Sparks flew and murderous tension filled the air. Prince Terrence let out a cold laugh, his lips curling as he threw two heavy accusations straight at Serena: “So, Serena, you refuse to save Princess Yara? Even when I personally come to ask you, you still won’t go?”
“You publicly humiliated me, played dead at my parents’ coffin—what now, your little pity act went too far and you want me to rescue her? Prince Terrence, just how shameless is the Lyndarian royal family? Even bullying has its limits.” Serena didn’t care about rank or protocol now; her retort was sharp and merciless.
Asking her to save Princess Yara was more revolting than swallowing a fly. She was honestly afraid… afraid that if she tried to operate on Yara, her hand might slip and the scalpel would slice right through the princess’s throat.
“Serena, do you realize that with what you’ve just said, I could make sure you never find a grave for your corpse?” Prince Terrence’s words were pure threat; maybe once that was true, but now?
With Serena and Simon Sun’s reputation at its peak, even the Lyndarian royals wouldn’t dare touch Serena lightly—at least not at a moment like this.
“Oh, I believe you, of course I do. For the Crown Prince of Lyndaria, killing an orphan like me is just a flick of the wrist. But Prince Terrence, even the Emperor has to respect reason. If you want to kill me, you’ll need a charge, right? Or is it now a capital crime not to save Princess Yara?”
“I’ve heard of murder being a crime, but never that refusing to save someone is a crime. Tell me, when did Lyndaria’s laws start saying that if Princess Yara falls ill, I, Serena, must save her—or lose my head?”
Tch. The Emperor never respects reason, but no one dares say so aloud.
“Serena, are you really determined not to save Princess Yara, no matter what?” Prince Terrence skipped over the parts that made him look bad and pressed on. He expected Serena to dig in and flatly refuse, but she suddenly changed tack.
“Prince Terrence, if you insist that I must save Princess Yara, then fine—but only if you agree that whether she lives or dies has nothing to do with me. If Princess Yara dies during the operation, you won’t hold me responsible.”
Serena didn’t believe Prince Terrence would ever agree. Even she couldn’t be sure she’d be able to restrain herself and not kill Yara on the table—how could Terrence trust her?
“You…” Serena had guessed right. Prince Terrence didn’t dare take that gamble.
For one thing, Yara’s condition wasn’t yet so dire that only Serena could save her. For another, this whole fiasco had clearly won Yara Prince Adrian’s sympathy. Yara was still politically useful—if she died at Serena’s hands, that would be a huge loss.
But Terrence couldn’t stomach letting Serena off so easily either. The two locked eyes in a silent battle of wills. Prince Adrian felt a chill run through him, wanting to speak up but, faced with these two deadly rivals, could only open his mouth and fail to make a sound.
Just then, Simon Sun burst in carrying his medicine chest. “Teach—”
The moment he spoke, Simon Sun sensed something was wrong. He glanced in confusion at Prince Terrence and Prince Adrian, and when he realized they were bullying his teacher, a flash of anger crossed his clear eyes.
Simon Sun, true to his nickname, completely ignored the murderous tension between Prince Terrence and Serena. He barged straight in, planting himself in front of Serena: “Prince Terrence, what exactly do you want?”
Even though he was intimidated by Prince Terrence’s aura, Simon Sun forced himself to stand firm and confront him.
His teacher had just finished burying General Feng and Madame Feng, her mood was already low, and now these people came to make trouble—truly outrageous.
“His Highness and Prince Adrian have come to ask my teacher to save someone.” Prince Terrence repeated his request, dragging Prince Adrian into the mess.