There was only one moonflower.
The awkward part was that there were two sets of the other materials.
Su Zhao was the very person who had pushed herself into this dilemma.
However, Su Zhao struggled and mumbled to herself for quite a while, her head aching so much she thought it might split, yet she utterly failed to come up with a single argument to defend herself.
Su Zhao froze in place.
She certainly couldn’t just say to Cynthia:
“Big sister, Evelyn has already arranged the materials for me, and they’ll be delivered immediately. There’s no need to trouble your esteemed self or bother with unrequited overthinking!”
Did she not want her little life anymore?
Su Zhao cautiously reached out to touch Evelyn’s tail.
That furry tail whipped back instantly like a lash. After slicing through the air with a sonic boom, it slapped the surface of the bed impatiently.
This was so hard.
She really had it so hard.
Trying to keep a bowl of water perfectly level was terribly difficult.
Su Zhao: $QAQ$
This was the big sister she had just finished coaxing, too.
The midnight bell suddenly chimed. Su Zhao noticed Cynthia frown slightly and touch the wound on her neck in an imperceptible gesture.
The maid’s footsteps were as light as a water snake’s; she made not a sound as she entered.
Standing respectfully with her hands folded within the shadows of the doorway, she announced, “Master, the healer you requested has arrived.”
The bite mark looked deep, resembling the wound left by some ferocious beast. The two dark-red tooth marks appeared all the more shocking against the background of her bloodless skin.
Su Zhao only caught a fleeting glimpse, but Cynthia seemed to sense her gaze, her movements abruptly speeding up. The next second, she had pulled up her collar, concealing that patch of skin completely from view.
“Big sister, it must hurt a lot, right?”
Su Zhao vaguely caught sight of a faint ring of bruised purple blooming around the tooth marks. The wound resembled two bottomless, blood-red black holes, densely surrounded by tiny, hairline fractures.
Su Zhao felt a pang of intense heartache, but the moment her eager paws reached out, her fingertips were pinched by the crown princess, who had anticipated the move.
“Don’t be curious. You are not allowed to touch.”
Su Zhao’s curiosity was forcibly nipped in the bud, leaving her to gaze at Cynthia with wide, pleading eyes in the hope that Cynthia might share a bit more information with her: “Big sister, how on earth did you get this injury?”
At a glance, this was obviously not a normal wound.
Besides, the fact that even Cynthia couldn’t handle it herself and had to summon a dedicated healer spoke volumes on its own.
Su Zhao knew that Number 12 was no weakling, but she hadn’t expected her to be capable of injuring Cynthia.
“Just a minor injury.”
As Su Zhao had anticipated, Cynthia gave her a languid, apathetic stare. Whenever Cynthia deemed something dangerous, she invariably kept her lips tightly sealed.
It seemed she intended to settle Su Zhao inside a vacuum-sealed garden, artificially helping her isolate herself from every external danger.
How unhealthy was that?
She wouldn’t even be able to cuddle with the other big sisters anymore.
Cynthia leisurely smoothed out the creases in her military uniform. Having finished, she bent down, pulled Su Zhao up, wrapped an arm around her waist, and lifted her down from the bed.
“I won’t have you stay tonight. Go back early to rest and build up your strength so you can prepare for tomorrow’s ball.”
Su Zhao lifted her head from Cynthia’s embrace and instinctively glanced at the grandfather clock: “Big sister, it is today.”
At that very moment, the cat slipped out of her arms. Su Zhao hurriedly lunged to catch it, managing to grab only a single wispy hair from the cat’s tail.
With an agile flip, the cat landed safely, a textbook execution of the universal law that little kittens always land on all fours.
Cynthia cast a cold, indifferent glance at it, completely ignoring the creature as she walked straight toward the vanity table while holding Su Zhao.
“Pay it no mind. It surely isn’t foolish enough to get left behind.”
The maids hurried over, presenting a comfortable nightgown. Su Zhao gathered the hem of the nightgown and summoned the maids to crowd around her, her burning gaze fixed entirely on Cynthia.
Cynthia couldn’t help the twitch of a smile, and under the pressure of that stare, she slowly turned her back to her.
“Fine, I won’t look. Go ahead and change quickly.”
The maids served her attentively while Su Zhao simply opened her arms to cooperate. Even so, Su Zhao didn’t forget to secretly tuck away the invitation meant for Evelyn.
Raising her chin slightly, she caught sight of that blurry, furry white figure following them at a leisurely pace in the reflection of the mirror.
The corners of Su Zhao’s lips curled upward.
When Evelyn drew near, she bent down and gently scratched her under the chin.
The night was deeply overcast, draping over the Summer Palace like a heavy curtain. Carrying a heart full of trepidation, Su Zhao hurried back to her own palace.
