Chapter 79 (1/2)

Chapter 79: <Chapter 79>

“I told you that I will let you live.”

Lisbeth’s blue eyes glared at me. She escaped from her mother’s arms and walked towards me. Agnes stopped her before she got too close. Lisbeth tried to kill me after all, so there was no way Agnes or my royal guards would let her get near me.

Her blue eyes looked crazy.

She murmured, “You will take everything from me and all you’ll give me is my life? How could you say that?”

The Duke tried to stop his daughter, but Lisbeth wouldn’t let him.

She screamed, “How can you be so selfish? You stole everything that was supposed to be mine!!”

“Stole?”

Lisbeth nodded and replied, “Yes! Without you, I would be the emperor’s wife! If it was me who was sent to become the concubine, I would be the one the emperor falls in love with!”

I knew this wasn’t true. If Lisbeth was sent instead of me, she would have been dead by now.

I said to her, “It was your choice to send me instead of yourself. It was your family’s choice too. This means the current situation was created by your choice. You tricked me and sent me to save yourself, and now you want what is mine?”

“You want to steal everything from me and now all you offer in return is my life? How can you even say that?”

I had enough. She wasn’t making any sense. This conversation was useless.

She yelled again, “If you are going to use me, then you need to pay for it!”

“Pay?”

“Give me the emperor’s love. It should have been mine! Don’t you agree?”

“…”

I was speechless. I was beyond angry now.

What the hell was this bitch talking about? His love?

“How dare you?!”

I spat my words out like knives.

“Even if I don’t accept his highness’s love, do you really think he will give his feelings to you?”

“… well…!”

Before Lisbeth could answer, I continued, “Even if you were the one who came to the castle, there is no way the current emperor would have fallen in love with you. It will never happen in this life or your next.” I smiled cruelly.

Lisbeth suddenly started to cry like an animal. “No! It can’t be!”

She tried to get to me and scratch my face. The guards stopped her quickly and threw her towards her parents.

“Liz!”

“Lisbeth!”

“My lady!”

Orlean and her parents held her while she continued to cry out loudly.

I looked at them coldly and said before leaving.”Think carefully about what you do next.”

***

Lucretius entered the Girand with an unpleasant expression.

The dowager empress requested his visit after Bina met with the Aeal family. It was clear the dowager empress knew what was happening.

She tried to kill Bina but failed. The emperor had the murder weapon in his possession. The dowager empress must have felt anxious.

Lucretius could ignore her request, but officially, she was his mother. He had to, at least, pretend he respected her.

He planned on warning her during this meeting. He grinned at the prospect of threatening her.

However, his smile quickly disappeared as he entered the dowager empress’s room.

The very pregnant lady was sitting on a semi recliner. Her red hair and eyes were blinding.

Katleyanira smiled like a snake.

“Welcome, your highness. I am sorry to bring you here, but your mother is unable to move due to her condition.”

She spoke as if Lucretius was her beloved son.

He answered just as smoothly, “It’s no problem at all. I am sorry I didn’t get to visit you sooner.”

The dowager empress smiled and asked him to sit. The maid brought in the tea set. Inside the cups were lined with silver. Lucretius grinned and took a sip.

“Your highness’ tea is the best.”

“My new principle maid-in-waiting is very good.”

Lucretius smiled at the mention of the change in maid.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

The dowager empress smiled generously. “By the way, I heard something bad happened?”

Lucretius’ face became rigid for the first time.

“… Yes.”

“That’s terrible. She hasn’t been in this kingdom for too long, yet so many bad things have happened to her already.”

Lucretius smiled again calmly and replied, “Your highness has nothing to worry about. We have already found the culprit, and based on the quality of the replica saddle, we know for sure the Bonafit family had someone helping them.”

“I… see.” The dowager empress’s smile didn’t waver.

The emperor added, “Don’t worry. The prisoners will confess soon. I will make sure nothing will happen to them, like what happened to Marchioness Toruka.”

“Of course.”

The dowager empress scratched her teacup causing horrible sounds.

Lucretius said to her quickly, “I am glad to see that you are doing well, your highness. As I said earlier, I have a lot of work to do, so I will get going. Please take care of yourself.”

His last words sounded threatening, but Katleyanira answered without even blinking.

“Please stay safe.”

***

After Lucretius left, Katleyanira tapped her cup again with her fingernail.