Filed To Story: Queen of the Battlefield Her Return to Glory Novel Online Free
Sophie looked up at her furious husband. “Is this about Sebastian?”
“You still have the nerve to ask?!” Blake spat harshly.
Sophie smiled, highlighting her stunning, captivating beauty.
“Why wouldn’t I? You should be asking yourselves why Sebastian refuses to treat your mother. Maybe you should be looking at your own conduct.”
Blake coldly retorted, “Stop pretending. It was you who stopped Sebastian from treating Mother. You’re using this as a means to blackmail me into not marrying Freya. You’re despicable. “Sophie, let me tell you, even if I don’t marry Freya, I won’t treat you any better. You disgust.
1. me.
“If I had known you were so manipulative and wicked, I would never have married you. I regret it deeply. I must have been blind.”
“Then, why don’t you divorce me?” Sophie asked, looking up at him.
Blake was caught off guard by her sudden question. “What?”
Sophie stood up, her beautiful face filled with mockery. “Since I disgust you so much, why don’t you divorce me? If you love Freya so deeply and want to be with her, then I’m just useless to you. Since you dislike me, why don’t you divorce me?”
“I…” Blake hesitated.
Divorce her?
He would never do that.
Sophie took another step closer to him, her expression still mocking.
“Is it because you don’t have a reason to divorce me? I can give you plenty. I’m jealous, disobedient, useless, and wicked. I speak out of turn and argue with my elders. Any one of these reasons is enough for you to divorce me.”
Blake took a deep breath, staring at his wife in disbelief. Was she really serious about wanting to leave, or was this just another way to manipulate him?
But no, he could never agree to a divorce. Divorcing Sophie would bring a storm of public outrage that would drown both him and Freya.
Plus, his fellow soldiers would be ashamed of him, as everyone in the army revered Sophie’s father as a legendary hero. He couldn’t afford to lose their respect. “Sophie, I won’t divorce you,” said Blake, sounding both frustrated and resigned. “I’ll make sure you’re well cared for, but you need to stop causing all this trouble. What you did this time was the worst. “How could you use my mother’s illness to blackmail me? Don’t you think that’s too cruel? If you’re upset, take it out on me. Stop tormenting my mother. It’s disrespectful, and it’ll ruin your reputation.” Sophie’s expression was icy as she taunted, “Is it that you won’t divorce me or that you’re too afraid to? Divorcing me would ruin your reputation, and people would accuse you of being heartless and unfaithful.
“You’re also scared of losing the support of my father’s old allies. You want to keep your romance and your career, but you can’t have it both ways. Just because my family’s in decline doesn’t mean we need to rely on your family to survive. You underestimate me and overestimate yourself.”
Her words hit Blake where it hurt, making him furious.
“Enough with the arguments! The royal edict for the marriage is from the king himself. I will marry Freya. If you have any other conditions, just name them and I’ll meet them.”
“I have no conditions. I don’t need anything from you.”
Sophie stood tall, her posture defiant and her eyes dry. Her beauty mark stood out on her fair, stunningly beautiful face.
Angry and exasperated, Blake said, “Honestly, Sophie, I thought you’d accept this marriage more gracefully. Your father and brothers were all soldiers. I thought you wouldn’t make things difficult for Freya.” Sophie let out a sarcastic laugh. “You thought I’d just accept my husband marrying another woman? You think too highly of my generosity, Blake. Let’s end this conversation here.”
Seeing her stubborn refusal, Blake grew even more enraged.
*Fine, since you’re so heartless, I’ll take this to the king himself. You’re deliberately making things difficult and defying His Majesty’s edict. Prepare for the consequences when the king reprimands you.”
Sophie scoffed. “What a joke! I’m just a woman, not some court official. How exactly does the king plan to punish me? Why don’t you go complain to the queen dowager instead? Tell her I won’t let Freya marry into the family. Hasn’t she always admired Freya? Go on, run to her.”
“Don’t think I won’t! You’ve cut off my mother’s medicine-that’s disrespectful. I’ll have the queen dowager punish you for it.”
“Take your time leaving, I won’t see you off!” Sophie showed no sign of caring.
“You’ll regret this!” Blake threw his parting words over his shoulder, glaring at his wife’s cold face before storming off.
“Perhaps you should worry about the betrothal gifts first. Do you need to borrow some money from me?” Sophie’s mocking voice echoed behind him.
Her words made Blake pause for a moment before he stomped away. He had indeed thought about borrowing money from her. But after this, he’d rather ask Freya to lower the price of the betrothal gifts than ever turn to Sophie.
After Blake left, Lulu poked her head around the door. “My lady, if he really asked you to lend him money, would you?”
Sophie rubbed her cheeks, exhausted from all the talking.
After a moment, she answered Lulu’s question, “Sure, if he has the guts to ask, I’d lend it to him-with interest, of course. He’d have to pay back every penny, with interest, on time.” “Aren’t you worried he won’t pay you back?”
“If he doesn’t, I’ll send debt collectors to his door every day.” Sophie glanced at the spilled watercress soup in the corner and sighed pitifully. “Lulu, is there any watercress soup left? I’d like some.
“Yes, there’s a whole pot left. We’ve got chicken soup too. Which one would you like?”
Sophie’s face lit up. “Both, please! You should have some too, and send the rest to the maids. Oh, and they’ve packed everything, right?”
“Everything’s ready. We’re just waiting for the edict, then we’ll pack up and leave,” said Lulu, who was now cheerful, free from the gloom of the past few days.
“Yes, it’s all over now. We’re just waiting for the edict to arrive. Though, I bet Blake will go and negotiate with the Ernst family to lower the price of the betrothal gifts. Freya will definitely agree. After all
Lulu scoffed. “Ten thousand silver coins worth of betrothal gifts? Do they think the Jaffe family is that rich? When you married into this family, your mother only asked for a few hundred silver coins. It was such a loss.”
Sophie sighed dramatically. “I agree. My mother settled for too little.”
Lulu laughed with her, but as she laughed, tears started to fall. Sophie had endured so much when she married into the Jaffe family. Back then, Sophie had believed Blake’s grand promises he swore he’d never take a concubine.
In the end, it was all lies, and Sophie’s life was ruined.
Wiping her tears, Lulu went off to fetch the watercress soup and chicken soup, and she invited the other maids to share some too.
The king’s edict for an amicable divorce was still under wraps, but the people Sophie had brought from her family home were loyal and trustworthy. They knew what was going on, and it was necessary to prepare them anyway.
What worried Lulu was the possibility of the king not approving the divorce.
A divorce that was unilaterally decided by the husband and an amicable divorce based on mutual understanding were two very different things, with the main difference being that a woman divorced by her husband couldn’t reclaim her dowry.
Why was the edict taking so long to arrive? Was the king planning to wait until after the wedding to issue it? That would be pure torture. She didn’t want to stay here even a moment longer.
Later, Sophie called Amelia to go over the accounts. They should have done this sooner, but the recent chaos had delayed everything.
Amelia really didn’t want to take on this mess. She genuinely felt sorry for Sophie, but her husband, Benjamin, had said that Freya marrying into the Jaffe family would greatly benefit the family. Freya was the key factor behind Westhaven’s surrender, and the Ministry of Defense hadn’t forgotten that particular detail.
Blake and Freya’s contributions had earned them this marriage edict, so the king hadn’t made other arrangements. With the king focusing on promoting young military talent, adding Freya to the family would make the Jaffe family even more influential.