The second female lead Dual Cultivates

“Princess, you are finally back. Lord Clement is waiting inside for you” The royal advisor welcomed Neah back. He was a fragile old thing and looked ready to meet his end any day soon.

But Neah knew better than to underestimate him. His sharp snake-like eyes betrayed the orientation of his true origins.

This was a demon who had stayed in the human world longer than any Neah had known before. He had also been the one who had made it possible for Neah to meet her demon.

This man was a mystery and also someone who held a lot of influence inside their court. Why such a man had chosen Neah over her brother though, remained a mystery to Neah.

“I see. I will go and have a chat with him. Can you handle the court in the meantime?” Neah’s voice was coated with respect. The elderly had all but raised her for the past few years. He had allowed her to bloom into a warrior capable of respect.

Neah owned a lot to him.

“Go. Don’t give him a hard time though since he’s also a mere pawn in our plans. It is only a matter of time before he too would be consumed by his desires. That is, if he’s not careful with the toy he had acquired” the old man replied as he left the hall.

Those words surprised Neah but those were not the first line of nin-sense she had heard from the old man. Maria could only empty her mind as she entered the room.

“So you are Baron Clement? My condolences for what happened to your family. Now, can you tell me what happened and how you managed to survive?” Neah heard the blue-haired man speak.

He sounded genuine and said. His voice spoke of a tale of grief and luck. How his service to the throne and the princess had saved his life but his family had not been that lucky.

The princess believed not even a word that came out of his mouth. Baron Clement was a good actor but his eyes held no grief, only glee.

The glee of someone who killed their kin for their benefit was something Neah understood well. She, too, held that glee in her eyes after all.

…………….

“I don’t trust that man” Nao voiced as soon as she entered their assigned room. Her posture screamed tense and uncomfortable and Maria observed her long-time friend.

Suna also looked uncomfortable but she seemed much more put together with the idea of participating in the tournament. It was evident that she was the only one who had something to gain by winning.

“I could not help but agree with you. The timing for this tournament was too coincidental for him to have randomly selected it. Let me look it up once more information comes in” Maria decided to withhold information from the group.

It was not even a conscious decision on her part and it made her feel guilty as soon as she realized that she had not been entirely truthful. Keeping things from the group was slowly becoming a habit for her.

It was only the guilt on her face at having recognized that habit that made Nao aware of her omission.

“Maria, did you know something more? I thought we agreed on no more secrets” Nao asked and Maria wanted to tell her that they never reached that conclusion. The last time this conversation came up, it was left unresolved.

But this did give her an excuse to discuss what she knew about the case.

“Sorry. I was not keeping it from you but I just wanted more evidence before bringing this up. Just in case it was a false assumption on my part. It would not be fair to everyone” Maria gestured toward Suna. Suna missed the gesture since it was not one she was familiar with but Nao did understand it.

There was understanding in Nao’s eyes but also an annoyance. She seemed to not agree with Maria’s choice but did not tell her off for it either.

“What is it? Did you really bugged the guild master’s room” Suna asked as soon as Maria pointed her phone screen toward the pair.

It showed the small recording her system had taken of the guild master and the brief discussion he had on his phone. It was an experiment on Maria’s part to test her system’s limitations.

She figured that if it could record her visions, it might also have features to record real-life conversations it could see. And it did work to a certain degree which helped.

It would have been nice to know beforehand so that Maria could have bugged the royal palace or at least, bugged Princess Neah. But there was no manual for Maria to figure it out and most of her features were self-tested.

“Maria, I think this speaks for itself. It’s clear that we cannot stay here any longer” Nao’s voice sounded decisive and Maria watched Suna’s face fall.

Suna looked like all he dreams were being crushed under Nao’s words but she no longer had any face to be able to defend herself.

This whole situation was a giant trap they had entered willingly. But Maria felt really bad and the situation was not at its worst yet.

“There is still a chance for us. The person just wanted the prize for this information so there is no real need for us to participate in it. We can just steal the prize and get the information” Maria purposed.

The other two gave her a funny look for her words and Maria felt odd at having such a look aimed at her. It was not like what she suggested was weird or even new.

“Should the oracle be saying this? Are you sure this is our Maria and not an imposter?” Suna asked but Maria could see hope in her eyes. The poor girl was torn between her duty and desire.

Maria felt empathetic to her.

It was not long ago that Maria, too, had been in a similar situation. Her life as an oracle bounded her to a duty she had no choice but to face but Maria felt like it was not her call to make.

In the end, things happened but Maria felt content to be where she was. No, she did and the doubt she felt from time to time was just another trial in her path.

“So we do this and then get out. We have one day to be able to execute it all but if we do this right, we will be done by tomorrow noon. Maria, when is the earliest bus for Grand Canyon available?” Nao asked, taking charge.

“It’s available in the evening tomorrow and then two days after. We can make it in time” It was the best news and somehow, the stars felt like they were aligning for them.

And this time, Maria didn’t even have the bad feeling from before.