Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Excuse
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Her face froze at those cold words. Where had she been? Had he realized she had run away?
How?
Her mind spun wildly. Asherad reached out and caressed her chin.
“Daphne, I can always see those gears turning in your head.”
“…….”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know you’d run away?”
The hand stroking her face was chillingly cold. His fingers trailed from her chin down her neck. Was it the temperature, or did it feel like a blade pressing against her throat? Goosebumps prickled her skin.
For a moment, Daphne felt a terror that this man might strangle her. In the taut tension, she opened her mouth with a tearful expression.
“Of course! I thought you were dead!”
Instead, she looked up at him with resentment and injustice. Asherad seemed puzzled by her attitude.
“I didn’t even get a proper look at your face when you collapsed.”
Tears welled in Daphne’s eyes. The hand that had been dangerously stroking her neck stopped.
“Your knights chased me away.”
Daphne thought to herself. Asherad already knew she had fled anyway.
So she had to make him understand why she had no choice but to run. Then his anger would subside. Daphne grabbed Asherad’s arm and sobbed.
“The moment I was driven out without even being able to reach for you once, I truly realized my position.”
“…….”
“That without you, I’m nothing. That I’d die helplessly.”
Daphne gauged his face without wiping away her falling tears.
She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The slight upturn of his lips seemed like mocking her, or perhaps a challenge to see how she’d persuade him.
“That’s why.”
“So that’s why you ran?”
“Someone was trying to kill me.”
Asherad narrowed his eyes at her words. Now it was a gamble. She clenched her teeth subtly. If what Count Rocania said was true, Callista must have made some move to kill Daphne.
Moreover, if Asherad knew everything even while bedridden. He would have found out what the Empress Dowager had done. In other words, Daphne had never lied.
“So you ran away and left me behind?”
Daphne couldn’t respond to Asherad’s words. Because they were true. She said it like an excuse.
“I was scared.”
“…….”
“Without you, I’m nothing... Knowing how much the Empress Dowager hates me, I couldn’t just sit there and die.”
Daphne met Asherad’s gaze head-on. As if she couldn’t be more righteous than this.
A man let out a scoff at the sight of a brazen woman who had run off the moment her lover collapsed.
“Haha...”
Daphne didn’t know what that laugh meant. But she knew it wasn’t positive. Still, she had a very powerful weapon.
“Asherad.”
At that, Asherad’s eyes widened as he looked at her. She bit her lip, hesitating for a long time as if struggling, then closed her eyes as if giving up and spoke.
“If I really wanted to run from you. If I was desperate to escape, why would I come back to you the moment I heard you’d woken up?”
“…….”
“If I’d run while you were down, I could have gone anywhere. You know that.”
“…….”
“I came back to stay by your side, to see you again. Because your side is where I belong.”
Daphne smiled through her tears, trying hard not to look servile. She leaned her head against his chest. Reaching out, she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and whispered.
“I’m so glad. That you’re alive.”
“…….”
“Really so glad.”
Was it an empty echo, or the truth? Even Daphne didn’t know. But like brainwashing herself, she kept whispering how glad she was, murmuring sweetly in the arms of the man who held her captive.
“Your Majesty, I can’t live without you.”
“…….”
“The moment you drank the poison meant for me and collapsed, I thought my world had ended.”
Daphne began to sob. Asherad looked down at Daphne in his arms. No contact. Daphne lifted her head under his piercing gaze from above and met his eyes directly.
“I’m so glad you’re alive.”
“…….”
“Really, so glad you’re alive.”
Daphne brainwashed herself and Asherad. This ignorant, frail concubine wept that she couldn’t live without him. She clung to him, sobbing as if his embrace was everything, saying nothing more.
Finally, Asherad’s hand rested on Daphne’s back.
Good.
Daphne felt relieved inside. His hand gently stroked her golden hair. With her face buried in his chest, she gave a faint smile. Asherad would let this slide. In this ambiguous relationship, Daphne realized something too.
