Chapter 72: A Night of Horror

Lauren looked at herself in the mirror. She just finished dressing up for Eloise’s engagement soiree with the help of Sally. Her wounds hadn’t fully healed yet, but she could now move and walk on her own. Compared to normal doctors, healing spells of healer mages could heal wounds in just a matter of days, a few weeks at most, depending on how grave the injury was.

"Are you done?"

She looked behind her and saw Alec putting on his coat. His gaze stayed on her face for a moment before it dropped to her body.

"The dress looks good on you," he said and she was about to say ’thank you’ because she picked the dress herself when he added, "But you look better without it."

"Stop your improper thoughts and let’s just head downstairs," Lauren replied and strode to the door, a bit flustered.

"Are you sure your legs are perfectly fine now?" he asked as he followed her outside the room.

"As you see, I am walking just fine."

Descending the stairs, Lauren hold onto Alec’s arm when she saw people downstairs watching them. There were already many guests in the main hall glimmering in their dresses and suits.

Now that Prince Dominic and Eloise’s betrothal was the talk of the town, most people wondered who would be the next king between Alec and Dominic. Both were of credible background but to the eyes of many, Dominic was a step ahead because he was a royal.

Queen Thalia was all smiles as she talked with the important guests, thinking that nothing would go wrong with her daughter’s engagement soiree as she supervised the occasion’s preparation to make sure there wouldn’t be a single mistake. She was a perfectionist especially when it came to her children.

However, at the back of the Queen’s mind, she was a little worried that Lauren might be plotting against her after what she did to her. With Lauren not speaking a word about it, she knew she was feigning ignorance for a reason.

When King Martin asked Lauren what happened to her, she only said that she was attacked by a black mage outside the castle and Alec happened to find her. The King didn’t inquire much about it and just believed Lauren’s story since it wasn’t impossible considering the continuous rise in the number of black mages in Evardin.

King Martin had been having a hard time dealing with court affairs and all the problems of the land, and now that he was about to have two sons-in-law who were both eligible to be his successor, he thought he could pick a crown prince right after Eloise’s wedding who could help him manage the problems in their kingdom.

As Alec talked with the people he knew from the council, Lauren parted with him and went to find her friends. It wasn’t long before she saw Vivian bickering with Ethan near the table of desserts.

Although the celebration was exclusive for the high society, with Vivian’s connection to Ethan and Lauren, she was always seen in the soirees and balls in the castle.

"How are you doing? Are your wounds healed?" Vivian asked full of concern. Since she could not visit the castle on normal days, she was unable to come when she heard Lauren’s condition and only relied on Ethan’s news.

"That bitch queen. How could she do that to you? Just let her wait and see how you steal her position one of these days," Vivian lamented, her voice low enough for only the three of them to hear. Should anyone hear her ill words toward the Queen, she would be deemed guilty of treason, so she was still careful not to be heard by others despite how annoyed she was with the Queen.

"Don’t worry, Vivian. I shall let that happen soon," Lauren promised. She then asked Ethan, "Did you receive a word from Darius?"

Ethan nodded. "Everything has been prepared, so let’s just sip wine and enjoy the show."

"Ladies and gentlemen," the King spoke in front of everyone which silenced the chattering. "I am glad you came here to celebrate this important occasion with the royal family. This evening is a precious night for my eldest daughter, Eloise, as she is finally fulfilling every woman’s dream, which is becoming a wife. This is Prince Dominic of Bodeville and he is the man I deem worthy to have my eldest daughter’s hand in marriage. Their wedding shall be held a month from now, and I hope every one of you would come and celebrate with us."

After that, King Martin requested some drinks to share a toast with everyone. A servant with a tray of wine went to the King. Dominic, Eloise, and the Queen who were standing close to each other got themselves a glass from the same tray.

"How long will it take before the drug works?" Lauren whispered to Ethan.

The servant who served drinks to the King was one of the people working for her in secret, and every drink on the tray had a drop of drug which was enough to make a black mage run wild. It was to make sure Eloise would get to drink it no matter what glass she picked.

"It should be in a minute. Let’s wait. It would not disappoint you."

The guests cheered for the betrothed couple and Queen Thalia beside Eloise was smiling joyfully. Now that Eloise was marrying a royal, on her mind she thought that she and her daughters would still hold power over the throne in the future since the King would most likely choose Dominic as his successor once he became a member of Evardin’s royal family as a son-in-law.

As Ethan promised, indeed it did not disappoint Lauren. While Eloise and Dominic danced at the center of the hall as it was customary to let the newly betrothed couple have the first dance of the night, Lauren noticed the unsettled look on Eloise’s face as if she was not feeling fine.

"Are you alright? Perhaps are you feeling ill, Eloise?" Dominic asked when he noticed that Eloise was turning cold and her face was losing color. Her eyes also grew unfocused as seconds went by.

"I-I..." Eloise could not speak. She felt like something in her was about to burst out. She thought it couldn’t be the black mage’s blood in her since she didn’t fail to take the medicine Sean gave her. He left her quite a lot last time and she knew she would not run wild anytime soon, so what was this weird thing happening to her body?

Before Eloise could figure out what was going to happen, her eyes turned all black, and Dominic who was the first one to see it pushed Eloise hard that she fell back, which made the clueless people dumbfounded.

"What have you done Prince Dominic-" Queen Thalia’s angry words were drowned by the screams filling the castle’s main hall when Eloise leaped to attack Dominic with her monstrous face revealed to everyone.

Eloise’s body had turned pale similar to a corpse, her nails had grown black and long, and dark veins popped out of her neck and around her face.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read