Evelyn’s face flinched, but she composed herself. It went past the sight of Jerin but Arwen raised her brows.

She smiled. ‘Ah… youth.’

“He was ‘busy’ the entire night.” Evelyn inwardly gritted her teeth. “So, he is resting.”

“Oh.” Jerin nodded in understanding.

“You should take rest too. After all, you had to travel for days.” Evelyn turned to the middle aged secretary. “Show them to the guest room, and make sure to quench every one of their needs.”

The middle aged woman bowed and turned to the Royal guests. “Please.” She said.

Jerin nodded at the secretary before turning to Evelyn. “Thank you for the hospitality.”

Both the mother and the daughter followed the middle aged woman to their rooms.

Evelyn rested her back on the throne and sighed. ‘Just what was he up to?’ But she was sure of one thing. The guests were not leaving unscathed.

Afternoon. The sky was now completely blanketed by black clouds. Thunders rumbled across the sky; flashes of lightning momentarily illuminated the darkening day. It could pour and flood the entire capital any moment.

But the weather did not matter at all inside the diplomatic hall. The one giant window there was was the only connection with the atmosphere outside.

The room was illuminated with an array of light magic circles- the ones that emitted natural sunlight. There were exotic shrubs potted throughout the room. Even a couple of green and wild plants stood erect beside the entrance.

There were two luxurious sofas facing each other- a one seater and another two seater. Between them was a wooden circular slab with a magic circle engraved on it. It was hovering on the floor without any support, working as a table.

One one side of it sat the beautiful Jerin Heera, the Queen of Northguard and her mother- the kingdom toppling Arwen Heera, one of the most beautiful women in Ervilia. While to their opposite- one the one seater- sat a young man with otherworldly looks, the Royal Advisor of Nemphis- Adrian Darkheart.

Jerin brought out a letter and placed it on the floating circle. The letter had the Royal crest of Nemphis sealed on it. “Do you have any evidences to back up your claim?” She asked. Her eyes were dead serious.

Even the Queen Mother had a solemn expression on her face.

Adrian brought out a scroll from underneath his coat and placed it on his side of the ‘table’ and swivelled it. The scrolled was now on her side, and the letter on his.

Before Jerin could do anything, her mother snatched the wrapped scroll from the hovering slab and opened it. Adrian had a slight smile on his; the letter remained untouched.

She began to read through the inked words, her face still solemn. But it became more and more ashen as she read through the letters. After she was finished, she passed the letter to her daughter and rested her back on the crouch.

She began to rub her own temples. Jerin’s heart clasped at the sight of her mother’s distressed state. The contents of the letter- it was not a lie?

She began to skim through the contents on the paper- word by word, letter by letter. Soon, the hands holding the scroll began to tremble. The more she read- the shivering intensified, her teeth gritted harder. Before she could even read through the whole text, she slammed the whole scroll on the board.

“THOSE BASTARDS!” She cursed. The hovering circle slightly tilted before regaining its previous position.

Jerin’s eyes were bloodshot. Her ample breasts heaved high and low from her raging pants. She turned to her mother. She had no idea whatsoever what to do now. Her whole Kingdom was now in jeopardy. She could only rely upon the Queen Mother now.

Arwen noticed at the hopeful look in her daughter’s eyes and sighed. She turned to Adrian, who was the only individual in the room with a smile on his face.

“Is Nemphis going to stay silent?” She asked.

“We have bigger matters at hand.” He replied casually.

Jerin slammed on the table yet again. “But Northguard has been you allies for decades!”

“Jerin.” Arwen gave a slight pat on her daughter’s shoulder.

The young queen heaved a sigh and took back her hand from the table. She bit her lips, trying her hardest to hold back her tears.

The Queen Mother’s purplish pink eyes met Adrian’s abyssal ones. The contrast between the dreamy eyes of hers and his nightmarish ones were a sight to behold. “You knew this from the beginning, didn’t you?” She asked.

Adrian stayed silent. But the widening smile on his face answered the question.

Arwen bit her lips and began to contemplate. A minute later, she looked into his dark eyes again. “We accept your offer.” She said with a determined tone.

“Mother!” Jerin cried out. “You can’t!” She knew what the offer was.

“Unfortunately…” Adrian shook his head. “We don’t need you anymore. You can try revealing the secrets to everyone. But it will only do more harm than good.” He smirked.

Jerin sighed in relief. It was better that way. She would not have to anger Nemphis that way. He was the one who declined after all. But her mother’s next words almost took the soul out of her body.

“So, that was your plan all along.” A smile appeared on Arwen’s face- albeit, a wry one. “‘I’ will compensate for the delay.”

Another month comes to an end. You guys, my dear readers, are awesome! Here’s a ranking comparison this month against the previous one in case of ongoing originals:

Golden ranking: 149 to 76

Trending ranking: 172 to 88

New Win-Win ranking: 36 to 22

Thank you very much for your support! Let’s see where we can reach next month, shall we?

And the first act of the volume- ‘The setting’ is coming to an end in a few more chapters. The main act will be starting very soon. Stay tuned! Enjoy!