Chapter 0461
Steven’s words were only one side of the story and couldn’t be fully trusted. To uncover the truth, Suzy needed to keep investigating.
She disguised herself as a servant and infiltrated Evangeline’s private residence.
Despite being the queen, Evangeline didn’t live in the royal palace. Her position was unofficial and unacknowledged, so outwardly, she was merely presented as a diplomat for Xandria.
Even within the country, Evangeline wasn’t as domineering as Steven claimed. Most citizens didn’t even know she was the one in power. Only the upper echelons of society, like Steven’s elite circle, were privy to these secrets.
Evangeline’s residence was even more luxurious than Steven’s estate.
There were hundreds of servants in her employ, but only two or three were allowed close to
her.
Even though Suzy had successfully infiltrated the estate, getting an audience with Evangeline was far from easy.
Suzy wasn’t in a rush. She decided to familiarize herself with her surroundings first. Sometimes, lower–level staff knew plenty of secrets as well.
So,
as she familiarized herself with the estate, she also made efforts to win over a few
servants.
After two days of subtle inquiries, Suzy managed to gather new information about Evangeline from these servants.
“Our mistress has a terrible temper. If you ever encounter her, you can’t afford to make any mistakes, whether in your words or actions. Otherwise, you might lose your head!
“And don’t ever use anything red. That’s her least favorite color. A new maid once wore a red hair tie while watering the garden and happened to run into the mistress. She was immediately dragged out and killed.”
Nearly every senior servant Suzy spoke to confirmed Evangeline’s infamous bad temper, which aligned with Steven’s description,
the
However, there was one surprising detail–despite her temperament, Evangeline had contributed significantly to Xandria. Under her leadership in the past two years, country’s economy and overall state had improved dramatically compared to before. This was all the information Suzy had for now. For anything further, she’d need to dig deeper.
*25 BONUS
Suzy decided it was time to take the next step.
In the middle of the night, she kidnapped one of Evangeline’s close maids and disguised herself as the woman. The plan worked, and she successfully gained access to Evangeline’s side.
She had expected Evangeline to be a particularly fierce–looking woman. After all, Allen’s investigation files didn’t include any photos of her.
However, when Suzy first laid eyes on Evangeline, she was completely stunned. Evangeline bore an uncanny resemblance to her mother–almost seventy to eighty percent similar.
It was especially striking in her eyes. The more Suzy looked, the more the resemblance grew. Even some of Evangeline’s subtle expressions were nearly identical to her mother’s.
“Ah…”
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a sharp intake of breath from Evangeline, who winced in pain. Only then did Suzy realize that she had accidentally tugged too hard on Evangeline’s hair while lost in thought.
She quickly dropped to her knees. “Forgive me, Your Majesty! I didn’t mean to. It won’t happen again, I swear!”
Suzy was certain she wouldn’t get away with this mistake, especially after everything she’d heard about Evangeline’s infamous temper.
To her surprise, Evangeline simply said, “Be more careful next time.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
This was the violent, temperamental woman who was supposed to kill without a second thought?
Rising to her feet, Suzy resumed brushing Evangeline’s hair. Her gaze drifted back to the reflection in the mirror, staring at the face that so closely resembled her mother’s.
Still, she didn’t dwell on it. After all, it wasn’t uncommon for people to look alike.
Plenty of individuals around the world bore striking resemblances to each other, even without any blood relation.
Besides, her mother and Evangeline were from completely different countries. How could there possibly be any connection between them?
