The second female lead Dual Cultivates

"I told you, I don't have the key. It disappeared with my father. How many times do you need to get me checked?" Kagemori looked uncomfortable in the position she was in. President Rosewell stood on her other side with a knowing smile and Maria felt it send shivers down her spine. It was not a natural smile and even had an edge to it.

But Maria was helpless to do anything but hide in the bathroom. Only the sliver of space between the open door allowed her to bear witness to the scene in front of her. She had even pushed Princess Trisha to the side to not let her witness this scene.

The princess surely would not be able to hold herself back if she saw this. The words were already getting to her and Maria was afraid that she would do something foolish in an attempt to take revenge against Rosewell.

It was only Maria and her protection that was stopping Trisha from attacking the other anyway. And the Oracle knew that the princess would charge the second Maria gave her the leeway to do so. She could almost see it in her eyes, the way Trisha would try and sneak past her and -

-her hand shot out to catch Trisha before she could move.

Maria startled herself with that quick motion as well, never mind Trisha. But her other hand moved out to place itself over Trisha's mouth before she could make any sound. The maneuver proved to be their saving grace since it prevented Trisha's scream from being heard by anyone.

Maria dared to take a look outside, only to find the room empty of anyone but Kagemori and president Rosewell. Somewhere in their inside exchanges, things had taken a weird turn outside and Maria found herself interested in knowing more about it. Her senses told her that she should hear into the conversation happening outside.

"I didn't ask you to dismiss them. What are you planning here?" Kagemori sounded tired, a different form from her usual activities. It almost seemed like she had given up on pretending and she decided to be her real self in front of Rosewell.

So, did the man know about Kagemori's secrets or was there something else that was going on there? Even Princess Trisha sounded surprised and her muffled complaints only encouraged the weird feeling.

"I'm not planning anything in particular. I don't need to when I have you here. You will drag the real princess out soon enough and I know she has the key. I wonder if your death would trigger it to activate" the man almost sounded genuinely curious.

This really was the worst-case scenario for them. Not only did the man know their secret, he even knew about the key and its possible usage. His words sounded confident when he asked about the princess and Maria knew things were bad.

Their only saving grace was Kagemori and her excellent acting. She was not letting it show that president Rosewell's target was in his sight. It made it possible for Maria to control things at her side as well.

"You're delusional. The node is a wild being and far too powerful for one person. You're not even a demon in the first place" Kagemori informed with a tired voice. This looked like a conversation that had happened a lot as well.

"We won't know until we try. It's foolish to assume that humans and demons have different potential in the first place. After all, the body you're occupying is a human in the first place" the man was not wrong entirely but he had a lot of facts wrong.

But he did raise some good points with his words. Maria had never really thought back to the fact that the node only accepted demons as power bearers. She had never needed to think over this fact and had chosen to believe Nao unconditionally. But thinking back at it it did sound suspicious since every demon had been a human at one point.

The silence from Kagemori's side meant that she either had no answer or she was not willing to share it with the audience. Maria felt her disappointment rise up at the lack of an answer. She wanted to know as well but it looked like today was not the day.

"Anyway, I heard some interesting news that I wanted to share with you. What were you doing outside your room? How did you even escape it in the first place?" President Rosewell asked and Kagemori's voice finally had a hitch at the question.

It was difficult to tell whether it was because she had been genuinely startled by the question or if she was faking it. At least Maria could not tell from her position.

"I never left the room and you know it as well. Are you trying to blackmail me?" The princess look-alike asked in a threatening tone. It was a miracle that her voice came out as strong as it had been. It even had magic laced into it and the surroundings were starting to respond to it.

The feeling of invading magic touched Maria and she recoiled from it. It was not as welcoming as she wanted it to be and Maria just knew it was the node that was showing interest in her. But her partner looked unaware of the invading magic.

"Blackmail? Well, take it like that if you want to. But do know that you need to die at any cost. You know why, right?" The elder asked and Kagemori looked pained. But she did give a confirmative node back to him with the most poisonous expression on her face.

Maria held her breath as the elder left the room. His eyes moved over the bathroom's direction and Maria refused to move. Or rather, her body was the one that refused to move. All her senses told her that she would be discovered if she did and it kept her frozen in place.

Her tight grip on Trisha did not allow her to move away as well and she could feel the man looking in their direction with a curious glare.

And then he turned back with an interesting look on his face. But it did not fool Maria a single bit. The man knew full well that there were intruders in the palace. But if he knew the real identity of the intruders, Maria was not sure.

She took some extra time staying hidden to make sure the elder was gone before coming out. Her system was a big help in being able to keep an eye on Rosewell's moments.

And her eyes met Kagemori's serious ones when she finally did decide to come out of her hiding spot.