The Heartbeat of the Cruel Elves

Li Yin spoke again before she could say "a bunch of nonsense":

"But I have a bold idea - if you don't mind being offended."

"Speak," Cassia ordered coldly.

"We can turn their trick on them, that is to say -" Li Yin paused, swallowed, and glanced at Cassia cautiously, "Please forgive me, Your Highness, for being so presumptuous. Pretend that their plan has succeeded, pretend that... you have been killed."

"This way, I can return to Instructor Myrcella and continue to pretend to be a 'traitor'. Maybe I can use this 'merit' to directly contact the mastermind behind the scenes."

"At the same time, you can also lurk in the shadows where no one knows. This way, firstly, it is safer, and secondly, you can secretly observe the movements of the entire family. I think that the enemy this time is either an old enemy of yours, or you have a conflict of interest. In any case, as long as you pay special attention to those who are in high spirits and like fish in water after your 'death', you should be able to lock on to the real enemy soon..."

Li Yin was talking nonsense and talking non-stop... Deep down, he certainly knew who the real "mastermind behind the scenes" was, but he couldn't point his finger at Cassia and tell her directly. Therefore, he could only pretend that he knew nothing. And, from the perspective of a loyal servant, he had to rack his brains and use all his energy and intelligence to find ways to help his master find the "real murderer behind the scenes".

Of course, even if he said it was nonsense, he couldn't talk without any rules. He couldn't let Cassia think that he was just talking nonsense. Therefore, his words had to be based on known information, conform to the logic of reality, and embed "seemingly reasonable" speculations in them. In general, this was not an easy job, but fortunately, he used to be keen on reading novels about wandering samurai and legendary novels. He didn't have anything else in his head, but a lot of messy stories, of course, there were some conspiracies and tricks in them. After being influenced by it for a long time, he could actually inspire a lot of inspiration when he needed it temporarily. What "counter-espionage plan" and "escape plan"... emerged one after another.

"The idea is very clear," Cassia curled the corners of her mouth slightly, nodded, and showed a look of praise, "It's a good idea too."

"But," she immediately straightened her face and waved her hand decisively, "it's not that troublesome."

"In my opinion, if we want to catch the real culprit behind this, we should just arrest her and interrogate her."

"Who?" For a moment, Li Yin was unable to react.

"Myrcella."

Chapter 2: Judgment ()

"Are you going back now?" Mircella held his hand.

Li Yin nodded.

"Um..." Myrcella still held his hand, stroking it gently with her eyes lowered. Her shy look was very different from her usual domineering and sharp appearance.

"We haven't seen each other for seven or eight days, I..." She raised her face, and looked at Li Yin with her scarlet eyes between the black bandages. Her eyes were burning and her meaning was self-evident.

Li Yin felt as if he was on fire. He subconsciously pulled his hand out and stepped back.

Misella's eyes immediately revealed a look of grievance, shock, surprise, and confusion: "Are you afraid of me? Why?"

Suddenly, she seemed to realize something, and her eyes became gentle again.

"Are you worried about that?" She chuckled, reached behind her head, and untied the cloth straps around her face one circle at a time.

"This is just to cover up the truth."

"Actually..." As the black cloth was untied one circle after another, the dark elf's white and rosy face appeared in front of him again. She smiled and said to him, "With the help of that prince, my appearance has long been restored to its original state."

Li Yin swallowed his saliva and calmed down a little, but he still didn't have that thought in mind. Cassia's strange behavior confused him, and he had to find a quiet place to think about her true purpose and his subsequent action plan as soon as possible.

So he stretched out a finger and pressed it against the tip of Myrcella's nose, which was about to come up with a charming smile.

Unexpectedly, the next moment, Misaela raised her delicate head slightly, opened her red lips, and bit his finger.

Li Yin shuddered and quickly pulled his hand back, not caring about the sudden pain of his fingers rubbing between his teeth. He covered Myrcella's face with his other hand and pushed her back.

"Next time definitely!"

He awkwardly put on a smile to the stunned female dark elf in front of him, then turned and ran out the door...

This was the situation at the last moment when the two met.

At that time, Li Yin would never have thought that he would meet Myrcella again under such circumstances - in Cassia's room, and so late at night.

Cassia did what she said without any hesitation. After proposing the plan to directly interrogate Myrcella, she immediately sent two of her personal female warriors to Myrcella's residence overnight to "invite" her over.

Now, Myrcella was being held down on the shoulders by two dark elf female warriors, one on each side, kneeling on the ground, with a look of confusion and fear on her face. Looking at the scene in front of him, Li Yin realized that this might be the last time he and Myrcella would meet.

But...why is that?

According to what Myrcella said, wasn't it Princess Cassia herself who ordered her to plot against Princess Cassia?

