Chapter 125

Saint Varelt Cathedral.

The rear hall, the royal family's exclusive prayer hall.

At the front of the hall stood a plump female sculpture holding high a water basin, the statue of Mother Nature Qi Ge Rui La Na.

She held high the water basin, receiving gifts from the Supreme Creator, then turned those gifts into endless blessings, sprinkling them across the mortal world.

On the thick mat beneath the statue knelt a beautiful woman in her early thirties, graceful and lovely.

The woman wore a dark black robe embroidered with dark silver roses, her thick wine-red hair adorned with a rare black rose, indicating her exalted status.

At this moment, she clasped her hands before her chest, lowered her head, and silently prayed to Mother Nature.

"Kind Mother Nature, may my husband recover from his illness, may my children always live in peace."

"No matter who ultimately inherits the authority of the Rose Kingdom, they must not slaughter each other."

"Of course, as a mother, I also have my own selfish desires."

I think my sixth daughter Freyja is too young, and my third son Aswan has too strange a temperament. Only the eldest son Ryan, although his abilities are somewhat lacking, is kind and broad-minded, making him most suitable to become the king of Kao.

Mother Nature, this is a mother's wish; if you have a better choice, I will silently obey.

After silently finishing the prayer, the beautiful woman crawled forward on the ground to show her respect for Mother Nature.

As she moved, her smooth, water-like dress slid down with her body onto the ground, faintly outlining her full and graceful figure.

Anyone seeing this scene would not believe she was the queen of Kao, the biological mother of many adult princes and princesses.

After crawling for a long time, the beautiful woman finally straightened up.

A middle-aged maidservant with hair slightly streaked with silver walked over from the side and carefully helped the woman up.

"Your Majesty the Queen, are you returning directly to the palace?"

The queen was a woman with very keen thoughts; upon hearing this, she immediately asked, "Does someone want to see me?"

The middle-aged maid nodded: "Your niece Luona brought a young man here, saying she wants you to take a look."

She added: "He's a young man, a commoner, saying he's from the northern part of Weilan."

The queen furrowed her brows: "When did Luona become so ridiculous? Or is it that the young man has something special about him?"

In her view, her niece Luona is a High-tier Mage, with a rather steady temperament, so she shouldn't be bewitched by a man.

"I've seen him; this young man's appearance is indeed not bad. Moreover, he has an astonishing invention for which he is seeking investment."

"An invention? Investment?"

The queen originally wanted to refuse directly, because this matter is not her responsibility at all.

But having said that, relying on personal connections to get things done is quite normal these days, and she also quite likes her niece Luona.

Since her niece came to her door, and she is not currently in the heavily ceremonial, busy palace, granting a favor is not a big deal.

After a moment's thought, the queen decided: "Then let's go to the nearby resting room for a cup of tea."

After saying that, she raised her hand and made a few hand signs; her brows and eyes suddenly twitched slightly.

She immediately added: "I want to see him alone; don't let Luona come along."

"Yes, Your Majesty the Queen."

The middle-aged maid helped the young, elegant queen to the resting room beside the main hall, then turned and hurried away.

In the resting room, the queen raised her hand and wiped her face; instantly she transformed from youthful beauty into an old woman with silver hair all over her head and wrinkles all over her face.

About ten minutes later, the maid hurried back; she was accustomed to the queen's aged appearance, because this is the queen's usual look when receiving outsiders.

"Your Majesty the Queen, the person has been brought alone; he's just outside the door."

The queen asked: "Have the weapons been removed?"

"They have been."

"Good, let him come in."

Click—

The door was pushed open.

A tall young man walked in; it was Luosen.

At that moment, the queen raised her head, focusing her gaze on him.

At the same time, Luosen's gaze fell upon this woman who had been queen of Kao for forty years, having borne seven children for King Xieger, a legendary queen.

At a glance, he saw that she had used Transformation Technique.

He wondered in his heart: "What Transformation Technique did the queen use?"

He immediately chanted in his heart: "Laifu, try to restore the original appearance."

As a Transformation Master, inferring the true appearance from the outward form is basic skill.

But ordinary Transformation Mages can only infer a rough approximation, whereas Luosen, aided by Laifu's high computing power, can get it nine-tenths accurate.

It is evident that the queen's Transformation skill is quite ordinary, so Laifu quickly deduced her true appearance.

She is only about thirty, with wine-red hair, ice-blue eyes, a dignified and noble countenance, seated upright on a bench, full-figured but not bulky.

In short, from any angle one can instantly sense a natural, noble elegance, and it naturally gives rise to a feeling that she is lofty and superior.

The problem is, she is too young.

She should be in her sixties, yet she is only in her thirties.

This defies common sense and does not match the known information.

Luosen focused his observation on her, and then discovered the cause.

Fifth-ring peak, the realm of the Sage.

The queen of Kao is actually a Sage, and she surely ascended to that realm at a young age, so her bodily aging has greatly slowed.

