In this world of magic, things like poison could be added to a spell’s characteristics.
A powerful poison could even work on gods.
However, it was still influenced by intensity.
But again, it was pointless to talk about the power of the poison without dosage.
A level-four Warrior had a decent constitution and when she was hit by the poison on the flying dagger, she went into shock in less than five seconds, so one could imagine how strong the poison was.
Normally, without a Legendary Priest, it would’ve been impossible to save First Princess Stephanie.
But Roland, a Mage who wasn’t even specialized in conjuration, was able to pull her back from hell, an absolute miracle.
This was why high-level Dual Casting was so powerful
Normal Dual Casting was using the same spell with the left and right hand.
High-level Dual Casting was the use of different spells with both hands, which required quite a high level of mental and magic control from the spellcaster.
Roland suppressed the toxicity with one hand, increased her health with Healing with the other hand, and saved Stephanie’s life.
The moment Stephanie was poisoned, she knew she would probably die.
But she hadn’t expected that she would live, and get away with a severed leg.
With Divine Healing, it was only a matter of time before a severed limb regenerated, so it wasn’t a big deal.
The question was why Biden wanted to kill her.
Stephanie was puzzled. She leaned against the stone wall and thought for a moment and asked, “Roland, can you take me to the palace?”
Roland was a little surprised. “Are you sure? I remember you said that Biden was one of your father’s three most powerful men, right? Isn’t going to the palace a death sentence?”
Andonara also nodded; she thought Roland made a good point.
Stephanie was very weak. She leaned against the wall and hesitated for a moment before saying, “I thought about it for a while just now and I don’t think it’s likely. I know my father’s personality very well. He’s not a qualified king, but he’s a very qualified father. To prevent his children from killing each other over the throne, he ordered all the princes and princesses over ten years old who are not very capable to go to his remote territory. I’m the only direct descendant of the royal family in the capital.”
Roland was stunned. No wonder he felt something was off during his time in the capital.
The only young member of the royal family he had seen in all this time was Stephanie, making him think that the royal bloodline was thin and Stephanie was the only option.
Puzzled, Andonara said, “It just means he loves you more, he’s just biased.”
“Father spends about half a year every two years cruising around the empire in a flying ship, monitoring the lords on the surface, but in fact, it’s clear to anyone who cares that he only takes time to go to different territories to see his children, secretly giving gold coins to his children so that they’re better off. Monitoring the lords is only incidental.”
So that’s how it is.
“How could a father who loves his children so much just send someone to kill them? Nor would he just send someone to kill his lover.’ Stephanie felt weak throughout her body. Her voice trembled and wavered. “I was just too surprised to think of that at the time.”
Roland thought for a moment and said, “It’s not hard to take you to the palace, but I still think it’s better not to go. Biden escaped, and he’s sure to try to ambush you again, and if you dare to show up, you will surely be attacked as before. Andonara is a Great Swordsman, not a defensive Warrior-she’s good at killing, not at protecting people. I can’t protect you either, it’s only pure luck that you survived this time.”
“So what should we do?”
“Let’s find a safe place to get well first,” Roland said after a moment’s thought. “You’ve been poisoned, and if you don’t show up for a long time, Biden will most likely think you’re dead, and then we’ll watch the situation from the dark. Besides, you’ll have to get your leg healed first.”
“Good point.” Stephanie sighed. “I wish I’d always had reliable assistants like you and Andonara around me.”
Roland smiled, not following up with anything.
Andonara wouldn’t agree to anything either, and in her eyes, Stephanie was indeed a good friend, but compared to Roland, the significance of these two in her life’s journey was the difference between a firefly’s glow and moonlight.
Seeing that neither Roland nor Andonara answered, Stephanie was slightly disappointed.
The silence lasted less than ten seconds before Roland spoke up. “First Princess, where do you think it would be better for us to hide?”
“Can’t we hide here?” Stephanie knew it was a makeshift hole in the ground, and though it was a cramped cavern, the fact that she had two people she could trust with her made her feel quite secure. “I don’t think anyone would just investigate underground.” “This is under the road in front of your manor, so it’s okay to hide for a short time, but in the long term, you have to consider a lot of things,” Roland explained. “Such as safety, and for long-duration hiding, the size of the space needs to be considered, otherwise you will be depressed if you live underground all the time. Although I can expand this space, I also have to consider the washing, rest, and physical excretion of you two women.”
With that said, Stephanie understood, and she blushed a little.
No matter how beautiful a woman was, she was still a woman, not a god, and she still needed to eat, drink, and defecate.
