After eating breakfast, Head Maid Milan personally brought her own clothes and pushed open Her Highness the Princess's room door.
"Your Highness, may I ask why you need my clothes?" Milan asked as she handed her clothes to Anna.
Anna took the clothes and set them on the bed.
She pulled Milan's hands into hers and hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Even though Mother has passed away, I don't feel lonely. Here, I can feel that many people love me."
"Ariel, Udarik, Navi, Virian, Keller..."
Anna listed many names, and Milan listened quietly.
Among them were people she knew, people she might have met once but forgotten, and even those no longer living. Yet Her Highness the Princess could still clearly call out every single person's name without hesitation.
"Your Highness and the Queen are both such gentle people," Milan said, unable to help herself.
Milan surprisingly didn't use the term "former Queen." Perhaps in her heart, the Kingdom of Ferent had only ever had one Queen from beginning to end.
Anna placed Milan's hand against her own chest and said in a soft voice, "And you... Milan."
Her gaze drifted off to nowhere.
"So, I want to escape. To escape together with everyone, to let the darkness die out and let the light endure forever... so that none of you will ever leave me again."
Anna raised her head once more, her obsidian eyes gazing gently at Milan.
"Forgive me for not being able to explain the reason, but please believe in me, alright?"
As she spoke, her hands gradually loosened, and Milan's hand involuntarily slipped down from her chest, though her heart did not.
Milan looked down at Anna, frowning slightly.
She didn't know what Anna meant by escaping. Did it mean bringing them along when she married off? Anyone would know that was impossible.
But soon, she understood, her expression gradually softening.
She didn't need to know what Anna was going to do. Just as when she had served Anna's mother, unconditional trust was what she ought to offer.
"I understand, Your Highness. Likewise, you can always believe in Milan," Milan replied with a smile.
Anna was equally generous with her smile.
...
Taking advantage of lunchtime, Leona quietly climbed up from the wishing well and landed in a small garden.
Bathed in sunlight, she comfortably inhaled the hard-won fresh air.
Regrettably, she could not use her own appearance.
Having obtained the head maid's clothes from Anna, she decisively changed into them and transformed herself into Milan's likeness.
Sitting idle and waiting to die was not her style, not to mention there were still many fascinating unknowns within this royal palace.
At present, it appeared the enemies she faced included Interveners from God's faction, and perhaps even some rogue Interveners who had not yet joined any faction.
However, the Princess's side did not seem weak either. Just from footsteps alone, she could tell that the maid named Croll was definitely extraordinary.
As for Head Maid Milan, whom she had transformed into, anyone daring to send the daughter of a convicted minister to Anna's side was certainly no ordinary person either.
Leona looked down at the wishing well. There was a film of water floating miraculously at the top. From the outside, anyone would think it was just an ordinary water well, never imagining there was a secret passage beneath it.
Though she didn't know the principle behind this water film, fortunately, its presence kept the secret passage from being discovered.
"The kitchen, the Queen's palace." Leona quietly muttered the names of the two locations, weighing which place she should go to first.
After brief deliberation, she decided to head to the kitchen first.
Because a head maid's position was not high enough to freely enter the Queen's palace, and furthermore, the kitchen allowed her not only to investigate Interveners but also to access delicious food.
Regardless of what ability that Intervener used to poison the Princess's food, they would definitely have come into contact with the kitchen.
Besides, there was a certain probability that the other party belonged to God's faction.
This was only the second day of the instance. After what happened yesterday, it would be difficult for people from God's faction to gather together.
Still, it was better to be safe than sorry; isolated individuals were easier to deal with.
Just like yesterday's maid entering the Princess's room alone without knocking—it was practically handing them a pillow when they were sleepy. Not only did she expose the assassin's existence in advance, but she also strengthened royal palace security.
However, if they assembled together and had a mastermind in their ranks, things would become tricky.
Leona rolled her cloak into a long strip and wrapped it around her waist and abdomen, covered by the hem of her outer garment, making it hard to notice unless looking closely.
Having prepared everything, she walked toward the kitchen according to the palace layout Anna had described from memory.
Along the way, she occasionally encountered palace residents offering greetings, responding with a simple nod or concise words.
Yet no matter what status those passersby held, their complexions were exceedingly pale and grim.
Presumably, a comprehensive search regarding the assassin had been conducted, leaving them so frightened and anxious.
Reaching the final corner leading to the kitchen, Leona ran head-on into Servan, who was also heading there.
Damn it, why is he here too?
Leona cursed her bad luck silently.
Servan noticed her as well and stepped forward quickly.
"Milan, are you going to the kitchen too?" Servan addressed Milan directly by name, indicating that their relationship in private was quite decent.
Before leaving, Anna had forewarned her about Milan's usual habits and small speech details.
Anna had described things well, and Leona quickly deduced Milan's usual style of doing things.
Although Leona had never studied acting or impersonation, she believed she possessed a unique talent for it, enough that it would be difficult for anyone to notice in a short time.
Leona reached out with two index fingers to rub her temples, frowning as she said:
"Don't even mention it, Servan. The general cleaning over these past few days has kept us swamped, not to mention this incident happening on top of it."
"I didn't expect that even the handle-anything Head Maid, Lady Milan, would have times of distress," Servan said, raising an eyebrow with exaggerated drama.
Leona forced a wry smile. "Don't tell me you aren't distressed either—your worries were written all over your face just now. Speak up, did you find anything during the search?"
Servan froze in surprise, then chuckled. "It seems nothing gets past Milan."
Exhaling softly, he recalled yesterday's troubling events and began explaining them to Milan.
"After searching, we only caught three people with totems on their bodies, but I'm certain that those involved in this organized and premeditated scheme aren't just these three."
Leona nodded. Hiding the patterns on their bodies wasn't too difficult, and carrying a uniform totem wasn't a great thing for invaders entering the instance. God might find ways to help subordinates hide them, at least after entering the instance.
Whether everyone could be taken care of, Leona didn't know, because the maid killed yesterday indeed had a totem on her body.
To forge the premise that God's faction committed the murder, she had repeatedly slashed the maid's flesh with a knife until the pattern was completely blurred.
Servan grabbed the corner of the wall with one hand, leaning half his weight against it.
"Originally, I wanted to use special methods to interrogate them about who was behind them, but all three had poison under their tongues. As soon as they were captured, they swallowed it and died by suicide."
Hearing this, Leona's pupils contracted sharply.
Suicide!
One had to understand that dying in a story meant true death.
She hadn't expected God's Devotees to be loyal to such an extent; in that case, all her previous conjectures had to be completely overhauled.
Being able to commit collective suicide was sufficient proof of this organization's discipline.
Ask yourself: in an organization that didn't fear death and possessed extreme loyalty, would anyone act on their own initiative to execute such a clumsy assassination in the Princess's room?
She should have realized it sooner: the Main God would never favor any side. If assassination were that easy, it wouldn't be a Main God task.
Could it be that the Main God task on God's side wasn't to assassinate the Princess?
Leona pondered, shaking her head almost imperceptibly.
That was possible. Assassinating the Princess might just be a smokescreen on God's side.
Yet there was also a second possibility.
That maid was not someone from God's faction at all, and her carrying the totem of God's faction was purely to create chaos.
Could she be one of the King's people?
Leona raised her eyes halfway, though in reality, she could only see clearly with one eye.
Without the enhancement of her cloak and bandages, every time she thought, a mild pain flared up, causing her unbearable agony.
Unknowingly, a treacherous smile crept onto her face.
Rate on N.U.
