Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Aria''s Gift


    "Sad? What for?" Lady Jade chuckled. "My joy is tied with my kingdom. Since the Kingdom of Beastmen is currently flourishing, I don''t see a reason to be sad."


    "Of course, the Kingdom of Beastmen is flourishing. You have such a powerful king as your ruler," Aria said as she pointed out the obvious. "What I''m saying is, aren''t you sad that you''re not the Queen of his heart right now?"


    Again, Jade''s smile disappeared instantly. She hated how everyone seemed to make fun of her situation where she couldn''t be with the man she loved.


    "I would be sad if I spent all my life trying to support a man, and yet, he chooses another woman to be his wife. How tragic," Aria said, but her tone made it obvious that she was mocking Lady Jade.


    "You should watch your mouth, kid. I will be stationed here, in this pce as the new overseer of Holy Achate. I can make your life a lot harder if I want to," Jade threatened, but Aria didn''t seem to be affected at all.


    Instead, she giggled and took something out of her pocket.


    "Rather than threatening me, I think you should be more careful with your own life, Mdy. I''m sure that someone in this pce will kill you sooner orter," Aria warned. "So, why don''t you hold onto this?"


    Jade nced down at a ne with a diamond pendant on it. She chuckled mirthlessly, "I have enough for myself, Princess. A mere diamond ne won''t impress me."


    "This might be thest time we will ever meet, Mdy. I just want to give this to you as a parting gift," Aria said. "This diamond ne is my family heirloom. Think of this as a small bribe, so you would spare my mother and me once you resume power in the Holy Achate."


    Jade was finally interested.


    Not because of its price, but because the ne was Aria''s family heirloom, so it must be one of a kind.


    Jade alwaysmissioned all of her jewelry, so nobody in this world could match her. This family heirloom should be the same. Nobody in this world owned this but her.


    "I see that you''re not so tactless," Jade acknowledged as she epted the diamond ne and put it in her pocket. "I will keep this for you. Don''t worry, I am a very generous person. Unlike the Beast King who would often burst into rage for no good reason, I am much more logical. As long as you and your mother don''t make trouble on the outskirts, then I wouldn''t make things difficult for you two."


    Aria smiled, "Thank you for your generosity, Mdy. Please take care of Holy Achate as the new ruler."


    Aria then turned around and entered her room. Her grin widened as this woman had fallen into her trap, ''Now, all I need to do is to wait for her death, so I can trap her soul and harvest it. I''m sure she will be useful with her useful poisons and potions.''


    Aria opened the Necronomicon and nodded as she made sure that she had used the right spell to create that item.


    -


    Soul-Siphoning Pendant


    Consume 10 dead souls freewe?n?vel


    Effect: Sacrificing ten people would create a pendant that could trap the soul of the holder inside and bring it to the creator of the pendant.


    ''Yep, I did it right this time. I don''t need to have witchcraft power to create this


    item. Everything is going well,'' Aria thought. ''Thankfully, I don''t need to stay in this pce anymore, so those ten maids I killed a few days ago will be useful.''


    *


    Jade returned to Gale who was still busy observing the changes around the castle. He was ignoring her until Jade asked, "So, are you going to make me the new Queen of Holy Achate?"


    "Don''t be ridiculous, Jade. You are


    not the Queen, and will never be," Gale responded coldly while still not sparing a nce at Jade. "I will. make you an overseer of Holy Achate as our new vassal kingdom, but the Queen will always be Swan,


    as she is my wife." Contént


    "And yet, she can y around in the castle, free of woes, while you forced me to stay in Holy Achate, doing all of the hardbor," Jade sighed. "Sometimes, it makes me wonder if you understand the consequence of spoiling a woman."


    "What I do with my wife is none of your business. Besides, you''re not going to be in Holy Achate until next spring, since I''ve deployed other beastmen to clear the tasks around while working together with the ministers and the church in Holy Achate," Gale retorted. "Now stop


    badgering me, I have things to do."


    **


    It took Gale five days in Holy Achate to make sure that everything went smoothly after Queen Anastasia''s abdication.


    Anastasia and Aria were already sent out to their new home on the outskirts of Holy Achate the second day after abdication. Gale also made sure to station two beastmen scouts to watch these two women from afar, ensuring that they wouldn''t dare to do anything.


    Gale and Jade didn''t need a carriage to go back to the Kingdom of Beastmen. Gale was naturally agile and leaped between tree branches to travel, while Jade had to transform into her wolf form to keep up with Gale.


    They rested on a river as they were halfway through their journey per Jade''s request. She felt exhausted as sheined, "You need to slow down. I am not young anymore. It''s really difficult to keep up since you are basically immortal."


    "I can''t wait to meet my wife. It''s been almost a week without seeing her beautiful face, her alluring scent that makes me feel at ease, and her sweet smile that makes me feel itchy in my heart. I feel like I''m going crazy without her by my side," Gale responded. "I need her."


    "You are mad, Gale," Jademented lightly, even though her heart was in so much pain right now. "You don''t need her to stay alive. There''s no difference whether she''s with you or not because you two are not fated anyway."