Chapter 38 Carnival 03

Zhu Yu quickly shook his head, forcing himself to break away from the echo of the spell.

Now was not the time to worry about whether the voices were consistent. More importantly, the scene just now had revealed a key clue. The progress of her main quest had increased from 60% to 75%.

The king... he must have realized Helena's identity as a wizard, and he drew his sword in anger and stabbed her to death with his own hands. But before taking her last breath, Helena counterattacked - she released a curse on the king.

etc.

A thought suddenly flashed through Zhu Yu's mind, and his eyes fixed on the void:

"The... spots on the king seem familiar."

Her eyes gradually became solemn.

If she remembered correctly, those plague patients also seemed to have spots on their bodies.

Had the king also been infected with the plague?

Zhu Yu closed her eyes and entered the crystal ball again. After careful observation, she rejected the idea.

The spots on the plague victims she had seen in the town of Arce showed pathological necrosis and swelling, while the king's spots... were more like some kind of curse mark that slowly penetrated and gradually eroded the body. They looked similar in appearance, but had a certain indescribable "regularity".

Moreover, if the curse wizard had the ability to spread a curse like the plague, then with the power of the Secret Society, the entire Kingdom of Lodevia would have fallen long ago. There would be no need to hide secretly like they are doing now, for fear of being reported and arrested.

However, although Helena's curse did not directly cause the plague, there must be some connection between it and the plague disaster.

Zhu Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, his fingers unconsciously stroking the crystal ball, and he once again had new guesses about the truth about the source of the plague.

She was now increasingly curious about the king's real purpose in inviting her to Villanova to hold a so-called "wine tasting" in the name of carnival.

If the curse on the king has now been lifted, then perhaps this banquet was really just out of interest in her secret ale, or to consolidate the royal family's morale during the turmoil of the epidemic.

But if the curse has not yet been lifted...

Zhu Yu suddenly stopped thinking.

Wait a moment!

If the king is still troubled by the curse, he will spare no effort to find all possible ways to lift it.

She rubbed her brows, forced herself to switch her perspective, and put herself in the king's shoes.

If she were the king who was cursed with royal power, what would be her first reaction?

Of course, he would go find a curse wizard who was also proficient in curses to remove the curse. The wool comes from the sheep, so the curse should naturally be removed by someone who is proficient in this art.

But here comes the problem.

According to Lady Janet, Queen Helena was the most powerful curse wizard in Lodevia during her lifetime, and the spell she cast before her death not only carried all of her own magical power, but also most likely combined extreme emotions and resolute will.

A curse like that cannot be easily broken by an ordinary curse wizard.

Even if the king finds other curse wizards, they will probably only be able to suppress the symptoms. The possibility of truly lifting the curse is very slim. At most, he can only rely on alchemists, pharmacists or unconventional means of curse magic to delay the onset of the disease.

Zhu Yu closed his eyes, and gradually pieced together the details of this dungeon in his mind.

I still remember that during the Rose Festival, the alchemists and scholars sent by Villanova secretly colluded with the Lord of Beleriand and hunted down the cursed wizards like crazy, even ordinary people were not spared, and tried to forcibly transform them into cursed wizards with alchemical props.

When she heard Lady Lucia's explanation at the time, she thought the other party's excuse was far-fetched - now everything made sense.

It is very likely that the king was using forbidden means to create the "materials" in order to "replenish" the curse wizards who could try to break the curse.

Zhu Yu tapped his fingertips slowly on the wooden table.

So...what was the purpose of the plan to switch her beer during the Dionysian Festival in an attempt to infect the entire population of Iros with the plague?

Is it really just an act of sabotage?

Zhu Yu's expression darkened, and an almost absurd guess suddenly popped up in his mind:

Is the king crazy? Knowing that the curse cannot be lifted, he wants to drag everyone to be buried with him before he dies?

But as soon as this idea came into her mind, she couldn't help but shook her head and denied it secretly.

Based on her understanding of royal power, if the king is really dying, the most important thing in his eyes would not be to be buried with his parents, but to prolong his life.

Could it be that what those alchemists were trying was another kind of "therapy"?

For example, would it require large-scale infection and death, at the cost of the lives of thousands of people, to trigger some kind of sacrificial ancient curse formation in order to transfer or even offset the curse on the royal bloodline?

[Main quest progress +15%, current unlocking progress 90%]

A familiar system prompt sounded in his ears, but this time, Zhu Yu did not feel happy at all. Instead, he could not help but shiver.

Her guess was confirmed.

The root cause of the plague that swept across the kingdom was far darker and more terrifying than she had originally imagined.

***

While Zhu Yu was still feeling restless, the carnival arrived as scheduled.

The palace has been brightly lit since early morning. Candlesticks interwoven with gold and silver hang high on the dome. Curtains woven with gold thread are hung between the columns. The sunlight shines through the stained glass, reflecting the floor tiles into patches of blurred light.

The plants in the garden were also replaced with a batch of varieties she had never seen before, with bright petals and strange shapes. The air was filled with an indescribable fragrance that was so sweet that it made her chest feel stuffy.

