Minerva took her time observing the basement room she had taken so much pain in organizing. She had shed blood, sweat, and tears to make it as theft-proof as possible.
But in the end, it seemed to not have mattered to those who broke in here and made a mess of things.
And for that, they needed to die. Minerva would teach them a lesson as soon as she finds out who did this to her.
“Lady Minerva, the cabinet meeting is about to start. What should I tell the other members?”
Lady Minerva had forbidden anyone from entering here. But there were a few exceptions to that rule.
The shadow warriors were a huge help in all her operations. And they could not currently betray her. They had grown up only knowing one had that fed them – Minerva’s.
As such, the thought of betrayal could not even cross their mind. They made much better pawns than Astoria.
And for Minerva that made all the difference.
“Tell the cabinet that I’ll be there in a few minutes. I need to take care of some things before I can face them.”
The shadow warrior did not even flinch when she was leveled with Minerva’s hard gaze. She just bowed and left the room.
Being a soulless husk of flesh had its own advantages sometimes.
Minerva cast an illusion spell on the chamber and prepared herself to leave the place. She would not gain anything by staying here.
But she was curious about the rebel soldiers that had managed to infiltrate this deep.
It was too bad she would never get to visit them. They would be dead by the time her cabinet meeting ended.
===============
Aurora tried not to pace around in her room. But she could not stop her nervousness from bursting and affecting her mood.
-baam
The knocking on her door was getting urgent by the second.
“Lord Aura kindly open the door. We know you are in there. We just want to check a few things.”
This knocking had been going on for some time now. There was only so much time when Aurora could pretend that she was in the washroom.
She had to open the door before higher authorities got involved in her case. Aurora had to just pray that her perfume was enough to ward the people off the strange smell of the dragon egg.
-baam
The noise was particularly loud this time. The guard knocking on the door must be running out of patience.
“Lord Aura, if you don’t open the door now then I will have no choice but to involve the authorities in this case. We have strict orders from the tower master to investigate every person inside the tower.”
“You only have a minute to open this door.”
Aurora panicked and flew toward the door. She quickly opened it to face the guard outside.
“Let’s not be so hasty now. I was just trying to enjoy my free time, you know. My body has needs it needs to take care of.”
Aurora cringed as she winked at the female guard standing behind the main one.
The poor girl blushed at the attention being bestowed on her by Aurora but she managed to keep her professionalism.
This seemed to be pissing off the main guard. He disliked flirty young masters who were born with a silver spoon with a passion. And that was what he labeled Aurora as at first glance.
“Enough chit-chatting. Hurry up and search the room. Do not dare and leave any spot unnoticed.”
The female guard gave Aurora a side glance that said ‘sorry, can’t help it’ before the pair forced their way in.
Aurora might be a goddess but she did not want to blow up her cover. She had no choice but to let the pair do what they wanted to in her room.
Thankfully, the guard took the right side of the room while the female walked off toward the bed.
“This place smells really strange. How much perfume did you use?”
The make guard seemed to be finding fault with anything and everything.
Aurora would have rolled her eyes at any other chance but her mind was not in the game right now.
“Well, Lady Astoria has her preferences in this matter.”
Aurora tried to make her tone as suggestive as possible.
She knew she might be damaging Lady Astoria’s reputation by making up such a rumor about her but she was sure the other goddess would understand.
“I did not need to know that. Anyway, Anna, I’m going to check the bathroom. Make sure you check the bedroom thoroughly.”
The male guard looked a little red in the face. Aurora did not even want to imagine what he had been thinking when Aurora told him the news.
The female guard looked flushed at the sudden flash of information but she handled it much better than the male guard.
And that is to say, she did not lift her head up again as she searched beneath the bed.
And then she reached for the bed covers and tried to lift them. And Aurora panicked.
“Let’s not do that. I’m sure Lady Aurora wants to keep some of her modesty intact. Let’s not expose her deeds to anyone or I will need to silence you.”
Aurora held the hand close to her chest but still far enough to not make her secret obvious. Her face was close enough to the female guard to make her nervous.
She could see that she was making the female guard flustered. The red-faced female was getting distracted successfully.
“Oh, is that so? I didn’t know Lady Astoria was interested in intimacy. I should probably not check this in the future.”
The lady guard had drawn her one conclusion. Aurora sighed in relief once she felt the burden lighten from her shoulder.
Mission successful.
-Baam
“Oi Anna, are you done yet? If so then come here and help me open this basin.”
The female guard looked conflicted at his superior’s order. Aurora could feel her desire to stay with her.
“Go. He needs you in there. You can always come and find me later.”
Aurora lightly pushed the female toward the guard inside the bathroom. And thankfully, the female guard did not linger outside for a long time either.
It was only once they left did Aurora breathed a sigh of relief and looked beneath the cover.
The egg laid on the bed was as perfect the day as she had stolen it. And she could not help but let her dissatisfaction bleed in her voice.
“You are a real piece of work. Making me go through such hoops to protect you.”
And of course, there was no answer to her question. But the egg’s aura felt smug to her.
In the end, Aurora decided to pick the egg and change its location to the right side of the room.
She managed to straighten herself up right in time for the other two to come back outside.
“You are lucky we did not find anything. But that doesn’t mean you are out of the suspicion lest yet. You have a weird air around you and I don’t trust that.”
Aurora had to give it to this guard. He had a really well-developed instinctual power. Or maybe it was his luck that was so great.
“I will remember and take your words to heart.”
The guard glared at Aurora when he left. The girl behind him also gave Aurora an apologetic smile before she left.
Aurora held her breath and only released it once the pair left her vicinity.
She had managed to get away from one inspection but it was only one of the many to come. She was not sure how she would be able to survive this more than a few times.
===============
Astoria took in a deep breath to psyche herself before she took her seat. She had to do her best to not draw any attention to herself.
She could already see the people around her taking their assigned seats but she could not see anyone’s face.
The seating arrangement in the cabinet was unique. It had a curtain in-between every chair space to maintain the privacy of the gods.
It might be all for the show, but it was a long-held tradition.
Astoria’s eyes moved toward the center of the stage where the seats for the major 7 gods and goddesses were located.
Among those 7, only 5 were affiliated with the cabinet and only 4 attended regularly. That number had been cut to three this year since Lady Asami could not get away from her work.
Lord Karan sat in his seat but anyone could tell that he was not interested to be there.
At his side sat Lady Me, the beautiful goddess of calamity. Her temper was legendary among the tower community and everyone knew not to anger her.
Unlike the other gods and goddesses, Lady Mei had no filter.
And everyone could feel her irritation sitting in the same room as her. She was getting impatient.
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