Moonlight like water spilled across the silent palace. Everything appeared calm, yet an eerie, subtle undercurrent seemed to ripple through the air, as if countless hidden currents were stirring.
Su Zhao gently pushed open the door; a faint floral fragrance permeated the room. She anxiously looked around, searching for Evelyn’s figure, only to find that Evelyn had returned ahead of her.
She still maintained the form of a Persian cat, the moonlight casting a lovely silver sheen over her satin-like fur.
Curled up on a soft cushion, she stared at her quietly, her icy-blue eyes flashing with a cold light in the darkness.
The silent standoff did not last long.
Su Zhao walked over to the window and pushed it open.
Lowering its head, the cat spat a button out from its mouth.
“As expected, I knew big sister and I shared a telepathic connection!” Su Zhao picked up the button, unable to help feeling rather pleased with herself.
That fleeting window of opportunity had been ephemeral. A single minute too early or too late, and Cynthia would have discovered the button under the bed.
When Cynthia picked Su Zhao up, she had faked a stumble and failed to hold the little cat properly, causing Evelyn to slip from her arms.
Prior to this, the two of them had already figured out how to quietly handle the incriminating evidence of their affair right under Cynthia’s nose.
Su Zhao wrapped the button in a handkerchief, picked it up, and looked around blankly for a long time, uncertain where she ought to store such an item.
An utterly ordinary button didn’t quite qualify as a prop worthy of being stored in the game inventory.
Just as she was hesitating and had opened the drawer of the vanity table, out of the corner of her eye she caught that white figure walking past her with unwavering, ruthless focus straight toward the windowsill.
Su Zhao quickly put the button away and slammed the drawer shut. “Hey, big sister, where are you going?”
Evelyn paid her no mind.
The Persian cat’s snow-white fur fluttered wildly in the night wind. Stepping past the open window, she didn’t leave immediately; instead, she paused, raised her head, and surveyed the distant sky.
After all, given the physical size difference of a cat’s body, Su Zhao quickly caught up to her, leaning against the windowsill with her chin propped in her hand as she followed Evelyn’s gaze.
“Big sister, don’t worry. That squad of guards at the palace gates is definitely no match for you.”
The Summer Palace was an anti-magic zone, and Evelyn had entered openly today in the guise of a guest.
However, if she wanted to leave, she would have to sneak around and resort to underhanded, alternative methods.
If she could turn into a cat, she could turn into a dog. If she could turn into a dog, she could turn into a snake, a rabbit, a cow, a horse, she could transform into anything in the world.
She wondered if the Summer Palace had a doggy door she could crawl through.
Leaning against the sill, Su Zhao chuckled at her own comical imagination.
As the cold dew dampened the cat’s paw pads, Evelyn slowly shook out her fur. “I might not be, I might not be able to get out.”
Su Zhao’s laughter suddenly cut short. She involuntarily straightened up, pressed against the window frame to look outside, and asked in disbelief:
“Big sister, what do you mean? You’re so powerful; how could a few guarding knights possibly stop you?”
“It’s not their problem.” Evelyn’s whiskers trembled slightly, and her damp nose brushed against Su Zhao’s earlobe as she murmured close to her skin.
“It must be related to the fugitive Cynthia is currently tracking down. Right now, countless magical barriers have covered the entire outer perimeter of the Summer Palace.”
“I can brute-force my way through one, but I can’t brute-force all of them. Without the corresponding magic pass, I cannot freely enter or exit the Summer Palace.”
Su Zhao’s smile gradually solidified.
She finally realized the severity of the situation.
Earlier, she had been worrying about the difficult puzzle of how Evelyn would manage to get into the palace in the first place, racking her brains to send her an invitation. Now look at that, the invitation was still right here with Su Zhao, undelivered, and yet they no longer needed to worry about that particular problem at all.
The wide-open window felt far too insecure. Evelyn stepped gracefully back into the room, and Su Zhao closed the window, looking at her with a heavy heart.
“Big sister, then, then are you going to sleep with me tonight?”
Evelyn’s steps paused slightly, her entire body stiffening. Her tail began to flick impatiently once more, revealing a sense of utter agitation.
This truly was a massive dilemma.
Even in the form of a cat.
More importantly, since she couldn’t leave the palace tonight, Evelyn would have to appear directly at the ball tomorrow. Yet Evelyn’s only set of priestly robes had already been torn to shreds by Su Zhao.
Once dawn broke, how was she supposed to explain to the Summer Palace attendants, let alone her own subordinates, why she was stepping out of the princess’s bedchamber looking disheveled?
Not to mention that the collar was missing a button.
Su Zhao hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. She kept pacing around her bed, her tone exceptionally mournful.
“Big sister, tell me, my sleeping posture is so terrible. What if I accidentally crush you to death in the middle of the night?”
Evelyn: “…”
Their trains of thought were on completely different wavelengths.
