CHAPTER 262: THE QUEEN WHO HUNTS IN SILENCE

[If this isn’t just an act, I swear I’ll cut off his dick for Her Majesty!] Solene thought with a disturbingly calm smile. [I’ll cut it off and make him eat it.]

Alright, things have gotten way out of hand now.

Still, Primrose’s performance had succeeded in completely earning Silas’s trust.

The doctor was now so convinced by her act that he started changing his original plan. Instead of killing her, he actually thought about using the hatred she supposedly held for her husband.

Honestly, she found this a little confusing.

In her first life, Silas knew she didn’t like Edmund. Even so, he chose to kill her instead of trying to manipulate her into attacking him.

Well ... maybe that was because it would’ve been nearly impossible to do.

Since everyone believed the Lycan King hated her, there was no way anyone would think she could get close enough to place a slave seal on his body.

Therefore, Silas must have thought it easier to take his revenge on Primrose instead of confronting the actual source of his anger.

What a coward.

"But even though my husband sometimes acts like a monster," Primrose said with a soft, bitter smile, "he can be sweet too. He lowers his guard when he’s tired or when he’s with me."

She looked down at her hands, pretending to hesitate before adding, "That’s why I believe I can tie him with a slave seal."

The clock was ticking, and Primrose was quickly running out of patience. Even so, she did her best to remain calm.

"Can you explain the process now?" she asked sweetly. "I want to practice it right away before he gets back."

Silas could barely contain his excitement. [So the gods are still on my side, huh? I must be truly blessed.]

Primrose had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. He sounded so confident for a man who didn’t even have the guts to face the Lycan King himself.

"Of course. Please listen carefully, Your Majesty," Silas finally said.

The method, he said, was simple ... or so it seemed.

First, the master and the slave both needed to offer a drop of their blood. Then, the master had to mix a special ink made from ground bone ash, the sap of a tree that’s over a hundred years old, and the tears of a three-eyed snake.

Wait, wait—none of that sounded simple at all!

"Where am I supposed to get the tears of a three-eyed snake?" she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Do snakes even cry?"

Honestly, if she hadn’t seen firsthand the slave seal on Hazelle’s body, she would’ve laughed and assumed this was all nonsense made up by some drunk lunatic.

"Don’t worry about the ingredients, Your Majesty," Silas said with a smile. "I have them all in my room, so I can help you with that."

So the three-eyed snake was real?!

"I ... I see." Primrose gave an awkward little laugh. "Please continue."

Silas went on to explain the rest. Once the ink was ready, she had to draw a magic circle on any part of the slave’s body. Then she had to drip both their blood into the center of the circle.

"After that, you must say the secret words," Silas explained. "That’s what activates the seal and as long as the slave doesn’t know the exact words, they’ll never be able to break free."

Primrose straightened her back, her smile growing, as the conversation finally reached the point she had been aiming for all along.

There were only a few grains of sand left in the hourglass now, but that was fine. She didn’t need much time anymore, just a few more sentences.

She leaned in slightly and said, "Oh? Like what kind of words?" Then she added, casual as anything, "Tell me, Doctor. What words did you use when you sealed Hazelle?"

Silas chuckled. "Even if I wanted to tell you, Your Majesty, I couldn’t," he said with a shrug. "The magic doesn’t allow us to say the secret words out loud. Unless we do a special ritual to connect our minds, no one else can know them."

"How fascinating." Primrose murmured, her smile slowly widened. "Are you thinking about those words right now, Doctor?"

"I’ve already recited them three times in my head," Silas said with a laugh. "But unfortunately, you won’t be able to hear them, unless, of course, you can read my mind."

She laughed along with him, her tone light and sweet, but something in her expression made Silas uneasy. It felt like she was mocking him. For the first time during their conversation, he sensed a strange chill in the air.

"You’re right," Primrose said softly.

She tilted her head, resting her chin on one hand. Her voice was still soft and pleasant, but it sent a shiver down Silas’s spine. "It’s such a shame that I can’t read your mind, Doctor."

Silas’s smile faltered. Something about her gaze made him feel like she was silently celebrating a victory he hadn’t realized yet.

