Tangled By Fate

Chapter 438: THE INVITATION

“Princess, it has been a while since you sucked me like it is the most delicious thing in the world. Why don’t you test it today and tell me if it is sweet or not?”

Arthur slowly approached her.

Realizing that she was in danger, Veronica tried to retract.

“A-Arthur... mm!!”

———

The next day, Catherine went to Arthur’s office to pass some documents.

The moment she entered the room, she realized that something was wrong. However, the documents were too heavy for her to keep any longer.

.....

Therefore, she put them on Veronica’s desk and told her, “Ovior wants you to finish this by today. He also said that if you can finish this by today, you don’t have to work tomorrow.”

Staring at the pile of documents, Veronica questioned her, “Is this some kind of torture?”

“Don’t ask me,” Catherine shrugged. “If it wasn’t for me taking half of your task, you might have needed to stay awake the whole night to finish them. You owe me one.”

Veronica raised an eyebrow. ‘Just who is exactly doing whose work?’ she wondered.

“I guess I have to thank you for that,” she told her friend. “You do realize that it is me who agreed to help your work. I don’t even get paid for the job.”

Catherine grinned. “If you put it like that, I have to treat you to a meal, don’t I?”

Veronica demanded, “One treat is not enough.”

“You got it.” Catherine stared at Veronica’s mouth and commented, “By the way, are you okay? Your lips look swollen. Did you get hurt somehow?”

Veronica was startled. “What are you saying?”

“Why are you startled? I’m just asking if you got hurt last night. Are you sick or something?”

At that moment, Arthur cleared his throat. “Nica, I didn’t know you were hurt. Is it because of last night?”

“Shut up! Don’t spout nonsense!” Veronica glared at her husband.

Last night, because of his demand, Veronica had to suck him till her throat hurt. Her lips were swollen while sucking him for too long.

After every round ended, Arthur kept asking her how it tasted.

At first, out of anger and embarrassment, she replied that the taste was awful.

Later, Arthur forced her to suck him until she said it was sweet, it was the sweetest thing in the world and so on.

She had to keep doing this until he was satisfied with her compliment.

When she woke up in the morning, her lips, her mouth, her throat – everything was painful.

She could barely clean her mouth. As for breakfast, she only had a bowl of soup.

Out of anger, she didn’t even look at Arthur today. Let alone talk to him.

Arthur knew that she was upset. But thinking of yesterday’s incident, he was amused. He kept teasing her until she exploded.

Catherine noticed that Veronica was awfully riled up because of her lips.

She said, “It’s too bad that you can’t heal yourself. I will ask Ovior to give you some cooling ointment. It will relieve your pain.”

“Please do that,” Veronica told her.

While they were talking, the door was opened. Felix came with the letter in his hand.

“Our waiting has finally ended,” he said. “The Queen has sent an invitation to attend a ball. The Master and the Mistress of the Magic Tower must attend.”

“Waiting? What waiting? Were you waiting for some party?” Catherine asked.

She was already busy with Vincent’s cheating incident. His wedding incident wore her out.

That’s why she didn’t know about the recent incidents about Aria and another senior magician’s death.

She had absolutely no clue about Arthur and Veronica’s plan against the Queen.

“I have never been to a royal ball in Tybu,” Veronica hurriedly explained to her. “I kept telling Arthur that I wanted to attend one. This is what Felix was talking about. It was my waiting.”

Catherine wasn’t convinced. “But I’m pretty sure he said ‘our’ waiting.”

“Did you misspeak, Felix?” Veronica looked at Felix.

Felix went along with her, “I’m pretty sure I said ‘your’ waiting, not ‘our’ waiting.”

“I guess I misheard.” Catherine scratched her head in confusion. “I’ll be going then. Before you start enjoying the invitation please finish your task.”

“I will,” Veronica promised.

After Catherine left, Veronica glanced at Felix. “Is this ball for the Queen’s birthday?”

