Chapter 259

259 Lucrethia’s Final Scheme

Truthfully, Lucrethia did not take Ronan’s words seriously when he said that Lucien was being treated at the Holy Temple of The Moon Goddess.

She was thus rather surprised when it turned out to be true.

Sitting on the patio while watching the setting sun, Lucrethia leaned against her cushioned seat while she conversed in a low voice with a hooded figure who was hiding behind the bushes.

“It’s true, Madam Woodland. I saw him myself,” so her informant told her.

Lucrethia hummed while rubbing against her lips.

“And where is he, exactly?”

“He is lying inside the Cleansing Pond, Madam,” came the answer in a hurry.

“Cleansing Pond?”

“According to widespread rumors, the Cleansing Pond’s water is brimming with pure lunar energy. It absorbs the moonlight night after night, year after year, until it turns into a fountain of healing.”

.....

A fountain of healing?

Lucrethia’s face darkened. She did not like the sound of it at all.

“So that with the ceremony to beg the Moon Goddess to heal Lucien is not a hoax?”

“I don’t know, Madam. I just know that the Cleansing Pond is very powerful and Lucien Clearwater has been lying inside for a day and a night!”

A day and a night inside a so-called Cleansing Pond with miraculous healing properties?

Lucien might just make it.

Lucrethia snapped a twig furiously.

No way.

After everything that she had done, she could no longer go back. She refused to admit defeat. Lucien Clearwater must die, if that was the last thing she got to do in this life!

She had to hurry.

If she did not know better, she would sneak into the temple and finish Lucien herself.

No.

No.

She needed to be patient.

She needed to stick to her initial plan.

With or without a magical pond, Lucien was close to death. He would not be revived within one or two days. Otherwise, why bother holding the ritualistic ceremony to beg for the Moon Goddess’ mercy?

It all sounded like a huge excuse.

What was the use of reviving Lucien now that Ronan no longer felt anything for him?

Maybe he was just trying to preserve his reputation.

Yes.

Think about it, Lucrethia told herself.

It was Ronan Silverback who she was thinking about. The spawn of Dane Silverback who cheated on his mate and almost drove Adele Fangblade to lunacy.

Of course he would not be better than his father.

The Silverbacks were unable to fall in love. They would only end up hurting their mates. Previously it was Adele Fangblade, and this time it was Lucien Clearwater.

Heh.

In that case, finishing Lucien was practically the best gift she could give to the expecting couple.

Wouldn’t it be great?

The heir of the Silverback family would be born far from this mess.

Lillian, no matter how undeserving she was, would become the Luna of the Infinite Eclipse Pack as planned.

“I have one last task for you,” Lucrethia said with a wicked grin across her face.

“Y-yes, Madam?”

“I want you to finish Lucien Clearwater for me.”

The informant gasped.

“B-But, Madam, I... I am a servant of the temple!”

Lucrethia stared at the trembling man through the bushes.

“You are my servant. Unless you want your son to die miserably like your wife.”

A painful whimper escaped the man behind the bushes.

“Please, don’t,” he begged. “Madam, I have been getting you a lot of information throughout the months... Please... Please release my son. My son is innocent!”

“If you really care about your son, you will fulfill this last task with perfection. Then I will release you and even give you enough money to escape to Europe with your son in tow.”

“Y-Yes. Alright, alright. I... I will do it.”

Lucrethia humphed in satisfaction.

“H-How does the Madam want him to die?”

“Hmmmmm...”

“You need to kill him tomorrow night, when the full moon is shining above.”

“O-Okay. W-With a knife?”

Lucrethia gasped dramatically.

“Good grief, no.”

A knife would raise a question. If it was not necessary to act stealthily, she might have stabbed Lucien himself when they met at St. Clarence. Instead, she painstakingly laced the candied plums with poison before coaxing Lucien to eat them.

But of course, this foolish priest knew nothing about Lucrethia’s efforts.

The elderly unscrewed the pointy end of her wooden cane and took a tiny vial out. Inside was a translucent, red, and thick liquid with tiny golden crystals swimming at the surface.

Lucrethia held the vial between her thumb and her index finger.

“This, is the ancient poison called ‘A Thousand Flowers Of Separation’. It is extracted from the blood of a poor she-wolf who was betrayed by her fated mate.”

The elderly’s lips were curled into a cruel smile.

“It is said that the woman went insane from the torment. This poison essentially carried the woman’s curse. A very strong one, indeed.”

The priest in hiding swallowed hard when he saw the vial in Lucrethia’s hand.

“Madam... You wish for me to poison Lucien Clearwater...?”

“Why, yes. But first, you need to take him out of the Cleansing Pond. Then, you feed him the poison and wait until he stops breathing. Once the job is done, you can dump his dead body back into the pond.”

The priest shivered.

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“B-But... But...”

Killing a person was already bad enough, but besmirching the Cleansing Pond with a corpse?

As if guessing his train of thought, Lucrethia chuckled.

“What, are you afraid of the Moon Goddess’ punishment?”

The man nodded fervently.

Lucrethia scoffed.

“The Moon Goddess expects us to take what we want with our own hands. That is what I am doing. Trust me, She won’t mind. I know women.”

Lucrethia leaned closer with the cursed poison in her hand.

“No one is going to know,” she whispered, her tone dripping with poison and sending chills down the man’s spine. “It is not going to take long. Last time I only used three drops. This time, give him the whole vial. He is going to stop breathing within minutes.”