Granny Wayne seemed to notice Mary coughing and she shouted from the outside. “Are you awake? My lady. Do you want some tea?”
Mary hurriedly pressed the plug back to the vial and shoved the vial under the pillow. She closed her eyes pretended to be asleep.
Hearing no more sound from the inside, the two servants who was on duty no longer spoke a word and they began dozing off under the hot sun.
Ralph on the other hand was walking lividly with a threatening aura towards the room where the side consort and Amy stayed. The side consort was now in a distress due to Amy’s illness and the trouble she had made, while Grace was sitting obediently beside her. She felt a little better with Grace massaging her shoulder.
Someone wanted to yell to notify them upon Ralph’s arrival, yet Ralph’s glare made the servants lowered their head at once and not dare to speak a word.
Ralph stood beside the window silently to listen to the conversations between the side consort and his daughters inside.
The side consort was trying her best to persuade Amy. “Do hear mother’s advice out, Amy. It’s not a bad thing for you to rest at the temple for a while. Plus, I’ve promised your father to let you stay here to reflect on yourself in the first place…”
Amy interrupted her with a shrill voice. “Does mother believe that I’m being possessed by evil spirits too?”
The side consort quickly appeased her. “What do you mean? It was all a coincidence. How does it have anything to do with being possessed by evil spirits?” She then bit her teeth and said hatefully, “It was all Gautama Damma that damn priest’s fault. He must be thinking that the money’s not enough and wanted to take more from me.”
Her words were clearly heard by Ralph who was standing outside the room. He let out a grim smile. Now he knows what had happened, and Gautama Damma and his disciple, Nean dared to put feathers in their own cap. Yet he had decided not to hold them to account since Gautama Carana who was bestowed the title ‘Bhagavan Celestial’ was still in charge of Munashii Temple, and the two priests did make up for their mistakes.
Amy seemed to swear with a low voice from the inside, and Madam Barbosa was advising her humbly. “Please mind your words, third mistress. Who knows whether his Majesty would come here.”
Amy sneered. “You’re being too cautious, Madam Barbosa. Father is busy minding his everyday business. Even the emperor needs to rely on him, so father would not drop his work to get here just for Mary that bimbo. Plus, he disliked Mary in the past after all.”
Ralph was inevitably startled.
The officials of the crown prince and the eighth prince had told him in a subtle way that Amy was disrespectful in her words when he interrogated them. Even the ninth prince who never paid attention to the state affairs had let his military officer, Josh reminded him about that euphemistically too.
Moreover, those honest and responsible servants of the Debeur family had not dared to hide it from him. They told him Amy’s situation back in the main hall in full detail. Ralph originally thought Amy only spoke rashly because she was exasperated and he planned to teach her a good lesson. Now having thought of it, those kinds of thoughts must have been deeply ingrained in Amy’s mind.
It seemed like Amy had a natural confidence that he had outdone everyone in the royal palace with his ability and could even trifle with the emperor.
That was not a good thing!
Ralph broke out a cold sweat. He had felt several unseen forces dragging him from his surrounding lately, sometimes setting up traps waiting for him to jump inside. It seemed like those princes intended to take the edge off his pride thinking that he had impressed the emperor with his feats.
Ralph’s face went gloomier. He decided to figure out a plan after he returned and pretended to fall sick for several days to withdraw himself from the palace matters and to mitigate their hostility towards him.
As for what Amy had mentioned in her words, Ralph felt deeply regretful. It was true that he did not treat Mary well back then until the concubine’s daughters had bullied her in such a way.
The side consort seemed to agree to Amy’s words too. “Madam Barbosa, Amy’s right. Although a disaster was being stirred up this time, his Majesty won’t have the strength to care for that as he was up to his neck dealing with the household affairs.”
Madam Barbosa could only shut her mouth awkwardly and lowered her head. She pouted her lips. These two masters were still unable to understand their current situations. His Majesty’s attitude towards the side consort had been neither aloof nor enthusiastic. Although the side consort was currently the boss lady of the regent household, yet she could only concede her position when his Majesty had married a formal queen one day. Until then, she would drown in her tears when her ego was even shattered by the formal queen.
Madam Barbosa could not deduce whether the side consort was too foolish or too astute when she did not seize the opportunity to control his Majesty but quarreling with a few maidens instead.
Grace who was sitting at the side saw Madam Barbosa’s every single expression; a whim propelled her to speak to the side consort. “Mother, I don’t think Madam Barbosa’s words make no sense at all. Even if father won’t get here, he would definitely strive to make the whole thing comes to light as the crown prince together with the other princes were here and the people from the Gladstone family would go to the palace to cancel the marriage too. I’m afraid it won’t be that easy to fool father for this matter.”
