Winnie's eyes dimmed as she remembered all her pain in the past.

Black didn't need to say who sent him.

Without a doubt, she knew it was Ivy.

So, after all these years, she's decided to finish her work.

Back then, she and her children were hunted down and saved at the last minute by Santa, who then brought them here.

Never again would she ever wish to be in such a helpless predicament.

As for Ivy, coupled with her insane jealousy of Winnie's glamorous life here, another thing that might've pushed her to kill urgently was because of fear.

Right now, Winnie held a certain degree of power here, which terrified Ivy, giving her sleepless nights.

What if Winnie decided to seek revenge?

In fact, Winnie won't even need to send assassins to take her down sneakily.

As someone with power, she could straightforwardly state her claim that she was wrongly prosecuted back then and put pressure for Ivy to get punished.

This was what Ivy heard the most.

The tables had truly turned, and Ivy bow held little to no power in Yodan.

One shouldn't also forget that Sirius, the person she had tried to kill times without number, was now Monarch of Yodan.

So he would side with mother Winnie and use this opportunity to eliminate her once and for all.

Of course, Ivy would never have thought that Sirius never had any intentions of killing her.

Despite how Maclaine acted, even though the child he loved the most was Sirius... Ironically, the woman he loved the most out of his wives was Ivy, seconded by Sedora.

These 2 sneaky women were the ones that genuinely held a place in Maclaine's heart, and they were the ones who also tried their very best to eliminate him, so their sins could take over.

.

In truth, these women felt betrayed.

Imagine giving your beloved all your love, only for that person to appoint another child as heir?

Without a doubt, they held grudges for his decision.

But no matter how bad they were, they had never tried and would never dare kill Maclaine.

Despite their craziness, they also loved him.

Additionally, he was now their shield against Sirius.

They weren't fools.

They knew that the only reason Serious kept them alive was because Maclaine valued them a lot.

Should the day come when all his attention on them diminished, they would lose their backer.

Of course, for these ladies, they themselves had no idea that Maclaine loved them.

After all, he had betrayed them by marrying countless wives and concubines back then.

So they felt like he was just satisfied with their company and nothing more.

Of course, they also failed to understand that Maclaine married to keep some of his ministers happy, lest they revolt.

At times, he married commoner women like mother Winnie to gain support.

To Maclaine and many other monarchs, being Monarch was a never-ending game.

And sometimes, sacrifices were needed.

However, Ivy and Sedora only felt betrayed and thought Maclaine didn't care for them the way they did.

Little did they know that if some unforeseen circumstance befell them, Maclaine would break.

Likewise, Maclaine held high love for Sirius too.

The whole thing was just one big mess!

.

Anyway, over the years, Sirius had done a good job at making Ivy very powerless.

First, he accidentally allowed Maclaine to know that they were planning on assassinating him once.

And then, he and Maclaine had a heart-to-heart talk.

Even though most of Ivy's power was taken back when she permanently left the palace and settled into Maclaine's estate as per tradition... She still had her own men from her natal home, as well as a few that Maclaine assigned to guard and stay Loyal to her.

But after that incident, when she teamed up with Sedora and a few other ex-queens to assassinate Sirius, Maclaine sent their men from their natal homes away and only left his own men to guard his wives.

Of course, the big incident happened close to a year ago.

And within this period, the women had been acting humbly, doing embroidery, poetry, etc.

Some even started gardening to express their humility even more, while others uttered their heads in novels, day in, day out, forgetting the world and acting like changed people.

They even tried cooking for Maclaine and doing other house chores for the first time in their lives.

And just like that, Maclaine seeing their bruised hands and pitiful demands, gave them a bit of freedom after so long.

God!

It was almost a year of constant acting here and there.

It was enough to drive anyone crazy!

Now, they were finally allowed to set out of the estate.

That's right.

They were no longer grounded.

However, even if they wanted to leave, they still needed Maclaine's permission.

And while outside, they would always be escorted by his men.

.

It was a constant prison for them, but they dared not show any annoyance because even some of the maids were spies watching their every move.

But of course, no matter how vigilant Maclaine was, they knew his weaknesses and knew how to lower his guard in their presence.

After all, many of them had been married to him for a little over 2 decades now.

So how could they not know their husband?

.

The moment they got freedom, they instantly started making moves in the dark, especially aimed at Winnie.

Ivy had already been grounded for so long because of the last incident.

So what would happen once Winnie expressed herself and forced Maclaine to take a side?

She dared not waste time anymore and visited her natal home first.

There, she left a message for her secret guard, and the rest was history.

The other women were also terrified of Winnie too because they had all given tell to her, from killing her most trusted maids to poisoning her once, doing so much.

So how could they not be afraid?

Rather than sitting there waiting for attacks, it was best to strike while the iron was still hot.

And so they did, sending several forces to her.

However, Mother Winnie was clueless about their plans.

Typically, Sirius would have already noticed and alerted Landon on these things.

But it just so happens that the women were making their moves when Sirius was fully engaged with the temple, alongside Landon.

Nonetheless, even though Winnie had no clue about the troubles coming her way, it would be nothing for her.

Well, since they came to her doorstep, it would be rude for her not to reciprocate their good feelings, no?

Winnie's eyes turned cold as she glanced at the trio.

For all the trouble they had a hand in, she would pay back ten folds!