Chapter 209: Ghost of the Past

Lauren could not believe it.

She was seeing her mother’s face after thirteen years right in front of her. The face she had been yearning to see for so long.

She was astonished as she stood frozen, staring at the woman whose gentle eyes were looking at her as if she had recognized her.

Lauren’s breathing hitched, and the long minute of silence stretched.

"Lauren..."

When she heard Alec’s voice, it was only when she woke up to reality.

Filling her lungs with air, Lauren clenched her jaw, and her eyes, which were soft a moment ago, hardened. The recognition and yearning vanished and she looked at the woman like it was her first time seeing her face.

Magic was everywhere in their world, forbidden spells that could trick one’s eye, and Lauren thought that she would be a fool if she got tricked by their enemy’s cheap antics. She didn’t know why the woman was using her mother’s face when Lady Mildred had died more than a decade ago, but she was sure it was to confuse her so they could take advantage of her weakness. She was, after all, the queen of Evardin and the most important person for the king. She was the perfect pawn to use.

"You think you can trick me with my mother’s face?" Lauren’s voice was so low and quiet, it barely resonated in the hall.

Vincent’s brow twitched at Lauren’s mention of ’mother’, now getting a better idea of the situation. He stared at the woman’s face, wherein half of it was an untouched beauty, and found some resemblance to Lauren’s face. However, it was general knowledge that anyone with the skill could replicate a person’s physical features, and it wasn’t the first time he witnessed the trick.

Meanwhile, Alec immediately noticed the striking similarity of the woman’s unburnt face to the hidden portrait of the late Lady Mildred in Lauren’s room. He had seen it once, so he understood why the appearance of the woman affected Lauren so much.

"Trick you?" The woman smiled gently, the corners of her eyes slightly wrinkled. Her smile appeared to be genuine, which made Lauren grit her teeth. "My dear Lauren, do you seriously think I am tricking you? Look at the half of my face. It is burnt by the Flame Dragon spell. I cannot undo it, nor can I change my original face."

Flame Dragon spell. Lauren was familiar with it. It was a forbidden spell that required the power of a skilled elder mage or three powerful arch mages combined. It would burn someone’s skin and have no cure. If the face was burned by it, the spell of replication, or the mere changing of appearance was no longer possible.

But there was no way Lauren would believe it.

"The damage done by the Flame Dragon spell is indeed irreversible, but we cannot guarantee that you are not wearing your burnt skin as a mask to deceive us. After all, one can easily manipulate his looks if he has the right skills," Alec said calmly. One of his brows flicked up, his dark eyes boring a hole into the woman.

The ominous feeling in Lauren’s chest was growing by the second. This woman was the leader of the enemies who went to the castle alone. And to think that this was the card she was hiding up her sleeves, to make her believe that she was her mother who died thirteen years ago, made Lauren think that this whole situation was not as simple as it seemed.

She glanced at the floor and drew a deep breath, refusing to be fascinated by her mother’s face. She’d better remind herself that it was not real, that it was all a facade to fool her.

"Is this why you went here? Because you think you can fool me?" Lauren’s voice was cold as ice. "I saw with my own two eyes how my mother died in front of me. You can copy her face, but that is the most you can do."

"My Lauren-"

"Don’t call her that," Alec cut her off with a hiss. "She is not yours."

"Oh, King Alec!" the woman chortled. "Before she became your wife, she was my precious daughter. She still is. I suppose it is rude of you to stop me from calling my daughter endearments, Your Majesty."

"I am not your daughter!" Lauren’s tone raised. The woman had kept on mentioning the word and she didn’t think she was patient enough to listen to it. Not when this impostor had her mother’s face and voice.

"Why do you think I would risk going here alone knowing all of you believe that I am the leader of the rebels? It is because I want us to meet again, Lauren. I have finally regained my strength after all those years of hiding." Her face turned hard. "You don’t know what I have been through. You don’t know what I did just to live and come back to you."

"You are not dealing with a child, you cannot fool me," Lauren muttered under her breath.

The woman’s lips curled up as she averted her gaze to Vincent, whose observant eyes were gleaming with mischief.

"Lord Vincent, I heard you are famous for your Truth Revealing spell that you have mastered since you were a child. Why don’t you use it on me so the truth will be exposed?"

Lauren’s heart skipped a beat. It was true that Vincent was famous for that because only a very few people could master the Truth Revealing spell. It was a gift that most people coveted since no spells or sorcery could resist it, and to hear that this woman was confidently asking Vincent to use the spell on her awakened the fear in Lauren’s chest.

"She is only trying to trick you," Alec whispered to her ear and patted the back of her waist, reassuring her.

Right. She should not be shaken. The appearance of deranged humans was unexpected, as well as the black mages’ gain of power. Everything could change, which meant that even if Vincent’s spell proved the woman’s claim, it would not guarantee its truthfulness.

[A/N: Sorry for the 1 month hiatus. I was dealing with some problems.]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read