Yekaterina scrutinized the woman before her; that calm profile seemed somewhat blurred in the shadows.
Claudia George.
She was the head of Sera’s family and the Grand General of the Valoran Kingdom, having only recently been rescued from drug-induced house arrest by the Veid Family.
By all accounts, she should be resting at home right now.
Yet, why was she here?
Furthermore, she had timed her arrival perfectly during the window when Prime Minister Allison had gone to handle government affairs and Astreia, Laxana, and the others had just departed.
She had even waited silently at the entrance of the Council Hall without anyone announcing her presence…
Yekaterina’s intuition told her that this matter was far from simple.
“Greetings, Your Majesty…”
Claudia’s voice interrupted Yekaterina’s thoughts.
She bowed slightly, performing a standard Noble salute.
Yekaterina did not respond immediately; she simply turned and walked straight toward the nearby Guest Hall.
Claudia followed silently, maintaining a distance of three paces between them.
The atmosphere was oppressive.
Only after entering the Guest Hall and taking her seat at the head, ordering an Adjutant to bring red tea, did Yekaterina finally speak.
“General Claudia… do you have some business?”
Claudia did not answer.
Instead, she looked up, her lips curling into an inscrutable smile.
“Your Majesty, why must you be so guarded against me?”
Yekaterina’s hand, holding the teacup, paused imperceptibly.
She had indeed just used the excuse of refilling the tea to quietly instruct her personal Adjutant to invite Prime Minister Allison over.
After all, the feeling this Grand General gave her was truly too strange…
But she hadn’t expected the other party to see through her intentions and even ask so bluntly!
This behavior was no longer just a matter of being impolite; it was almost a blatant challenge to Royal Power, completely violating the ancestral teachings of loyalty held by the George Family for generations.
Just what did she intend to do?
“Your Majesty is curious about how I knew, and why I asked so directly?”
Claudia’s smile deepened.
Those deep eyes seemed capable of seeing through one’s heart, like two bottomless abysses, making Yekaterina unconsciously feel a wave of chill.
This feeling of being seen through made her entire body uncomfortable.
Claudia did not continue to glare at the Little Queen with that soul-piercing gaze.
Instead, she sat down on the sofa below of her own accord, poured herself a cup of red tea, and spoke leisurely.
“Your Majesty, I have been reflecting on something lately… I discovered that I seem to have been too cowardly.”
She picked up the teacup and gently blew on the steam.
“As the Grand General of the Valoran Kingdom and the nominal leader of all military officers, I actually argued until I was red in the face with officials from the Wade Faction in court. Afterward, I was even more easily drugged and placed under house arrest in my estate, unable to move like some useless trash… it is truly a profound humiliation.”
Claudia spoke as if she were telling someone else’s story.
The eerie smile on her face never changed, and there wasn’t a hint of emotional fluctuation in her eyes.
It was terrifyingly calm.
Yekaterina’s heart raced as she listened.
For a Noble to speak of their own shame so dismissively was itself an extremely abnormal thing.
She increasingly felt that something was wrong, but she knew she was no match for this veteran of the battlefield.
She could only secretly pray that Allison would arrive quickly.
“That is why… one must become strong.”
Claudia took a small sip of red tea and let out a satisfied sigh.
Immediately after, she changed the subject, her gaze falling upon Yekaterina once more.
“Your Majesty, you felt it just now too, didn’t you?”
“Your own weakness, your own helplessness.”
These words were like a red-hot iron needle, accurately piercing into the softest, most unwilling-to-admit corner of Yekaterina’s heart.
It was true.
Just a moment ago, she could only watch helplessly as Wendy was taken away by her Elder Sister like a piece of property, watching them mount the majestic Griffin to head toward that Central Continent Academy she herself yearned for.
As the Queen, she could only stand there like an outsider to see them off.
She didn’t even have the right to speak a single word to make him stay.
Because she knew she couldn’t keep him.
Whether it was her Elder Sister, whose strength was nearly monstrous, or that Prince Wendy with the pretty face and endless whimsical ideas… she didn’t dare try to keep either of them.
Claudia took in all the gloom flashing across the Queen’s face and continued in that flat tone: “Your Majesty, I am already old; my life is what it is. But you are different; you are still young. To ensure the Valoran Kingdom does not repeat its past mistakes, and so that no one can ever again easily snatch away the things you treasure… you must become strong!”
Yekaterina’s heart suddenly constricted.
She subconsciously gripped the Magic necklace on her chest, the coldness at her fingertips calming her down slightly.
The other party was truly too suspicious.
Not only was the timing of her appearance strange, but every word she spoke cut deep into the heart.
Had her mind been damaged by the Veid Family’s drugs?
Had she gone mad?
But at that moment, Claudia’s next words made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
“I believe Your Majesty has already lost her heart to Prince Wendy during these past few days of being together, hasn’t she?”
“What a pity, though. Prince Wendy seems to only have eyes for Her Highness Astreia. Your Majesty, what are you going to do? Like a loser in life, will you stay here wallowing in self-pity?”
“Or rather, do you also want to seize what you want by force, just like Her Highness Astreia?”
Claudia sneered, her tone filled with undisguised contempt.
“You are simply too weak. Before Her Highness Astreia, who possesses the Power of a Witch, you are like an ant. That is why she doesn’t care at all about that ambiguous bit of flirting between you and Prince Wendy—because she knows that you can do nothing.”
“Enough!”
Yekaterina suddenly slammed the table and stood up, her chest heaving violently.
She pointed at Claudia and rebuked her: “Claudia George! You are sowing discord within the King! Based solely on what you just said, I could sentence you to hanging right now!”
However, while she appeared furious on the surface, a tempest raged in her heart.
Only a few people knew about what had happened between her and Wendy; just who had leaked the secret?
Facing the Queen’s thunderous rage, Claudia didn’t even lift an eyelid, merely setting down her teacup in a slow and orderly manner.
“Please, Your Majesty.”
She chuckled, her laughter carrying a humiliating sort of mockery.
“When your strength is weak, the way you get angry is no different from a kitten baring its claws.”
“You… what exactly are you trying to say?!”
The Little Queen was shaking all over with rage, her eyes turning red.
“Did you come here intentionally just to humiliate me?!”
Seeing this, Claudia finally stood up.
The smile vanished from her face, and her expression became incomparably serious in an instant.
She walked slowly to the front of Yekaterina and reached out, taking off a pitch-black necklace made of countless small obsidian beads from around her neck, which had been hidden by the high collar of her court gown.
Then, under Yekaterina’s suspicious and uncertain gaze, the necklace flashed with a black light in her hand, transforming out of thin air into a gorgeously styled black longsword with intricate Magic Patterns engraved on its blade.
An icy, sinister aura radiated from the blade, making the temperature of the entire Guest Hall seem to drop by several degrees.
Claudia held the sword in both hands, presenting it horizontally before Yekaterina.
Her voice was low, carrying a bewitching Magic that echoed through the silent room.
“Your Majesty…. do you want to become strong?”
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