Chapter Fifty-Five: Into a Chokehold.
1242 Words
Étienne Norvig Yarez.
‘Absurd!’
Absurd is the only word he could use to describe the first prince.
‘He doesn’t care about Arusei. He simply hates me to the point that he would rather kill my men than hand over a woman I want.’
“Bastard!”
The word flowed from his mouth naturally as he let out a calming exhale.
“Are…what… f**k! So? What other plan did you come up with besides taking him to court? I can't risk the campaign. I mean, we could always frame her.”
He pushed himself off his desk then stalked to the window.
‘Frame her… that sounds good. I can claim authority over her punishment, and keep her bound to me, just like she is meant to be.’
“A bird that flies for too long needs to come home to rest, you know.”
“There was no solution that would not impact your campaign, your highness.”
“You just haven’t thought hard enough!”
‘No…Gaston was right. She had the ability to turn back time, perhaps at a whim, and she was too smart for her own good. The case would fail, and it would reflect negatively on his campaign.’
The realisation irritated him.
She wasn’t supposed to be invincible.
There has to be something that would make her need him like before.
He turned sharply to Gaston when he noticed the office door slightly ajar.
“Whose there?”
“Very keen of you, Étienne. However, I was the one who asked them to cease the search. It reflects poorly on both of us.”
A sultry feminine voice, coming from a white-haired woman, explained with unabashed condemnation in her expression.
“Mother.”
He acknowledged the regal presence of the Queen.
“What the hell do you think you are doing chasing after a w***e, Étienne? Have you lost your mind? Have you forgotten that you are engaged to a child chosen by the Pope? A child who already holds the favour of the masses? Is this how far you are willing to disgrace me after all I have done for you?”
‘I never asked you to do anything for me.’
But the words that came out instead were;
“M-mother, of course not.”
Étienne rounded his desk to embrace the queen physically.
“When will you grow up? Do I have to constantly spend each day pointing you in a particular direction for you to follow? Can’t you think for yourself? Decide that in the direction of the harlot there is little merit but in the direction of-”
“I understand, mother, I do.”
He interrupted, but his non-resistance in the subject matter put her at ease.
“Étienne, if this is about revenge for what she did to you, to us. Secure the seat first, then you will have enough power to send her running to another empire eternally.”
Étienne bit his lip to keep his truths from spilling.
Uttering words like; ‘I love her’ or ‘I need her’ with conviction would indeed all but lead to an extended stay in the punishment cells.
Not to mention the thought of her leaving the continent was far from what he wanted.
Still, it was one thing to oppose the queen but another to oppose ‘mother’.
“I am sorry for getting carried away. You are correct. I should wait until I secure the seat..”
‘Should I kill the remaining of Gaston’s knights…there is obviously a rat among them.’
Étienne’s gaze travelled up Gaston’s frame.
‘Or maybe Gaston was the rat?’
“Are you listening to me?”
His mother asked, and he turned his attention fully to her.
“My apologies, I was thinking of the knight's uniform.”
Lies came readily to him.
He did not mind that. Rather, having one person with whom he could share his honesty was all he needed, and it, like in his previous life, has to be Arusei.
The queen sighed, then made her way to the sofa.
“Where are your servants? I want jasmine tea.”
“Gaston, would you pass the information on to a maid?”
“As you wish, sire.”
The room fell silent as soon as the door slammed shut.
“Sit down, Étienne.”
“Yes, mother.”
He sat opposite the Queen, then crossed his legs.
“Back to the Marquis’s daughter. I heard you invited her to your engagement party, is that true?”
Étienne sighed, then crossed his legs.
“Is that what brought you here, mother?”
“My initial instinct was to congratulate you on having her attend the ceremony, then leave early….”
Étienne stilled.
The only reason the queen uttered her words was that she did not experience the terror of one person putting an entire ballroom to sleep. Rather, even if she did, she did not hold her memories of the night before.
Again, he did not mind that.
It was a secret that bound him to Arusei.
“We gained a lot of support for her behaviour, nobles began saying that she had not even been invited. Did you invite her privately?”
“Yes.”
“Good, when asked, say she was not supposed to be there.”
“Understood; however, mother, I feel like your sentence had a ‘but’ coming in.”
“Yes. I was going to congratulate you on your conduct, but I feel as though there are things you neglect to mention to me about Arusei. What don’t I know, son?”
That the countess is a military disaster waiting to happen. That if she and Rheyes end up together, the power distribution in the entire empire will be disrupted, that he was in love with her, that he only wanted Regina as the pure public image of the crown, with Arusei to help him safeguard his birthright.
“Nothing, mother, I make a point to tell you anything important.”
“is that right?”
“It is so.”
“Hmmm….”
The queen didn’t believe him; most likely, she would get one of her spies to keep their tabs on him.
“In other news, the Empress is on the move.”
“What do you mean?”
“There is too much movement in her palace.”
The queen said calmly as a maid with a tea tray knocked on the slightly open door.
“What did Tara report?”
Tara was the queen’s spy.
“Oh, you don’t know? She was on the way to the market, and her carriage was attacked by bandits.”
That was short for..’The Empress found her snooping.'
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Arusei Evergreen
“What the hell are those markings?”
Kat asked, her hands on her waist and her gaze insistently inspecting my body.
“W-what markings?”
“The hand bruises on your neck, and the…cloak with northern territory colours.”
“I-…fell?”
“Into a chokehold? or a d**k?”
“Alright! Alright, questions in the evening. I am dead tired.”
‘I didn’t even sleep last night. Not to mention my back is aching, and my thighs…good lord, I need a massage!’
“Sleep where? Royal mail has arrived.”
“Royal mail?”
I frowned.
“Which colour?”
“Crimson.”
‘The Empress…’
- Writer
