"Are the other young ladies feeling queasy too? How utterly pitiful."

Liang Lin didn’t absorb a single word of Auston’s flattery that followed—she was too busy battling nausea.

Deep in the rear garden, she spotted a milky-white pavilion woven tightly with rose vines. Inside, a slender woman sat with her back turned.

*This must be Queen Doris Sommerfeld (who took her husband’s surname).*

Before her defeat and death, Liang Lin had glimpsed the queen and her son, Gar Sommerfeld, at palace events—but only from afar. From a distance, Prince Gar seemed perfectly normal. Up close? Like staring at a walking oil slick.

"There, there, my dear," Auston said with feigned warmth, nudging Liang Lin gently toward Gar. "Her Majesty and I have matters to discuss. You and Prince Gar are close in age—you’ll have plenty to chat about. Prince Gar, I leave Liang Lin in your hands."

Liang Lin froze.

Gar extended a hand with polished courtesy. "Miss Liang Lin, would you honor me with a stroll through the garden?"

Liang Lin: "…"

*Of course.* Good things never came her way. Auston dragged her here just to shove her toward disaster—matchmaking with the prince? Dating a man? Ugh. The thought alone made her stomach lurch.

"I’d rather not." Her face blank, she turned to Duke Austen. "I won’t intrude further. Feeling unwell—I’ll wait in the carriage."

Without glancing at Gar, she spun and hurried off.

*Leave? As if.*

She circled back, crouched behind tall grass, ear tilted toward the pavilion. *Only a fool walks away. Auston and Miranda—that scheming pair—are definitely plotting.* She’d pieced it together: Auston’s wary look at Liang Di meant he’d long known she was the "witch." Hence, this meeting with Queen Doris—a plea for a solution.

*If Doris has one… heh heh heh~* A sinister grin spread across Liang Lin’s face, tiny fangs peeking out like a mini demon—missing only a swaying heart-shaped tail. *Useless Auston and Miranda won’t handle her. I’ll end this family myself~!*

But the distance blurred the words. Only fragments reached her: "curse," "should’ve been dead," "she’s dangerous," "this should be mine." Nonsense. She couldn’t even fabricate a coherent story.

*A curse?* Could Liang Di have been altered by one? Hence the magic? Absurd. Liang Lin had never met a sorcerer. No empire permitted them—they dwelled in the Demon Spire at the Sotran-Wacher border, deep within an ancient, shadow-choked forest.

Most called sorcerers myth. The Demon Spire? Just a ruin. Real danger lay in venomous brambles and unseen raptors. No one had seen a sorcerer—existence unproven.

Some families even abandoned unwanted children at the forest’s edge… or dumped bodies there.

*So… was Liang Di thrown into that place?* "Should’ve been dead" sent ice down her spine.

"Psst, sister. Eavesdropping?"

A warm breath brushed Liang Lin’s ear. She jolted, whipping around—nose nearly colliding with the person behind. Liang Di.

*How?! She was home! Auston said she wasn’t summoned!*

"You… how…?"

"I came for the Third Prince. But sister—you, crouching here?"

*Uh… no explanation works.*

"The pavilion… Queen Doris and Auston, right?" Liang Di craned her neck, then lowered her gaze—pupils glinting faint emerald. "So… what did you hear?"

Liang Lin’s heart hammered. *That feeling… something bad’s coming.*

"Too far to hear. But… probably matchmaking me with Prince Gar." She held Liang Di’s gaze, voice steady—though cold sweat dotted her palms and brow.

The eerie tension vanished. Liang Di’s eyes sparkled with amusement. "Oh~? Auston’s pushing you and Gar together?"

Liang Lin nodded sharply. "The moment I arrived, he tried shooing me off to 'bond' with Gar. Isn’t that matchmaking?"

"Mmm… you’re right~" Liang Di smiled, sweet as honey. "Do you *like* Prince Gar?"

Liang Lin: "?"

*No—!* The word "like," paired with Gar’s face, reignited her nausea. "I—I…!" Her cheeks flushed crimson with fury—but Liang Di mistook it for shyness.

"Ahh~ so you…"

Liang Lin shot up a "stop" hand, voice firm. "No. Absolutely not. I’d fall for a sea octopus before that prince."

*Sea octopus?*

Liang Di’s lips twitched. She turned away, shoulders shaking with laughter. *My tentacles… not so different from an octopus. Is she… confessing to me?*

*This infamous "villainess"… actually kinda cute. Sharp-tongued? Sure. But isn’t that just wit?* Only after laughing her fill did she turn back, eyes still dancing.

Liang Lin stood utterly bewildered.

"Gar will surely become king. So… sister, *really* no reconsideration?" Liang Di teased.

Liang Lin’s flustered, disgusted expression was pure delight—just like her old black kitten.