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,
"If you must know, many of the officials are on my side. Just leave the country to me. It's time for you to enjoy your retirement," he said with a smile, finally revealing his ambition to rule Yudonia. The queen sneered. "Oh, yeah? Who are these people who are backing you?""Why? Do you plan to take them out?" Fred smiled. "It's a pity that you won't have the chance."Come now, Your Majesty. You could simply cooperate with me and share in the joy of success with me. Why must you make a scene?" Turning around, he pointed toward her men. "People will only treat you and your men as a joke."He then said to his guards cheerfully, "Guys, take them away, and don't let anyone come in here again without my permission! We're about to begin the greatest experiment ever done."However, his men stayed in their spot as if they hadn't heard him. Noticing Fred's upset look, Rhea scolded, "Hey, didn't you guys hear what the duke said? Seize them!" Hearing her words, the guards turned and poi
"You're too arrogant," the queen said indifferently.Holding onto the armrest of the wheelchair, she slowly sat upright, looking as fit as can be.Gaping, Fred caught on. "You’ve been pretending to be dying! You planned all this!" "That's right. Otherwise, would you have proceeded with the experiment so soon?" The queen smiled gently.Fred was terrified. "This can’t be happening!" After all these years of careful planning and scheming, he couldn't believe the queen had uncovered his plot and prepared herself so well."As I said, you're too arrogant," the queen said, "As someone who has worked for me for so many years, you should know me better. Am I someone so gullible and easily manipulated? Do you think I've gotten senile?" Unable to accept his defeat, Fred was overwhelmed with emotions. Having expected this reaction, the queen said, "Do you think you'd be able to buy over my men so easily? You underestimate them and me. I would’ve been killed a thousand times over if the
All his efforts had gone to waste just as he was about to achieve success."All right, the show's over for you." The queen sighed regretfully. "I gave you a chance, but you chose to betray me. You've truly let me down, Fred." As Fred had served her for many years, the queen wanted to show him mercy. However, since he had tried to replace her, she didn’t have any other choice in the matter."This is all a mistake, Your Majesty. I've always told you that you’d stand to benefit from the experiment, haven't I? Yes, I’ve taken some wrong turns and gotten a bit greedy, but I only restricted your freedom and did all this for you!“Think about it. Why have I put so much effort into this?" Fred was unwilling to give up. "When the experiment succeeds, you’re going to be the one to live on forever. What do I have to gain from this?" "Cut the act, Fred!" Lily’s cold voice interrupted him. "You’re just using me and the queen as guinea pigs. If the experiment succeeds, you’ll then repeat it a
Startled, Rhea stopped and wondered if Lily knew she was trying to escape. However, the latter shifted her cold gaze back to Fred and said, “You’ve long found a vessel for yourself. You even picked a young one to have enough time to make preparations, didn’t you?”Fred grew pale, saying, “Say whatever you like. I know the queen won’t believe me anymore because of your lies!”“You know better than me whether or not I’m telling the truth.”Rhea suddenly thought of something. Although Lily’s words were baffling, Rhea strangely understood them. Rhea wondered if she had guessed correctly and looked at Lily in astonishment.“You still refuse to admit it, huh?” The queen chuckled. “Then who the hell is Nick Corden?”Fred was stunned and played dumb. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Your Majesty. Still, I know you're not going to believe me no matter what I say. I want you to know that I’ve done all this for your sake.”He then stopped talking and put on an innocent look. Those w
However, the queen’s following words dampened Fred’s excitement. "Since you've done so much for me, you must be willing to do one more thing, right?" Fred had a bad feeling in his gut and asked, "What… is it?""Why don't you help me find out whether or not R10 works?" she said casually with a smirk. Fred grew alarmed. "Your Majesty… I…"Stunned, Lily looked at the queen. "You're not up for it?" the queen asked, "Aren't you devoted to me? Why are you scared?" "No!" Fred gritted his teeth. "It's not that I'm scared, but the experiment has strict requirements, which I'm sure you're aware of."I had to go to great lengths to find the most suitable vessel for you. I even let you two recuperate for a long time to ensure a high level of compatibility. Therefore, it would take time before we can proceed with the experiment, even if I do have a suitable vessel." After a pause, he thought of something and added, "I swear I'll go through the experiment for your sake if there’s a suit
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