In the Royal City, as battles continued breaking out across the four borders, George was so occupied that he had no time to visit the harem.Rachel frequently visited the royal study, but even she rarely saw the king.In mid-to-late March, Jane received news from Wallace. What she had requested had already been delivered from the northern borders.The bodies of the Drakonas Squadron soldiers had been temporarily placed in the public morgue.That night, Jane personally left the palace to look at them.Her expression was cold.Jocelyn, for her own selfish desires, had not hesitated to sacrifice so many lives. Many of them had not died at the hands of the Romenian army, but had been secretly eliminated by Jocelyn in advance.Wallace had already uncovered the truth and was furious."Commander, we must make Jocelyn pay in blood to avenge our fallen brothers!"How could Jocelyn be so ruthless?Jane's gaze was dark and cold, like the chill of early spring."How is the battle going
"What? The queen isn't the real queen?"Mary's eyes were filled with shock.Jocelyn appeared upright, but there was a sinister glint in her gaze."I only just found out myself. It turns out the Foster family has twin daughters. The elder sister was raised outside of the family all along. The one who was truly supposed to marry into the palace was the younger sister, Wendy Foster."But for some unknown reason, the younger sister disappeared. That was when the Foster family had the elder sister take her place."Mary's face turned pale. Then her cheeks became red. She couldn't believe something like this happened. It was unheard of. And it had happened to the royal family, no less."This is treason! How dare the Foster family deceive the king?"As a member of the royal family and the king's sister, Mary could not tolerate such deceit."For the Foster family to do something like this, their intentions must be sinister," Jocelyn added with a concerned tone.A chilling glint flashed
Rachel was still struggling in the water, flailing desperately, but no one went in to save her.Mary grabbed Jane forcefully, her demeanor overbearing. "Whoever pushed her should be the one to save her!" she ordered.This was Serene Palace. Almost all the guards and maids around had been arranged by Mary. With that, she moved to push Jane in.It was March, and the pond was bone-chillingly cold.Jane sidestepped swiftly, dodging Mary's push.Mary's gaze was stern. "Your Majesty, you–"Unexpectedly, although Jane had avoided her shove, she stepped into the water herself the next moment.Mary was so exasperated that she laughed."H-Help me–!" Rachel couldn't swim. Her heavy layers of clothing restricted her limbs.She bobbed up and down in the water, swallowing large gulps of water. She was filled with despair. Facing death, she found it impossible to remain calm and rational."Help me–!"Just as she lost the strength to struggle and was about to sink, a hand grabbed her. It wa
Jane's hair was still damp and loosely tied into a bun. A cold wind blew against her, lifting the hem of her dress.Maya hurried after her and spoke earnestly, "Your Majesty, shouldn't you at least argue with His Majesty a little? Are you really going to let him misunderstand you like this?"Jane gazed into the distance, her expression distant."It doesn't matter."George was someone who had nothing to do with her in the first place.-In the side chamber, the physician was checking Rachel. The king stood by the window, hands clasped behind his back, his gaze far away.Rachel looked at him from behind. Her expression was complex. Since Wendy left, George had been standing there, staring into the unknown.When the physician finished his examination, he reported to the king."Your Majesty, Lady Rachel has caught a cold, leading to physical weakness. I will prescribe some medicine to dispel the chill, but she must not be exposed to the cold again, or her condition will worsen."
