"If I were you, I would absolutely not do it myself. Why not hire some fairies to do it, but don't tell them the truth? Just say it's a prank, or some kind of truth serum. Given your reputation, doing something like that would be perfectly in character."
Fairy Tristan heard a familiar voice from behind her.
"Once they've done their job, just make them shut up forever. It's simple, isn't it? In a place like this, malicious fairies are everywhere."
"Jiang..."
Fairy Tristan's voice rose with delight, but she quickly schooled her expression back to neutrality.
"Hmph. Back then, you were the one who wanted me to be a proper Lord, and now you want me to change back. What do you take me for?! But you... I'm surprised you'd say something like that. Is this really the same Savior who saved Mesopotamia?"
"As if I was some paragon of virtue when we were planning the Imposter Child of Prophecy Plan," Jiang You retorted. "This isn't the time for tantrums."
He knew Fairy Tristan was throwing a fit, but she needed to understand the gravity of the situation.
"Haven't you noticed that the Queen's Knight Morgan assigned to you is missing?"
Faced with Jiang You's serious expression, Fairy Tristan managed to rein in her temper. "Now that you mention it... I haven't seen him since yesterday. I'd assigned him to receive another Lord—he's not important. What's the problem?"
"On my way here with Barghest, I encountered a Mors. And that Mors... was your Queen's Knight."
"What?!"
Fairy Tristan finally realized something was seriously wrong. "But I haven't even started yet! How could he have been infected by the curse?"
"That's what I mean—you're far too careless in your own territory, completely unaware you were being followed! He saw you go to the Magic Workshop and retrieve the medium for the Mors Curse."
Jiang You smacked Fairy Tristan on the head, not holding back much. For Fairy Tristan, though, an attack of that level was nothing more than a momentary sting.
"He dared to follow me?! I'll make sure he hangs for it!"
Fairy Tristan clutched her head, quickly grasping the key point of the matter. "But I didn't even notice him... Why was he infected? Did he tamper with something inside? If so, he shouldn't have ended up outside the city."
"Because the one who directed him was Aurora. When he tried to report your actions to Morgan, Aurora ambushed him and infected him with the Mors Curse. As for why he appeared just outside the city... she was probably planning to have the Mors attack at the opportune moment."
This was Aurora's fatal flaw. If she could infect others with the Mors Curse, she must have obtained the curse's medium herself. And with her personality, she'd never be able to resist escalating the situation.
Now that Aurora knew Fairy Tristan could spread the curse, she would undoubtedly let the Mors Curse propagate to a point beyond Fairy Tristan's control. Then, with a single rallying cry, she could blame Fairy Tristan for every infection. This would give her more ammunition to criticize Morgan's rule and, when the time was right, drag the Queen down with her.
"The leader of the Wind Clan?"
As the Lord of Salisbury, how could Fairy Tristan not know Aurora? In terms of reputation, they were polar opposites. "Why would she help me... No, wait. What is she plotting?!"
Jiang You nearly smacked her again. "Now I finally understand why Goldie was so angry back then. Aurora is nowhere near as beautiful as her appearance and reputation suggest. In fact, the more 'beautiful' she appears on the outside, the filthier she is on the inside. Her soul is more putrid than a rotting corpse. Of course she wouldn't be so kind. She plans to let the curse erupt the moment you declare yourself the Child of Prophecy, using the Magic Workshop beneath the theater as proof that you're responsible. She wants to ruin your reputation and, in doing so, undermine Morgan's rule."
"To earn such a description from you... she must be quite interesting."
It was the first time Fairy Tristan had ever heard Jiang You describe someone like that. In her eyes, he seemed to hold a certain degree of goodwill even toward his enemies.
"Don't you want her Card? Why not try farming her Affection?"
Jiang You actually considered it. Aurora's Card might have some synergy with Melusine's.
But this woman's Affection... is it even possible for a human to farm it? To put it bluntly, if you tried to use her as a "cup," you'd have to worry about your lower body rotting off.
"I'll get her Card, but forget about her Affection. I don't have a taste for exotic poisons."
"And here I thought you'd take anyone!"
Fairy Tristan huffed softly. When it came to her mother, Morgan, she threw all caution to the wind. "So, what should we do? How about we deal with her right here? Daring to plot against Mother... she's already sealed her own fate! I'll crush her and feed her to the dogs!"
"She definitely needs to die, but not now."
To obtain Melusine, Aurora had to die. But rushing things wouldn't get him the Mecha Dragon or the woman. "With her current reputation, attacking her directly would be foolish. It would only drag your already nonexistent reputation further through the mud. Tell me, what do you think would happen if you killed her without any provocation?"
"Sorry for being such a mess before!"
But Fairy Tristan didn't think she'd done anything wrong. She was just following her mother's orders, and her mother always had her best interests at heart.
"My mistake for expecting fairies to have any sense of honor or shame."
Jiang You sighed in resignation.
"So, what should we do?"
Fairy Tristan bit her thumb, her anxiety mounting. The ceremony was about to begin. Ever since Jiang You had explained the situation, the mere thought of Aurora's face made her teeth itch with hatred. If Aurora had only targeted her, it would have just been a fight. But trying to frame Morgan? That was absolutely unforgivable.
"We can't just let her get away with her schemes and do nothing!"
"That's exactly it—we do nothing!" Jiang You gave an answer Fairy Tristan never expected. He had come to find her specifically to stop her from actively spreading the Curse.
"Also, hand over everything you have related to the Mors Curse right now. We can't leave any evidence behind! ...No, don't destroy them. That would be too obvious. Give them to me. No one can detect what's in my Inventory."
"You really know a lot of shady tricks, don't you?"
Fairy Tristan felt like Jiang You knew a little bit of everything except proper spells.
Ignoring Fairy Tristan, Jiang You continued, "Aurora would never guess that you can dispel the Curse. This is the perfect opportunity, so she'll definitely spread it. And once you reveal your ability while she's caught with Curse-related items, no matter how many suspicions arise, no one will question you in the face of your world-saving power. The public perception of you two will be completely reversed."