Serena Feng blew out the candle and climbed into bed. She thought she would be kept awake by worries over Night City and the Lu Clan, but as soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep instantly—she's not the sentimental type at all.
"Miss sighed three times tonight." As Serena slept, her hidden guards and maids kept watch in the room. One guard, bored, yawned.
The second guard, chewing on a leaf, mumbled, "I bet Miss is missing His Highness. It's been ages since the prince came to see her."
"It really has been a long time—more than half a month, I think. The prince is impressive; before, he hadn't tasted it, so it was one thing, but now that he has, he can still hold back." The first guard gave a thumbs-up, showing his admiration.
"Are you looking to die? How dare you talk about His Highness like that! Want to lose your head?" The second guard spat the leaf onto the first guard's face. The first guard wiped it off, annoyed, but didn't dare argue—just muttered under his breath.
He was just worried that the prince might have found another woman and forgotten about Miss. After all, men have needs, right? No matter how busy Ninth Royal Uncle is, he can always make time to sleep.
It’s true that Ninth Royal Uncle hasn’t come to see Serena in a long while, but this time, the guards are actually wrong about him. Though Nolan isn’t so busy he can’t sleep, he’s genuinely too occupied to think about anything else—and tonight, he’s busy enough not to sleep at all.
The Black Riders may number only a thousand, but they’re Ninth Royal Uncle’s elite force—one of his trump cards. Mobilizing the Black Riders is no simple matter.
Ninth Royal Uncle doesn’t want the Black Riders exposed on their very first mission, nor does he want them lost—or, worse, wiped out. So he’s extra careful and cautious in his planning.
And this time, the mission he’s given the Black Riders is no ordinary task. Nolan is deploying them to steal his mother’s coffin from the Imperial Mausoleum.
Whether it was the matter of Serena Feng’s parents’ remains that inspired the Emperor, or simply the Emperor growing more shameless by the day, lately he kept using Ninth Royal Uncle’s mother’s coffin as leverage to force Nolan into submission—again and again, without end.
Nolan had endured the Emperor’s threats countless times, but this time he refused to put up with it any longer. If you threaten me with my mother’s remains, then I’ll steal them right out from under you—let’s see what you have left to use against me. As for the Imperial Mausoleum, Nolan ordered the Black Riders to blow it up. He’d have the Imperial Armory orchestrate the crime and pin it all on the Emperor.
Everyone in the realm knew: only the Emperor had access to thunder-blast grenades. If the Imperial Mausoleum got destroyed by such explosives, the blame would inevitably fall on him.
Hmph. Nolan had dared to bomb the Emperor’s construction site before—of course he’d dare to blow up the mausoleum now. Besides, apart from Nolan’s parents’ coffins, only his brothers and a few of the late Emperor’s consorts were buried there.
There weren’t many coffins in the Imperial Mausoleum. The Emperor only had one. Nolan just needed to get his mother’s and the late Emperor’s out; as for the rest, they could stay buried underground with the ruins.
The Black Riders lived up to their name: black steeds, black armor—utterly blending into the night. Their horses’ hooves were wrapped in thick cloth, so they moved almost soundlessly, slipping through the darkness unnoticed.
The Black Riders lay low by day and rode out at night. While the Emperor fretted over Felix Fuller’s injury, they quietly approached the Imperial Mausoleum, ready to wash it in blood and blow it sky-high...
Just as Serena Feng predicted, she’d barely finished breakfast when a nervous eunuch arrived with a message: Felix Fuller was still unconscious, the Emperor was deeply worried, and Serena was summoned to the Fuller Estate to check on him.
Damn it... Serena muttered under her breath.
Was the Emperor blind? Couldn’t he see Felix Fuller’s signed statement? Felix’s life or death had nothing to do with her anymore—she’d done everything she was supposed to.
“Miss Feng, please hurry. The Emperor truly cares about Lord Fuller.” The eunuch, seeing Serena unmoved, wore a pleading expression as he urged her along.
Everyone said that Miss Feng always rewarded the eunuchs who came to Feng Manor, but why hadn’t he gotten anything? Instead, he’d managed to annoy her.
“I’ll grab my medicine chest and go.” No matter how annoyed she was, Serena had to endure it—at least until Felix Fuller died. He was the Emperor’s favorite, after all.
Felix Fuller was under constant watch by imperial physicians. Even if things weren’t as over-the-top as yesterday, the Emperor had still assigned six doctors in rotating shifts—three at a time—to make sure Felix got the best care.
Even the Empress didn’t get this kind of treatment. Serena secretly cursed Felix for wasting medical resources.
When Serena entered the room and saw the imperial physicians at Felix’s bedside, she greeted them politely. The three doctors responded in kind, though their faces were tinged with embarrassment.
Serena couldn’t figure out what was wrong with these three. They stayed silent for ages, but she didn’t press them. Instead, she checked Felix Fuller’s temperature and pulse and kept his infusion going—if Felix died from lack of nutrition instead of his wounds, it would be a ridiculous waste.
The three imperial physicians watched Serena’s every move with curiosity. Once she finished her checks and sat down, they hesitated, nudged each other, and finally decided to approach her together.
“Miss Feng, um, we’re really sorry about what happened yesterday.” The three imperial physicians looked awkward and at a loss for words.
They weren’t bad people—just terrified of dying.
“Huh?” Serena was taken aback, but quickly recovered and waved her hand. “It’s fine, really—it’s nothing. I didn’t take it to heart.”
Professional rivalry was nothing new to Serena. She’d seen plenty of doctors stab each other in the back, so the imperial physicians’ open scheming didn’t bother her. Self-preservation is human nature—she herself was no saint, so why expect others to be paragons of virtue?
Now it was the physicians’ turn to be surprised. They kept glancing at Serena, unable to believe she was so easygoing, but her expression seemed genuinely sincere.
They exchanged looks, realizing Serena truly didn’t care. The physicians breathed a sigh of relief, feeling guilty for having judged her unfairly. Serena might be a woman, but in skill and bearing, she was their equal.
Standing before Serena, the three imperial physicians wanted to say something, but couldn’t get the words out. They were all older and held higher rank than Serena, yet for some reason, standing in front of her made them feel small. They thought their guilt over yesterday’s incident was to blame, but even after apologizing and receiving her generous forgiveness, they still felt uneasy.
Serena sensed it, though she didn’t know the reason. Still, these imperial physicians weren’t villains, and since they’d shown goodwill, she didn’t want to make enemies. She took the initiative, inviting them to sit, and steered the conversation toward a topic everyone cared about. In just a few sentences, the ice was broken.
They were all doctors, so finding something to talk about was easy. The four quickly hit it off, leaving any earlier tension behind. The imperial physicians relaxed and started asking about the unfamiliar instruments Serena had just used. Serena generously brought out her thermometer and stethoscope, demonstrating each one and teaching them how to use them.
As for a test subject—well, Felix Fuller was right there. Since he was unconscious, taking his temperature a few extra times wouldn’t hurt…