Chapter 7

It was destined to be a disaster tonight. Jane had expected it.

To be honest, it was probably a blessing that she could do it herself instead of losing her virginity to the tyrant king. At least she didn’t have to endure being pinned down.

Jane tore off a piece of cloth from her skirt and used it as padding under her body. Then she lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand while holding the dagger upside down with the other.

Although she had decided to do it, she still instinctively resisted it. She consoled herself by thinking of it as an injury. She had suffered enough injuries growing up, had she not?

With that, she tensed, about to exert all her force-

A strong hand gripped her wrist.

Jane frowned. George snatched the dagger from her. When he spoke, his tone was even colder than before.

"Such a stupid woman."

Clang!

He threw the dagger away from the bed.

"I don't care if you're a virgin or not. Since you've decided to go all out to be the queen, don't do anything foolish again, like looking for me at Cloud Palace when you know that I'm there."

Jane clenched her jaw.

So he thought she had wanted his attention. That was why he came to teach her a lesson, making sure that she remembered this rule. Now that she thought about it, he had probably told her to wait for him to torment her, thinking that she had something to look forward to.

George wanted to break her heart.

However, this tactic was only useful to those who craved his affection. Not getting his attention was exactly what Jane wanted.

Jane quickly buttoned her clothes and got off the bed to perform a deep and respectful curtsey.

"Your Majesty, I'm aware of my mistake. I won't hope to gain your affection anymore. Lady Helena is the one you love. I will treat her as my dear sister and cherish her as you do."

The anger in George’s expression relaxed. He looked at her inquisitively. "The Fosters have certainly trained the new queen well."

It was hard to identify his mood from his deep tone. He stood up and left.

The moment George was gone, Lily ran in and lit the lamp in the bed chamber.

Once there was light, the situation on the bed became visible.

The mattress was untidy, and Jane's attire was also a little messy. There was even a slightly red mark on her neck-

Was this what one looked like after being favored by George?

Lily felt confused, but she did not dare to wonder why the tyrant king finished his business so quickly. This was not what she recalled from the books Gloria had given her before she entered the palace.

"Your Majesty, I'll help to get you cleaned up-"

"That won't be necessary. Nothing happened," Jane cut her off coldly. She collected the dagger from the floor.

Lily was shocked. On one hand, she was surprised that George and Jane did not sleep together. On the other hand, when did Jane hide this dagger? Was she going to use it to kill Helena? Did the tyrant king find out?

Lily thought an assassination involved carefully planned methods and being well hidden. She thought they would play the fool to achieve their goal.

It turned out that a real assassination involved boldly observing the enemy's movement and brandishing a knife before the king!

-

In the kitchen, Maya pulled a long face.

"Why didn't you ask for water?" she asked the air. "Wasn't His Majesty here?"

She had stayed up all night waiting. After learning that George would come, she had quickly gotten up and prepared hot water over the stove. Her face was black from the smoke.

In the end, she was told that nothing happened.

-

At the same time, Helena tossed and turned in Cloud Palace. Ever since George left, she had not stopped worrying. Finally, a maid came in to report to her.

"Your Highness, the queen did not call for water!"

Only then did Helena smile. There was a glimmer in her eyes.

"I knew His Majesty would not favor another woman," the maid gloated. "I feel sorry for the queen. I heard she waited a long time for His Majesty. She must have thought she'd be able to sleep with him and had someone get the warm water ready in advance. In the end, it wasn't even used."

The people in Cloud Palace were not the only ones eager to find out about this. Nearly all the other concubines were waiting for news.

None of them were particularly surprised when they heard that George had not slept with the queen.

They all sighed.

-

The next day, in Serene Palace, Dina heard about what happened the night before. She frowned intensely.

"How could this happen? George went to the queen. Why didn't she grab this opportunity?"

Laurel sighed. "Perhaps Mrs. Foster didn’t teach the queen well. She probably didn’t know enough about how to navigate such matters in the bedroom and couldn't make His Majesty stay."

Dina's gaze turned dull. "All right. We don't need to make up an excuse for George. It's not the first time he's ignored other women in the harem for Helena. Wendy and Rosalie look nothing alike. He isn't interested in her. I guessed this long ago."

-

That same day, Jane later visited the queen dowager. However, she came on her own. Everyone in Serene Palace expected just as much.

Even though the new queen should visit her mother-in-law accompanied by George, the only person who came accompanied by George all these years was Helena.

Back when Helena first received George’s favor, he had brought her to Serene Palace. It had been obvious that he adored her from the way he placed his hands on her waist.

Now, everyone believed Jane would appear downtrodden and defeated.

However, when Jane arrived, all the royal servants were shocked, their eyes wide.