Chapter 8
A few days later, my father said the wrong thing in court and was punished with a year of suspension from official duties.
Everyone in the capital knew what that meant.
The Emperor was known for mercy. He did not hand down harsh punishment lightly. If my father had been publicly rebuked, then his fall from favor had already begun.
Not long after, my stepmother sent a formal visiting card to the prince’s residence.
When it arrived, Adrian was lying with his head in my lap, mouth open like a baby bird while I fed him grapes.
During the past half month, he had developed an alarming appetite for marital closeness.
He learned everything quickly.
Once he discovered pleasure, he pursued it with cheerful devotion.
When he was finished taking what he wanted, he would carry me to the bath, wash my hair, massage my shoulders, dry me himself, and leave me so limp and comfortable that I could barely open my eyes.
And because of all that, I rarely managed to refuse him.
The result was that he had nearly overexerted himself.
The previous night, when he carried me back to bed after our bath, he had swayed for a moment so sharply that I called the physician first thing in the morning.
Thankfully, there was nothing truly wrong.
The old doctor only coughed into his beard and told me, with an expression so embarrassed it made my own face heat up, that His Highness needed moderation.
So I refused Adrian for two whole days.
This, unfortunately, gave him an excuse to become even more clingy.
He skipped reading practice. He skipped movement exercises. He hovered at my side from dawn to dusk and insisted on feeding me water with his own hands. If I stood up, he immediately wrapped his arms around my waist and whined, “Where is wife going? Adrian wants to go too.”
When my maid announced that my stepmother had arrived, I instinctively decided I did not want Adrian anywhere near her.
I cupped his face and kissed him lightly.
“Do you want to go to Golden Pavilion later and eat their famous eight-treasure duck?”
His eyes lit up instantly.
“Yes!”
“Then let Aiden take you to finish today’s exercises first, and afterward I’ll go with you.”
At the mention of exercises, his face fell.
The royal physician had said that physical training might help with his recovery, so every day Aiden supervised him.
Adrian wavered visibly between discipline and reward.
In the end, reward won.
With several backward glances and a tragic expression, he let Aiden lead him away.
I changed clothes and went to the side hall to receive my stepmother.
The tea before her had not been touched.
The moment she saw me, she dropped to her knees.
“Please save Nina.”
I almost laughed.
So that was why she had come.
“My father,” she continued tearfully, “means to marry Nina to Simon Prescott now that his own position is unstable. He wants to secure an alliance with the Earl’s family.”
I gestured for the servants to help her up, though I had no intention of offering comfort.
“Evermont is rich and titled. It is hardly beneath Nina.”
Tears streamed down my stepmother’s face.
“Your Highness does not know. Simon Prescott is cruel. He cannot… fulfill a marriage properly, and he takes his frustrations out on women. His household is a nightmare.”
I looked at her for a long moment.
She was a beautiful woman. Gentle in appearance. Soft-spoken. The kind of woman who could stab with silk and still seem elegant doing it.
She had driven my mother to her death.
She had swallowed my mother’s dowry piece by piece.
She had kept me from schooling, punished me for invented offenses, forced me to copy mindless conduct manuals by candlelight until my wrists swelled.
And now she wanted mercy.
I lifted my tea and said evenly, “So you did know exactly what kind of man Simon Prescott was.”
She stared.
I continued, “When you suggested to my father that the best way to secure the Earl’s favor was through marriage, and recommended that I be sent to him, why did his cruelty not trouble you then?”
Her face went white.
“How do you know that?”
I smiled.
“Because Nina was so delighted by the idea of my suffering that she rushed to tell me herself.”
My stepmother’s eyes widened further.
“If she had not mocked me in advance, I might never have had time to save myself.”
I set down the teacup.
“Tell Nina not to worry. When she marries, I will personally send her a very generous gift.”
She stared at me as if seeing me for the first time.
“Save yourself?” she whispered. “You dared scheme against the royal family?”
I only smiled.
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
I raised a hand to dismiss her.
Instead, she suddenly lunged forward and grabbed my wrist, her voice turning sharp with fury.
“At the flower banquet, when Prince Adrian fell into the lake, only you were nearby. Was it you—”
The rest of her accusation was cut off by the sound of hurried footsteps.
Aiden burst into the hall, pale and breathless.
“Princess! His Highness fainted!”