Hidden genius: Black belly snake

After walking back out to the palace garden courtyard, Tang Yue acted as if nothing had happened and sat back on her table.

She could feel Charlotte's murderous eyes glancing at her every now and then.

Tang Yue smiled and poured herself another cup of tea, silently sipping it, and seemingly engrossed in her thoughts.

In reality, she as well, was just as furious as Charlotte and wanted to thrash the damned system.

She could still feel the aftermath of the kiss lingering on her lips.

Her entire body was covered by goosebumps. 

This was her first kiss as well and it had to be with someone who had literally plotted to kill her! Damn it!

Tang Yue had no idea why the perverted old man was insistent on playing these nasty little games, but she had no other option but to bite the bullet for now. 

"Where is my pill formula?" Tang Yue hissed mentally.

The system did not play any more tricks on her and issued the reward without any delay.

Ding. Congratulations. You have been rewarded the Devil awakening pill.

A flashing gift-wrapped box bounced in front of her and the snake begrudgingly accepted it.

Tang Yue sighed in relief and she quickly opened it.

[Devil Awakening pill - 2 X Spine flower; 3 X Hill Duck feathers; 10 X Dark lithe bloom…]

The list of ingredients continued, even containing the different methods to concoct the pill.

Tang Yue couldn't help but suck in a few deep breaths of air. 

The formula in front of her was super amazing for so many different reasons.

She had assumed that she would have to wait until she reached a higher cultivation stage to concoct the pill, but as she gazed at the formula, Tang Yue realized that she could concoct the easier and the less efficient version right now, at her current stage.

Even a 10% potent Devil Awakening Pill still fetched a lot of gold and gems in the auction house, so this was definitely very beneficial to her.

And now that Tang Yue was a trainee alchemist, she could even get the required herbs from the association on a loan basis.

All that tongue action had absolutely paid off and Tang Yue had gained quite a lot this time around.

While the snake looked visibly pleased and happy with herself, sipping her spirit herbal tea, Charlotte gnashed her teeth and tugged at her robes with anger and frustration bubbling within her.

She wanted to slap that happy little smile off of Tang Yue's face. Filthy vulgar snake!

But Charlotte calmed herself down and stuck to the original plan which she had prepared for today.

She added a small smile to her sad despondent look and mumbled with an adorable voice.

"Your majesty." She bowed and approached Empress Freya. 

"We have prepared a few gifts for your highness. Please accept them." Charlotte beamed.

She then first stepped forward and handed the Empress a hand-crafted rune cloth.

This particular rune cloth could heal wounds and injuries within a matter of seconds, even moisturizing the skin at the same time.

Empress Freya nodded, with a pleasant surprise in her eyes. 

She hadn't come across this sort of a rune inscription in a long time.

The other women surrounding the Empress were also wide-eyed with jealousy. 

Runic clothes and robes typically cost a lot. Only the hunters and combat experts dared to spend gems and gold on such extravagant luxuries.

"Only the General's daughter could gift something so luxurious."

"With this gift, Charlotte might even be reinstated back to her position?"

The crowd started gossiping.

"This is a very thoughtful gift indeed child. Ha Ha."

The Empress accepted the gift with a big smile. This was a very common practice, so she didn't make too much of a fuss about it.

Technically speaking, the Empress did not really need any gifts. She could get anything and everything she wanted at the snap of her fingers.

This sort of thing was more about keeping up public appearances rather than anything else.

And just as soon as Charlotte started the train, all sorts of gifts started popping up on Freya's lap with each of the consorts paying their respects individually.

Adrianna gifted a vial of rejuvenating pills.

Emma gifted an exquisite string of rainbow pearls.

Isabella gifted a small snow-white cub with streaks of blue, implying a wind elemental mutation.

And of course, each of the gifts was accompanied by their own gossip and excited chatter, about how one was better than the other and so on.

Tang Yue silently watched the show, not intending to participate unless she was called for.

Her gift was vastly inferior to everybody else's and so she didn't want to willingly fall into a trap.

This was obviously a ploy for humiliating her or rather to show how Charlotte was better than everyone else.

Except for Isabella's cute little pup, everything else just paled in comparison to Charlotte's gift.

Tang Yue's emerald eyes curiously circled the small cub playing around in the garden.

She was pretty sure that she had fought with its relative wind-woven wolf, back in the forests.

She couldn't help but wonder if this pup was actually stolen from the pack and that was why the wolves were particularly riled up that night.

As she was thinking about the various possible scenarios, Tang Yue tousled the small thing and rubbed its soft furry back.

The small pup was extremely adorable and licked her hand lovingly.

Its nature was completely opposite to the aggressive and bloodthirsty beast she had encountered back in the forests.

While Tang Yue was busy messing with the little thing, she heard someone calling her name and absent-mindedly looked up.

Charlotte was standing in front of her with a bright divine smile. 

"It's your turn, sister." She happily mumbled. There was absolutely no animosity in her enchanting eyes.

She even playfully pulled Tang Yue up and dragged her all the way to the Empress, as if she was a good friend of the shy snake.