Yet Evelyn couldn’t honestly and openly articulate the issue she cared about. This sort of unspeakable worry was something she simply couldn’t bring herself to voice out loud.
The hands of the grandfather clock twitched abruptly.
The night breeze carried a faint, unusual scent of burning candle wax.
Evelyn suddenly turned her head, gazing toward the door. A moment later, Su Zhao also lifted her head belatedly upon hearing approaching footsteps, and the two of them spoke in unison: “Someone’s coming!”
Amidst the creak of turning hinges, Evelyn’s pupils abruptly contracted. The maid had arrived far too quickly and moved far too lightly, as if it had all been premeditated.
The moment the maid pushed open the door, Su Zhao hurriedly sat down.
“Your Highness?”
The maid walked over quickly holding a lamp, but the cat had already hopped onto Su Zhao’s lap, affectionately rubbing against her flushed cheeks. “I thought I heard the voice of an outsider in your room just now.”
“You heard wrong; I was just playing with my cat.”
Su Zhao’s heart skipped a beat, but she forced herself to remain calm and deliberately scratched Evelyn under the chin. Evelyn cooperated by letting out a few cheerful purrs, which finally dispelled the maid’s suspicions.
Until the door closed once more, the two of them let out a silent sigh of relief. After a whole day of heart-pounding thrills, Su Zhao felt practically weak in the limbs.
Yet she had no time to rest.
Confirming that the door was safely shut, the white Persian cat flicked her tail and sat down in front of her with a cold expression.
“Since I can’t get out anyway, the night is long, and I happen to have some doubts. I must ask you to kindly clear them up for me.”
That tone did not sound good at all.
Su Zhao’s knuckles twitched. Feeling a surge of internal resistance, she tried to stubbornly play dumb: “Big sister and I are so close, what is there that we need to talk over?”
She rubbed her eyes and gave a fake yawn. “Big sister, I’m so sleepy. Let’s just go to sleep first.”
“We’ll probably have our hands full with tomorrow’s ball, anyway.”
Su Zhao’s hips had barely grazed the sheets.
The next second, a terrifying system notification struck down like a thunderbolt, shocking her to the point of agony.
【Evelyn’s current favorability: 75】
Why?! Which sentence had she said wrong?!
Su Zhao felt like jumping right off the bed!
Evelyn’s previously rock-solid favorability had finally shifted.
Evelyn leaped onto the cushion opposite her. Su Zhao stiffened as she looked down at her, wanting to stroke her spine to appease her with practical action, only to crumble entirely under that cold gaze.
Not daring to reach out, she spoke in a breathy, fragile voice: “Big sister, let’s talk this out calmly! You must stay calm! Whatever you want to talk about, I’ll listen carefully. Please don’t be angry, absolutely don’t be angry.”
Evelyn’s voice was very faint, devoid of any discernible joy or anger: “Shall we count just how many times you’ve lied to me?”
【Evelyn’s current favorability: 70】
“I can no longer tell which of your words are true and which are false.”
【Evelyn’s current favorability: 65】
Save me!
Su Zhao’s heart was groaning.
Su Zhao could no longer sit still.
“Big sister! Calm down! You really must calm down!”
Without needing to fake it, she had already slumped into a crumbling, precarious posture. The system alert sounded out abruptly. Staring at the flashing red numbers on the virtual panel, she tasted the metallic tang of rust at the back of her throat.
Su Zhao’s heart ached so badly she felt ready to cry.
“I’ll explain it to you point by point! Big sister, if there’s anything you’re dissatisfied with, I can explain every single thing to you!”
“I can explain it, really!”
Please stop dropping my favorability!
Those were all favorability points she had painstakingly accumulated point by point, point by point, point by point, acting like the most diligent laborer and the hardest-working coolie!
Unlike Cynthia, that upstart who randomly contributed massive chunks of favorability out of nowhere!
She might be able to afford to care less about Cynthia’s favorability, but she valued every single point of Evelyn’s favorability above all else.
The icicles condensed within the cat’s pupils sent a chill straight down Su Zhao’s spine. The system was currently continuing to issue glaring alarms. It looked suspiciously like the prelude to a total rollover.
This was the very first time Evelyn’s favorability had dropped. Mind you, even when she had interrogated her previously, her favorability had remained as steady as a monolith.
“There’s nothing to explain. Whatever I hear will simply be yet another lie. Listening or not listening makes no difference whatsoever.”
Evelyn’s tone was ice-cold, courteous yet devoid of warmth: “The Grand Bishops of the Holy See are also arriving today. Reason and propriety dictate that I should go and welcome them personally.”
“As for the ball, I’m afraid I’ll be pulled in too many directions and won’t have the time to accept your invitation. Please forgive me.”
【Beep】
【Evelyn’s current favorability: 50】