“Who is this?”
“That’s my mother. She’s home right now. Would you like to meet her?” Jason asked her amiably.
Huh? Isn’t the king’s wife an Epean woman? I remember seeing her on television, so why is he calling
this Astorian woman his mother? Vivian thought, bewildered.
Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the click-clack of high heels behind them. The second she heard
those sounds, she looked over her shoulder and saw a gorgeous Astorian woman walking toward them
gracefully.
“Mother!” Jason ran up to greet her as soon as he saw her.
In the meantime, Vivian stared blankly at her while frozen in place. She felt a chill run down her spine
when she saw the woman had dark green pupils, which was an extremely rare trait.
The image of a terrifying creature instantly surfaced in her mind.
Those eyes… They look like that of a snake!
“Did you bring a friend home, Jason?” the woman asked.
Her voice sounded so mellow and charming that it gave Vivian goosebumps all over.
Jason held the woman’s hand to his mouth and gave it a kiss as he replied with a nod, “Yes. She’s the
daughter of the Jadesons. Father told me to bring her over for a tour.”
“The daughter of the Jadesons?” The Astorian woman shifted her gaze toward Vivian and scrutinized her
from head to toe as she continued, “Are you referring to Mr. Jadeson? The man who approached your
father for a business collaboration back then?”
For some reason, her gaze reminded Vivian of a slithering snake, making the latter’s hair stand on end.
“Yes.”
“I see.”
The woman finally broke into a smile before walking over to Vivian.
Reaching out her perfectly manicured hands to hold Vivian’s, she sat her down on the couch next to
them.
“This is a rare occasion indeed! Don’t worry. We have a long-standing acquaintance with your father, so
feel free to make yourself at home!” she said with a smile, but it only made Vivian tense up even further.
How on earth am I supposed to make myself at home? I’m already feeling uncomfortable from your
snake-like cold hands! The last thing I want to do is spend another second in this place!
With that in mind, Vivian forced a smile on her face as she replied, “I am terribly sorry to intrude on you
so suddenly like this, ma’am.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that! By the way, how did you get to know Jason? Did you attend the party at
Exerine Palace earlier?”
“Yes, I design dresses for Lady Adalyn. She invited me over to the party and introduced me to His
Majesty as well as Prince Jason,” Vivian replied honestly, all while careful to make no mention of her true
reason for coming over.
Although she did not really know what was going on, she could not shake the feeling that something was
off. A voice inside her head kept urging her to get out of there as quickly as possible.
“Um, anyway, I think I should probably head back now, ma’am. I don’t want to keep Lady Adalyn waiting,”
she then said.
“Come, now… There’s no need to leave in such a hurry. You’re a student at Royal Academy, right? You
can just give Lady Adalyn a call and tell her not to wait for you. Jason can send you back later.”
Not only did the woman refuse to let her leave, but her gaze also fell upon the photo album that Vivian
was flipping through earlier, much to the latter’s terror.
“Why did you bring this downstairs, Jason?” she asked.
Standing before his mother, Jason recounted everything that had happened. “She said I looked like a
friend of hers, so I brought her over to show her my photo album.”
An eerie silence ensued as the woman did not speak another word. Instead, she let her gaze fall upon
Vivian’s face again.
Despite the smile hovering on her lips, her green eyes were like that of a predator that had found its prey,
and Vivian could not help but cast her eyes downward.
This woman is so terrifying!
“Who does he look like?” Jason’s mother asked.
“I… Please don’t get the wrong idea, ma’am. You see, I-I actually made that up as an excuse to hang out
with Prince Jason because he’s so handsome…”
Vivian came up with that excuse on the fly after racking her brain.
However, the woman was not convinced by it in the slightest. She then reached out all of a sudden and
yanked Vivian’s pendant off her neck.
“You—”
“Hey! Have you got a death wish, Daphne?”
Just as Vivian paled in the face of the woman’s vicious countenance, a slender figure showed up at the
residence’s front door.
He was emanating such a terrifying murderous aura that the woman shuddered and dropped the
pendant.
“Kurt!” Vivian shouted as she threw herself into his arms like a scared little girl and hugged him as tightly
as she could.
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