Chapter 25: I’ll Keep Watching You, Forever

Tina covered her face and fled at lightning speed, feeling like she’d die of embarrassment if she stayed a second longer.
Fainting from overstimulation in front of Althea? No way!

She finally realized what the pink potion was—a sensory amplification potion, magnifying sensations a hundredfold. Why was it even on the table?
That sneaky Everett, pulling a fast one on her!

But more pressing than that was her concern:
She couldn’t casually tap into the puppet’s perspective anymore. If Althea happened to be fiddling with it—or touching somewhere sensitive—Tina didn’t dare imagine how mortified she’d be.

“Phew, I think I’ve calmed down.”

After venting the bizarre sensations, Tina felt unstoppable.
“I’m back.”

Althea was cradling the puppet, her face brimming with joy.
“Can I carry it with me every day?”

“Of course! I made it to be by your side in my place.”

Tina couldn’t ask for more.
She was desperate to know about Althea’s supposed solution and whether it was truly safe.

Asking directly wouldn’t yield answers, so she resorted to this slightly shady method.
Still, constantly spying on someone made her feel like she was turning into a creep.

…

The next day, as promised, Althea carried the puppet, starting her routine.
Tina, nestled in bed, experienced a king’s day through the puppet’s first-person view.

6:00–6:30: Grooming, breakfast, heading to the palace.
6:30–8:00: Religious activities, morning prayers.
8:00–11:30: Tackling a stack of at least two hundred documents.
11:30–13:00: Lavish lunch, short nap.
13:00–18:00: More documents, meetings with advisors and foreign ambassadors, doubling as afternoon tea.

Tina kept count: Althea patted the puppet’s head 119 times, called her name 88 times, and stared at it in a daze 11 times.
Tina nearly thought she’d been caught a few times, but Althea was just stealing breaks before resuming work.

Finally, the part Tina cared about most:
18:00–20:00: Researching ancient tomes for a curse-breaking method.

During this time, Althea sat alone in the library, poring over a nameless book.
Due to the puppet’s angle, Tina could only see half the pages—Althea’s hand blocked the rest.

Key words she caught: mountain peak, seal, kingdom, curse.
Piecing them together with her own understanding, the book suggested a thousand-year-old seal on a kingdom mountain peak, containing something that could absorb curses.

Althea was investigating the seal’s origin and how to break it, but found no answers.
The wisdom of the ancients was beyond the kingdom’s current magical prowess—understanding the seal’s structure, let alone breaking it, was impossible.

But Tina had a way. The system was feeding her historical details from the book:

[The kingdom, at its founding, housed an unknown creature that absorbed negative conditions—emotions, injuries, even curses—from nearby beings.]
[Over decades, the first king faced many crises, all resolved smoothly thanks to this creature, allowing Kellivir to thrive.]
[Later, the king met the creature by chance and was saved by it. Named the kingdom’s guardian beast, it grew stronger through people’s worship.]
[After the first king’s death, the second king, driven by greed, used the beast to absorb excessive impurities beyond its capacity. It lost control, nearly destroying half the kingdom in a rampage.]
[A witch sealed the beast in a mountain peak, erecting barriers to keep people away. She wrote this book, now in Althea’s hands, to warn future generations.]

The truth was clear.
Tina hadn’t expected the seemingly dubious tome to be legitimate.

There were other witches in this world, and they didn’t seem inherently evil.
Most critically—

The guardian beast, now maddened by absorbing too many negative states, would likely repeat history if released, devastating half the kingdom like in the second king’s era.

Althea hadn’t noticed this, likely due to the tome’s damaged state missing key details. She saw only the beast’s beneficial side, unaware of the catastrophic risks of unsealing it.

So, what should Tina do?
Telling Althea about these vague legends wouldn’t work.
Clinging to her daily to keep her from going was impossible—she’d only grow more obsessive out of guilt.
Killing the beast herself?

Even the witch had only sealed it, not killed it. Its mortality was uncertain.
In short, Tina was out of options.

For Althea, this path was perilous. Encountering a berserk beast meant almost certain death.
Yet, unaware of the truth, Althea was set on this plan. Tina’s only choice was to go along, secretly aiding her, resolving dangers, and protecting her life at critical moments.

By then, their story might reach its final chapter…

That night—

The exhausted queen returned to her cozy bed.
Tina, waiting by the bedside, had today’s story ready.

This was Althea’s happiest moment of the day.
In Tina’s gentle whispers, Althea drifted into sleep.

But this time, an unfamiliar dream flooded her mind.
In it—

Following the tome’s map, Althea reached a hidden hill in the kingdom.
The hill was steep, the path to the peak treacherous, with ferocious beasts ambushing from the brush.

Using her magic, she fended them off, pressing deeper.
Lost in a sudden fog, she nearly gave up, but the mist cleared as if blown away by someone.

At the peak, a jagged stone sealed a dragon-like beast.
She broke the seal, meeting the beast she’d longed to see—but the outcome was the opposite of her hopes.

It wasn’t a blessing guardian but a calamity-bringing monster.
Then—

Althea jolted awake, forehead slick with sweat.
Panicked, she looked at the girl beside her, realizing it was just a dream.

“Thank goodness… it wasn’t real…”