At the same time, the queen also spoke: "Young man, I cannot see through you; who exactly are you?" Her tone carried doubt and vigilance; evidently she had also noticed Luosen's abnormality, but she did not react excessively, as if she had expected his arrival.

Luosen's heart stirred slightly and he understood: this is the sensitivity of a High-ring Mage.

When the other party agreed to meet me alone, I had already encountered something that would happen unexpectedly.

It is highly likely that they used the Five Rings' fortune-divination technique.

He then smiled and avoided answering the other's question: 'Your Majesty the Queen, the results of fortune-divination are very unreliable; if you make decisions based on them, you will run into big trouble.'

The queen gave a faint smile: 'Of course I know that, but I carry some very powerful magical devices on my person, enough to protect myself.'

Luosen nodded in agreement: 'That is also true.'

The queen asked again: 'I can sense that you have very strong magical power, much stronger than mine. You must have it, right?'

'More or less.'

'Oh~ truly enviable.'

The queen's face showed a natural yearning, and she asked again: 'Then, honored Archmage, what is your purpose?'

Luosen directly said: 'I hope to help His Majesty Xierge regain his health.'

The queen shook her head: 'I don't think you have that ability, because my husband is truly old. He is merely a High-Level Warrior, and he is already 68 years old.'

After a pause, she added: 'In the Nature Alliance, all kings are Sons of Mother Nature; as long as they can live, Mother Nature will not let them die easily.'

Luosen had already prepared himself mentally for this; he insisted: 'I understand, but I still want to try, because I am highly skilled in healing arts.'

The queen countered: 'Why?'

Luosen spread his hands: 'Naturally, it is to gain some reward.'

Originally it should have been said outright, but now an unexpected situation has arisen, making the situation very unclear.

For safety's sake, I can only conceal my true identity for now.

The queen did not answer immediately; she placed her hands folded on her knees and fell into silent thought.

This expression made Luosen's heart stir slightly: 'According to common sense, I have the intention to save her husband; what she should be doing now is to test my abilities. Why is she still considering it?'

'Could it be that you have some reservations? Or perhaps you do not want the king to continue living, so you can rule yourself?'

This possibility is high, because although the king, the queen is in her prime and possesses astonishing talent.

While she was thinking, the queen spoke: 'Personally, I hope you can save my husband, but if you fail, it's fine; if you succeed, I fear it will disturb the apostle of Mother Nature.'

'After all, even the apostle cannot accomplish it, yet you have done it.'

'By then, no one will know what the result will be.'

Luosen, however, laughed: 'This is probably not the main reason, because Your Majesty, you do not really fear the apostle of Nature.'

'No, I do fear him.'

'Heh~ If you truly feared him, you would not have chosen to receive me in the Great Temple of Saint Varete.'

The queen fell silent again.

Luosen directly said: 'So it seems, Your Majesty, you do not actually wish for the king to continue living.'

The queen did not give a direct answer: 'Even if you are a Six Rings Archmage, knowing too many secrets does not guarantee you can leave Silver Moon City alive.'

His words carried a faint threat, but since Luosen had come, he naturally was not afraid of this threat.

'Your Majesty, I know your trump card.'

Luosen gazed at the opponent's splendid black silver-trimmed long robe, his eyes moving downward to settle on the wide hem.

'Under your skirt, there should be a powerful offensive magical device; if you activate it, it can unleash a terrifying attack in an instant, right?'

A hint of surprise appeared on the queen's face, but she still nodded slowly.

'You guessed correctly.'

'But unless necessary, I am not willing to use it.'

Luosen smiled: 'No matter how strong the magical device, it needs time to be activated, and I am confident I can deprive you of that time.'

The queen stared at Luosen: 'You are too overconfident, Mr. Archmage.'

'Moreover, you must understand that any movement here will alert my guards; if I delay you for less than five seconds, you will be surrounded by my guard detail.'

By this point, the situation has become clear.

Either Luosen abandons his plan to heal the king and immediately leaves Kao, possibly being hunted by the queen along the way.

If he continues forward, doing so will surely be intercepted by the queen, and from her attitude, she will certainly do everything to stop him.

In other words, normal means can no longer achieve the goal.

But Luosen's most fundamental goal is to keep the political situation in Kao stable, to maintain deterrence against Aaron, and even to hold back Aaron when needed.

Rescuing the old king is merely a means to achieve his fundamental goal.

But obviously, the emergence of the Sage Queen as a huge variable has made this path impassable.

Now it seems he must rework his plan of action.

But what should he do?

In a flash of thought, he softly asked: 'Your Majesty the Queen, may I know why?'

'You need not know; leaving immediately is your only option right now!'

The queen's expression was extremely firm, and she would not say another word.

Luosen silently sighed: 'Looks like I'll have to use special means.'

This moment is the best opportunity; if we wait for the queen to return to the palace, there will be no chance at all.

(End of chapter)