The palace was decorated with great grandeur, with red and gold carpets extending from the main hall to the end of the stairs, and flowers piled up layer by layer, almost covering the marble patterns.

But this ostentatious bustle could not dispel the lingering uneasiness in Zhu Yu's heart.

The more luxurious it is, the more deliberate it appears.

Zhu Yu walked into the banquet hall and looked up at the dome in the middle of the hall. A magnificent and strange mural suddenly came into view:

In the painting, the king is wearing a laurel crown and standing on top of a magnificent banquet. He holds the wine glass high in his hand, with a smile symbolizing victory at the corner of his lips.

And at his feet, there was a vague group of people crouching, as if thousands of people were wailing and struggling, but they were deliberately blurred in the shadows of colors.

Zhu Yu stood where he was, his fingers tightening slightly.

This is so ironic.

Just as she was staring at the mural in a trance, a hand suddenly patted her shoulder.

She subconsciously turned her head to look, and saw a middle-aged nobleman in luxurious clothes and with a smile on his face bowing slightly to her.

"Isn't this the daughter of the Draka family? You are one of the most popular figures in the capital these days."

As he spoke, his eyes subconsciously glanced behind her, "But why didn't I see any other members of your family come? I remember that the Draka family always attaches great importance to such occasions."

Zhu Yu smiled and said in a gentle voice, "My father, Viscount Draka, had some minor health problems a while ago. I asked my brother George to go back to handle some matters, and the others were also unable to leave due to other matters. I had no choice but to come here alone to perform my duties for the family."

She spoke appropriately and gracefully, with a smile on her face, but she sneered in her heart.

She had already noticed that something was wrong with tonight's banquet, so how could she allow George to bring the entire Draka family in to take risks and disrupt her plans?

He raised his glass to Zhu Yu, exchanged a few words with the noble, then turned sideways to hide the alert look in his eyes.

The lights in the hall lit up one by one, illuminating the gold-leaf-decorated arches and reliefs, as if every detail was highlighting the glory of royal power.

Only under the high-hanging mural, the dark shadow seemed to still be twisting and struggling, swallowing up the deepest corner of the hall.

Zhu Yu lowered his head and took a sip of wine. Just as he put down the glass, the trumpet of the guard of honor sounded not far away.

Crown Prince Carl Anson walked slowly into the venue wearing a royal blue robe and a golden eagle emblem on his chest, which symbolizes royal power.

Although he was young, his features were clear and bright, but there was a hint of weariness on his face that he could not conceal.

"Dear guests." He raised his glass slightly, his voice gentle but majestic, "His Majesty the King has been unwell recently, so I will attend the carnival banquet tonight on his behalf. I hope you will forgive me."

There was a sudden chorus of agreement in the hall.

Zhu Yu lowered her eyes and said nothing until the crown prince approached her while nodding to everyone as if on a pilgrimage. Only then did she bow slightly as a courtesy.

"Miss of the Draka family." Carl smiled and clinked glasses with her. "His Majesty the King has been talking about inviting you to the Royal City for a long time."

"I heard that the king has been ill recently. I wonder if it is due to an old illness?" Zhu Yu asked tentatively.

Carl raised his glass for a moment, then chuckled and said, "It's just overwork. The king was too concerned about state affairs. It wasn't until the news of the Dionysian Festival reached the royal city that he finally agreed to rest for a few days."

“That’s really rare.”

Zhu Yu, who had known the truth a long time ago, was speechless about the crown prince's reasons. She simply stopped pretending and rolled her eyes as she turned around and picked up a bottle of beer.

As Zhu Yu and the Crown Prince finished their brief exchange, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

Butler Elton walked into the banquet hall and announced calmly:

"Today is Carnival. The king is very happy and has specially ordered the palace gates to be opened as an exception. The common people of Villanova are invited to come to the banquet and celebrate the festival together!"

Before he finished speaking, the wine bottle in Zhu Yu's hand suddenly stopped and almost slipped from his fingers.

She subconsciously clenched her fists, suppressing the sudden waves in her heart, and said in a slightly cold voice:

"Invite commoners into the palace?"

At this moment, the banquet hall seemed to fall into a brief silence.

Even though the music was still flowing slowly, the melody seemed to suddenly become empty.

Not only her, but many nobles around her also looked back with frowns on their faces.

"Are you kidding me? If these civilians are infected with the plague, wouldn't the entire palace be infected as well?"

"How can we allow commoners to participate in our noble banquet? Do they know the etiquette?"

"It's ridiculous. This has never been the tradition at Villanova."

“…”

The murmurs of dissatisfaction gradually spread, fermenting into an invisible restlessness in the magnificent banquet hall.

Zhu Yu did not join in their noise.

She stood there, her eyes lowered, her fingertips still tightly clasped around the neck of the bottle.

If civilians were allowed to participate in this carnival banquet, it would be a definite sacrificial ceremony.

As for the object of sacrifice,

Zhu Yu raised his eyes and glanced around.

Naturally, they are all the nobles, waiters, commoners who participated in this carnival dinner... and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.