Then she clapped her hands. “Why don’t you build the tunnel under my library, Mr. Roland? To study and do magic experiments there for long periods, my ex-husband spent a great deal of effort on the library. There is a washroom there that leads to small underground water veins passing underneath it.”
Roland nodded. Roland had also used the washroom in the library, and it was indeed nice.
Moreover, the library was large enough that one could even run around the edges for exercise, a lap estimated to be about 300 meters.
The iron gate here was protected by magic and one could only get in with a key.
It was quite safe, and no one usually came down here at random.
An excellent hiding spot indeed.
Now that the target had been decided, Roland immediately started to act. He spread out his mental power to explore the underground layout clearly, avoiding the underground water vein, so as not to collapse the water vein and ruin the underground library when he “dug” past it.
It took about half an hour for Roland to open the underground passage to the library.
They were already on the outskirts of the manor and not far from the underground library, so naturally, it was quick.
The passage opened up a large hole directly in the wall of the library. Roland jumped in first, looked around, and then scouted the area with his mental power to make sure no one was there before saying into the hole, “It’s safe, come in.”
Then Andonara jumped in with Stephanie on her back.
Their mood was much better right when they entered the spacious area from the narrow hole in the ground.
This was quite normal. A narrow space would give one a sense of safety, but after staying for a long time, one would become gloomy and fearful of going out.
It also decreased motivation.
After entering the library, Roland found a corner and took out three sets of bedding and rations from his Backpack, and the three of them sat together and ate jerky.
Stephanie, being a princess and delicate, would have despised the jerky.
But the healing spell drained energy and strength from her, and now she was starving.
Besides, the taste of the jerky was satisfactory, and she felt that it was like a delicacy when she tasted it. She looked at Roland as she slowly chewed the jerky.
The man was plain-looking, but he truly behaved differently from the arrogant and ordinary noble-calm and steady. It was no wonder Andonara fell for him.
If her man was half as capable as Roland, even if he did something ridiculous, she wouldn’t have killed him.
After Roland finished his jerky, he went back to work in the tunnels, which he had extended so that in case someone checked the library, the three of them could still hide for a long time in the tunnels by taking advantage of its complexity.
In reality, Roland could have used the teleportation magic array to teleport all three of them away.
That was safer.
But Roland didn’t want to reveal that he knew the teleportation magic array in Fareins.
For any country, the teleportation magic array was of strong strategic importance.
It was hard to guarantee that the First Princess wouldn’t get any strange ideas when she found out about it.
While the three of them hid in the library, it was already a new day outside.
Two days later, the news of the First Princess’s disappearance spread throughout the capital.
Alfred then discovered that Roland and Andonara had also disappeared and that before they disappeared, they appeared to have gone to the First Princess’s estate.
And there were many bodies of elite soldiers of the royal family at the scene.
Then Alfred went to the kingdom to find the old king
As an elder and as the person behind the substantial control of the Association of Mages, Alfred merely gave notice of his visit and received the invitation of the king.
Alfred knew the palace well and was soon in the king’s chambers.
At this moment, the king was covering his forehead, half of his body leaning against the right side of the throne. At the sound of footsteps, the nominally most powerful old man in Fareins raised his head.
He was slightly fat and wore a king’s robe, which was embroidered with a red lion on the chest and trimmed with gold on a white background.
The magnificent crown full of jewels had been taken down and put aside. The old king had little blond hair left on his head and was going bald.
His eyes were slightly red, and when he saw Alfred, he said, somewhat sadly, “Are you here to see Natalisa off, too, Great-Grandfather?” “That woman is not worth my visit.”
“You’re so cold-hearted, Alfred, she’s your great-great-great-granddaughter.”
“There are too many family members for a Mage at my age to keep track of all of them.” Alfred found himself a chair. “If you’re in the mood to worry about your mistress, why don’t you worry about your daughter?”
“There’s no use worrying,” said old King Londox rather unhappily. “As I told her, this is her test, and if she survives it, she’ll be queen, and if she doesn’t, it’s up to her whether she lives or dies. Of course, whether she succeeds or fails, as long as she survives, she’ll at least receive a small territory.”
Alfred thought for a moment and asked, “Do you know what’s been going on, with recent events?”
“I know a little, the rest is all deduction.” The old king rubbed his eyes; he was on the verge of tears. “Natalisa, you’re so pitiful, your senior only cares about profit and doesn’t care about you at all.”
Alfred frowned. “Don’t be hypocritical, you don’t give a damn about this woman.”
“How can you just speak badly about people.” The old king straightened his back and said, extremely seriously, “No one cares more about Natalisa than I do.”
