Chapter 154 The Last Dance

Edith slowed down her pace.

At this time, the queen's attention was all focused on Amy, leaving only a little energy to deal with Ivan and keep a normal appearance. Even though she had already stood in the other party's field of vision, she was still not discovered.

Amy, who was passing by hurriedly, also sensed the presence of the gaze, but she did not dare to stop - the other party must be attracted by Joyce's outfit, and would change her direction if she stopped.

Walk quickly, until you are out of sight of the other person.

"——President Walker."

The queen suddenly spoke and called the other person.

Ivan, who was talking and laughing, shut up instantly, and stood quietly with his head down, but he turned his body quietly and put his ear towards the direction of the woman in black robe. Amy secretly said something bad, pretended not to hear anything, and quickened her pace to the side.

Campbell was now more certain of his thoughts.

Joyce was avoiding her? What on earth was she doing here?

"...It's me." She briefly removed her disguise for a few seconds and switched back to her natural voice, "Look back, Joyce."

Amy felt like he was being stared at by a poisonous snake. The cold gaze wrapped around him like a rope. He closed his eyes, turned back stiffly, and smiled awkwardly: "You got the wrong person - God, Her Majesty the Queen!"

Campbell's sneer froze on his face the moment he saw Amy.

He has a distinctly male face and looks very young.

......Apart from the long hair, it was indeed a face she recognized.

"Amy Walker." She almost gritted her teeth and said the name, "Why are you wearing Joyce's clothes?"

Before Amy could think of a reason to answer, an abrupt voice sounded from the stairs.

"Your Majesty?"

Edith appeared on the second floor with a look of shock on her face. The two spoke quietly, and no one paid attention to this direction. Campbell touched his face belatedly and suddenly realized that he had forgotten to disguise himself again.

She was silent for a moment, then switched back to the ordinary middle-aged female face and looked calmly at the two people in front of her.

Amy: "I won't tell anyone!"

Edith: "I'll definitely shut up."

Very good, quite smart.

Campbell sighed and pressed his forehead with a headache. Her main purpose of hiding her identity was to observe from the dark. Now Edith, who was at the top of her observation list, accidentally discovered her existence, so tonight's operation was almost a failure.

"Go ahead." She didn't want to talk any more, so she waved her hand casually and asked the two to leave.

As expected.

Edith turned around naturally and walked forward like Amy, counting silently in her heart.

Three, two, one——

"etc."

Ivan suddenly said, "Mother, this is my friend Edith whom I told you about. Please allow me to introduce her to you."

I got you right, Ivan!

Edith raised an eyebrow.

The queen would not take the initiative to keep her for a talk, so she could only find an outsider to intervene, and Ivan was the best choice.

Although whether they are "friends" or not is still debatable, and the other party stopping her and introducing her to the Queen also seems to be taking advantage of her, but who cares?

Campbell frowned: "Ivan!"

This means being unhappy.

Ivan narrowed his eyes and looked at his mother's face innocently: "What's the matter, teacher?"

The simple and frail image of the past played a role at this time. Although Campbell was dissatisfied, he did not think Ivan's behavior was too strange. As his most spoiled child, Ivan was indeed not as cautious as Ursula and Zebulon: "... It's okay, introduce your friend to me."

Amy paused hesitantly, evidently wondering why she had called Edith alone.

Same conversation, why is Edith a friend and I a passerby?

But he was afraid of being questioned why he wore Joyce's clothes, so after struggling for a while, he quietly walked to the corner.

Edith stood beside the Queen. Just as she was about to salute, Campbell stopped her: "Don't use honorifics, call me teacher."

Edith readily responded: "Hello, teacher."

Ivan gave Edith a toothy smile and mouthed silently, "You're here after all."

Edith had just rejected him, but in the end she still had to come to her mother, didn't she?

Edith pretended not to notice his expression, lowered her eyes, and stood meekly in front of the queen. Ivan started chattering, describing the few exchanges between the two of them in such a grandiose way that even Edith herself was confused for a moment.

If she hadn't experienced it herself, she would have almost thought that the two were really close friends.

Campbell's expressions are also wonderful.

She had indeed heard her youngest son talk about Edith, but she had always thought that they were just friends in the same grade and had never realized that they had such a good relationship. She softened her expression and said in a gentler voice, "Thank you, Miss Griffin. My youngest son is weak, so please take good care of him."

These words didn't sound like they came from a king, but more like they came from a mother. Edith smacked her lips, recalling Zebulon's face which had turned blue due to staying up late to prepare for the league. She couldn't help but sigh at how different Campbell was to his children.

The queen continued. She glanced at Ivan's face, which was so full of laughter that her eyes could not be seen, and shook her head helplessly: "Ivan's grades are not good either. If he has any problems with his studies, please take care of him."

Ivan's smile became a little stiff, and the missing part shifted to Edith's face.

"I will, teacher." Edith acted well and sensible. "It's the right thing to do to help friends."

I hope your other son can still speak so calmly when he becomes the second one.

Ivan seemed to just want to emphasize their relationship, and the topics involved were relatively ordinary. The queen lost interest after exchanging a few words. Finally, the other party mentioned the final exam, and Campbell came back to his senses and gently asked about Edith's situation.

Edith took the opportunity to speak: "I volunteered. In order to maintain the fairness of the academy, I volunteered to take the third-year exam."