Maya ran into Zen Palace gloating."Your Majesty, guess what! There's trouble over at Grace Palace! His Majesty rarely visits the harem, and tonight was supposed to be Lady Rachel's turn to serve him. But somehow, she offended him, and he just left her there. Not only that, he even ordered her to be confined!"The more Maya spoke, the more excited she became, while Jane felt a faint headache coming on. She managed the harem's affairs only for the sake of maintaining peace. With Maya chattering away like this, it was impossible to concentrate."Get out. No one is allowed to enter without my permission."Maya had no idea what she had said wrong.With Lily away visiting family, she finally had a chance to serve her mistress, yet Wendy always remained distant. It left her feeling dejected.Jane ignored Maya's wounded expression, moving the abacus beads with one hand without even looking up."Still not leaving?" she asked.Just as Maya turned around, she caught sight of something an
George had barely had any time to rest lately due to the ongoing wars across the four borders. He slept quite well in Zen Palace's bed.-Meanwhile, in Grace Palace, Rachel sat in the bathtub, her eyes swollen and sore. Tears fell and mixed with the water.As expected, she still hadn't been able to do it. Everyone believed she was deeply favored by the king, but in reality, he had never once touched her.In such circumstances, how could she possibly conceive a child?Tonight, she had tried to express her desire to serve the king. But the look he gave her was so cold, warning her not to covet something she didn't deserve.She didn't deserve him.Did she truly not even deserve to bear a royal heir?"Ha!" Rachel let out a bitter laugh. She covered her mouth with her hand, suppressing the rage and resentment within her.The king was truly ruthless.Outside the bath chamber, Aurelia stood anxiously. Tonight, her mistress should have been able to serve the king, but he had simply l
George set down his wine cup without hesitation. His tone was calm and composed. "Very well, I'll listen to the queen."Steven was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected this at all.Jane hadn't thought George would be so easily persuaded either. She was mainly worried that if he got drunk, it would ruin her plans.The officials at the table were deeply moved."Your Majesty, Jadonia's crushing defeat is truly satisfying!""They actually were fooled by a fake defense map, thinking they could break through Nidora's defenses. How delusional!""Your Majesty, there's a young man at the northern borders named Conan. He has made great contributions in this battle. His future is promising!""Conan? That name sounds familiar. Isn't he the one who presented the onyxite back then?" George asked."Yes, that's him!"Jane quietly took a sip of her wine.George's interest in Conan was piqued. Henry's disciple was certainly no ordinary man. If he continued serving the court, he would be properly re
George gave Jane no room to deny it."Do you remember the osmanthus scent? The osmanthus scent I used on that female assassin, you had it on you as well."Jane remembered. "Osmanthus is used for tracking," George continued. "Once it touches someone, the scent lingers for three days. It won't fade or transfer to others."Jane's expression stiffened slightly. So he had caught her that early.George fixed his gaze on her."You exhausted your strength to save me. When I was poisoned with that potent drug, you were the one who helped me. Wendy, everything you have done for me, I know it all."Jane furrowed her brows slightly."I saved you because you are the king," she said. "But did you ever wonder? How could a woman raised in seclusion possibly know martial arts?""I had my people investigate," George replied. "I even suspected that you were not actually Wendy Foster. On the night of the Autumn Feast, I arranged a blood test between you and your father. It confirmed that you are
Jane never told George that Darren had died for her. The Thiberium poisoning had been meant for her. Darren had taken it in her place.She also never told George that Darren had already given her the Miracle Needles manual. At the time, she had been too busy waging war and had only learned half of it. So when he was poisoned, even though she hastily studied the rest, she still couldn't save him in time.Because of this, she could never forgive herself.That night, many struggled to sleep.George and the royal guards practiced combat through the night. The guards were miserable.Rachel lay awake until dawn, unable to calm her excitement about leaving the palace with the king the next day.The next morning, by the break of dawn, Rachel was already dressed and had prepared the offerings.The guards assigned to escort her had the carriage ready. When a concubine left the palace, she had to use the side gate.Rachel, however, didn't get into the carriage right away. Instead, she ask
In the evening, at Tyrian Palace, George was about to settle down for the night when he noticed that Jane was still reading.He walked over. "Is that book really so fascinating?"Jane didn't even look up."I've sent people to investigate the purchase records of floral brocade in recent years. While waiting, I thought I'd search for clues about that nine-tailed serpent motif."George snatched the book from her hands, forcing her to raise her head and look at him. "It could just be an ordinary design.""Perhaps." Jane reached for the book, but he spoke again."There's a military physician in the Northern Battalion with the last name Durand. Was he the one who taught you Miracle Needles?"Jane's gaze subtly shifted.Growing impatient, George pressed further. "I want the truth. Was it him?"Jane's expression was cold and detached. "Yes."A storm brewed within George.The Durand family never passed down the Miracle Needles technique to outsiders—only their own bloodline. That mea
