Chapter 13: Destiny cannot be violated
The heat surged relentlessly outside the steel fortress.
Mili was dragged through a series of metal corridors, her bare toes scraping against the cold floor with a faint, grating sound.
Her wrist, bruised purple under Seraphina’s iron grip, throbbed with dull pain, but the woman showed no sign of slowing down.
As the palace’s heavy metal gates groaned open, a wave of scorching summer heat hit, tickling Mili’s nose and triggering a sneeze…
The gravel ground beneath her feet burned, and she instinctively tried to stand on her toes, only to be yanked up by Seraphina, her arm clamping Mili to her side like a vise.
—Mili was forcibly brought to a corner of Eisenburg’s outer courtyard.
This was the edge of the western district.
In the distance, the tattered end of a labor line was faintly visible, accompanied by the sharp crack of a whip slicing through the air, sending chills down her spine…
Several soldiers hauled a cart of cracked, barren soil to a designated spot, dumping it in the center of a cleared area to form a crude test field.
The soil was an ominous gray-black, hard and compacted, its surface gleaming with an oily, iridescent sheen left by metallic pollutants, exuding a faint, eerie mix of sulfur and rust…
Evelyn was already waiting.
Behind her stood two guards, one holding a transparent sealed bag.
Inside were the seeds Mili had scavenged from an abandoned storage room…
Seraphina tossed her roughly to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Cough, cough…” Mili sprawled on the scalding earth, choking and coughing.
Her tender knees and elbows scraped against the rough ground, leaving streaks of blood that stung fiercely.
“Your Majesty.”
The adjutant bowed, presenting the seeds.
Seraphina took the bag, weighing it casually before tossing it at Mili’s feet.
The small bag bounced twice on the hard ground before settling.
“They call you the [Saintess of Bounty].”
The silver-haired queen loomed over Mili as she struggled to rise:
“Saying you can make dead trees bloom and turn deserts into fertile fields.”
The blazing sun scorched the earth, reddening Mili’s skin and making her dizzy, sweat beading on her forehead.
The light was blinding, forcing her to squint.
At some point, a dozen fully armed guards had arrived, securing the courtyard’s perimeter, sealing it off completely…
“You’ve seen Eisenburg’s land—barren, desolate, much of it ravaged by persistent gray mist.”
“With the mist’s cyclic coverage, improving soil quality in open conditions is impossible.”
Seraphina stepped to the test field, nudging the gritty, parched soil with her boot:
“This soil is from the western waste mines, the most contaminated, least hospitable patch in Eisenburg.”
“Even engineered seeds tossed in here would only rot and stink.”
“If you can solve this with your miracle, any future challenge will be trivial… Understand?”
Mili stared at the dead gray soil, eyes wide, voice trembling: “I… I really don’t know any miracles… Those rumors are fake!”
“Is that so?” Seraphina turned, her heterochromatic eyes glinting dangerously as she glanced at her.
Never eaten pork, but haven’t you seen a pig run?
Raised around such things, Mili had a faint grasp of them.
This wasn’t about her capabilities.
This was pure, lifeless ground—forget seeds…
A person would lose a layer of skin just standing here…
“I really can’t do it…” Mili cried out, almost pleading.
“Those are just rumors! I’ve never had the abilities you’re talking about…”
Seraphina’s expression cooled: “Oh?”
“Can an ordinary person find cans in a scavenged-out junk pile?”
“Can an ordinary person make Lin Lan’s band of losers care so much about them?”
“Can an ordinary person make me go out of my way to seize them?”
Seraphina stopped in front of Mili, grabbing her forehead, forcing their eyes to meet:
“Don’t take me for a fool… Or are you deliberately hiding something from me?”
“I know everything about you.”
“I’m not… hiding anything!” Mili cried out in pain, tears spilling over.
“Nothing can grow in a place like this…”
The woman released her, stepping back.
She picked up the bag from the ground, poured out a few seeds, and forced them into Mili’s hand, prying open her fingers.
“Listen, little thing, you either make these seeds sprout, or…” Seraphina drew her pistol, tapping Mili’s cheek with its cold barrel.
She didn’t finish, but the implication was clear.
Mili stumbled to her knees at the field’s edge, pushed by Seraphina, the acrid stench making her eyes water.
“Plant them,” came the cold command from behind.
Biting her lip, Mili clawed a small pit in the unyielding soil with her nails.
Dust flew, the oily grime stinging her eyes.
After struggling to dig a shallow hole, she carefully placed the seeds inside and covered them with loose dirt.
Then what?
She sat there, lost, unsure of the next step.
No tools…
No fertilizer…
No water, no nutrients, no soil conditions!
Nothing.
The guards around her whispered among themselves, their voices reaching her ears.
“That’s it?”
“Doesn’t seem special at all…”
“Was the Queen fooled?”
Seraphina’s icy gaze swept over the murmuring soldiers, silencing them instantly.
She turned back to Mili, her aura growing colder.
“It seems the rumors were just that—rumors.”
After a long pause, she spoke, her disappointed voice tinged with anger at being deceived.
“Or are you deliberately slacking?”
Mili shook her head helplessly, her hands resting aimlessly on her knees, her dress stained black with oil.
Tears fell onto the cracked soil, vanishing instantly.
“I’m not… I really don’t know what to do…”
Seraphina stared at the girl’s small, hunched back for a moment, then slowly crouched beside her, meeting her eyes.
Her hand reached out, the back of her fingers brushing Mili’s tear-streaked cheek, her gentle touch chillingly eerie:
“Looks like you need some motivation.”
She raised her energy pistol, pressing its muzzle to Mili’s temple.
The cold metal sent shivers through her body.
“I’ll give you ten seconds.”
“If that seed shows no change…” Seraphina’s lips curled into a cruel smile.
“You can join it.”
The hum of the charging weapon buzzed in her ear.
“Ten.”
Mili couldn’t believe the woman’s cruelty, fear flooding her like a tide.
“Nine.”
She pressed her hands to the spot where the seeds were buried, closing her eyes, desperately praying for something.
“Eight.”
Please… please sprout… I’m begging you…
“Seven.”
Mili opened her eyes with hope and dread, but the soil remained unchanged, its barren cracks as grim as ever.
“Six.”
Why… why was she doing this to her?
“Five.”
“Please…” she sobbed, pleading. “Give me a little more time…”
“Four.”
All she wanted was to live. Why did this have to happen to her?
“Three.”
Big Sis Lin… where are you… please save me…
“Two…”
Seraphina’s finger tightened on the trigger.
“One.”