Primrose then turned to Solene. "Lady Solene, come here."

Solene stepped closer, confused but obedient. As Primrose gestured, she leaned down.

"Lower your head," Primrose whispered, her voice just low enough so Silas couldn’t hear.

When Solene followed her instruction, Primrose leaned in and spoke directly into her ear, her tone deadly serious.

"Listen to me very carefully. You need to deliver these exact words to Lady Raven within one minute. The words are: ’Under my command, your spirit is beaten into submission.’ Don’t miss a single word. Not even one. Understand?"

Solene nodded quickly. She didn’t know what was going on, but something in Primrose’s voice made her take off running without another question.

Silas blinked in confusion. "Where is she going in such a hurry?"

Primrose casually picked up her teacup and took another sip. "Oh, don’t worry. I just remembered I asked her to deliver something for me earlier. Nothing important."

But Silas was starting to grow uneasy. That didn’t look like someone who was just making a casual delivery. Solene had run like her life depended on it.

Still, he tried to shake it off. "Anyway, shall we continue discussing the seal? I can also show you the markings you’ll need to draw on the slave’s skin—"

"Oh, I’m afraid we won’t have time for that." Primrose set her teacup down gently. "You see, Doctor, you’ve already given me everything I need."

Silas frowned. "What do you mean?"

She smiled sweetly. "You said the words three times in your mind, didn’t you?"

"Yes, but—"

He stopped mid-sentence.

Suddenly, his throat tightened, as if invisible hands were choking him. His eyes widened in horror. He reached for his neck, coughing violently, but no air came.

"What ... what is this?" he gasped, his voice hoarse and cracking.

Primrose tilted her head slightly, watching him without the slightest hint of panic. She looked like a cat watching a mouse that had finally stopped running.

"Oh? Is something wrong, Doctor?" she asked sweetly. "Was the tea not to your liking?"

Silas staggered backward, barely able to stay on his feet. His chair toppled over behind him as he clutched his throat.

"You ... you poisoned me ...," he rasped.

Primrose smiled sweetly. "Not me," she said, dusting off her skirt as if this were just another afternoon tea. "Sir Vesper did. I’m absolutely hopeless with potions."

Silas collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. Every breath felt harder than the last. His chest tightened, his vision swam, and the colors around him began to blur into a dizzying mess.

"Y-Your Majesty, what’s going on?" Callen finally asked, his voice laced with confusion. He had kept quiet until now, but the chaos unfolding before him was too much to ignore.

Primrose didn’t even spare him a glance. Her eyes remained calmly fixed on Silas. "I’m just returning the favor," she said softly.

Callen frowned. "What ... what do you mean?"

Primrose’s smile slowly faded. "He’s the reason I can’t walk for a few days." Her voice was gentle, almost delicate, but beneath it, a storm was brewing. "He poisoned my bathwater. That’s why I ended up like this."

She looked down at Silas, now trembling on the floor, his hands weakly scraping against the ground as if he could dig his way out of what was happening.

"You know," she said, her voice eerily calm, "you should’ve been more afraid of me than of my husband."

Silas tried to speak, but nothing came out. His mouth moved, but the poison was already making its mark, stealing his strength, his breath, and now, his voice.

"My husband is straightforward," she continued. "If he found out what you did, he would’ve slit your throat without a second thought."

"Well, sometimes he might choose to torture the criminals if necessary, but either way, you’d know when the storm is coming. He’ll face you head-on."

The spark on Primrose’s eyes slowly disappeared. "But me? Oh, doctor ... I know I look harmless. I seem like someone you could kill with a little poison and get away with it."

She leaned in slightly, her voice lowering into something colder. "But there are many things you don’t know about me."

"I don’t mind helping others," she said. "And once someone earns my trust, I’m willing to give them anything."

"But you ..." Her eyes narrowed. "You betrayed me."

Her voice didn’t rise. It didn’t crack, but the pain and anger hiding behind her calm words were undeniable. "Out of all the sins in this world, betrayal is the one I hate the most. It’s the only thing I can never forgive."