Shen Zhiyi patted his hand, indicating that he could handle it himself.
Samus lowered his eyes.
Staring at the slender fingertips that gently caressed him, and the soft, pinkish fingertips, her finger bones curled up and retreated to the side.
Shen Zhiyi looked at Herbert, her eyes suddenly turning cold.
"An explanation? An apology?" She scoffed as if she'd heard an absurd joke. "You think you're worthy?!"
She suddenly stood up and approached step by step.
"As the head of the Senate, don't you know why the ceremony failed?"
"Can't you see that my bond was destroyed by an abnormal energy?"
She exuded an imposing aura, stretched out her hand, and pointed directly at Herbert.
"Do you want me to throw the energy tracing report in your faces?"
"The person who did the tampering hasn't even been identified yet, and you're already in a hurry to pin the blame on me, the princess?"
"This is utterly ridiculous!"
Herbert's heart skipped a beat. He swallowed hard and forced himself to remain calm, saying, "Your Highness, how can we make assumptions without any evidence?"
"The ritual failed, and so did your pact with the black snake. The Senate's demand that you apologize to the people is also for the sake of the princess."
Shen Zhiyi sneered, her eyes sharp as knives.
"I haven't even held the Senate accountable for their negligence in supervising the altar, which allowed those scoundrels to take advantage of it, and you're already feeling disappointed?"
"If anyone should apologize, it should be your Senate apologizing to this princess first!"
Herbert was speechless for a moment, his face turning bright red, when she launched into a barrage of counterattacks.
He hadn't expected the eldest princess to be so assertive.
They directly turned their attention to the Senate.
He took a deep breath, knowing that it was impossible to get her to apologize, so he could only settle for second best and said, "Since the princess insists, this old minister has nothing more to say."
"However, your subjects, who have placed high hopes on you, will probably be very, very disappointed."
"Compared to you, the Second Princess has recently been very considerate of my feelings and has put the overall situation first..."
He was implying a threat to change the successor.
Shen Zhiyi interrupted him impatiently, "The matter of succession is a matter of individual ability."
Her right of succession was determined when her mother was alive.
Even if the Senate and her stepmother wanted to replace her, they would have to wait until the election ceremony to have a contest with her to determine the winner.
What she and her sister were competing in was not just their own abilities.
There is also the ability of belonging.
so……
Shen Zhiyi glanced at Samus.
She will definitely get him.
Seeing that she was unmoved, Herbert turned his gaze back to Samus and said angrily, "Even if Your Highness doesn't care about your own reputation, you should at least consider the dignity of the royal family."
"How can such a lowly and incompetent person serve by His Highness's side?!"
"Please reconsider and send him back to the dungeon!"
"Stop being so willful!"
Samus's eyes narrowed.
She looked at Shen Zhiyi with some nervousness.
Would she throw herself back into that dark and hopeless place?
"Herbert!" Shen Zhiyi's voice suddenly rose, and she said angrily, "Do you think it's my place to tell me how to deal with my people?"
"He is my contracted beast husband, not someone you can treat with contempt!"
"The person I have chosen has unlimited potential. Sooner or later, he will become someone that the entire Senate fears. Just you wait and see."
"If there is a next time, and you forget your place of rank, I will show you what true royal decorum is!"
Samus was stunned.
He looked up and stared at Shen Zhiyi in disbelief.
She's... defending him?
You still trust him so much?
Herbert's face turned deathly pale instantly.
He took a step back, his beard trembling with anger, "Your Highness, you..."
"Show them out." Shen Zhiyi turned her back, her tone cold and hard.
Herbert watched her retreating figure with resentment, then glanced at Samus, his face ashen with rage, and left in a huff.
Just as he turned and passed Samus.
A cold glint flashed in his golden eyes.
Samus's fingertips, hanging at his side, twitched almost imperceptibly.
A wisp of dark green aura, thinner than a strand of hair, escaped from his fingertips and seeped into Herbert's wrist.
Herbert was completely unaware.
As I walked to the door, I suddenly felt like I'd been bitten by a mosquito.
I instinctively raised my hand, but saw nothing.
He didn't pay any attention and quickly left.
Samus remained standing, maintaining a silent and submissive posture, without even raising his eyelids.
Only after Herbert's figure had completely disappeared did he turn his head slightly to look at Shen Zhiyi.
But he met her insightful gaze.
His body stiffened.
"Princess……"
She saw it all.
He poisoned Herbert himself.
Will she punish herself?
Samus almost held his breath.
Shen Zhiyi sat down in the chair, picked up her teacup again, and lazily took a sip.
It's as if they don't care at all.
She acquiesced.
To tacitly allow oneself to do these dark and despicable things...
Samus felt as if a small pebble had struck his heart, causing ripples to spread through his soul.
As Shen Zhiyi sipped her tea, she suddenly curled her lips and looked up at him.
"Are you protecting me, avenging this princess?"
Samus's face stiffened, his fingers tightened, and he pursed his lips, refusing to look at her. "Princess, you're overthinking it."
"Just because he insulted me."
Shen Zhiyi raised her eyebrows and put down her teacup.
"What kind of poison was used?"
She seemed very interested.
Someone with only a B-level ability was able to poison an S-level person without being detected.
That's really strange.
It seems that his abilities are far more than they appear to be.
Samus lowered his eyes.
"Princess, rest assured, it's just some harmless poison."
"He spoke disrespectfully to the princess, so I made him temporarily lose his sense of taste."
“When he gets angry at the princess, I make him sweat profusely and have nightmares at night, which is a good way to cool him down.”
“He keeps talking about royal dignity, so I’ll let him stink and show him what it truly means to lose all dignity.”
Shen Zhiyi burst out laughing.
"You're really vicious."
Samus's heart skipped a beat. He looked up at her, carefully observing her expression.
They were afraid of detecting any "dislike" in it.
Ke Shenzhi chuckled lightly and said bluntly, "But I like it."
Samus was stunned again.
She not only doesn't dislike it, but she even says... she likes it?
He lowered his head slightly, looking at the location of his heart with some confusion.
There, the jumping seemed a bit abnormal.
He pursed his lips, looked at Shen Zhiyi again, his gaze fixed on her face in a deep, dark tone, and said in a low voice, "Princess, you haven't answered yet why you chose me and formed a bond with me."
"Clearly... there's nothing I can do to help you."
He lowered his head, his eyes dim.
Shen Zhiyi stood up, walked up to him, raised her index finger slightly, hooked his chin, looked him over for a while, and then said, "Hmm..."
"Could it be... a physiological attraction?"
Samus's mind went blank, and his body suddenly froze.
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