The palace, inside the Great Sage’s Magic Tower.
Everett was conducting a magical experiment on the Curse.
This was the request he received from the Queen earlier this morning—a batch of every potentially useful potion was to be brewed, with the cost charged to the Treasury, and she would send someone to collect them when the time came.
He hadn’t known what kind of Curse required such effort from the Queen until, during the potion-making, there was a knock on the door.
A young girl in a wheelchair and a silver-haired Handmaiden stood silently outside.
Everett instinctively ignored the latter—the Handmaiden now known as Lisa.
“I think I roughly know who the potion I’m brewing is for.”
“Hehe.” Tina feigned innocence with a sly smile.
“So, does that mean even you, Miss Tina, can’t do anything about it?”
“If I could, I wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair.”
Everett rubbed his forehead. “Sigh, I just hope Her Majesty won’t take some extreme path because of this.”
“She won’t. Before Lia goes that far, I’ll stop her in time. And if it really doesn’t work, I’ll just disappear completely so she won’t have to keep suffering.”
“Wow, you’re really ruthless…”
“Maybe. But I’m prepared for that.” Tina paused, then abruptly changed the subject with a firm tone. “Don’t just talk about me. I didn’t come here for that.”
“Then what else?” Everett had an ominous feeling.
“Well? Someone got mutilated by you, then left abandoned in the attic where the Handmaids live. Don’t you feel guilty at all?” Tina’s teasing tone made it clear who she was speaking for.
“You were involved too. Why pin this on me?”
“Ah, but that person cares about you more than I do. Her world revolves around you and nothing else.”
“Don’t make it sound so sappy. We’re still good brothers, after all.”
“Really?” Tina stepped aside, letting the two look each other in the eye.
Everett glanced at the Handmaiden and turned his head away within two seconds.
“What do you mean by that? Just because I have a different body now, you won’t even look at me properly?”
The Handmaiden sounded a little upset, her tone tinged with the subtle stubbornness only a girl could have.
“It’s not like that. Sigh…”
“Then what is it? Could it be… you’re some kind of pervert who only likes my former male body?”
“No.”
“Or maybe you’re a shy, single great magician who gets flustered just seeing me like this?”
Everett fell silent.
“Looks like I hit the mark.” The Handmaiden Lisa suddenly became smug. “You’re such a weakling, weakling old man~”
The mastermind behind all this, Tina, thinking of certain storylines, was barely holding back a laugh. “Where did you learn this? That’s dangerous stuff.”
“Oh, the Handmaids taught me. They said this kind of thing stirs up a man’s protective instincts.”
“Pro-protective instincts?” Tina didn’t expose her thoughts.
Oh, those Handmaids are too wicked, misleading the innocent.
“Why are you so quiet, Everett? Did I scare you into exposing all your secrets with just a few words? So weak, so weak~” Lisa continued teasing when there was no reaction.
“Uh, well, I’ll be going now. Please take care of her from now on.” Tina, sensing the atmosphere, closed the door.
“Hey? Don’t go!”
Lisa suddenly turned around, but the only answer was the firmly closed door.
“Bang bang.”
“Let me out!”
Tina pressed her ear against the door crack from outside.
“Why don’t you keep scolding?”
“Actually… I was joking just now. Hey, you’re not mad, right?”
“Haha, I actually prefer when you’re rebellious like earlier.”
“Yikes—don’t hit me! I was wrong, I was wrong!”
Tina heard nothing more after that, as if Everett had used a blocking spell to silence the voices inside.
At this point, she just wished them luck.
Having done her mischief, Tina hummed a tune and left the Magic Tower, wandering the entire palace before nightfall.
But just as she was about to go back for dinner, she found Lia blocking the doorway.
Wherever Tina tried to go, Lia stepped forward to block her. Finally, Tina felt a little guilty and asked:
“W-what’s wrong? Does Lia have something on her mind?”
“You snuck off to the attic and played there for a long time today, didn’t you?”
“Let me explain. Actually, I was… helping Everett find an assistant!”
Tina had promised not to spill this, so she could only come up with an excuse.
“I’m not asking you to never flirt around. I’m not a demon.
But what does ‘playing with the Handmaids’ even mean? What’s wrong with your concept of love?
We’ve only been together a day, right? If this keeps up, you’ll be playing twice a day by the second day, four times by the fourth, and soon the attic will be a house of ill repute.
As your King and lover, I might have to control you. Seriously.”
After saying this, Lia lifted Tina up around the waist. Sitting in the wheelchair, Tina had no chance to resist.
“Wait? Where are you taking me?”
Lia didn’t answer. She just carried Tina toward the Royal Bathhouse reserved for the King.
“We’re here.”
“Thud—” Tina was dropped into the pool.
“Gurgle gurgle—huff—”
After a long moment, she surfaced, her clothes completely soaked.
“Lia, how come you’re already wearing a bathrobe?”
“Be sensible. Take it off yourself.”
“Alright.”
Tina knew if she didn’t follow through, the consequences could be worse.
“Tap—tap—tap—” Lia, barefoot, walked down from the poolside. Her figure looked especially alluring beneath the translucent bathrobe.
Tina turned away, not daring to look.
“I’ve been busy for you all day today, and this is how you treat me?”
Lia wrapped her arms around Tina’s waist, resting her head on her shoulder. The warmth of her breath near Tina’s ear made the latter’s face flush crimson.
“Actually, I wasn’t soaking in the pool the whole time.” She kept explaining.
“Mm, I know.”
“Huh? I thought you were mad and forced me here.”
“How could I be mad at you? Well… maybe a little. But I just wanted to take a bath with you.”
Hearing this, Tina finally relaxed.
She had thought the darkened Lia was going to devour her completely.
“Today in the library, I searched for a long time with others, and finally found a very old Classic hidden in a small corner.” Lia spoke as if to herself.
“Could it be you’ve found a solution?”
“Mm, although the cost might be high, and I don’t know if it’s true, I still want to try.”
“It shouldn’t involve human lives, right?” Tina hesitated, since it probably was a false hope.
But this was Lia’s only current glimmer of hope. She couldn’t just stop her so easily.
“No, it only concerns some Mineral Resources.”
Lia’s tone was low but tinged with hope.
“Among countless paths, there must be one leading in the right direction.
I will definitely cure you, Tina.”