countries, would it?”Fred was reasonable, and the man in the hazmat suit could not disagree with him. Therefore, he looked at Fred deeply before nodding. “You’re right.”Fred said indifferently, “So, you must promise not to disturb us again after this. At least not so soon.”The man did not respond to Fred immediately. Instead, he spoke to someone through his Bluetooth earpiece before telling Fred, “Okay, my leader has agreed to your reasonable request.”“Excellent. Go ahead then.” Fred opened the door and added, “Not only this room, okay? Feel free to search—oh, I mean, disinfect every room. However, I hope you can hurry up. We’ve got a lot o
This time, Fred did not follow the man. Instead, he turned and looked around the disinfected room. Since the room was tidy and only had a few simple things inside, he could check the entire place in one glance.Soon after, he held the door handle and gently shut the door before returning to his office.About an hour later, the workers finished disinfecting the building. The five people gathered in the lobby and exchanged quiet looks.“So?!” Fred thundered as he descended the stairs. “Did you finish disinfecting every room?”“Yes, Your Grace,” the leader answered, “Thank you for cooperating with us.”“What kind of virus are you dealing with now? It won’t spread to our place, will it?” Fred asked.“It likely won’t, but we can’t guarantee that. From what I know, Your Grace has studied medicine, so I’m sure you understand.”Nodding, Fred chuckled. “Since you’ve completed your job, please keep your promise. Don’t come disturbing us again so soon.”“We’re not here to disturb you, sir
Fred slowly looked the man in the eyes. “You seem familiar. Since you’ve completed your disinfection work, why don’t you remove your hazmat suit before we talk?”“Sorry, I’m on duty and can’t just take it off. However, I’ll still be able to help you with your arm.” He took a step forward to grab it.Fred stepped back and avoided the man’s grasp. “Thanks, but no thanks! Although I’ve heard many good things about herbal medicine, I trust our doctors more.”He was blunt, and his gaze was hostile.Seeing him so, the man in the hazmat suit did not insist. “Well, it’s your call, Your Grace. We better get going now.”Immediately after, he headed out and led his team away. However, one person remained still, as if his feet were glued to the floor, staring at Fred. The person beside him noticed it and dragged him along forcefully.Fred sneered as he stared after the five people in hazmat suits.When the team returned to the minivan, Mike removed his suit before sighing. “Why the hell did
Mike was surprised. “What did you discover?”“Didn’t you notice Fred’s injured arm?” Alexander looked at the two.Edward and Mike exchanged a puzzled look.“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything? Didn’t he say that he fell?” Mike asked with a frown. “Oh, why did you insist on helping with his arm? Who cares if he breaks it?”Alexander shook his head. “Why do you think he refused to let me try even though I insisted?”“How would I know?”“Because he has something to hide,” Alexander said blandly, “He’s also a lot smarter and alert than we thought.”Since Fred had decisively turned him down, it meant he had guessed Alexander’s intentions. Meanwhile, Mike and Edward were unaware of what it was all about. Of course, Fred could also be suspicious of Alexander.Mike was puzzled. “Is there anything suspicious about his injured arm?”Edward caught on. “You think it has something to do with Lily?”Alexander nodded.Although Mike could not understand it, Edward could. After
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