The calm before the storm felt suffocating to Lily. When it was time to deliver her dinner in the evening, nobody came. It was highly unusual because no matter how angry Fred was at Lily, he took great care of her regarding food and drinks. For the sake of the experiment, she knew he would never allow her body to suffer. Although she was not hungry, the fact that they did not deliver the meal indicated that something was up. Lily opened the door and asked the guard, "Where's my dinner?""No dinner tonight, ma'am. Please get an early rest," the guard said readily. "Why?" Lily asked, but the guard gave no reply.Besides telling her there was no dinner, he would not say another word. After some thought, Lily asked, "Where's Fred?"The guard continued to remain quiet. Lily raised her brow and then returned to her bedroom and shut the door. She sat by the bed but did not feel sleepy.'Fred hasn't shown up for quite a while, and they also didn’t deliver my dinner. Don't they care
It sounded like the rolling of car wheels, but it was louder than that. It even attracted everyone’s attention. Rhea joined the crowd as they hurried toward the door to see what was happening. Rhea saw two huge boxes being pushed past.Unable to see what they were, someone in the back asked, “What is it?A man in front shook his head and said, “No idea. They look like huge boxes. I wonder what’s inside.”"What else? The test subjects, of course," someone else said.Rhea's heart raced, wondering if Lily was inside one of the boxes. She wanted to take another look, but the workers had pushed the boxes out of her view.Soon, a guard appeared and said, “Everyone, you’ll be in groups according to this list. Please follow me when I call your names.”He then held up a list and started to call out names. Rhea was puzzled when everyone went to their groups and left with the guard.However, she did not ask about it and waited quietly. Several people shared curious glances and left as we
No wonder the guards separated them into groups and left in such a way. In other words, Fred had put them in charge of different parts of the experiment.With that, the authorities could never find out how the procedure worked unless they arrested all the personnel involved.“Thank you for trusting me, Your Grace,” Rhea said.She was happy to have the only complete handbook because she felt trusted and recognized by Fred.However, Fred squeezed her shoulder as if to emphasize how crucial her task was. He said, “It’s not because I trust you, okay? I want you to have it because you’ll be in charge of the most vital step.”Rhea was puzzled as he led her toward the laboratory’s innermost area. There was a rusty iron door that had stayed shut for a very long time. However, the door automatically opened when Fred neared, not even making a creak.Finally, Rhea understood the door simply looked old and worn to avoid attention.Fred let go of her shoulder and strode inside. “Come on. Her
Rhea wanted to tell Fred to leave the surgery to her, but she could not bring herself to do it. Her fingers trembled as she thought, ‘How am I supposed to perform such an intricate surgery alone?!’As if sensing her concerns, Fred said, "Don't worry, I've arranged top-notch assistants for you." 'What the hell?' Rhea thought. 'Why doesn't he have them perform the surgery instead? If they’re the best, why are they my assistants and not the other way around?' Although she had always thought highly of herself, her expertise was limited to research and development of drugs. Surgeries like these were not what she did best. "What's the matter? You can't handle it?" Fred asked somewhat unhappily after seeing her hesitance.Rhea gulped and said with a forced smile, "I'm honored you trust me so much, but—" "That's all I need to hear." Fred raised a hand and interrupted her. He knew he would not like what she was about to say."Rhea, I know you’ve performed brain surgeries before, and
"I don't want your best. I want your guarantee that it will succeed," Fred said as he stared at Rhea.She took a deep breath and nodded firmly. "I promise it’ll be a success." Seeing Rhea’s confident look, Fred nodded. "Good. Keep up the spirit, okay?"He then lowered his head and said to a mouthpiece, "Is everything ready?"After receiving a reply, Fred nodded and looked up at Rhea and three other surgeons. "Please get ready and change into surgical gowns now."They went in deeper, and Rhea found a sterile room and an operating room, complete with all the surgical equipment necessary. Fred must have gone to great lengths to build this place in Hyderland in secret. When they put on their surgical caps and masks, Fred got changed and joined them too. As they were the only people around, Rhea threw him an inquiring look. Fred smiled." Don't worry. The test subjects will be here soon." He called the queen and Lily test subjects, but Rhea didn't see any problem with that. If sh
The queen looked toward Lily. Fred then instructed a guard to remove the latter's blindfold. Lily heard their conversation but chose to remain quiet. When her blindfolds came off, she squinted against the piercing light."All right, we're all set. The experiment can begin now," Fred said happily, clapping his hands.He then looked toward Lily. "Oh, considering the sacrifice you'll be making for the queen, I'll consider granting you a request if you have any." He smiled kindly."Let me go maybe?" Lily said as she looked up at him. "You know very well that’s impossible." Shaking his head, Fred looked regretful. "How about something I can do instead? Like looking after your children, for example?" This served as both a tease and a threat, warning her not to struggle on account of her kids. Lily was perfectly capable of disrupting the experiment if she refused to cooperate, but she had to think about her family. As Fred said, although the Russells were powerful, they were no mat
Not expecting Fred to ask her to answer, Rhea was taken aback. "I…""You heard the queen. What's the success rate?" Fred pushed her.Not knowing the answer, Rhea gritted her teeth and murmured, "Theoretically speaking—""23 percent," Lily interrupted.Not knowing why Lily had said this, Rhea gave her a puzzled look. ‘Did she just pull out a random figure?'Without even a glance at Rhea, Lily added solemnly, "And this is only a rough estimation as the success also depends on the surgeons, the level of cooperation before the surgeon and attendants, the conditions of the test subjects, and so on.“Taking all these factors into consideration, the success rate could be as high as 45% or as low as less than 10 percent.”Fred listened intently as if he had forgotten that Lily was the one about to undergo surgery, not the one performing it."You heard that?" the queen asked Fred in a grave tone."Well…" Fred blinked, then caught himself. "She’s just bullshitting you so that you’d s
Fred said confidently, "Of course, Your Majesty. The experiment will—" Before he could finish, the queen smiled and said, "Good. Since you’ve said as much, I can stop worrying now.""You absolutely should!" Surprised that the queen would budge so easily, Fred thought she still trusted him as she used to. At the next moment, however, several guards walked in. Fred frowned. "Who told you to come in? Get out!"His words fell on deaf ears, and the guards encircled him. "Did you not hear me? Who do you work for?" Fred frowned. "Get the hell out of here, or I’ll kill you!""Do you think they’ll listen to you?" the queen said. Fred was puzzled for a moment before he caught on. "You arranged this?"The queen merely smiled in reply, but the answer was obvious. Fred laughed heartily. "No wonder you're so calm. I underestimated you, my dear queen." Making no retort, the queen merely sneered. "Do you really think they can stop me though?" Fred pointed at the men. "Your Majesty,