"So two months ago, when I was once again in Borley, negotiating and telling those stupid royals how to arouse their accursed blood… Did you do as I requested?" asked the villainess in an unhurried manner without masking her nervousness.

The Count nodded with a complicated look put on. "Since it is your request, Your Highness, naturally, I did. I"ve been trying to put a curse on that d.u.c.h.ess, the strongest one I can cast even. However, my attempt always ended up in failure. Until now, I have yet to figure out the reason."

"How fascinating…" said Agatha, even though there was no sign of fascination in her face.

She was actually almost expressionless. Only her eyes had small, almost indiscernible hints of anxiety and mild irritation. It must not have been easy for her to accept that not only her, but even a warlock stronger than her could not hex Margarette Holon to death.

Meanwhile, no change appeared on the eavesdropper"s face apart from growing more curious.

"This prideful consort is angry that she could not resolve a powerless princess through normal means. So it reached the point where the witch"s camp is trying to put a death curse on the d.u.c.h.ess?"

He was immediately reminded of a particular genre in Huaxia"s literature where a small villain always drags his senior brother in the revenge, then his father, then his grandfather, until his clan leader, and even ancestors came out. Of course, in the end, the whole clan, if not the entire sect, would meet with destruction.

What was happening now should be similar to that. It started with a genius member of the young generation, Agatha, until one day, the whole witch camp comes out to deal with a single person. It was kinda... comical. 

Agatha closed her eyes and firmly stated, "She... That Princess Margarette... She must die."

"Of course," replied the Count. "For now, she must be scared of telling your secret to anyone since she has no proof. But there"s no guarantee that she is not looking for ways to have you burn in the stake, my lady. We can"t let her roam around freely anymore."

"People whose lives are threatened will never be able to have a good sleep at night without removing the threats. That d.u.c.h.ess and I are very similar. Just as I wish to get rid of her to get my peace of mind, she too wants to do the same. It has nothing to do with her seemingly gentle nature. All humans just have this instinct to survive."

"She is merely a powerless princess."

"Yes... And I have the king and half the aristocracy behind me. But why can"t I kill her? Is she blessed with more luck than me? That duke always deflects the physical a.s.sa.s.sination attempts. It"s understandable. But how can she deflect the curses herself?"

If not for her wording, no one would have thought she was extremely furious. Never once did she speak in a high-pitched tone.  

"She has the whole world behind her, Miss." The eavesdropper amusedly retorted in his mind.  


Jiang Li was not really offended that this villainess kept expressing her intent to a.s.sa.s.sinate the d.u.c.h.ess. Five months ago… That should be when the forgotten princess became a mere ident.i.ty, her soul in Marian"s real body….

The real Margarette merely thought of her former body as a sh.e.l.l. This meant that no matter how the fake used it, she wouldn"t care. Likewise, she wouldn"t care if it was destroyed. She had long clarified that anything she abandoned, she would most likely not put in her eyes again. So what if the previous sh.e.l.l was very beautiful? It was now left to Marian Obson. 

"Trying to kill a female lead… is nothing but a pipe dream." 

He soundlessly clicked his tongue. Even he never succeeded in driving one of those rare species to death. Wasn"t it tragic that these people did not know this fact?

"Is it possible that while you"re scheming her death and casting a hex on her, she actually learned your craft in secret?" out of the blue, Count Cornwell blurted out. "You said this princess saw your secret chamber and all the things related to witchcraft in your possession."

Like Jiang Li, Agatha sported a blank expression at the question. Her eyes then showed skepticism and doubt. "When did it become easy to learn our arts?"

"But it"s been five months…" the n.o.bleman argued.

Obviously, there was no other way to answer the question. He knew, it had never been and would never be easy. Agatha herself, famed in the circle as a genius, took a full year to master her first magic.

"While it"s possible, can you learn something like that without a guide? For dark arts, it"s not questionable if the villainess learns it in a month or so. But a female lead?" Jiang Li"s hand went to his mouth to stifle his yawn.

