جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

My groom, General Griffin Quenell, stepped forward and said, “Your Grace, do you really have to make such an ugly scene on our wedding day?”His hands, calloused from years of gripping a sword, clamped down on the carriage’s carved door frame. His grip was so fierce that the veins bulged across the backs of his hands. He nearly crushed its ebony wood.I firmly sat inside the carriage and stared coldly at him.He was the man the people of Cathor called the unshakable general of the northern frontier. Though he was the groom, there was no trace of joy on his face. All I saw was the seething fury of a man humiliated in public.“Ugly?” I said indifferently as I toyed with my ruby ring. “General Quenell, would you really call letting your mistress block the door and confront your bride on your wedding day a dignified deed?”Griffin’s expression stiffened as embarrassment flashed in his eyes, but he quickly replaced it with a look of pained righteousness.“Your Grace, you were pampered

I was no longer able to suppress my anger.“My reputation will be ruined?” I chuckled. It was strangely loud in the silent carriage. “Griffin, you think far too highly of yourself. My reputation is none of your concern. You’re a coward who hides behind a woman.”Griffin’s expression darkened drastically. He was instantly enraged.“What did you just call me?”As a celebrated warrior, he was being publicly called a coward by his betrothed. That hurt him even more than death itself.“Griffin, please don’t be angry...”Without me noticing, Joan had already approached us. She stumbled before throwing herself into Griffin’s arms. She held the infant in one hand and held onto his sleeve with the other.“Her Grace was just angry. She didn’t mean it. It’s all my fault! I’ll leave right away. I won’t make things hard for you, Griffin.”Even though she said she would leave, her feet remained rooted in place. Her tearful eyes were filled with both grievance and reluctance.As expected, th

At this critical moment, I did not dodge. I simply watched as Griffin’s hand drew near. Just as his fingertips were about to touch my sleeve, a long, dark gold whip appeared from nowhere and struck hard across the back of his hand.“Ahh!” Griffin let out a shrill scream as he yanked his hand back.On that once-arrogant hand lay a bloody gash so deep that the bone was visible. Blood poured from the wound.“Who dares to wound our general?!”Leo flew into a rage. He drew his blade from his waist as his eyes widened with fury. He looked toward the direction from which the whip had come. Several hundred household guards of the Quenell family fell into formation in an instant.Spears bristled on all sides as the air turned into a deadly stillness.Joan let out a shriek. She clutched her infant tightly and hid behind Wilma. Wilma was also startled, but she quickly regained her composure with anger flashing in her eyes.“Who is so bold as to cause trouble before the gates of the g

“My father gave this to me on his deathbed.”I looked down as I said coldly, “He said that the Grand Princess of Cathor shall never share a husband with any woman. This marriage decree was simply a test of your family’s loyalty to the crown. Unfortunately, you not only failed that test, but you were also foolish enough to doom your entire bloodline.”Griffin stared at that royal charter. His lips trembled. For a long while, he could not utter a single word.He had always believed that I was just a puppet without any real power. He had never expected me to possess the highest and most supreme authority in all of Cathor.“I earnestly apologize, Your Grace...”At last, he lowered his head. Ignoring the sharp pain in his chest, he scrambled up and began slapping himself frantically before me.“I was blinded by greed. I beg you, Your Grace, for the sake of my years spent guarding the border, please spare my life.”“Years guarding the border?”I let out a scornful laugh. I watched

He gave the credit for saving him to a maidservant who had long since died.He took my sacrifice for granted, yet he resented me for my higher station.“Not only do I know that, but I also know why you were so eager to bring this mistress into your household. It was never about continuing your family bloodline.”I looked down at him and continued to tear away his last shred of decency.“It is because you suffered a severe injury at the border. You will never be able to father a child for the rest of your life. You were afraid that once I married you, the truth would come out. You feared the Quenell bloodline would end. That is why you rushed to find a child born out of wedlock to pass off as yours!”The entire crowd fell into dead silence when they heard my words.Everyone looked at Griffin with a most strange and unsettling gaze.He was impotent.For a nobleman whose duty was to carry on the family line, this was worse than death.“No! Shut up! Shut up!” Griffin covered his e