Chapter 6

Before he left, James visited the west tower.

Lynette was sitting by the window and basking in the sunlight. She rose and bowed when she saw him.

“I’m going to Westhill for a few days. You… should take care.” He swallowed the rest of his words when he saw the red marks that had not fully faded from Lynette’s cheek.

“Safe travels, Your Majesty.” Lynette was polite and distant as always.

James hesitated for a moment before taking a bottle out of his pocket. “This ointment should help the swelling. Use it.”

Lynette accepted the bottle without meeting his gaze. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Then, he left. Lynette held the bottle until his footsteps faded before letting go of it. The bottle shattered on the floor, the ointment spilling everywhere.

“My lady!” Daisy cried.

“Clean it up.” Lynette turned away from the door.

Three days later, rumors started circulating around the palace. They said that the royal concubine, Lady Eaves, had another lover before she married the king. He was a dashing young man, and they had exchanged love poems.

If it were not for the king, they would have lived happily ever after.

Someone said they saw Lady Eaves weeping in front of a painting, but the subject of the portrait was not His Majesty.

The rumors spread like fire throughout the royal court.

That afternoon, Queen Isabella summoned Lynette from the west tower to her quarters, saying she had to clear up the rumors for the sake of the royal family’s reputation.

“How dare you sully the royal name, Eaves!” Isabella’s voice was not raised, but her tone was venomous. “His Majesty only left the palace this morning, but everyone has heard that filthy rumor by now. Are you feeling lonely already? Or is your family that despicable to begin with?”

Lynette knelt on the cold ground, her back straight. “The rumors are baseless. Please investigate further, Your Majesty.”

“Baseless?” Isabella bent down, practically stabbing Lynette’s nose with her finger. “All rumors start with a kernel of truth! You keep acting holier-than-thou in front of His Majesty, but in truth, you love another! Once His Majesty returns, I’ll ask him to investigate you and your family thoroughly…”

“His Majesty wouldn’t do that,” Lynette interrupted her suddenly, looking up. Her voice was soft but resolute.

Isabella stiffened and then laughed in anger. “What did you say?”

“His Majesty…” Lynette met her furious gaze and said slowly, “...holds some love for me in his heart.”

The air in the room froze. Isabella laughed as though she just heard the most absurd joke. Then, she jumped to her feet and approached Lynette, her tone shrill.

“Stop pretending, Lynette Eaves! His Majesty and I are deeply in love. We went through life and death together. He swore his eternal loyalty to me!

“He only married you to continue the royal bloodline and appease your family. He looks at you as a toy, a tool! He would never love you!”

Her words were sharp and full of the jealousy she had been harboring for three years.

Lynette listened to her rant. Once her shrieks stopped echoing, Lynette finally spoke, her voice eerily calm. “I don’t deny Your Majesty’s love. However… I have been reading the history books lately.

“The tyrant from the previous rule was deeply in love with his wife, too. They went through everything together. After he ascended the throne, however, he slowly grew closer to his adopted daughter and neglected the queen.

“Eventually, he listened to the enemy’s slander and decided to kill his wife and children. If the queen’s firstborn son did not lead the army back to rebel at the time, the queen would’ve died tragically.”

Isabella went pale. Lynette looked at her bloodless face and continued evenly, “It’s quite common for a king to abandon his queen. That so-called love is nothing in the face of time and younger, prettier faces… or the true bonds of flesh and blood.”

She paused and glanced at Isabella’s belly before lowering her gaze again. “Besides, the prince and princess are my blood. It’s understandable that His Majesty would visit me in the west tower considering our irrefutable connection.”

“Shut up!” Those last words hit Isabella exactly where it hurt her the most.

It was always about the descendants, the bloodline, the children! This hussy was always using those children to steal His Majesty’s attention from her, bit by bit!

The historical precedent made her shudder, as though foretelling her terrible future.

Terror swallowed up her rationality, turning into a raging fire. “You lowly hussy, you cursed me and mocked me for being childless! You’re trying to turn king and queen against each other!”

Isabella’s breathing was heavy with fury. She pointed at Lynette and barked at her maids, “Drag her to the courtyard and whip her twenty— No, thirty times! For the crimes of sullying the royal name and insulting the queen!

“Beat her within an inch of her life and show everyone what happens to a shameless hussy who would seduce His Majesty!”

Lynette was dragged to the courtyard, pressed to the floor, and whipped relentlessly. She clenched her teeth and did not breathe a single word of mercy. She merely buried her face in her arm and withstood the pain.

Her forehead was covered in sweat. Her clothes were soon stained with blood.

Any passersby quickly walked away in fright, their heads lowered.

After thirty lashes, Lynette was barely breathing and could not move.

Isabella looked down at her from atop the stairs, saying coldly, “Drag her back to the west tower and watch her closely. Lock the gates; no one is allowed to go into the west tower without my permission! She shall be punished further when His Majesty returns!”

Two guards picked Lynette up and dragged her back to the west tower, her blood leaving a long trail on the stone floor.

When they returned to the cold west tower, Daisy cleaned Lynette’s wounds while sobbing. “Why did you anger the queen, my lady…?”

Lynette lay on the hard bed, her voice trembling from the pain but clear regardless. “I have to anger her. So much that she would be dying to get rid of me.”

Daisy’s hand shook. “So you can… finally be free of this cage?”

Lynette tugged at the corners of her lips. Her smile was pained, but her mind was clear. “That’s just called running away. The scars will remain, so no matter where I go, they’ll always remind me of my cowardice.”

She closed her eyes to catch her breath. When she opened them again, her gaze was infinitely dark and cold. “If I learned one thing in this palace, it’s that… I must repay blood with blood, an eye with an eye.”

That night, the west tower was quiet as a grave. Then suddenly, it caught fire.

The fire started in a warehouse nearby, but the wind quickly led it to the tower itself. Servants cried for help and tried to bring water.

No one realized that the fire also burned away the traces of a concubine disappearing into the night.

——

At the Westhill military camp, James sat in his tent, holding a pearl bracelet. It was a tribute from the local nobles, flawless and exquisite.

The moment he saw it, he thought of Lynette. Her wrists were fair and slender, so they would look good on her.

Now that he thought about it, he had never given her any presentable jewelry.

Just then, a vice general rushed in and knelt before him, reporting, “Your Majesty, urgent missive from the palace. The west tower caught fire, and Lady Eaves… has perished.”

The bracelet fell to the floor. The string snapped, and the pearls scattered everywhere.