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“In that case, whether they succeed or fail, the king will punish them.”
She leaned in even closer to Blake, her voice dropping to a near whisper, “When the chaos hits, you’ll have a better chance of saving me. The odds will be much more in your favor.”
Blake still couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
“Grand Princess Lisandra is against the war,” he said. “If a female official around her is doing this, wouldn’t it go completely against her stance? There’s no way she’d agree to it.”
Freya let out a cold laugh. “It seems she may not have a choice in the matter.”
Blake was shocked. “What do you mean? Are they trying to undermine Grand Princess Lisandra?”
Freya’s expression hardened. “How should I know? That’s what Mrs. Lester told me, but she didn’t go into detail. I don’t even know the identity of the female official! I didn’t believe her at first, which is why I asked so many questions. But she promised that if I cooperated, they’d help me escape when the time came. Because of you, I didn’t press the issue with Dominic. They may not care about me anymore. However, no matter what I confess, I’m afraid their plan will go forward regardless. That means I still have a chance.”
After the initial shock, Blake looked at her intently. “You didn’t change your confession because of me. You know they can’t be trusted, and you’re worried they’ll turn on you once they’ve used you. That’s why you’re turning to me. Don’t say you’re doing this for my sake. You still want me to pay the price. I’ll be taking as much money as I need, or I can’t help you.”
Freya didn’t feel guilty at all, even when he saw through her. “This is something you owe me, Blake. Nothing in this world is free. You started this, so you have to take responsibility.”
Blake felt a coldness settle in his chest. “Did I start this? Didn’t I take responsibility? When you were captured on the Southern Frontier battlefield, I defied Sophie’s orders multiple times to save you. I even took the punishment meant for you. How can you be so shameless?”
Freya’s expression turned cold. “Don’t bring up the past! This is all your doing, not mine. I never forced you into anything. You chose to be with me. You gave up your military merits to marry me, even abandoning Sophie. Everything you did was your own choice. Don’t try to act so wronged. If you didn’t want it, no one could’ve forced you.”
Blake was beyond furious, but he was no good at arguing. He always ended up losing when he fought with Freya. So, he fell silent.
He’d asked the questions he needed to ask, and now he simply said, “Fine. Just wait.”
After he left, Blake immediately relayed everything about his conversation with Freya to Rafael.
Rafael listened, his expression puzzled.
A female official? Why was it a female official?
The path to becoming a female official in Westhaven was incredibly difficult. It was only with Lisandra’s support that they managed to stay afloat. Without her, the selection. process every three years might not even continue. To so blatantly betray Lisandra-wasn’t that cutting off all of one’s future prospects?
“Do you think she was telling the truth? Was she lying?” Rafael asked.
Blake thought for a moment, but didn’t dare to be sure. “I don’t know. I can’t tell when she’s lying.”
Rafael gave Blake a look, his gaze unreadable.
No wonder Salvador liked using Blake! This man couldn’t even understand the woman beside him, let alone dare to guess the king’s intentions or do anything inappropriate. Someone like him was perfect for being a scapegoat. “Did she say a female official or a maid?” Rafael asked, wanting clarification.
There were only three female officials who had come this time. It wouldn’t be hard to investigate them. But if it was a maid, that would be much more difficult.
“She said it was a female official, but…” Blake hesitated, unsure if the Hell Monarch wanted his opinion.
“Go ahead,” Rafael urged, growing impatient with Blake’s hesitation.
Blake took a deep breath. “But I don’t think it’s a female official. I know the situation in
Westhaven-female officials rely on Grand Princess Lisandra’s power to maintain their positions. If she’s sidelined, it wouldn’t benefit them.”
He felt like he had made a sharp observation, but little did he know, Rafael had already thought of that and perhaps even deeper. The female official idea wasn’t impossible. Lisandra’s power was waning, and the female officials might not be able to rely on her for much longer.
Rafael stood up. “Good. Thank you for your input.”
Blake watched Rafael’s retreating figure.
