“Four-Tier Magic, Lightning.”
With a flash of lightning, the poisoned maid died on the spot.
Nina had gone to the Magic Academy on the very day of the poisoning, as normally servants of her rank attended night classes.
However, Nina was practically a friend to Ailuo Wen, so she was able to attend the academy during the day.
This also gave Lai En a headache; their defenses were far too lacking.
Nina returned to the courtyard, and seeing Ailuo Wen lying on the ground with a pale face, she immediately understood what had happened.
Without sparing a glance at the maid’s gruesome state in the yard, Nina called for a physician first.
The physician was naturally the same old man who had once tried to secretly frame Ailuo Wen, though he had long since abandoned that notion.
As he crossed the courtyard, he saw the maid’s hideous corpse and inwardly thanked his luck that he hadn’t continued adding ingredients to her medicine.
“I heard that Lady Nina has been furthering her studies at the Magic Academy recently.”
“Yes, it seems nothing escapes the Court Physician’s notice.”
“I frequently visit the various Princess Consorts’ courtyards, so such matters naturally come to my ears.”
The Court Physician secretly tugged Nina aside and whispered into her ear.
“You should warn Lady Ailuo Wen to be careful of Princess Consort Melusina.”
He suspected that Ailuo Wen had some backing from a faction of mages behind her. Even if it wasn’t a family, it would be an association or a gathering of some sort.
And for her to have been taken into the Inner Palace by King Xinxiwusi meant that this faction could exert influence over the Kingdom of Tianyue.
By “tipping her off” now, the Court Physician also hoped to curry favor with this faction in exchange for smoother dealings later.
After all, the Inner Palace was a tangled web, and having more connections was always beneficial.
As for Princess Consort Melusina, he was never truly close to her anyway; his earlier obedience in poisoning was purely transactional.
Now that the maid responsible for the poisoning was dead beyond death, how could he possibly be held accountable?
The Court Physician grew increasingly satisfied with his scheme at the thought.
Nina listened to his words and nodded.
She understood his intent in an instant.
But… she also couldn’t figure out how this seemingly formidable maid had been taken down by Ailuo Wen.
Innate constitution? Backing from some power? Or someone secretly helping her?
Nina couldn’t work it out for the moment and decided to wait until Ailuo Wen woke up.
Meanwhile, Lai En, residing within Ailuo Wen’s body, overheard the entire conversation clearly.
Lai En didn’t understand the complex politics of the Inner Palace; all he knew was that Melusina was the mastermind behind all of this.
“That’s odd. I’ve met that woman before—she didn’t seem like the type to act so recklessly.”
Recalling her performance at the Tea Party, Lai En couldn’t imagine her being so rash as to send someone to force poison down Ailuo Wen’s throat in broad daylight.
Though, he supposed, the other side had likely investigated Nina’s absence beforehand.
“I can’t think like that. In the end, she’s out to harm Ailuo Wen, and all I need to do is eliminate her.”
Lai En understood there was no point in trying to comprehend a villain. All he needed to do now was simple addition and subtraction.
“As long as I’m strong enough, I can strike that woman dead with a single spell.”
“Melusina, even if I can’t kill you, I’ll make you pay.”
Yet Lai En wasn’t blinded by thoughts of revenge. He knew that only by going all out could he force the other side to reveal all her cards.
Just like Soul-like Games, such as Dark Souls III or Elden Ring.
Lai En had played such games back when he was on Earth. He would almost always lose the first time he fought a boss, since he didn’t know their moves or whether they had a second or third phase.
Once he got familiar with every detail and hidden trick of the boss, beating it became much easier.
While Lai En was lost in thought, the Court Physician muttered to himself as he slowly packed up his diagnostic tools.
“Strange.”
“What is it?”
Nina, standing nearby, asked.
“Princess Consort Ailuo Wen has been poisoned heavily; her mouth is full of poison. But her body is coursing with an antidote, and this antidote is rather eerie… it almost resembles…”
The Court Physician didn’t finish his sentence.
He wanted to say that this antidote was entirely the handiwork of a forest Witch—wild yet effective in its potency, and of no low quality.
The most bizarre part was that the medicine didn’t seem to have been ingested orally; rather, it had spontaneously spread from within her body to every part of it.
The Court Physician naturally couldn’t know that Lai En had simply poured the antidote directly into Ailuo Wen’s stomach. He could only find it deeply unsettling.
“Lightning Magic, a Witch’s potion, an inexplicable method of administration…”
The old man’s brows and eyes were filled with shock.
“Just what is this Princess Consort?!”
After prescribing a few remedies to aid her recovery, the Court Physician bid Nina farewell and left with his small leather case in hand.
…
Inside Princess Consort Melusina’s residence, she was having afternoon tea with several of her confidants.
“How laughable. She thinks that just because she’s carrying Xinxiwusi’s seed, she can truly establish herself in the Inner Palace.”
Melusina shed her usual demure facade; malice was written plainly across her face.
Her confidants knowingly remained silent, though some chimed in with agreement.
“Indeed, you are the eldest daughter of the Moon Serpent Royal Family.”
“So-called status in the Inner Palace is merely an extension of power outside the Royal Palace. That woman is too stupid for her own good.”
One confidant spoke out the iron rule of the Inner Palace.
Here, poisoning, assassination, and forming factions were nothing but petty squabbles—a one-sided slaughter by the likes of Melusina against those beneath her.
At the end of the day, even if Melusina were to cruelly murder Ailuo Wen, Xinxiwusi would never turn against the Moon Serpent Royal Family.
Such were the rules.
In truth, Melusina had no need to bother with a woman of “lowly” origins like Ailuo Wen.
But her psychology was twisted enough to be pathological.
She had taken pleasure in tormenting others since childhood. At first, she enjoyed torturing the kittens in the courtyard and the rare birds in their cages.
Her methods grew increasingly depraved, just like the crushing expectations her family placed upon her.
Her mother didn’t care which canary she plucked featherless, or which cat or dog she tortured to death.
Melusina’s mother only cared about how far her Battle Technique had progressed and how well she had learned court etiquette.
As it turned out, it wasn’t just small animals—even if a servant beside Melusina died horribly every few days, her family wouldn’t bat an eye.
It was this kind of family that shaped the Melusina of today.
To her, having confirmed that Ailuo Wen had no backing whatsoever, she and the child in her belly were nothing more than playthings for her amusement.
“Such a pity I can’t witness her writhing on the ground in agony from the poison.”
“That sight would pair beautifully with black tea.”
She elegantly raised her white porcelain teacup with gold trim to her lips.
But before she could take a few sips, a maid rushed frantically into the courtyard, her face flushed red. She looked like she had been running for a long time, her blue-gray maid uniform slightly disheveled.
“What’s the matter? In such a hurry—did a fire break out somewhere?”
Melusina said with some displeasure.
But the words the maid spoke next stunned everyone present.
“Dasha, the one sent to administer the poison… was killed by Ailuo Wen with Lightning Magic.”