This man liked that she needed him. He couldn’t escape that.
“Daphne.”
Asherad whispered tenderly.
“You never thought about what would happen to you after I died.”
See, his voice had softened like this. He stroked her preciously. The hand patting her back was endlessly gentle. Daphne felt completely at ease. But then, Asherad’s chilling voice rang out.
“What you need to do is very simple.”
“…….”
“Die with me. Slash your artery with a blade. Or jump from the top of the Imperial Palace, or drink poison.”
Daphne’s heart plummeted. She looked up at Asherad. It felt like all the blood in her body had frozen.
Die with him without hesitation. This man truly treated her like a loyal dog. At that, Daphne shed tears. Asherad smiled faintly and caressed the corner of her eye where tears fell.
“Thank you for coming back, Daphne. I’m truly happy.”
“…….”
“But there won’t be a second time.”
Her heart grew cold at the quiet warning.
* * *
“Show due respect to the Kingdom of Thalassa for the Empire!”
Veronica gnashed her teeth. Ridiculous! To fall into such a lowly trap! How, how could this happen!
“I didn’t poison the tea!”
Veronica screamed. She was utterly wronged. But no one listened to her excuses. A woman who had nearly poisoned the Emperor’s lover out of jealousy. That was all Veronica was.
Callista, that fake princess!
She ground her teeth. Stay calm. If she stayed calm, the people of Thalassa Kingdom would plead for her. How could the king leave her alone?
“It’s okay, it’ll be okay.”
“It won’t be.”
Veronica’s eyes blazed with fury at the voice. It was because Callista had appeared, laughing.
She wore a flashy light green dress. Glass beads embedded in the fabric sparkled. Heavy makeup, ornate hair accessories. Veronica lost her reason at the sight of her dressed up to the point of hurting the eyes.
“You wicked bitch!”
She spat and yelled at Callista. Callista gestured indifferently, and the knights beside her broke open the prison door and slapped Veronica’s cheek. With a sharp smack, her body toppled sideways. Callista burst into laughter.
“Duchess Arald, why pretend to be so innocent? You did the same trash in your beloved homeland. You treated me kindly at first, then framed me for tampering with the tea and humiliated me... Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
“…….”
“I just gave back what you dished out.”
Callista burst into laughter. Yes, Veronica had done that. Callista had been willful, but not enough to provoke others first back then.
Veronica had approached kindly and framed her, isolating her.
Where did the rumor of fake princess come from? If there was someone she wanted to chew up bones and all, it was Veronica.
Veronica touched her cheek in a daze. Blood trickled from her mouth. She was stunned by the first violence she’d ever suffered. But soon, Veronica screamed with venom.
“You fool. Do you even know what you’ve done? Don’t you realize how much danger you’ve put Thalassa Kingdom in!”
“Who cares about that rotten country.”
Callista said with a cruel smile. Veronica now realized her own baseline of common sense differed from Callista’s.
“You, you!”
“Shouldn’t you have crawled to me unconditionally for your kingdom? I even thought of helping a fellow countrywoman.”
Callista snorted. She sat and met the eyes of Veronica slumped beyond the bars.
“As someone who came to this beggar nation first, let me give you some advice.”
“What...”
“The king won’t rescue you. He’ll abandon you again.”
“No way, I’m from the House of Arald!”
“You idiot, I’m the queen’s daughter!”
Callista cackled. She was dying of amusement. Just seeing Veronica in distress felt like her aching tooth had fallen out. If she could just kill that woman Daphne too, she’d feel refreshed!
“Beat her just enough. Act like knights.”
Callista ordered her knights and left the prison. As she walked down the corridor, a sinister voice made her stop.
“Mother, you sure have a foul mouth.”
“Gasp!”
Callista’s heart sank. Asherad stood in the passage. His disheveled black hair, hollow eyes filled with immense rage.