Chapter 136: Tea with Haystones
"It is alright, Queen Lauren," Minister Haystone said with a gentle smile. "We were greeted by His Majesty earlier but he is having a eting with the council right now."
Lauren sat across the two. Jennifer bowed her head curtly before speaking.
"Pardon us for coming without prior notice, Your Majesty. I asked my father to accompany
to et you."
The servant poured tea for Lauren.
"May I ask what your concern is?"
A thoughtful look was plastered on Lauren’s face. Her delicate fingers held the teacup but when she was about to take a sip, she stopped halfway. She noticed sothing.
She looked at the guard standing on the pillar behind Jennifer and Minister Haystone. Then she glanced at the servant who served her the tea who was now walking away. The guard nodded.
There was already a tea kettle on the table but the servant ca with another kettle. The female servant was also unfamiliar to her, which caught her attention.
Lauren looked at the Haystones in front of her and her eyes squinted a bit. What were the odds that they had ill intentions in eting her?
But wasn’t it suspicious? Minister Haystone wouldn’t stay in his position for long if he wasn’t smart. If they intended to poison her, they would be the main suspect as the poisoning happened during the ti of their eting. Lauren knew the old man was cunning and he would think twice about putting him and his daughter in such a situation.
It ant it was possible that soone else wanted to take advantage of the situation. Soone who was planning sothing against her.
Lauren smirked when she slled a tinge of a different scent from the chamomile tea. When it ca to food and drink, her sense of sll never failed. She could tell even the slightest difference.
"After what happened in our mansion, I was too embarrassed to et you alone so I pleaded to my father to bring
into the castle. I invited you to the tea party I hosted but it turned out to be a disaster that put you in danger. I sincerely apologize, Queen Lauren," Jennifer said while lowering her head as if she was too ashad to et her eye.
"As it happened in my mansion, I originally planned to et you alone, Your Majesty," said Minister Haystone. "But my daughter insisted on coming with . My apologies, Queen Lauren. With your noble presence, I should have tightened the security during the occasion. We could have avoided the tragedy." He shook his head with an apologetic face as if he was in deep misery for what happened.
Without sipping from her tea, Lauren put it down and smiled. She noticed how Jennifer glanced at her teacup.
"As I said, it is alright, Jennifer, Minister Haystone. All of us had no idea what would happen in the tea party. Everyone was caught off guard. How about you, Jennifer? Were you not hard?" Lauren said calmly and traced the rim of her teacup with her index finger. She was smiling but sharp eyes were silently scrutinizing every little move in Jennifer’s face as if she was analyzing the vampiress through her facial expressions.
"Fret not, Your Majesty. My father had so skilled n and they protected
so I wasn’t hard in any way."
Lauren glanced at her tea then her gaze went to Minister Haystone. She couldn’t read the man but why did she have a feeling that he and his daughter had different plans? With how Jennifer glanced at her teacup earlier, she knew that the vampiress had sothing to do with the unfamiliar servant who served her tea. It was a reckless and uncalculated move, definitely not sothing the smart Minister Haystone would do.
Perhaps Jennifer thought there was nothing she couldn’t get through because she had her powerful father’s back.
But the vampiress seed to be a changed person in their past etings. Was that all a facade?
She shouldn’t be surprised. The world was made of people covered with beautiful masks. Lies and deception were everywhere.
"I’m glad to hear that. Minister Haystone, you have raised such a kind daughter. Even when she herself was put in danger, she still thought about . Don’t worry Jennifer, I don’t bla you. In fact, I was glad that I was there with so royal guards. They helped in fighting the deranged humans. About the damages, I assu your mansion was in chaos after what happened. If you need help in revamping anything, just tell . I’m willing to help."
"Thank you for the offer but that is not necessary, Your Majesty," Minister Haystone was quick to refuse. "So parts of our mansion were ruined but we are already working with it. There are mage engineers in the town who can easily restore it."
"That is good, then." Lauren nodded and brought her teacup to her lips. She saw how Jennifer’s eyes lit up. This confird her assumption.
Sothing was in her tea and Jennifer must have sothing to do with it. She assud it was a deadly poison, but why would Jennifer Haystone poison her? Was she doing it for personal gain? Was she working alone or was she just following orders?
Beneath Lauren’s calm disposition, a lot of questions were stirring up her mind.
Without knowing what was mixed in her tea, she still took a sip from it only to see the satisfaction in Jennifer’s face. Even though she tried to hide it, the wicked glint in her eyes did not escape Lauren. The years of living with the evil Thalia and her half-sisters taught her so much.
"Can you tell what kind of poison is in the tea?"
After having tea with the Haystones, she told Julian to fetch soone in the royal laboratory discreetly. The doctor who ca was a young man with a broad knowledge when it ca to poisons. She talked with the man alone in the castle’s study room.
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