Felix replied, “It seems that way. It will be another grand party. All the while members and the aristocrats will be there.”

“It means the King will be there as well. I wonder if the Queen will make her move.” Veronica started to feel nervous.

Felix said, “The only way you can find out is by going there. But you must have to be careful. You cannot reveal your identity.”

“I have a feeling that her identity was already revealed.”

The voice came from the doorway. Everyone looked in the direction of the source of the voice.

Zinnia was standing there. She closed the door and then told them, “Remember many of the magicians knew Veronica’s hair is silver. At that time, the blessed child was missing too.

“Sure uses her healing power often. They could assume that she was a blessed child. If some senior magicians are already under the Queen, do you think they didn’t tell her about their suspicions?”

“If that happens, I don’t think Veronica should go there,” Felix shared his thoughts.

Veronica didn’t want to agree with him but he was right. Since she agreed to work with Arthur against the Queen, there is no way she could back down.

She had to come on with something else that would prevent the Queen from pointing at her hair and questioning her identity.

“I think I have to use something real to change my hair color,” she said. “No more potions.”

“Did someone invent something like that?” Zinnia wondered. “I’ve never heard anything like that.”

Veronica suddenly came up with an idea. She suggested, “Maybe we can use clothing colors. I heard people use different shades of color to make clothes colorful.”

Zinnia creased her eyebrows. “I don’t know. The colors could be harmful to your hair or scalp.”

Veronica said, “If you have any better idea I will gladly accept it. But you cannot prevent me from going there and confronting the Queen. I want to know what kind of material she’s made of.”

Zinnia realized that she was headstrong and wouldn’t back down.

She reluctantly said, “We still have a week to figure that out. For now, we should go out to order your dress.”

Veronica was puzzled. “Dress? Why a new dress? For Cathy’s wedding, I have already ordered a dress. It’s in my closet. I don’t need a new one.”

Zinnia brushed her idea off.

“Dearest, that kind of dress is only proper to wear in a wedding ceremony. The place you’re going is the imperial palace, for the imperial ball.

“You have to wear a glamorous gown that will make people attracted to you. In a party like this, a woman’s gown makes a statement.”

“Is that really necessary?” Veronica frowned. “This is a waste. There are people in the street who cannot even wear clothes. And here we are wasting all kinds of garments for a ball.”

Zinnia smirked. “Welcome to the world of the aristocrats.”

Veronica looked at her husband. She wanted him to take her side. But the moment their eyes were locked, she recalled last night’s incident.

She quickly looked away. Her face was hot.

She remembered that she was mad at him and she was not going to talk to him until he apologized.

“Fine, I will go with you,” she finally agreed. “But we cannot go today. I have a pile of work to finish. Ovior said if I could finish it by today, I can take a day off tomorrow.”

“Fine then,” Zinnia shrugged. She turned to Arthur. “You are quiet for a while. What are you thinking?”

Arthur was silently listening to their conversation. When Zinnia asked, he declared, “I don’t plan on going to the ball.”

Veronica was stunned. Felix and Zinnia were surprised as well.

“Why not? If you don’t go with her, who will escort Veronica?” Zinnia inquired.

“Ovior will,” Arthur replied. “If I go there, the Queen might use some underhanded techniques to take me away from my wife. And then, she might make trouble for Nica. I can’t let that happen.”

Zinnia asked, “Won’t it be the same if Ovior went there as well?”

“No,” Arthur shook his head. “Ovior takes care of the management while I have actual power to control anything and everything of the Magic Tower.

“Even if the Queen and the nobles want to discuss something with Ovior, he will have to decline. Because it is not his job to participate in any meetings on my behalf.

.....

“If he tries to do that, it will be out of his limit of responsibility. As the master of the Magic Tower, I will have to punish him for crossing his line.”

“That makes sense,” Felix muttered. “But if Ovior goes, what will you do?”