Was that… an acknowledgment?
Rafael quickly returned to Hell Monarch Estate and made his way to the council hall, where Everett was already sitting in the main seat, waiting for reports. Rafael instructed Jacob to gather information on the three female officials who had arrived this time. It was crucial to examine the details thoroughly.
At Concord Lodge, Violet had drunk a lot of coffee and was beginning to feel uncomfortable. She excused herself and told the Westhaven guards stationed there to wait as she went to the inner chamber. Sophie also stood up to accompany her. A maid who spoke Stellish was called over, and they were escorted toward the inner chamber. As they passed by the main courtyard of Concord Lodge, they noticed that the place was brightly lit. Sounds of an argument could be heard from within. Sophie took a quick look and saw that most of the envoys were present, as well as the female officials from Lisandra’s side. There were easily a dozen or twenty people inside, arguing. Their voices weren’t loud, but some looked solemn, while others were clearly angry. Sophie only understood a few phrases in Westic, so she couldn’t catch the full meaning of the argument, but she very clearly heard the words “danger” and “very dangerous.”
She stopped, trying to listen further, but the maid urged her forward. Sophie and Violet continued toward the inner chamber, gradually distancing themselves from the main courtyard, where the sounds of the dispute faded.
They exchanged a look, both of them filled with uncertainty. This didn’t seem like a discussion about the upcoming negotiations. Lisandra wasn’t present, and there were guards and maids around. One of them even wore the hat of a medical officer.
By the light of the passing lanterns, Sophie stole a glance at the maid, who had clearly just been brought out from the main courtyard. Her expression was one of quiet anxiety.
Sophie thought back to Lisandra’s condition. She had heard that Lisandra had been vomiting during the negotiations earlier today, and wondered if the grand princess’ condition had worsened.
Sophie turned to the maid leading them and asked, “Has Grand Princess Lisandra gotten any better? If not, we have a physician in the capital named Sebastian who—“
Before Sophie could finish, the maid’s eyes brightened. “Sebastian Dalton? The renowned physician? Is he in the capital?”
“Yes, he’s in the capital,” Sophie replied, sensing that Lisandra’s headache had likely intensified. “Should we send someone to invite him to check on Grand Princess Lisandra?”
The maid hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. “No need, Your Grace. Her Highness has taken medicine and is already feeling much better.”
“Is she truly feeling better?”
Sophie couldn’t help but grow suspicious. Upon mentioning Sebastian, she had seen the maid’s eyes light up. But when she talked about Lisandra feeling better, her gaze seemed to flicker and avoid meeting Sophie’s. “Yes, Your Grace. Please hurry along. I must return to attend to the grand princess,” the maid urged.
Sophie had originally only accompanied Violet, so whether she went or stayed didn’t matter much. She motioned for Violet to continue ahead and lingered behind.
She said to the maid, “You’re one of Grand Princess Lisandra’s personal attendants, right? You’ve brought medicine with you on this trip, haven’t you? If you’re missing annet ingredients, you can tell us and we’ll send someone to fetch them right away. You can trust us-we want nothing more than for Her Highness to recover her health.”
The maid nodded but didn’t speak much further, her expression still wary.
Seeing this, Sophie didn’t press her and instead chatted casually, asking, “What’s your name? How long have you been serving Grand Princess Lisandra?”
“My name is Aria,” the maid answered. “I’ve served Her Highness since I was 11. It’s been 12 years now.”
“I never would’ve guessed you were 23. I thought you were only 17 or 18. Your name is lovely,” Sophie complimented with a smile.
“Her Highness chose my name,” Aria replied softly.
“I see.” Sophie noticed Aria kept glancing toward the inner chamber, as though she were anxious to return. “Aren’t you supposed to be attending to Her Highness? Is she settled?”
“Her Highness… is settled.” Aria hesitated before continuing, “Um… You mentioned Mr. Dalton just now, Your Grace. Is he difficult to call on?”
“It depends on who’s calling on him.”