Chapter 186: Annie: "You really worked hard last night.

Mary raised an eyebrow, questioning her Chief Knight, Yaxin Matic, beside her.

“What are your thoughts?”

“On the surface, it seems Sting Litt’s death has nothing to do with Lian Moria. But Lian Moria is far too cunning; we can’t be too quick to trust him.”

Chief Knight Yaxin Matic had no love for Lian, especially after Lian had duped him before.

“Indeed. He is a dangerous and cunning man. Things are getting interesting, aren’t they?”

A smirk played on Mary’s lips. She loved a good challenge.

To her, Lian was fresh prey, and he had piqued her boundless curiosity.

“Lady Mary, Lord Lian requests an audience.”

A servant, having hurried in, knelt and announced.

Mary nodded. “Let him in.”

Lian entered Mary’s palace, holding Nancy Stuart by the hand. Following them was Alex Pool, whose combat power was a mere 5.

Seated on the dais, Mary rested her chin in her hand and noticed the odd way Nancy Stuart was walking.

This confirmed what her servants had told her. Nancy Stuart had indeed been ‘deflowered’ by Lian the previous night and had been thoroughly ‘tormented’ the whole time.

Sting Litt had died the previous night. In theory, this eliminated Nancy Stuart and Lian Moria as suspects in the murder.

Ninety-nine percent of people, upon seeing such evidence, would assume them innocent. After all, they couldn’t possibly have been doing *that* and committing murder at the same time, could they?

But Mary was in the one percent. She trusted her intuition more than she trusted evidence.

Nancy Stuart’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes held the allure of a young matron. She was like a rose in full bloom—so much so that even another woman might feel a brief, mistaken flutter of attraction.

And Lian Moria, for his part, seemed more masculine as well.

Mary sensed on him the nearly imperceptible aura of a Superior.

She had only encountered that kind of aura on her father—the man who had forsaken the God of Tiger.

This only made Mary more curious about Lian’s secrets.

“Lady Mary.”

The three of them greeted Mary.

Mary granted Lian a seat. She looked into his eyes, a faint smile on her lips, and asked,

“Who has made the Empire’s newest darling so unhappy?”

“Lady Mary, Catherine has betrayed me! She wants to break off our engagement and has even driven my army out of Blue Moon Territory. I cannot tolerate this! It will make me the laughingstock of the entire Moria Clan.”

Lian said, filled with righteous indignation, “She must have been seduced by Val Simmons’s words! That man was uncommonly zealous in his attention to her at the engagement banquet.”

Everyone present knew Catherine wanted to break things off because Nancy Stuart had become Lian’s mistress. Yet Lian, without mentioning a word of his own fault, shifted all the blame onto the Simmons family.

His only goal was to make his performance more convincing. A scumbag will never admit he’s a scumbag; he’ll just believe everyone else is the problem.

“Oh? Val Simmons? Has he formed an alliance with Catherine?”

Mary’s brows rose slightly.

“I’m not certain, but we cannot let that happen. Our best chance to attack Blue Moon Territory is now, before Catherine can announce an engagement to Val Simmons. If we wait until their alliance is official, it will only make things more difficult.”

Lian stated bluntly.

“Attack Blue Moon Territory? Why would I do that? I’m related to them by marriage, and my husband, Lorne, is in Blue Moon Territory right now.”

Mary looked at Lian with a confused expression. It was like watching two master thespians trying to out-act each other, both performances emotionally charged.

“Oh, don’t even mention Lorne Jackson. For Catherine’s sake, I saved his life when he was gravely poisoned, and what do I get in return? She’s even taking back the Blue Moon Ore she promised me! That ungrateful wretch, Catherine… I will never forgive her. I will make her kneel at my feet and beg for my forgiveness, beg me to spare her pathetic life!”

Lian perfectly channeled the twisted psyche of a scumbag who’d just been dumped.

If Nancy Stuart didn’t already know his plan, she might have actually believed he was ready to forsake Catherine for her.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alex Pool, simply frowned throughout the entire exchange. He couldn’t possibly dissuade Lian at a time like this, but he felt that things between Catherine and Lian shouldn’t have deteriorated to this point.

“This is a matter between you and Catherine. What does it have to do with Lorne and me?”

Mary rubbed her temples. “Do you need me to mediate? To help smooth things over between you and Catherine? After all, we are technically family.”

“Oh, Lady Mary, you are so generous to the Jackson Family. But do you have any idea what they have been doing behind your back?”

Lian suddenly looked at Mary with an expression of pure pity.

“What have they done to me?”

Mary couldn’t help but be intrigued. ‘What could they possibly do to me?’

“They’ve been slandering you, saying that the reason you’ve married three men without bearing a single child is because you are barren.

That every one of your husbands has met an untimely end because you are a black widow.

Lorne Jackson has gone even further, spreading rumors that you’ve been tormenting him so much that his preferences have changed. He claims he’s no longer interested in women at all… only in plants.

Oh, such rumors are enough to drag a highborn lady through the mud. After this, no nobleman will ever dare to marry you.