He lost interest in the talk after the villainess led the conversation to the real topic. This part was something he already knew or predicted. 

Still, the information he got earlier made him fell into deep thoughts.

Apparently, the plot going on from Marian"s side, the one regarding Louie Obson"s death, had something to do with Agatha.

A day before yesterday, Margarette told him that in her memories, Aliyah knew a part of the plot due to reading from a place called forum.

One of the biggest revelations there was that the royal family of Borley Kingdom were descendants of a Nephil, a member of the giant race who were actually half-angels, half-humans. The information came Agatha, the genius witch of Holon. It seemed the race possessed a lot of magic powers and physical strength which would definitely make one uncontested in the current era. And thus, the royal family of Borley wanted to know the secrets to arouse their blood.

Louie Obson was merely an unfortunate man. By chance, he managed to know that the royalties had those evil giants" blood. He had yet to tell anybody about it but because the blue bloods were alerted, he was immediately killed.

But it was his death that triggered the plot on Marian"s side which then brought the girl into the center of the conspiracy. After a series of events, she reached the truth - that Louie Obson was only discovered and killed because Agatha detected him through some sort of means. Marian, with the help of her knight Adam, and some other helpers, destroyed the Borley royal family"s chance to become Nephilim. A minor price she paid for this was forever losing the chance to take revenge on Agatha since the villainess by then was already been taken care of by the duke of Holon.

Two plots should be raging on at the same time… "Should be…"

"Unfortunately, the Viscount"s daughter, this female lead, is not in Borley, both in body and soul."

Jiang Li"s face twitched. Now he knew why this mission world was considered official. He did not have to be wary of his food or boots suddenly having needles in it, but he would have to deal with so many events - each more confusing than the last, ferrying him further and further away from the crux of the matters. 

Had Margarette not wanted to reclaim her real body and status, what then? Wouldn"t he have to think of exchanging the souls of the female leads? It would surely not be easy and would probably push him deeper into the plot until he forgot that his mission was to prevent Agatha"s death and falling into insanity. 

Ah, speaking of Agatha...

This royal concubine definitely already had a foot in her grave. At this point, Duke Grey was already in love with the d.u.c.h.ess.

He stood up, wandering his gaze around for the last time before judging that there was nothing fanciful enough to take away. "I"m done here."

The two were only concocting troubles for the leads so he deemed it was okay to leave. 

When he pushed the door open, he was a bit absent-minded. Of course, he did not really let himself be careless. He had one of the guards standing outside to knock and opened the door without popping his head in. The guard was made to report a minor n.o.ble"s visit, something that happened all the time and was deemed negligible. The count would certainly punish the kind guy, but it was out of Jiang Li"s concern. He took that chance to escape from there. 

It was still afternoon. 

The man did not go back to Margarette"s mansion immediately. He went to the former royal observatory, which was now owned by Holon"s Queen of Commerce.

No guards there knew him so he did not bother showing himself to them. When Margarette first led him there, she made him hide his face. The girl was really intending to be a ruler in the shadows, hence her carefulness. Well, if it was known to people that he could enter and exit that place at will, they would suspect his relations.h.i.+p with the owner of the observatory. With this said, he simply bypa.s.sed the security through invisibility magic, the same spell he used to not be discovered by the villainess and her warlock advisor.

Jiang Li reached the highest floor of the tower. This time, only the inner part of the room where he stood had a lamp, but the candle inside it was not lit. The sun was still s.h.i.+ning out there so the city needed no other type of illumination. 

After staying there for ten minutes, he felt another presence in the room. There were no footsteps that echoed out.

"May I know what"s in my lord"s mind?" rang a soft, melodious voice behind him.

Even Jiang Li, who had trained his body and senses to the most optimum heard no indication of her arrival.

So was the one who spoke his lovely stalker? 

He looked over his shoulder and saw a woman with eyes and hair that were emerald in color.

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