Brewing Storm - Chapter 179

“You there, yes you, come here!” Versailles called out to a female beast walking on the other side of the Crimson Palace.

Since the last time she’d gotten lost in the rotten halls, she’d vowed to never take them again without guidance.

The female beast looked confused and bewildered as she heard the Serpentine Queen’s call. She’d never interacted with the serpentine before so she wondered if she’d done something to displease her and gain her attention.

She hoped not, because from the rumors she heard, even the Werewolf King seemed to be afraid of the beast.

With a pale face and trembling limbs, she hesitantly arrived before the Queen of the Underworld Palace.

“Se…Serpentine Queen, wh…what can I do for you?” She stuttered.

Versailles closely scanned the timid beast. Green skinned and green-haired, the female had the faint making of a blossoming, beastly beauty with her neon yellow eyes.

“I need to get to the Main Hall. Can you lead me there?” She gently asked.

“Huh? You…you’re looking for…the Main Hall?”

The beast was stunned as the situation she expected hadn’t occurred.

The serpentine hadn’t come to pick on her, but to seek directions.

This made her weak with relief. But not wanting to give the serpentine any reason to pick on her, she calmed her chaotic heartbeat and gave a faint nod.

“Great! I’ll thank you in advance for your trouble.”

“N…no! No need to thank me. I’m only a slave!” The beast jumped in fright, then with an embarrassed expression, turned and led the way.

Goodness…why was this serpentine so completely different from the one in the rumors?

The beast sneaked a few glances at the relaxed and casual venomous, ruthless, and vicious serpentine spread in the stories. No matter how closely or how far she looked, she couldn’t find a trace of the malicious and sinister serpentine mentioned in stories.

‘Was it all just rumors, then?’

She inwardly thought with great consternation.

After many loops and a long trek through the crimson halls, Versailles and the female beast arrived before a dilapidated and dusty building littered with various cracks and holes.

“This is the Main Hall of the Crimson Palace.”

The Main Hall of the Crimson Palace was east of the Crystalline Hall. Built with red bricks and red glass windows, the hall was the complete opposite of the Crystalline Hall.

“No wonder Ramose didn’t bring me here.”

Small, cramped, and with little lighting, Versailles couldn’t help but click her tongue at the condition of the place. From this, it could be seen how much importance the previous Queens of the Underworld Palace held in the hearts of their Kings and the werewolves.

Aside from giving them more importance than the beasts of the other races gave their mates, they didn’t receive that much respect and were still viewed as outsiders.

The green beast bowed and hurriedly scurried away.

She didn’t want to stick around and watch any drama that might unfold.

Versailles entered the hall with wrinkled brows.

Female slaves, upon sighting her, froze in place like statues, before huddling together and whispering in hushed tones.

“It’s the Serpentine Queen!”

“The Nar! Why is she here?”

“Didn’t you hear? She dismissed Luciana from the Crimson Palace.”

“Huuu! She dismissed Luciana? Doesn’t she know the Gold Blood had taken care of the Crimson Palace for years? Sigh…King Ramose would probably dislike her now.”

“Heh…You’re truly behind on news. The serpentine dismissed the Gold Blood right before the Werewolf King. Not only did he not say a word, but I also heard that he even reprimanded Master Ouyang when he came to convince him to bring back the Gold Beast.”

“Are you serious!?”

“Why would I lie to you? I’m telling you, you’d bett…”

The beasts’ words entered Versailles’s ears, but she ignored them and walked to the red brick throne in the center of the hall.

Da**! This is truly too discriminating!

Versailles felt an intense urge to smash in the face of the wolf that built such a disgusting throne.

Hard, cold, and without the slightest comfort to soothe her back and behind, the throne made Versailles want to curse at all the previous Kings of the Underworld.

How could they even allow their mates to sit on such a throne!

Her ugly expression didn’t escape the sight of the spectating beasts. They instantly felt alarmed and wondered if the vicious, venomous, and ruthless serpentine was going to vent on them.

As slaves, it wouldn’t be the first time that the Masters scolded, beat, and tortured them to vent their frustrations.

“Alright, I want all the accounts of the Crimson Palace for the past decade within thirty breaths of time.” Releasing a deep sigh of sympathy for the past Queens, Versailles crossed her arms and swept her gaze over the shivering beasts.

Her cold command broke no room for hesitation.

Now that Luciana was gone, she had no idea who held possession of such accounts. As such, she could only address the entire room.

“That…I know where the accounts are, Serpentine Queen.” A limping beast nervously stepped forward.

“If you know, then go get them. I want all the records of management for the past decade, so help each other if necessary. And you, serve some snacks.”

“Ye…yes, Serpentine Queen.”

