The Villain's Redemption

Lucinia couldn't even remember when was the last time that she came to this part of the palace. Was that fifty? Forty years ago? She eyed the luxurious interior of the Queen's castle. Yes, the Queen was staying in her own castle, which was the opposite of the king's castle. For years now, the two royals had actually stopped having a good relationship with each other.

Aside from their children, the only thing that connected the Queen to the King was the fact that both wanted to control this empire. They wanted to rule and become the leader of the vampires in the part of the continent.

The power struggle was the only thing common between the two. However, Mo Li and Lucinia's union could completely change that.

"How was the tea?" The Queen smiled after she took a sip of the blood from her wine glass? Since Lucinia couldn't drink blood, the Queen especially asked Prince Kuzma to serve her tea.

"It was wonderful," she said before she took another sip. Then she smiled at the Queen. The poison on the tea should be enough to render her dead. However, she had found a way to use the cheat that the system gave her.

The first time that she drank the poison, Lucinia would still experience its effects. But, she would no longer suffer from it the second time. "May I have some more?" she asked. The Queen didn't show any expression as she instructed Prince Kuzma to pour her another cup of tea.

Lucinia immediately downed the second batch of tea before she beamed at the Queen. "It was exquisite!" Slowly, she felt the poison losing its effects. Just as she expected, the cheat that she thought of actually worked. On the outside, Lucinia looked like a harmless woman, smiling gently at the Queen while occasionally shooting a look of mockery towards Prince Kuzma. However, on the inside, she was already jumping up and down with joy.

Who would have thought that the system would allow her to cheat? Honestly, if she was alone right now, she would have cried from too much happiness. Alright, maybe that was a little too extreme.

"The tea is a very special one… normal vampires like me, and the Prince couldn't actually drink it. I was thinking that since you don't actually drink blood, you are immune to its effects."

"Oh! That made sense." She shrugged before she gestured the Prince to pour her another cup of tea. Aside from the poison, the tea actually tasted nice. It reminded her of jasmine and mint.

"So, you and the Duke… I was never aware that you actually liked men with the Duke's qualities."

She nodded at the Queen's words.

"However, I wanted to warn you little one. The Duke… is a mysterious individual. Even I, don't know where he came from. Isn't that something enough to scare you? After all, he just started approaching you when you showed that ability to everyone."

"It is indeed scary." She nodded. Was she scared of Mo Li? Yes, half of her is scared of what the man knows about her. And the other half of her is scared to actually like him.

"Are you perhaps planning to stay in the Duke's mansion?" This time Prince Kuzma asked her.

"Yes," again, she nodded.

[Quest: Discover the Queen's secret. Reward: 20 Coins. No option to decline.]

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. The Queen had been alive for hundreds of years. Of course, she would have a lot of skeletons in her closet. 'Be specific!' she hissed inwardly. However, she never received an answer. Lucinia fought the urge to let out a strain of curses. This system doesn't really want her to succeed!

"I heard that you relinquish the vow that Zach made to you?" As expected, the Queen started talking about the man that she planted to observe Lucinia. "I was expecting that you and Zach would— ."

"He is small." She interrupted her. Her words, however, made the Queen spewed the blood that she was sipping.

"What— What did you say?"

"I meant the height," Lucinia uttered. "I realized that he was about an inch shorter than the Duke. I was certain I would look better with a man with the Duke's height. So, I chose to relinquish whatever vow that he made for me."

"…"

"So… it was because he was shorter than the Duke?" The Queen hesitated for a few seconds. Why does it sound like Lucinia was making her look like a fool? When she saw Lucinia nod, she immediately added. "I just… I am a little confused. Please excuse my question but… his height and the vow had nothing to do with each other, no?"

"Oh!" Lucinia gave a slow and sexy smile. "Size matters. Everything had something to do with the size."

"I— That— I couldn't actually disagree with that statement. You are right. Size indeed matters." The Queen said before she took a sip of her wine glass, she tried to make the environment a little less awkward, however, she couldn't stop herself from feeling irritated at how the princess was acting like this in front of her.

She was actually waiting for her to attack her so she could shout and order her people to arrest Lucinia. But… this scenario is just… different from what she was expecting.

"I didn't actually like Zacharia." Lucinia suddenly said. "He was too emotionally unavailable for me, I honestly thought he and Prince Kuzma were lovers. Aside from the fact that they actually look good together, they were also always looking at each other in a very… very peculiar manner." She casually said and stared at Prince Kuzma's dark face.

Lucinia was not dumb. The reason why she blatantly attacked the Queen earlier was that she saw that the King actually respected the Duke and was treating him very well.

For some reason, she knew that the Duke would always back her up. However, now that she was alone, she wouldn't dare do something that could make this woman take advantage of her current authority.