The Hero Kicked Me Out of His Party, So I Turned Him into My Maid - Chapter 72

“Ariel, for the sake of our past as teammates, come with me for a drink. I have something I want to tell you.”

Ariel could tell that the current city lord Vera was completely different from the student council president who insisted on forbidding her from attending classes back then.

After a few years, Ariel’s resentment had subsided somewhat.

After all, Vera didn’t do anything too big back then. She didn’t advocate for me to leave the team, and she only prevented me from going to class. She didn’t continue to hinder me from doing anything else. On the contrary, it was Karina who insisted on preventing me from studying properly and sent two of her subordinates to obstruct me in every way.

“Okay, Vera.”

Vera led Arielle to the only decent-looking tavern in the city, which also offered inn-like services.

Pushing open the door, Ariel saw Brienne negotiating a room reservation with a clerk.

Brienne meant she wanted the best room.

The shopkeeper meant that the lord had ordered that the best rooms could only be rented to the lord and his family.

Upon seeing Vera, the shop assistant bowed respectfully.

City Lord Vera waved her hand:

“I’ll make the decision. Give her the best room.”

The shop assistant hesitated:

“Lord City Lord, what if the Lord of the Realm blames us…”

“Just say it’s my order.”

Upon learning Vera’s purpose, the shop assistant arranged for Vera and Ariel to stay in a private room. This was the place where successive city lords had secretly discussed matters.

Soon, a glass of wine, personally poured by Vera, appeared in front of Alyssa.

Vera smiled faintly:

“This is a wine from Veselin. I still miss the taste even though I’ve been away from home for several years.”

The wine in this world tastes different from the wine in my previous life.

The wine in the past was more intoxicating, but cultivators can turn wine into nourishment, and the higher the cultivation level of a cultivator, the more they treat wine like water.

The wines in this world are not easy to get drunk on, and the brewing technology seems to be several levels lower than in her previous life. The taste is also astringent, which Alyssa doesn’t like to drink.

Ariel adjusted her witch’s hat, which was starry blue and decorated with different stars.

Brienne stood beside Ariel:

“The master doesn’t like to drink alcohol.”

Seeing that Alyssa was hesitant to drink, Vera drank a glass herself first and then said:

“I’m sorry, Ariel. Looking back, I shouldn’t have treated you as a threat. You did nothing wrong from beginning to end.”

“Regarding the support magic, it’s because I insisted on casting support magic at the same time as you. You didn’t explain it, probably because you didn’t know how effective my support magic was, right?”

Ariel nodded:

“To be honest, I always thought that our support magic was very strong, and that it would be even stronger when combined.”

“I never had the chance to use support magic until after graduation when I joined a team to conquer a dungeon in the new hero mode. That’s when I realized how powerful my support magic was back then.”

Vera drank another glass, and because it was bitter, her expression showed some discomfort.

“When I prevented you from going to class, I actually wanted to taste the power.”

“To my shame, Her Majesty the Queen asked me to choose between the Hero Squad and the Student Council President. After examining myself, I realized that I liked power the most.”

“When I saw that a single word from me could prevent you from stepping into the teaching building, I made up my mind to pursue power. At that time, I thought power was honey, intoxicating.”

Ariel remained silent. Clearly, Vera’s current situation did not resemble that of someone who had successfully seized the power she desired.

Although Vera’s abilities are mediocre, given her status and strength, this dilapidated border town is still not worthy of her.

Vera sighed and continued:

“After I graduated, I set my sights on becoming the prime minister of a country. In the Kingdom of Viserin, this was difficult to achieve, so I came to the Kingdom of Wendy Leon.”

“I am acquainted with the prime minister’s family of the Kingdom of Wendy Leon. When I expressed my ambition, the prime minister enthusiastically said that he would groom me as his successor and arranged for me to be the lord of a vassal city.”

“I truly believed that the future was bright, so I devoted myself entirely to governing the city. It seems that I did a good job, and the lord praised me highly.”

“The Chancellor of Wendy Leon?”

Ariel had heard about it:

“I remember that Prime Minister Wendy Leon stepped down last year and his son succeeded him as Prime Minister?”

Vera nodded:

“That’s right, it turns out I underestimated power. I didn’t realize that Wendy Leon’s prime minister was having an illegitimate child.”

“The Chancellorate of Wendy Leon has been held by the Chancellor’s family for generations. Everything changed after the illegitimate son returned and claimed the family’s inheritance.”

“There are several factions within the royal palace regarding the position of prime minister, and I joined the lord’s faction.”

“Later on, the lord decided to send troops to the prime minister’s family territory to kill that bastard son. He promised to support me to become prime minister, and I agreed.”

“Later, the lord was defeated and killed, and a new prime minister took the throne, exiling me here. I’m afraid I won’t be able to leave here for the next ten years or so.”

Vera poured herself another glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp.

“So, Ariel, one really shouldn’t pursue power too much; power is poison…”

Ariel didn’t say much.

Actually, Ariel wanted to say, “Isn’t it because you’re bad at the game?”

As the “successor to the prime ministership,” if he lacks even this basic judgment of the situation, what kind of prime minister is he?

With Vera’s abilities, she can only be the lord of a vassal city; that’s her limit.

However, Vera seemed to have come to apologize to him, but she just couldn’t bring herself to say it and could only force herself to drink to bolster her courage.

Ariel said:

“Yes…power is poison. So you see, after graduation I could have joined the court mage corps, but I refused. I chose to travel as a witch.”

Vera leaned back in her chair, rubbed her eyes, and sighed.

“Yes, I can tell you’re very happy, much happier than me. Because you’ve accomplished what you wanted to do.”

Suddenly, Ariel’s expression turned serious, and everything around her seemed to be coated with a layer of pitch black, like a starless night sky.

Vera was somewhat surprised; Alyssa had completely grasped the essence of the field.

Based on her abilities, Ariel, despite her young age, is capable of challenging for the position of head of the Royal Mage Guild. Given time, she could indeed become a Royal Archmage.

Alyssa asked, enunciating each word carefully, each one sending shivers down Vera’s spine:

“Was it you who tried to assassinate me after I left the team?”

Vera was somewhat surprised and confused, but firmly shook her head:

“Have you been assassinated before? I didn’t know about that.”

Upon hearing Vera’s answer, Ariel confirmed that Vera hadn’t done it, withdrew her domain, and returned to her usual lively and adorable self.

“If it really wasn’t you who did it… then it could have been Karina or Shalina.”

“Salina…”

Vera felt she hadn’t heard this name in a long time, and after thinking for a moment, she offered a guess:

“If this really happened, I think it was probably Shalina who did it.”