Chapter 539: Kritonia

Holding Natasha in his arms off her feet, Lucien walked to the guest room at the end of the corridor calmly. With such a posture and such softness in his hands, he was quite satisfied and could not cover his smile even though he could smell nothing but stinky blood and sour poisons.

Natasha, on the other hand, felt rather complicated. Her self-perception and her previous experience both suggested that she was a brave knight, but now that such a brave and firm knight was hugged by Lucien in such a way, she felt indescribably weak and ashamed. However, Lucien was the one who was hugging her. His heartbeat, his smell and his chest were all so familiar and made her feel warm and sweet. Therefore, she was both delighted and embarrassed, and she tried not to reveal her feelings on her face in case Lucien made fun of her.

While she felt uncomfortable and yet she did not want it to end, it did not occur to Natasha that she was also wearing a smile until Lucien stopped at the door of a guest room.

"Duke James' guest rooms have divine power circles, too?" Lucien was more or less surprised.

Natasha tried to shift her attention from her current awkwardness and looked at the room. "The few guest rooms on this floor are for the entertainment of the royal family and other major nobles. So, the divine power circles are independent from the overall defense of the manor, giving the guests a private, secure space."

As she explained, she saw that Lucien opened the door with his spiritual power and walked in.

The guest room was rather spacious, with a living room, a bedroom, a library and other facilities such as a piano and a bar. After Lucien closed the door and activated the divine power circle, the whole room was suddenly separated from the manor. Quiet and tranquil, it seemed like a private space that belonged to them.

Natasha knew that Lucien was being cautious. He could not be distracted when he guided her to use the Health Belt. They would be in major trouble if the divine power circle was not activated and an enemy attacked them.

Suddenly, she felt something soft, comfortable on her back and realized that Lucien had put her on the velvet bed and was staring at her attentively with her black eyes.

In a low voice, Lucien said, "Just now, you..."

Before he finished, Natasha interrupted Lucien and smiled, "No thanks are needed between us. It was my faith of protection as a knight and a wife. If it were you, I believe you would've done the same. I was quite shocked when you stabbed your hand into your neck."

Without being shy or retreating, she spoke of the word 'wife' frankly.

While talking, she extended her right hand and grabbed Lucien's, passing the gentle warmth into Lucien's heart.

There was no need to say or do anything. Lucien held Natasha's right hand tightly and sensed the eternal warmth between the two of them. Then, looking at her in the eyes, he lowered his head and kissed her lips.

Natasha blinked and slowly closed her eyes, relishing the kiss and not loosening her right hand.

Everything was slow and gentle, but it was even more exhilarating than passion.

After a while, when their lips were separated, Natasha's eyes were clear again. She said with a smile, "Hurry and suppress 'Helpless Kiss' for me..."

"I'm going to help you suppress 'Helpless Kiss'..." Lucien smiled and said at the same time. Then they both stopped and looked at each other with a smile.

"Hurry. If our recovery is delayed because of romance, and we are killed by subsequent enemies, it will be on the top ten most stupid ways to die in Allyn." Natasha recognized the situation as keenly as before.

Lucien chuckled, "There shouldn't be any subsequent enemies." Had he not received Fernando's secret message, he would've helped Natasha suppress the poisons earlier, but the truth was, it was not easy to come by Her Majesty when she was weak.

Natasha raised her eyebrow. "Granny Hathaway and the Lord of Storm came?"

She believed that Lucien came to the private party with certain preparations. Therefore, she thought of 'reinforcements' the moment Lucien said it.

"Let's talk about the details later. I'll help you recover first." Lucien nodded. Considering that Duke James would inform 'Heart of Time' to come after processing the spot, he could not stay long. So, he helped Natasha suppress 'Helpless Kiss' with magic such as 'Poison Neutralization'.

Natasha focused her attention and began to gather her willpower. After a minute, a sharp and cold brilliance beamed out of her eyes.

Seeing that, Lucien spread his spiritual power to Natasha through their right hands that were still crossed, guiding her to pass the magic barriers of the Health Belt. Then, he erased his own mark.

Natasha was slightly surprised, but she did not have the time to consider at such a moment. She hurried to leave her own mark in the pivot.

The Health Belt around her waist emitted a gentle glow. As its passive ability was activated, the dark green gas spread out and disappeared.

After a dozen seconds, Natasha waved her left hand and said in complicated feelings. "Being weak is a terrible feeling."

Then she looked at Lucien. "Why did you erase your mark?"

"I have the Congus Ring with me. The effect of the Health Belt is redundant for me, and you don't have an item that protects you from poisons, diseases and negative energy." Lucien said with a smile.

While the royal family of Holm was rich, and Natasha had a granny who was a grand arcanist, the senior-rank items, especially those with special effects, had always been rare. Therefore, although Natasha had equipment that could prevent poisons, it was not as good as the Health Belt.

Having regained her strength, Natasha cleaned the blood on her and teased him, "What a precious gift. You truly deserve to be called a 'moving treasury', Mr. Evans."