Li Yin was very clear about the purpose of Princess Cassia's doing this. She wanted to test his loyalty, so Li Yin decided to tell her everything without hesitation. After all, after knowing the whole truth from Myrcella, Cassia still bothered to test him, which meant that she still decided to protect him - as long as he was worth being protected. Therefore, the only thing he needed to do was to show her his attitude as much as possible.

But what about the treatment after that? Hasn't the purpose of the test been achieved? Why does she still insist on "finding the real culprit"? Isn't the real culprit... herself? What is the purpose of this thief crying "Catch the thief"?

No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure it out.

"Your Highness." On the other side, Myrcella, who was kneeling on the ground, called out to Cassia in panic. She leaned forward, fell to the ground, and saluted respectfully.

Afterwards, when she stood up, she couldn't help but turn her head and glance towards Li Yin. Her confused eyes were filled with fear and confusion, as well as a request for help.

Being touched by her gaze, Li Yin was stunned at first instinctively, and then he thought to himself that something was wrong.

At the last moment of their last meeting, Li Yin specifically reminded Myrcella that the two of them should still pretend to have an indifferent relationship between an ordinary instructor and a slave soldier when outside - Myrcella had given him a similar order once before, and after Li Yin cast a charm on her, the roles between the two were reversed, and it was his turn to instruct her.

However, at this moment, Myrcella was obviously a little out of control in panic, and subconsciously sought answers and help from herself as her "close partner".

Fortunately, Cassia did not seem to notice this slight abnormality. She just coughed lightly and then asked majestically:

"Myrcella, do you admit your guilt?"

"Princess?" Myrcella raised her head and looked at her in confusion. Then, after not getting a clear response...she subconsciously tilted her head and looked at Li Yin.

Cassia's frosty face also turned to Li Yin and glanced at him indifferently.

Li Yin's heartstrings tightened and he once again secretly thought that something was wrong, but he could only appear calm on the surface.

"My loyal servant has told me everything you have done." Cassia turned around and said to Myrcella with a frosty face.

"I'll give you one last chance. Tell me what you did."

“Your Highness?!” Myrcella first looked at Cassia and Li Yin, then turned back to look at the two dark elf warriors behind her. Her originally white and creamy cheeks suddenly turned pale and blue, and finally, her lips trembled, and she said weakly, “I… I don’t understand.”

"Hmph," Cassia snorted coldly, her silver eyebrows suddenly frowned, her face tense, and an invisible cold air suddenly spread out, making everyone present feel cold all over.

"Arrogant and stupid!" Her tone was suppressed and gloomy, like the thunder accumulated in the dark clouds.

"You still don't repent when death is imminent?"

"Your Highness!" When Mircella heard the word "death", her whole body trembled and she screamed even louder and louder. However, until this moment, her face was still full of confusion.

Until... Cassia reached to her waist and took out the familiar glass bottle emitting a faint blue light.

"My loyal servant has fully confessed to me," Cassia smiled sternly with her sharp lips, "the fact that you tried to blackmail and force him to murder me."

"And this," she held up the tiny glass bottle containing the Spider Queen's Kiss, "is the drug you ordered him to use to poison me - the Spider Queen's Kiss."

"Now that we have caught the perpetrator red-handed, what else do you have to say?"

"Your Highness..." Myrcella looked up and stared at the Kiss of the Spider Queen in Cassia's hand with a blank look in her eyes.

She was stunned for a long time before she asked in a soft voice, still in disbelief: "This... no, didn't you ask me to do it?"

Chapter 3: Judgment ()

The air in the room fell into silence for a moment.

"Ridiculous!" Cassia suddenly flew into a rage and shouted fiercely, while slamming the table beside her. Everyone present was shocked by this rage that seemed to destroy the world.

Her body trembled slightly, and then, suddenly, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, as if she was extremely angry, and instead gave birth to a rather twisted smile:

"You mean, I myself command you—"

"—to kill myself?"

She leaned forward, looked down at Myrcella who was kneeling on the ground, and questioned word by word.

Myrcella still couldn't figure out the situation. After staring at Cassia blankly, she subconsciously asked, "Is it... not true?"

Li Yin sighed softly in his heart.

At the same time, the two dark elf female warriors behind Myrcella burst into uncontrollable low laughter at the same time.

Myrcella turned around upon hearing the voice and looked at the two laughing female dark elves with anger and confusion.

Seeing this, Li Yin sighed again in his heart.

She still didn't understand the situation.

But... it doesn't matter anymore. No matter how Myrcella answers, it's meaningless.

Because this plan, this plan to murder Cassia with the Spider Queen's Kiss, was aimed at her from the beginning!

The moment Cassia asked Myrcella, "I order you to kill myself," Rein, who had been confused, finally reacted.