"But...excuse me, teacher, can I ask you a question?"

"What's the problem?" Campbell asked casually. Edith got her consent and went straight to the point: "I want to know why Palmer was punished for secretly refining the luck potion?"

The queen's smile faded from her face, and she turned quietly to look at Edith's face.

There was only curiosity on the other person's face.

"Yes, mother." Ivan agreed. "It is only right to accept the punishment of the academy for using potions in violation of regulations. Why did the court wizard and association members intervene?"

Ivan asked, staring into the queen's eyes without blinking. Campbell softened his heart immediately, and after properly hiding the details of the matter, he said, "A cellar in the palace where treasures were stored was opened. The man used the luck potion to steal two treasures. He was discovered halfway, but still ran away. In order to track him down, all those who have used potions illegally recently will be inspected."

Edith pressed her hands against her legs slightly.

For storing treasures, or is it a cellar...Why does it feel so much like Duke Eddie's tunnel?

She still had many questions, but it was inconvenient to ask them out loud. Fortunately, Ivan, who was thoughtful, asked secretly: "Can the lock be opened with luck potion?"

"It was a coincidence." The queen didn't want to say more.

Edith thought for a while and began to praise: "The other party was discovered even after using the luck potion. The court wizards are indeed the most powerful people in the kingdom."

"It has little to do with the mage. It's mainly because the thief made the noise." The queen's expression eased. "Don't think the court mage is too powerful, Miss Griffin. The palace also welcomes you to participate in the court mage assessment."

Edith had some guess in her mind.

That "cellar where treasures are stored" must have hidden parts, and it's hard to say whether the stolen "treasures" are real. The general treasure house uses the magic fluctuations of the keeper as the key. It is absolutely impossible to enter by pure luck.

As for the thief, since he was able to escape in the end, it means that the luck potion has not expired - the bad luck during the expiration period will definitely allow the court mage to catch up. If it has not expired, the sound made by a professional thief cannot come from himself, it can only come from the stolen treasure.

A door that can be entered by luck, a treasure that makes its own sound.

The so-called "cellar" should be a breeding cage, and the so-called treasure must be a living creature, probably some rare monster.

Edith wrote down her speculation and continued to talk to the Queen. Seeing that the Queen was getting impatient, Edith was ready to leave at any time and apologized for the accidental death of Celeste.

The Queen's calm reaction basically confirmed that the other party knew about it. The Queen should know about the soul exchange, but she was not very interested and it was unclear what part she knew.

Seeing that she could not get any more information, Edith said goodbye tactfully and left the second floor without any delay.

......

"I see."

After listening to Edith's retelling, Shelly paused for a moment and said, "But from what I saw when I went to the palace before...it seems that the number of recorded monsters has not decreased."

"That's possible. Since it's a cellar, the thing must be underground." Edith took a sip of the wine at hand. "Is there any creature that doesn't need sunlight and can live well underground?"

"Yes, but very few, and none of them can be considered rare." Shelly searched his mind quickly, "Unless they are species that have never been made public."

But this is almost impossible.

The main duty of the court wizard is guarding, and the discovery of new species depends on the association, which is controlled by Joyce. It is impossible for there to be a species that the association does not know about but the queen knows about.

"Could it be a human?" Edith joked, "Humans can live for a long time underground." The slaves kept in cages underground may never see the sun in their entire lives.

Shelly was suddenly silent.

Edith almost thought that she had aroused the other person's bad memories. Just as she was about to apologize, her throat suddenly tightened: "...Wait."

"It can't really be a person."

If the cellar is replaced with an underground house, the people inside, as long as they are not imprisoned, are likely to have the right to enter and exit freely. Then as long as you are lucky enough to block the door at the moment when the people come out, you can indeed open the "cellar" by luck.

"Who would be kept in captivity underground?" Shelly said calmly, "The palace has no shortage of slaves."

"There are people with extraordinary value." Edith continued, "Also, the thieves are likely to be from Duke Eddie's side. We can also start from the perspective of what they need."

"They need normal people with magical talents."

Edith: “…”

Very likely.

"We can use the Christmas Eve period to go look around the area." Edith took a deep breath, "Go and ask if there are any families with missing children."

However, there is good news. At present, it seems that Hope and the Queen are not in a completely cooperative relationship - otherwise she would not have resorted to stealing to snatch the child.

Edith sighed and drank the wine in her glass. "The party was pretty good."

"It's worth it for me to force myself to attend social activities."

"Are you planning to go back now?" Shelly asked softly.

"Forget it. It would be a bit conspicuous to leave now." Edith put down the cup and looked at the clock. "It's almost over anyway."

Judging from the time, this is the penultimate dance, which is only about ten minutes long, so just wait a while.

Shelly is also aware of the timing issue.

One last dance?

He raised his eyes and looked at the students who were eager to move behind the teacher. Many people recognized his face, but because of his identity as a professor, they did not dare to approach him to talk. But seeing that there was only one dance left, some of them seemed to be brave enough to approach him.

There are also a few familiar faces among them.

Shelly's eyes swept across Tuttle's face, and finally stood up when someone moved, and stretched out his hand in Edith's surprised eyes.

His throat felt a little dry.

The penultimate dance music came to an end at this moment, the music gradually faded away, and disappeared completely with the last drum beat.

"Excuse me, may I have the honor of asking you to dance?"