There were screams from within the palace."You scoundrel! Who's sick? Who are you calling delirious? I'm perfectly fine! Ahh! What are you doing!"Since Mary was struggling so violently, Dina had no choice but to order her to be restrained. A moment later, Mary was tied to the bed, thrashing wildly as she shouted toward the door where Dina stood."Mother! Save me!"Dina couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache. "Mary, I'm only helping you."Mary was utterly baffled. She had just been quietly embroidering a fragrant pouch, yet her mother suddenly thought she was ill."The queen. Get the queen!" Mary barked at Irene.Wilhelmina, who stood right beside Dina, felt a chill run down her spine.Why call for the queen? Could Mary really have lost her mind?–At Zen Palace, Jane was flipping through ancient texts, searching for any records of the nine-tailed serpent motif.Suddenly, Maya rushed into the inner chamber. She seemed out of breath."Your Majesty! Something terrible ha
"I only heard that Commander Morris was quite close to a military physician, and there were even rumors of an intimate relationship." At this point, Richard hesitated before adding, "But I believe those were baseless rumors. It was most likely just camaraderie between comrades."George's expression turned unusually serious."What is the physician's name, and where is he now?""I only recall that his surname was Durand."'Durand?'George immediately thought of the Miracle Needles. That physician was likely a descendant of the Durand family.Richard had no idea why the king was asking about this, so he returned to the main topic."Your Majesty, since Jocelyn is not the true Commander Morris, why have you not made this public?"George's gaze turned dark."I have my own plans."Right now, all he could think about was that military physician with the surname Durand.–Outside the royal study, Karlsen saw Richard step out and greeted him respectfully.Karlsen's face was expressi
At Grace Palace, Rachel sat in front of the mirror. Her gaze was slightly empty. Aurelia couldn't bear to see her like this."Your Highness, it's getting late."The king not coming didn't mean she should refuse to sleep.Rachel murmured softly, "Yes, it's late."Was the queen accompanying the king at this hour?She used to console herself with the thought that perhaps the queen, like her, was nothing more than a facade to deceive others and had never truly shared the king's bed.But if that were true, why would the king summon her to Tyrian Palace? Even Rosalie had rarely set foot there in the past. This proved that the king truly favored the queen.Then what was she?She had exhausted every means at her disposal, yet she couldn't make the king spare her even a glance.Tonight was destined to be a sleepless one.-The next day, during the court session, ministers were still debating over Jocelyn's death."Your Majesty, Commander Morris held great prestige among the people.
Jane proposed making the truth public to prevent the people from continuing to misunderstand. However, George's gaze was extremely cold."There's no need."Now, it was her turn to be confused. Between two difficult choices, one should choose the lesser evil. As a king, did he not understand this?George was very serious."If we expose that Jocelyn is an impostor, the Morris family won't escape punishment. Neither will the tens of thousands of Northern Battalion soldiers."Even if those soldiers were unaware of the truth, people could always find an excuse to accuse them. If that happened and someone with ulterior motives took advantage of the situation, the entire Northern Battalion would be thrown into chaos.By keeping this secret, he could still protect the Morris family and those soldiers.If the truth was revealed, he would have to handle the matter impartially. Otherwise, his authority would be compromised.Jane said nothing.In her heart, she naturally leaned toward her
George saw a light in her eyes that he had never seen before.The surroundings were silent. It was as if, as long as she looked at him like this, he could agree to anything.But he was not so easily swayed.After only a brief moment of distraction, he quickly regained his usual cold and imposing demeanor and spoke in a steady tone."In the second year of my reign, the allied forces of four nations attacked Nidora. I led the army into battle. After the war ended, I returned to the capital, passing through a misty forest on the way. There was an ambush in that forest."While fighting off the assassins, one masked individual released a creature that resembled a salamander. I was bitten by it and poisoned. Only later did I learn that it was Thiberium poisoning."Jane was well aware that Thiberium poisoning involved raising salamanders and feeding them a specially prepared poison daily. Over time, the creatures would absorb the toxins and become what was known as Thiberium, naturally
Mary was feeling guilty. Jocelyn had managed to escape from prison thanks to the Falcon Command Token she had secretly delivered to her. She had known the truth would come to light sooner or later, but she hadn't expected it to be this soon.Even more surprising was that after questioning her for a while, George suddenly stopped. Instead, he changed the subject and solemnly warned her."Mary, I can choose not to punish you for this matter, but from now on, stay away from Zen Palace."Mary's fists clenched involuntarily. She met George's gaze, refusing to back down, and smiled."Your Majesty, you've been on the throne for seven years now, yet you still have no heirs. That's quite unusual, isn't it? I heard from Grandmother that you've decided not to favor the harem unless the queen bears an heir?"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but over the years, you've shown favor to Lady Rosalie and Lady Helena, and even spent nights with Rachel. Yet none of them have conceived. So why do
Mary stared blankly at the person before her.The queen was actually Commander Morris who had saved her all those years ago.Good heavens! What had she been doing all this time?She had actually believed Jocelyn and gone against the queen at every turn. She had even exposed the queen's marriage substitution.For the sake of Jocelyn, an impostor, she had nearly caused the death of her true savior.At this moment, Mary was filled with regret and remorse.Jane lowered her gaze to the bracelet on her wrist and sensed something was off.Their eyes met suddenly. Mary's gaze was emotional, her voice trembling. "You–"She had countless things to say, but she didn't know where to start."Commander, I personally measured your wrist for this bracelet. Now, do you still wish to deny it?" Mary gazed at her intently.Jane's brows furrowed slightly. "Princess–"Mary interrupted her. "I was a fool. I conspired with Jocelyn and went against you at every turn. It's only natural that you bla