Madam Barbosa secretly nodded. The second mistress had some sense at least.
Yet Amy refused to listen to her words at all, and she did not want to hear anyone mentioning the Gladstone family too. She covered her ears and rolled, writhing on the bed. “Let them cancel the marriage! Cancel it! I don’t appreciate that paralyzed waste anyway!”
The side consort always felt heartache for her. She hugged her in her arms and consoled. “Alright, alright. Calm down. Let them cancel it. We don’t appreciate it.”
Grace could not help but feel anxious at the side. “Mother, you can’t spoil Amy like that. We’ve been planning on how to urge the Gladstone family to cancel the marriage, but not like this. No matter how the people from the Gladstone family maintain father’s pride with pleasant excuses in respect to their friendship when they ask to cancel the marriage, it would still affect Amy’s reputation as a mistress!”
Grace knew Amy had seen her as an eyesore these days. She quickly continued afraid that she would argue with her again and messed up the big plan. “If Amy’s reputation is damaged, how could her marry someone decent in the future?”
Amy sank into thoughts. What Grace said was true. If her reputation was ruined, she would definitely not be able to marry the fifth prince. She rolled her eyes and seemed to oblige to Grace’s words. At the same time, she bit her teeth and thought hatefully, if the people from the Gladstone family dared to ruin her reputation, she would brought men to the Gladstone household and ruin that paralyzed waste’s hands too!
The side consort went depressed and said anxiously, “What should we do now? We need to think of a way to let the people from the Gladstone family make a fault themselves so that your father would outrage and teach that Kace a lesson. Make him not dare to have his mind set on your little sister again!”
Her eyes went evil and cruel once more. It was Kace who insisted on marrying an accomplished female in the first place that Aadya sent the marriage letter over flatteringly relying on her relationship with Ralph as his junior in apprenticeship. She initially expected Amy to be able to marry a lord with her reputation as an accomplished mistress but not to mention her reputation now, even for Grace, she wondered whether the eighth prince would change his mind when he returned due to the big fuss yesterday.
And all of this was because of Mary that little bimbo’s fault!
Her hateful thought led to a gush of her accumulated hatred in the past. If it was not for Mary’s shameless mother who insisted to marry Ralph by first glance, she could be the formal queen now.
Although her family, the Neil family had crumbled now, yet it was still a dignified family back then and it was enough for her to become the formal queen. Besides, she was good in sweet talks and could please the old lady of the Debeur family. She used to have a free and comfortable life in the palace. Yet it was all Lenroe’s fault! That shameless slut had left her a big trouble even after she died. She was such a vermin!
Spotting the side consort’s malicious look and her mouth tightly shut as if planning something against the Gladstone family, Grace went anxious and spoke. “Mother, it’s not the time to think about this…”
“If not now, then when?” Amy said with an uncanny voice and a contempt look. “Are you satisfied to see your own little sister getting doomed? Grace Debeur, how dare you ignore my happiness and focus on marrying the eighth prince? Listen up, if I don’t have a content marriage, then don’t you dream of marrying the eighth prince either!”
Ralph who was eavesdropping outside experienced a surge of anxiety once more. It turned out that the side consort and Grace herself was planning to let Grace marry the eighth prince. He then remembered the letter sent secretly to him by the eighth prince’s man a while ago.
It was actually not sent to him that secretly as the letter was given by the eighth prince’s official together with the letter stating the eighth prince’s intention to marry Grace. The letter used acrostic codes and Ralph could quickly decipher it. The eighth prince had only wanted to show friendliness towards Ralph from the letter.
No matter Ralph understood it or not, both parties would not expose it but keep it in heart. Even if Ralph declined, their pride would still be maintained and the eighth prince would continue minding his business though he would be alert towards Ralph afterwards.
Ralph could not help but impressed by the eighth prince’s tactics though he had roamed across politics for so many years. To take everything into consideration, the eighth prince indeed was more suitable to rule the country compared to the crown prince barring his scheming mind.
Yet it was solely a thought after all. He definitely refused to be involved. Yet he did not expect that his side consort and his two daughters were holding him back.
Grace obviously panicked and her voice went cold. “I won’t talk to you regarding this. Think for yourself. How would you answer when father asks about it? Father has a bad temper. You’ve provoked father a while ago and father is still in rage. Now that you’ve caused such a huge trouble again, I’m sure you understand better than me on how father would deal with you.”
Amy shuddered having remembered Ralph’s livid look and she inevitably felt dejected.