Within a matter of twenty heartbeats, the female beasts rushed around and brought out all the Red Stones1 that held the past decade’s records of rations and slaves brought into the palace.

Versailles leaned back in her seat and leisurely went through the records.

“What!? Why is this so high?”

“And where did this come from?”

“I’ve never heard of Blend Sprouts before…”

“…” Hearing her loud comments, the female slaves exchanged dumbfounded expressions, not able to believe the beast before them was the vicious serpentine in the stories.

“Hey, are you sure that she slaughtered a horde of beasts? She looks completely harmless to me.” A fox-tailed beast dubiously glanced at the bright and harmless serpentine.

“Heh…if she’s harmless, then why don’t you step forward and stroke her scales? After you are scorched to death, I’d like to know if you’d still consider her harmless.” A cat-eared beast disdainfully sneered in response.

“Tha…Am I brainless to stroke the Serpentine Queen’s scales? I bet even the Werewolf King wouldn’t do such a thing!”

The cat-eared beast gazed back at the excited serpentine and a complex emotion entered her eyes. If she and her friends hadn’t personally set up a Four Illusionary Roads spell to trap the beast, and seen her ruthlessly crush the spell they considered unbreakable with their very own eyes, then today, she’d be deceived by her harmless appearance as well.

Fortunately, she found out before meeting the serpentine face-to-face. Otherwise, she would’ve suffered on the first encounter.

She looked at her friends and saw the same wariness in their eyes.

“Alright, take me to the storeroom. I’d like to personally do the inventory and confirm what’s written in these accounts.” Versailles stood up, released a stream of her firepower, and watched all the Red Stones float in the air.

Then she turned to the huddled beasts with innocent eyes.

“Serpentine Queen, I’ll lead you to the storeroom.” The beast that stepped up had white hair and yellow eyes, with yellow skin. Though not breathtakingly beautiful, after the Gold Blood Luciana, she could be ranked below her as the next beauty of the Underworld Palace.

“Okay, lead the way.” Versailles nonchalantly dusted off her petal dress, her flower adornments glowing and highlighting her already outstanding appearance.

The female beasts’ followed her actions with their eyes and flames of envy and jealousy erupted within the depths of their hearts.

“No wonder the Werewolf King isn’t seeking out bedmates. With such an enchantress laying beside him, would he be interested in the bland characters?”

“Shhhh…keep your voice down. If she heard you and decided to scorch you, then no beast would be able to save you.”

“That’s right. Learn to watch your mouth. Don’t forget that even the Werewolf King treats her like an ancestor.”

At this, more complicated expressions appeared on the female beasts’ faces. Ordinarily, the Queens of the Underworld Palace held the power to order the female beasts around. But once a female bedded the Wolf King, she sort of became his keeper, his pleasure mate.

She would no longer be under the control or order of the Queen of the Underworld Palace.

As such, her place of rest, food, and clothing instantly upgraded so as not to shame the Werewolf King. This arrangement also made it easier for the King to easily seek her out when he was in heat.

However, with the Werewolf King of the Underworld Palace completely wrapped around the tail of the Serpentine Queen, the prospect of them climbing the Werewolf King’s bed to upgrade their status seemed slime to nonexistent.

“Chee! I don’t believe the Wolf King wouldn’t tire of her. No matter how beautiful, enchanting, and domineering she is, sooner or later, the Werewolf King will tire of her. I’d like to see how she’ll prevent him from seeking out bedmates then. Heh…after all, no matter how domineering she is, at the end of the day, this is the Underworld Palace of the Werewolf Clan, not her Floating Flame Island.” A beast with crab-fins on her face and tail coldly sneered as she watched the receding back of the Serpentine Queen.

The other females didn’t say anything. But their clenched fists and unwavering gazes showed that they too had the same thought.

Climbing the bed of the Werewolf King was the only way to upgrade their status and live better lives. If they gave up at the first blow, then wouldn’t they be condemning themselves to a lifetime of servitude and ruthless beatings?

Wouldn’t they be giving up on their own lives?

As such, to keep on living, they needed a goal to pursue, a better warm morning to look forward to. And the Werewolf King was the only one who could provide them with such a better warm morning.

Versailles’s eyes turned strange as she watched the white-haired female beast gliding in front of her.

Was it just her, or was the beast twisting her waist?

Why did it feel like…she was provoking her?

Heh…I must be confused. Why would a female beast twist her hips before me? It’s not like I can bed her…

She shook her head and banished the thought. Her sight returned to exploring her surroundings.

It would be too shameful if the Queen of the Underworld Palace, Master of the Crimson and Purple-Radiance Palace, didn’t even know the way around her Palace halls.

Unbeknownst to her, the female beast was sneaking peeks at her as she walked.

In the depth of her eyes, there was an unconcealable pride and arrogance that none of the other slave beasts possessed.