Testing herself was not Cassia’s real intention, or rather, her main intention!

She had already made up her mind to use Myrcella as a scapegoat. This was the real purpose of this plan - of course, the premise was that she could pass the test.

This also explains another doubt in Li Yin's heart, that is, why Cassia, who was clearly under the influence of charm, would doubt his loyalty and deliberately design such a plan to test him.

Because, testing him was just a superficial cover-up, meant to confuse Myrcella into willingly participating in the plan; if one had to talk about his connection with the plan, in Cassia's mind, this should be just an incidental, harmless little game - more of a display and appreciation than a verification, a good opportunity to appreciate the unreserved loyalty of her beloved servant to her.

Of course, the word "take the blame" must be corrected here. In Rein's view, Myrcella, who secretly planned everything, was the real murderer of Turner's death, and he was just an innocent victim who carried out legitimate self-defense after being suddenly attacked. Although... in the dark elf society, slaves like him do not have any "legitimate right to self-defense."

According to the laws of Nevévere, slaves can only tolerate and escape when facing the invasion of dark elves. If they retaliate in any way, even if it is just an accidental mistake during the resistance, they will be judged as trying to actively harm their masters and will be severely punished.

Li Yin looked at Cassia. As expected, she pursed her lips tightly, and the sneer at the corner of her mouth became more and more intense.

"You mean," she repeated word by word, her scarlet eyes looking down at Myrcella, her voice low and cold, like the black ice buried thousands of feet deep in the polar regions, "I, order you to kill myself?"

"Isn't it?" Even though she was slow-witted, Misaela had already realized that things were not going well. But she was in the middle of a situation and still couldn't figure it out. She was just panicked, scared, and a little bit wronged and confused by being betrayed. She asked with red eyes and trembling body.

"You mean - I, order you to kill myself?" Cassia asked again.

This time, Myrcella hesitated and did not dare to answer again, but two low laughs suddenly broke out behind her again.

"Hehe..." Cassia also chuckled twice in a low, cold voice.

Then she stood forward and looked at Rein, then at the two dark elf female warriors behind Myrcella who were covering their mouths and trying hard to suppress their laughter.

"Your Highness..." The two female warriors were caught by her gaze and immediately forced themselves to stop laughing. Their cheeks flushed red as they apologized at the same time.

“It’s okay,” Cassia waved her hand, with a slight look of anger on her face, but more of it was “helplessness”.

"Laugh if you want to." She said nonchalantly, and there seemed to be a strong sense of powerlessness in her voice. Then she curled her lips slightly, "I will kill myself..."

The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, with a faint smile, and she said unhappily: "I can't help it myself."

As soon as she finished speaking, the two dark elf female warriors burst into uncontrollable laughter.

When their laughter died down, Cassia sneered disdainfully:

"Do you want to listen to what you are saying? I killed myself?"

"Humph!"

"I thought my enemy would send a stronger guy to deal with me, or at least a normal dark elf. I didn't expect that she would send me a mentally disturbed lunatic who was talking nonsense..."

"Your Highness..." Mircella was panic-stricken, obviously completely confused by the "weird" situation at the scene.

"I'll give you one last chance," Cassia interrupted her without hesitation, "Tell me who the real mastermind behind you is, and maybe I can spare your life."

“Your Highness.” Myrcella’s eyes were blank and her tone was flustered. “I… I don’t understand what you mean.”

It seemed that although she still didn't know what had happened, she also realized that the situation was very unfavorable to her. She asked anxiously: "Didn't you ask me to do this?"

"Didn't you say that you would give me one last chance? Wouldn't you forgive me if I behaved well this time?"

"Me!" Cassia interrupted her harshly and asked angrily, "Give you a chance?"

"I'm giving you the chance to poison me?"

"By 'behave', you mean successfully poison me? And then - forgive?"

"You mean my ghost generously forgave you in the kingdom of the Spider Queen?"

The corners of Cassia's mouth twitched and she let out a disdainful sneer, obviously very angry.

Mircella was completely confused by this series of questions, "But... Your Highness..."

She hesitated, trying to defend herself, but she didn't know what else to say, because everything she knew, the truth she told, became an unmistakable joke after being told by the other party.

Suddenly, Li Yin noticed that her pupils suddenly dilated, and then she raised her face, her pale face full of anger and horror.

It seems...she finally came to her senses.

“Your Highness!” She threw herself forward, crying out, “You can’t do this to me! You can’t do this to me!”

Chapter 4: Judgment ()

Cassia frowned suddenly, and before she could say anything, two dark elf female warriors stepped forward at the same time, grabbed Myrcella's shoulders with both hands, and pulled her body back before her claws touched Cassia's legs.