The next day, the dawn illuminated the entire sky, covering the earth with a golden hue.

Liran Day finally made it back to the border and couldn't help but burst into tears at the sight of her mother, who was lying in a crystal coffin.

"Dear Mother, I'm sorry for being late." Liran Day knelt beside her mother's coffin and gazed lifelessly at the figure of Ye Li inside.

In Liran Day's eyes, Ye Li had given her a second chance at life. If it weren't for her, she would have perished in the snow long ago. Although Liran Day was not Ye Li's biological daughter, Ye Li had treated her as her daughter. She had never shown any favoritism toward Lizzy or Lilia and had never treated Liran Day as an outsider. At this moment, Liran Day wished that she were lying in the coffin instead of the mother who had raised her.

Mavis had never seen her aunt so sad. In her eyes, Liran Day had always been cold and unsmiling. The passing of her grandmother had a great impact on her.

Lilia handed Liran Day a tissue to wipe her tears and said, "Don't be sad, Liran Day."

"Where's Iris?" Liran Day asked. Her voice was cold and her eyes were filled with a hint of ferocity.

"In the dungeon," Lilia answered without hesitation.

Liran Day stood up and was about to head in the direction of the dungeon when Lilia grabbed her arm and said, "I will deal with Iris. Let's bury our mother first."

Hearing Lilia's words, Liran Day had to give up her plan. "Okay, sister.” She said, clenching her fists. At this moment, she wanted to tear Iris into pieces. She had never imagined that her niece would be the one to kill her mother.

Shortly after, the two of them carried the coffin to the imperial tomb, followed closely by Mavis. Looking at her grandmother in the coffin, tears streamed down her faces once again. She didn’t know why Iris would do that.

Tantra, Dou Gu, Xiao Tao, and other castle personnel followed closely behind. They all admired Her Royal Highness and some of the maids had been by Her Royal Highness's side since they were children. Their lives had been saved by Her Royal Highness. Now that Her Royal Highness had passed away, they wanted to send Her Royal Highness off on her final journey.

Lilia and Liran Day looked towards the coffin as tears continued to flow down their cheeks. "Rest in peace, Dear Mother." They murmured.

"Escort Her Royal Highness." The crowd behind them shouted in unison.

The coffin shattered into countless fragments, splashing ice foam everywhere before disappearing in the sunlight.

"Grandmother, goodbye." Mavis whispered as she watched the fragments fade away.

Lilia then erected a tombstone in the imperial tomb, on which was written "The 28th Queen of the Blood - Ye Li Cecilia."

...

In the dungeon, Iris was in agony as the saltwater continuously stimulated her wounds, causing intense pain to every cell in her body. She struggled relentlessly, hoping to escape from this hell, but her body was still shackled by the iron chains.

"Vampire girl, if you want to escape, I can help you." Chaos' voice sounded in Iris's mind.

"No, I won't escape. It will only prove that I assassinated my grandmother." Iris replied.

Chaos stopped asking questions when he heard Iris answer. He knew that Iris had sealed her fate by assassinating the queen. There was no way around it.

Everyone's magic aura was unique, and no one can imitate another's magic aura. Chaos just needed to wait for Iris to show her hatred. With her strong desire to survive, Iris would definitely not refuse him.

Iris continued to endure the stimulation of the saltwater, believing that it would not be long before her mother would come to save her.

"Clang, clang, clang." The sound of footsteps was loud, but Iris could hear her mother's footsteps.

"Drain the water!" Lilia looked at a nearby shadow guard.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Two shadow guards began to drain the water from the dungeon.

In a moment, the water level in the dungeon where Iris was imprisoned plummeted rapidly, and before long her wounds were exposed in front of the three women, and fresh blood oozed from them.

"Dear Mother, you're here." Iris said weakly, as if she were close to dying.

At this moment, Iris's face was pale, lips cracked, bloodstains all over her face, sunken eye sockets, and the whole person looked extremely haggard.

"Tell me, how did you implant the black and red angular blades into Her Royal Highness's body, and what is your motive?" Lilia asked coldly.

"I didn't implant any angular blades. I didn't kill Grandmother. As for motive, I have none. Grandmother treated me so well. Why would I have a motive to kill her?" Iris replied calmly, without changing her expression.

"Hehe." Lilia chuckled coldly. "Then explain: why is your magic aura present on these dark red angular blades?" Lilia said, pointing at the pattern of the blades for Iris to see. Iris carefully examined it and discovered that the magical fluctuations on the black and red angular blades were indeed hers.

"I don't know." Iris replied.

"Iris, Iris, I really misunderstood you. Even now, you still deceive me." Lilia said.

"I didn't deceive you," Iris's eyes were filled with determination.

"Do you think I won't dare to kill you?" Lilia said angrily, and punched Iris in the abdomen.

"Spurt."

Iris spewed out a mouthful of blood, her strength drained as if there were shackles on her body. She slumped down, as if she would have collapsed onto the ground if not for Lilia's hold on her.

"So you think I won't dare to kill you?" Lilia said furiously.

"If Mother believes that I am the one who did it, then let it be the truth. As for motive and method, I really have no idea." Iris closed her eyes.

Lilia didn't say anything, just silently stared at Iris, tears flowing from her eyes.

"Go on, continue performing for me. I know you're good at acting. All the evidence points to you. why won't you tell the truth?" Lilia questioned harshly.

Iris didn't answer because it would be futile to do so. The right are right, and the wrong are wrong. But now there was no way to prove whether she was innocent or guilty.

"I was wrong. From this day forward, you are no longer my daughter. Your mother-daughter relationship with me is severed, and your name will be erased from the royal family genealogy." Lilia said.

Iris still didn't answer, as it seemed all of this was within her expectations. After all, she had hurt Lilia's mother, and this was the expected outcome. Even though it was a false accusation, no one would believe her.

Lilia took out a sharp sword and directly chopped off Iris's right arm. Blood gushed out instantly, filling the air with the smell of blood.

"Ah!"

Iris let out a scream, the agony of this pain was a hundred or a thousand times crueler than death.

Iris's right arm fell to the ground, and Lilia immediately used the blood-red flames to burn the severed limb to ashes, which meant that Iris's arm could never be reattached.

"Today I sever your right arm. Tomorrow, I may sever your left arm. Then it will be your legs. After all your limbs are gone and you still won't talk, then I will gouge out your eyes, cut off your ears, and proceed to remove your organs. In short, I won't let you die so easily." Lilia said.

With that, Lilia turned and left the dungeon.