It was what Grunwell said just now.

"You're my wife and my queen. Nothing is more precious than you." Lucien realized that he might be talented at sweet talking after all.

Natasha chuckled and enjoyed what Lucien said, but she intentionally said, "You picked three items from Mr. Rhine's place. Except for the scroll that you used yourself, you offered the other items to me. Your adventure proved to be for nothing."

It was then that Lucien realized that the items he got from Mr. Rhine's treasury had been mostly offered to Natasha. However, it was definitely worthwhile as long as she was happy. Mr. Rhine was really a good man. When could he offer an opportunity to pick another item from his treasury?

"Right, did you have something you want to say?" Natasha was also relieved after knowing that Hathaway was around. She almost forgot to ask.

Lucien cast another spells cautiously in case of snooping. Then, he spoke to Natasha via the telepathic bond. "Sard was the one behind the curtain. He wanted to..."

There was no need to keep it a secret from Natasha. As the queen of Holm, she would be involved in the matter sooner or later. Besides, her tendencies were rather obvious.

"I don't trust Sard. He has been too mysterious and unpredictable." Natasha offered her opinion.

Lucien nodded. "Nobody knows what he got from the World of Souls. It's not easy to infer his real purpose. We have to be prepared that he has great schemes."

"His Excellency Kritonia was attracted to him... What's the result of your necropsy?" Natasha asked solemnly.

Lucien thought for a moment and confessed, "The necromancers of the Hand of Paleness knew a lot about cells. Based on their knowledge system, they found out the age of the prince when he passed away. Although there's an error of about half a year, it is doubtless that the prince's actual age when he died was two to three years older than the age he should've been. You can ask Hathaway for more details."

The test result was too important to be delivered through electromagnetism messaging. Lucien joined the party and met Natasha partly to forward the message, too.

Natasha listened and sighed in sorrow, "I find Sard even less trustworthy..."

Then, she calmed down and smiled like a real queen. "Rest assured. I will not be impetuous. It takes tricks and plans to crush the enemy in a head-on clash. I'll cooperate with them until the lands are separated. Then, I will bring Kritonia to trial for his crime. He will have no support."

After learning the cause of her family member's death, she made up her mind. Sard couldn't have done it on his own. The pope and the Grand Cardinal must've given their help.

"The Congress and I will be on your side." Lucien touched Natasha's hair, which made her slightly uncomfortable. She intentionally changed the subject, "Right, Lucien, I'll tell you a secret..."

Hearing the secret in the telepathic bond, Lucien smiled. "This is great. I feel relieved."

Pausing for a moment, Lucien walked to the window and observed the nobles who were almost about to riot. "Kritonia will be informed very soon. It's inappropriate for me to meet him. I'll leave now. Don't be scared when you face him. Her Excellency Hathaway is around and observing everything."

"Okay." Natasha suddenly put on a naughty smile. "There should be a few more minutes. Lucien, my strength is not entirely back yet. Help me take off my clothes and put on new ones."

Her hunting suit was transformed from a senior-rank knight suit. She couldn't have resisted Grunwell as long without it, but under the corrosion of curses and poisons, the suit had been completely ruined, with cracks and holes everywhere. Thankfully, she had a few more senior-rank helmets and knight suits after inheriting the throne, so she opened the storage bag and took out a knight suit that had been transformed into a purple long dress, as well as lingerie, silk stockings, etc.

Lucien's heart raced, and he breathed heavily, "There's no time..."

"You are overthinking. I asked you to change my clothes for me exactly because there is no time." Natasha said in a delightful smile, "This is a 'reward' for you hugging me a moment ago."

Lucien's smile was immediately frozen.

......

In another chamber where Duke James had turned on the divine power circle, Natasha arrived with her purple long hair tied again. The vague redness on her face still hadn't faded away.

At this moment, Duke James directed a grey-haired old man to enter the room. Inside his azure eyes, an ever-surging river of time seemed to be running.

"Your Majesty." Kritonia bowed in a heavy mood. "Duke York must be severely punished for his involvement in the assassination against you, but considering that he merely observed but did not participate in planning, and considering the loyalty of the Kritonia family for hundreds of years, please show him some mercy. The Kritonia and me will protect you even more loyally."

He had already gained the confession from David. Therefore, he had come to Natasha to plead guilty and seek compromises and exchanges.

Natasha said solemnly, "If I compromise and back off about someone who intends to kill me, wouldn't it be telling everyone that they are free to kill me because they wouldn't be punished whether they win or lose? I don't think I can survive for long in such a case."

Kritonia was about to talk, only to be stopped by Natasha's gesture: "So, York and Barady must die!"

"As a punishment of treason, the Barady family, who initiated the assassination, will lose their title and their fief lingdi. As for the Kritonia, since only York was mildly involved in it, he will be punished but his family will be unaffected."

"Kritonia, what do you think of such a decision? I don't think there is only one grand knight in your household, is there?"

Easy compromises without principles would only make the compromises worthless.