Nick obediently let the person holding his hand lead him to the operating table. Lily felt sorrowful as she watched. The boy probably did not even know they were going to experiment on him. The organization had taken him away from his father, and he was about to die as a lab rat."You can't do this, Your Majesty!" Lily looked over her shoulder and said to the queen, "You know how risky the experiment is. How can you still proceed? You should stop the whole thing immediately!"Fred frantically nodded as he lay on the operating table, agreeing with Lily for the first time. "That's right! You should stop it right away!" The queen ignored him, slowly turned toward Lily, and said calmly, "You're right. It's risky, so I need someone to test it for me." Lily was at a loss for words. "You're smart and observant, Lily. You knew from the start that I was aware of what Fred was doing. So you should understand that someone as intelligent and capable as me shouldn't die so soon, right?"
"You don't want to die, but neither does he!” Lily pointed at the operating table and said, "Have you ever considered that he's still a child? You're a mother, too, and you even have grandchildren. What if someone else treats them like this—" "That would be their fate!" the queen sternly interrupted. Lily was stunned. The queen glared at Lily and continued, “The world is all about survival of the fittest. If your country isn't strong enough, I wouldn't even need to bother about the ties between our two nations.“If Yudonia is a strong country, we wouldn't need to yield to other countries or care about what the world thinks of us, would we? If you aren't strong enough, you would have died a hundred times instead of questioning me now!"The queen did not think it was wrong for her to make herself and her country stronger. Although she pitied those who died for not being strong enough, she did not think it mattered to the bigger picture.Lily noticed the look in the queen’s eyes
"Don't listen to her, Your Majesty. She's just trying to trick you!" A sudden voice interrupted Lily.Lily had almost swayed the queen, but the person’s words made her catch herself. The old woman looked toward the source of the voice, and so did Lily.Rhea, who had been hiding in the corner, walked over. When the guards stopped her, she looked expectantly toward the queen. The queen waved, and the guards allowed Rhea to hurry over. Rhea then curtsied and said, "Your Majesty, Lily said all that just to save the boy. All her warnings are nothing but an excuse.""Who are you?" The queen had never met Rhea before. "I'm Rhea. I used to work in the research center." The queen caught on. "I heard about you." Rhea was pleased that even the ruler of Yudonia knew about her. "I didn't know I'd been working for Your Majesty all along. Now that I do, I feel truly honored." The queen held up her hand. "No, you've worked for Fred, not me." Rhea looked over her shoulder at the unconsci
Lily took a breath and answered, "Yes, I want to save Nick, but it doesn't make me wrong. I’ve told you how risky the experiment is, Your Majesty. I'm sure you remember." Now that Rhea was trying to disrupt Lily’s plan, the latter could only rely on her relationship with the queen to salvage the situation. However, the queen did not respond and grew pensive, trying to recall what Lily had told her.Rhea noticed Lily had swayed the queen again and said, “Don’t believe her, Your Majesty! Indeed, the experiment is risky, but she only wants to save the boy. You mustn’t fall for her tricks.”Lily glared at Rhea. "Hey, even if I'm trying to save Nick, I'm just stating the facts!"Rhea scoffed and said, "Yeah, right. For his sake, you wouldn't even wish to make the experiment work.""Can you guarantee it’ll work now?" Lily asked. Rhea smiled. "Of course not." "Since you can't, why conduct an experiment that is most likely to fail?" Lily looked toward the queen and said gently, "Your
“You make a lot of sense, Rhea.” The queen gave her an approving smile. Rhea felt reassured. It showed she had successfully read the queen's mind. Lily could only threaten, "Your Majesty, if you insist on proceeding with the experiment, I won't be part of it. I won’t do something, knowing it’ll fail."When the queen frowned, Rhea said, "Well, I can do it.""Rhea, you—""Your Majesty, I may not surpass Lily by much, but I've won many international awards. Although I couldn't create the R10 drug like Lily did due to my limited knowledge about herbal medicine, I'm highly experienced in conducting experiments and surgery."She added with a smile, "Trust me. I can do it well." She knew she had nothing to lose. Previously, she was worried because Fred demanded she make it work despite its low success rate. However, the queen knew it would surely fail and would not blame Rhea if it did.Besides, Rhea would no longer need to bother with Fred when he died during the experiment. She a
Despite her caring tone, the queen continued to look at Lily.Rhea looked at the latter and noticed she was ignoring her, too. She hated being ignored ever since she was a child. Rhea had achieved so much, yet people still treated her like nothing.As long as Lily was around, Rhea could only play second fiddle to her. Rhea could not help but try and persuade the queen again, “We have all the right people and resources to experiment today. Your Majesty, you shouldn’t give up now!”She knew things would be different if they proceeded with the experiment. However, the queen lost her temper and glared at Rhea, scolding, “I told you to leave!”Rhea was startled. She dared not push her luck anymore and bit her lower lip, saying, “If you need anything—”She quickly shut up and left with the others when she saw the queen’s impatient expression.When Rhea reached the door, she could not help but look over her shoulder at them. She grew envious and resentful, seeing the two gazing at each
The queen sighed and said, "You aren't afraid of death because you're not old like me. I used to think I didn’t fear death and that I could conquer every problem."After a pause, she continued, "However, I've realized that there are many things I can’t control. I don’t want to die, either!” Suddenly, Queen Yasmin looked at Lily helplessly. The former became emotional, saying, “I still have many important things I’ve yet to do. Do you know what it feels like to be unable to do everything you want to?”"I do!" Lily answered."No, you don't!" Yasmin retorted, "How could you? You're so young, beautiful, and full of energy. Not only are you young, but you also have a good family and career. How could you possibly know how I feel? I used to be like you, but now I'm old!"Yasmin looked exhausted. She spoke more like an ordinary aging woman than a monarch. She had desperately struggled to defy her fate, unwilling to accept her aging and death.Lily gazed at her and knew how frustrated
Fred had always treated Lily as the queen's vessel. He would take good care of Lily but could never spare her in the end. Lily looked at Yasmin quietly as the latter raised her brow and said, "You don't believe me? If you don't, I can—" Lily interrupted, "No, I do. You're the queen, and I know you keep your promises. You wouldn't say so if you haven't considered sparing my life."Lily smiled somewhat mockingly. "I should thank you for willing to do so."It sounded awkward coming from her, but she meant it. Yasmin did not need to care about Lily’s life, but she was willing to trouble herself with finding a new vessel. Still, that was not what Lily wanted.Yasmin noticed Lily was not overjoyed. The former grew puzzled, asking, “Then why can’t you help me? Don’t you want to reunite with your family? Don’t you want them to achieve immortality, too?”"No." Lily readily shook her head. Yasmin looked at her in disbelief. "Why wouldn’t you? Everyone wants to live forever. I'm sure yo