"You don't want to die, but neither does he!" Lily pointed at the operating table. "Have you ever considered that he's still a child? You're a mother, too, and you even have grandchildren. What if someone treated them like this—"

"That would be their fate!" the queen sternly interrupted.

Lily was stunned. The queen glared at her and continued, "The world is about survival of the fittest. If your country isn't strong enough, I wouldn't even bother with the ties between our nations. If Yudonia is strong, we wouldn't need to yield to others or care about world opinion, would we? If you weren't strong enough, you would have died a hundred times over instead of questioning me now!"

The queen saw no wrong in strengthening herself and her country. She pitied those who died for their weakness, but it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Lily saw the look in her eyes and knew reasoned argument was futile. The old woman was intractable.

"Have you considered the consequences of rushing the experiment? Finding new test subjects will be difficult if it fails," Lily said, focusing on the queen's priorities. "Yes, you're the queen, and many subjects will sacrifice themselves for you, but what happens if people discover it before it succeeds? You said Yudonia isn't strong enough to ignore world opinion. This isn't just about public opinion. Consider what happens when everyone knows what you're doing." Lily saw the queen's expression change, her words having an effect. "When that happens, many will fight over the formula. Do you think you'll still achieve your goals?" The queen began to waver. She might not care about others' lives, but what if people discovered the drug and took it from her? She had kept her plan secret to avoid discovery. She was too close to success to fail.

At that moment, Fred fainted from the anesthetic, leaving the conversation.

Lily continued, "Now that we've reached this point, everything is under your control. What do you have to worry about? Fred, Nick, and I—we're all in your hands. There's no need to rush."

The queen frowned.

Lily rose and approached Nick, secretly untying the ropes around her wrist. In her gentlest voice, she said, "Haste makes waste. Since everything is within your grasp, give me time to make adjustments. I promise I'll increase the success rate. You want the experiment to succeed, not fail due to haste, don't you?"