Chapter 339
She waited for a moment, allowing the scent of perfume at the door to dissipate a little before stepping outside, making her way through the passage and across the palace to her private garden.
After navigating through the dimly lit woods, reminiscent of a jungle path, she arrived at the enormous glass birdcage. Peering through the glass, she spotted Xia'er, who was engrossed in a notebook, and her mood lightened slightly.
With that, she stepped forward, heading straight for the birdcage.
...
Aivina was forced back to her family, Lichi was hiding in a rehabilitation center in a coastal city, and Adele and Amy were in hiding with Tara's help...
In just a hundred days, the once unbreakable little group that Xia'er had thought was invincible had shattered into pieces. One by one, those around her had vanished into hiding, Nia had met a tragic end, and she herself was imprisoned...
This truly was the worst possible outcome...
The princess of Windsor was manageable, but that white-haired man, Qiangyin...
She should have been sent to the Holy Law Tribunal of the Order of the Divine by him, but Windsor had intercepted her.
And Qiangyin, he could have disregarded Windsor's orders and taken her away directly, interrogating her or handing her over to the Tribunal, but he chose not to.
Did he... recognize her "uniqueness"?
Or was there something else at play?
Moreover, the Xia'er in the simulation seemed to have encountered the queen's consort, a prince of Farros, who had not been granted the title of "king."
His hair was gray, while the queen's was golden. Even if they went back several generations, there was no gene for white hair, yet the princess of Windsor had white hair...
Thus, the Xia'er in the simulation suspected that the princess of Windsor was the daughter of the queen and Qiangyin.
Of course, Qiangyin would not refrain from handing Xia'er over to the Order of the Divine just because of this; Windsor's interception felt more like his tacit approval, possibly a strategy to use her as leverage in negotiations with some faction.
These factions could be the Redemption Society, the Pleasure Society, or even the Order of the Divine or the Church of the Savior Goddess.
After all, acquiring her meant obtaining information about the remaining samples...
The royal family dared to bomb even the Redemption Society members within the Royal Medical Association, and they could use the Pleasure Society to carry out a bloody purge in Beiansu. Xia'er would not be surprised by anything they did.
But the most important thing now was that she had to extract herself and those around her from all these events, ensuring that none of this would happen in reality.
She could not become anyone's bargaining chip, nor did she want those close to her to be treated as lambs for slaughter at the negotiation table...
If she couldn't stop it, then she would have to flip the table.
She had a bit of experience in flipping tables.
Crack—
The sound of the door opening broke the silence, and Xia'er set down her notebook, turning to look at the newcomer.
It was Princess Windsor.
"Darling~"
The sticky, playful tone from the princess made Xia'er immediately recall a previous scene, a wave of nausea rising in her stomach.
Yet, at that moment, Xia'er wore a smile.
"What’s wrong, darling?"
Xia'er’s pink pupils sparkled, shining like stars.
This address left Windsor momentarily stunned, and after a long pause, she took a few steps closer.
Had Xia'er finally lost her mind? How could she be so easily toyed with?
Windsor had yet to savor the thrill of twisting and dismantling her opponent's resistance... This sudden contrast was hard for her to accept.
It was like buying a box of building blocks or a puzzle, struggling for ages to fit the first piece, only to return from changing clothes to find that someone had completed the puzzle without her.
For someone like Windsor, who loved "puzzles," this was a devastating blow.
"Who are you? You’re not Xia'er at all!"
Windsor's face twisted with anger as she quickly approached Xia'er, staring intently into her eyes.
Was it really that easy to fall apart with just one sentence? What a fragile mindset.
Xia'er looked at the flustered Windsor, her smile growing bolder.
But in the next moment, Xia'er’s expression turned cold again as she slowly spoke, "Can I leave now?"
So it was all an act... She was just pretending to want to leave...
Seeing Xia'er’s current gaze, Windsor's previously frantic expression gradually calmed. She put on a smile again, shaking her head, and said, "Not yet... You don’t fully belong to me yet, that won’t do..."
As if recalling something important, Windsor walked around Xia'er and sat in the chair beside her, looking up at Xia'er and saying, "By the way, Qiangyin asked me to relay a few things to you~"
She wanted to see Xia'er’s emotional collapse upon hearing this news; she was looking forward to it.
"What things?"
Xia'er maintained her indifference, taking a slow step back, distancing herself from Windsor.
"Your protector, Lady Luxihiluofa, has been removed from her board position. You no longer have any protection~"
"Oh."
Xia'er simply nodded calmly, seemingly unfazed by the news.
However, at that moment, Xia'er began to ponder over Windsor's words.
Luxi? She was dismissed from her board position just to help me? She chose my "organization" over the Dedton Group's board?
It seemed Luxi's luck was indeed poor; after all, I really had no "organization" behind me, just myself.
Choosing to board the same ship as me meant facing all sorts of extreme dangers, and the only reward was merely survival.
Windsor noticed Xia'er’s indifferent expression and silently scoffed.
The information Qiangyin provided was utterly ineffective.
In an effort to further dismantle Xia'er’s psychological defenses, Windsor slowly began to embellish her words:
"Amy Hastings, Adele... You know them, right?"
"The sample is in their hands, isn’t it?"
"Don’t worry... They won’t be able to hide for long; soon their bodies will meet you."
But this embellishment only earned Windsor another casual "oh" from Xia'er.
Windsor took a deep breath, deciding not to rely on Qiangyin's information to shake Xia'er’s mental state anymore; she would use her own methods.
But for the queen's sake, she still needed to relay everything Qiangyin had said.
"Also, my sister seems to have seen a red-haired 'subverter' who looks a lot like you in Berlun City... Do you know what that’s about?"
Windsor spoke casually, not holding out much hope, just wanting to finish quickly so she could continue watching the beautiful Xia'er... imprinting her image in her mind...
Her sister... saw... a red-haired "subverter"...
In Berlun City?
Xia'er’s pupils trembled slightly.
The Xia'er in the simulation had never returned to Berlun City.
It was impossible for the simulated version of herself to have been seen using the "subverter" save file.
The only way to see the "subverter" Xia'er in Berlun City... was in reality, and it had to be during the time when the key person was killed...
And it wasn’t a simulation; it could only have been seen in reality... The only possible location was the lakeside banquet.
But that day, there had been no news about the princess attending the banquet. How could the princess possibly go to a small central city to attend a minor noble's gathering?
White hair... could it be...
In an instant, a figure holding a conductor's baton flashed into Xia'er’s mind.
The conductor of that orchestra?! She was a princess?!
I was seen by someone from the royal family in reality...
And this had already become an unchangeable fact!
Xia'er’s heart rate began to rise.
At that moment, Windsor, who had been looking down, lifted her brows and looked at Xia'er again, grinning as she asked, "Are you... nervous, darling?"
"I don’t know any 'subverter'..."
Xia'er stumbled back a few steps, her expression tinged with fear, a bead of cold sweat trickling down her cheek.
"Oh? My sister just returned from a covert identity tour, and she told me this herself. How could it be false?"
Windsor stood up, advancing step by step toward "Xia'er," her smile growing brighter.
Covert identity, just returned from a tour... which meant that within at least a hundred days, if they could catch that princess, they could prevent the royal family from finding out, right?
Xia'er stood aside, coldly watching as Windsor approached her illusion step by step.
She had a good grasp of the situation.
The key was how to break the deadlock.
Xia'er walked around Windsor, slowly making her way to the door, pressing the bell.
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