The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 272: Undid the Spell

Chapter 272: Undid the Spell

Back in the province of Otto, Mineah along with Krisha and Laura began strolling around the night market after their dinner and a few drinks. The night was still young, after all, and there was still more to be had while they still had time to themselves.

"Don’t you think that couple looked weird?" Laura whispered to both Mineah and Niran in their secret language as Nikolai and Raul gazed at another store beside theirs. "They feel... off, somehow."

"Off, how?" Niran replied back in the same language. "I don’t see anything wrong with them at all."

Mineah didn’t comment as she waited for who would notice Nikolai and Raul’s disguise first between the two of her friends. On top of it being fun, it would be a neat little test to see who was more observant between the two.

"Their auras," Laura pointed out. "They might look like a normal couple, but they just... I can’t explain it properly for some reason."

Niran let off a hum as she subtly squinted at the fake couple. The gears in her mind were clearly turning based on what Mineah knew of her, and she could already see just how and where she was going in terms of her thought process.

"Now that I look at them, they are indeed quite suspicious," Niran frowned. "Why didn’t I even notice it before? Now that I see it, I can’t look away from how off they look."

Mineah nonchalantly shrugged as she felt her two maidens’ gazes land on her. "I don’t really care," she carefully replied while sipping on yet another drink that they just bought from one of the many stalls they passed. "So long as they’re good people, who cares who they are?"

It was the truth, after all. They were benevolent, so it shouldn’t matter who they were at the moment. Then again, it was quite literally Laura and Niran’s job to know who exactly was interacting with their queen.

"They’re still suspicious," Laura harrumphed as she squinted in turn. "We can’t just let them go by without knowing who they truly are. For all we know, they’re actually here to spy on you, milady."

"Then by all means, go ahead," Mineah shrugged yet again, making sure not to give anything away. "I am quite curious as to who they are as well."

Smirking underneath her drink, Mineah watched as her two Shadow Maidens went to work. They both clearly had something in mind. They may be going to question the fake couple and see if their story holds up to any sort of scrutiny. That was what she would do, at least.

Either way, she knew that her shadow maidens were capable in their own respective fields. The disguises they had to see through were magical in nature, and she could only assume that the one with the most affinity to it between the two of them would be the winner in this unannounced test.

If she recalled, whenever it came to magic and spells, it was Dani who truly excelled. She was then followed by Krisha, then by Niran in terms of utility and offensive power. While Zaila wasn’t with them at the moment, Mineah recalled her excelling more in her healing abilities. Likewise, Niran was best when it came to spying missions. She honestly thought that it would be Niran who would win this bout if only because of these sets of skills that she had.

Then there was Laura who, while not that good with magic and spells, had superb fighting skills, memory, and over all knowledge. She was quite a strategist if she must say, and while she had little to no magical ability that could ever match her fellow maidens, there was still a chance that she might just be the one to see through the disguise that was currently hiding Nikolai and Raul in plain sight. Laura was just that observant, and if either Raul or her husband was slacking in their cover, then she would easily tear them apart and show the truth for what it really was.

Nevertheless, she didn’t care who would win. She was sure that whatever happened, it was bound to be both awkward and funny.

"Say, we haven’t gotten your names after all this time," Laura began as she began cozying up to the disguised Nikolai and Raul. "We’ve been spending this much time with one another. Maybe we should all introduce ourselves."

"That makes a lot of sense. In that case, I am Kol," Nikolai hummed as he promptly elbowed Raul’s currently feminine self. "Come on, dear. Let’s tell them our names."

"A-Ah... My name is... R-Rhal," Raul awkwardly stated, having clearly only come up with his cover name at that moment. "It’s nice to meet you."

Mineah raised an eyebrow as she looked at Laura and Niran’s reactions. Already, she could tell that they were onto something.

"I see," Niran hummed, still smiling to cover her intentions. "You two look like a loving couple. How long have you two been seeing each other."

"A few years now," Nikolai coolly replied. "We met somewhere here, actually."

"R-Right," Raul hesitated in his reply, but he quickly composed himself. "We were eating in that same place where we just were."

"Is that so?" Laura smirked. "I find that highly suspect."

"And why is that?" Nikolai asked back.

"For one, the hesitation in your tones was just too obvious," Laura pointed out with a smirk.

"And to add, you two are giving off a faint magical signature that’s synonymous with a disguise spell," Niran further added. "Also, I know it’s you, Raul."

Mineah’s eyes widened at that, and so did Nikolai and Raul as they all stared at Niran.

"Wha- How do you know?" Raul couldn’t help but ask.

"Whoever did the disguise didn’t do a good enough job," she cheekily replied before a faint blush began forming on her cheeks. "Your neck still has the marks of... uhm the... marks at your neck."

"You..." Raul trailed off, his cheeks also burning red. "I knew this was a terrible idea."

"I didn’t even notice that," Nikolai hummed as he undid the spell. "That’s something I will have to take note of in the future."

Smiling, Mineah went ahead and walked to her husband’s side, looking completely unsurprised as she kept on sipping on her drink.

"And thus the truth has been revealed," she casually smiled.

"Wait. You mean you knew this whole time?"

"Of course," Mineah smirked as she answered Laura. "I just wanted to see how long it’ll take before it all fell apart."

And thankfully, it didn’t last for too long. She honestly wanted to actually spend some time with Nikolai, and now, she could do exactly that.