The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 194: Failed Chameleon

Chapter 194: Failed Chameleon

"That’s enough already!" Fritz scolded Laura as she continued to finish yet another bottle of wine. "Look at you all getting wasted!"

As if in defiance, Laura intentionally burped out loud as she giggled in front of Lord Fritz like a mad woman. In response, the man kept his calm composure as he watched her drink to her heart’s content, using his fan to casually cover his mouth as he scoffed at her.

"That thing again?" she sneered as he occasionally fanned himself. "Why do you always bring that fan with you?"

"Well, this fan has a very sentimental value to me apart from it being my favorite weapon," Fritz casually replied. "It’s like how you have your sword with you all the time."

"Oh, is that so? How I would love to watch you fight using that fan then," Laura chuckled in her drunken voice before she noticed the time. "Ah, it’s past midnight now. I should head out, milord."

Watching her drunkenly stand up, Lord Fritz was quick to aid her after she intentionally swayed from where she stood. She wasn’t actually drunk. In fact, she had a high tolerance for alcohol. It was only that right now, she wanted to pretend to be drunk to get even with this lord.

To think that he already knew about her disguise and yet he acted like he didn’t... Her face crumpled as she recalled how much effort she put into her act while she was together with this man. He was probably laughing at her while she was talking big to him like she was actually a male warrior.

’This bastard,’ Laura inwardly grumbled as she put a lot of weight on her body.

"What is wrong with you? Do you think you’re not heavy?" Fritz complained under his breath as he held her up by her arm. "Why drink more than what you can handle?!"

"Oh, thank you for getting my horse for me, Lord Fritz!" Laura exclaimed as she then hastily jumped onto his back.

"What the?!"

Fritz grunted as she wrapped her arms tight around his neck, hugging him from his back with her legs wrapped around his waist.

"Hiyaaahhh!" she shouted as if she was actually riding a horse. She even spanked his butt and demanded, "Come on! Move! Let’s go home!"

Laura fought the urge to laugh as she felt Fritz’s body stiffen beneath her. This was too much fun.

"This failed chameleon!" Fritz grunted before he started walking around, carrying her on his back.

"Why is this horse moving so slowly? You lack energy!" Laura scoffed as she then had her one hand grab him by his hair. "Is this the reins? Should I pull it harder?" she drunkenly snorted.

It almost sounded cruel, but she was enjoying her piggyback ride with Lord Fritz too much as she heard him cursing under his breath.

"Stop!" he threatened, making Laura freeze. "Don’t you dare pull out a single strand of my hair or you’ll find your butt on the ground before you can do anything!"

She almost wanted to stop. Did he at least know that she was only acting?! Ahh, that shouldn’t be possible. Who would ever know that she was just having a good time after she just literally finished a decent amount of wine bottles alone?

"Why is my horse talking back to me now?" she nonchalantly barked out. "Am I already hallucinating?"

"You..."

Lord Fritz cursed, but nevertheless, he continued to carry her on his back.

In response, Laura simply raised her arms and screamed. "Faster!!! Come on!" she cheered. "If you don’t, I’ll hit your butt some more!"

Understandably, as if he didn’t want to get hit on the butt, Fritz grunted. "Damn!"

Without any other choice, he ran as fast as he could to wherever it was this woman wanted him to take her.

******

The next morning, Mineah resumed her duty as Valcrez’s Queen. Dani was also back with Chancellor Abel, and things were going back to the way they were.

Sometime after Mineah had managed to get away from Nikolai, she looked at Dani and asked, "Can you get me a dove that I can bind myself with? I need a direct connection to Mother and Wizard Lurio."

It was the perfect opportunity to do such a ritual. Nikolai would be very busy at that moment, so she should finish the binding now while she had the chance.

Seeing Dani nod, she then walked towards the pavilion where the Queen Mother was waiting for her. She was invited for a quick tea break, and she wouldn’t want to keep the older woman waiting.

"Queen Mother," Mineah politely greeted her mother-in-law.

"Come now. I know you’re busy," Queen Mother Rania greeted back as Mineah took her seat. "I won’t take much of your time. It’s just that I wanted to have a discussion with you regarding Lady Dani."

"I will help you out in that regard, Mother," Mineah hummed with a smile. "Don’t worry."

"But you’ll be very busy. You have to go out of the castle more often than not now since you have your charity events. A few of your visitations had already been delayed as well," the Queen Mother pointed out.

"A lot of Valcrezians are dying to have a glimpse of their new queen. Meanwhile, I think I can manage this wedding ceremony and Coupling Rites between Abel and Lady Dani on my own." She then gave her a reassuring smile as she added, "Although, I will require close involvement with Lady Dani on that matter."

"Dani is all yours, Mother. I will not involve her in my outside activities," Mineah stated with a smile. "After all, it’s her wedding and Coupling Rites, so she should get involved with it closely regardless."

"Your other ladies-in-waiting are all on vacation at the moment, if I recall," Queen Mother Rania reminded. "Will you be alright?"

"I’ll be fine, Mother. I still can manage on my own," Mineah reassured her yet again. "I can start my outside activities as early as tomorrow, in fact."

In truth, Mineah would’ve loved to have her shadow maidens by her side. However, they were always with her already, and they also deserve a bit of a break after all they’ve done to serve her.

Then suddenly, an idea struck her...

"It would be nice if Princess Niran could accompany me instead during the charity events," Mineah casually commented.

It had been a while since she really spent time with Niran like Laura, after all. The two of them had a lot of catching up to do. And she missed her friend these days as well.

"That might just be a great idea," her mother-in-law hummed with approval. "Princess Niran should get involved in more of the Queen’s activities anyway now that she’s a member of our family."

Mineah smiled. Inwardly, she was still worried about Niran despite how the latter reassured her that she was already doing fine. Despite those reassurances, she still wanted to make sure that all was well by reading her thoughts themselves.

"Nikolai and I will be paying Prince Raul a visit today then," Mineah humorously commented. "I believe I will need his permission for the matter. After all, they’re probably still on their honeymoon."

On top of that, she still hasn’t had the opportunity to greet and congratulate the couple yet after their Coupling Rites. Niran had suddenly passed out back then, and Raul immediately left with her as soon as it was done.

Seeing as she now had the opportunity to do so, Mineah might as well kill two birds with one stone.