Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 610

[Norma, when Kyson mentioned this to me two days ago, there was absolutely no mention of a medical challenge. What's going on?]

When Kyson had briefly brought it up, she had just glanced at the details, found it uninspired, and completely brushed it off.

How had everything changed so drastically in just forty-eight hours?

[The organizing committee held an emergency meeting and added it at the last minute. As soon as I saw your Ametrine Herb on the list, I messaged you.]

[I see. Thanks, Norma. I'll definitely be there.]

It was obvious that someone had exerted serious internal pressure to force this late addition, otherwise a decision of this magnitude wouldn't have been made so abruptly.

With only a three-day notice, how many people could possibly prepare in time?

The number of qualified competitors would likely be pitifully low.

The whole setup reeked of a backdoor deal masked as a prestigious talent search, conveniently culminating in a secondary auction to make it look legitimate.

This kind of heavy-handed maneuvering had the distinct fingerprints of Mistralia Country and Rubinia Country all over it.

She scanned the lists for both the primary and secondary auctions. Even the items in the first round were quite impressive, far beyond what could be found on the open market.

She was suddenly very eager to take a trip to Cloudcroft City.

She wanted to see exactly what kind of game they were playing.

Since on-site registration was allowed, she still had enough time to synthesize the specific pills she needed to qualify for the competition.

It looked like it was time for a trip back to the mountain. Her large villa up there was stocked with all the equipment she needed, and she could drop by to visit her masters while she was at it.

If time permitted, she might even craft a little something for the Myriad Treasures Gallery.

The drive from the city back to her village only took a couple of hours, so she planned to make the trip herself.

First, she stopped by Blackwood Group to see Julius.

"Yvonne, I think you've forgotten something. Julius banned you from entering Blackwood Group. I suggest you leave right now before security drags you out and makes a public spectacle of you."

Yvonne stomped her foot, huffing angrily. "Fine, I'm leaving! But mark my words, I'm going to make you regret this!"

As Yvonne stormed off, Stella didn't give her a second thought, heading straight up to the CEO's office.

Julius looked genuinely surprised when she walked in. "Darling, are you here to check up on me?"

It had been a while since she last visited the office.

Stella leaned in, acting like a total flirt as she hooked a finger under his chin. "What's wrong? Is Mr. Blackwood afraid of a little surprise inspection?"

"Not at all. Mrs. Blackwood is welcome to inspect me anytime she likes. I assure you, I can withstand any form of scrutiny."

Wrapping his left arm tightly around her waist, he caught the hand tilting his chin with his right and pressed a soft kiss to her fingers.