Book Two of The Usurper's Queen Series
The kingdom is slowly dividing itself into different factions. The people's true faces are being exposed in the race of wealth and glory.
And in the heart of it all is Anne, Duchess of Cindertrappe. The promise...
It is now springtime in Phoenicia. The sun is up high in the sky, shining as bright as the legendary phoenix herself.
All around the palace compound, periwinkles of all shades and colours had begun to bloom, a sign that great fortune was awaiting the House of Winterbourne.
"It is truly a sight to behold, Your Majesty," Argenta remarked as strolled along with me. "The palace looks so lively and cheerful now, all thanks to you."
I smile. It was never about making the palace looks a bit less dreary, it was all about asserting my family's dominance here, in the heart of the kingdom.
I yearned to kneel down and stroke the petals of the periwinkles, to feel the silky softness against my own skin, but I had learnt to keep my hands hidden underneath my leather gloves, at least until a cure was found.
A few weeks have passed since the incident with Rosamund, but the blood has yet to vanish from my hands.
Rosamund's blood did not come out no matter what I did, and my hands are now permanently marked red.
"Your Majesty," I hear a light, airy voice say from behind me, and I turned around only to see the short and stocky Melissa Hasteburn standing there alongside the now-disfigured Rosamund Walrich.
Melissa's face was irritatingly smug, and she pointed a finger at the periwinkles on the ground, and said, "Why would you plant a common weed all around the palace? Once they have begun to multiply, there is no way to get rid of them for good."
Her words were spoken incredibly snootily, but I did notice that they were uttered in a rather monotonous way, as if they were rehearsed.
Of course, that was barely a surprise.
Melissa Hasteburn is only capable of writing her own name and making flower arrangements. Anything other than that is out of the question.
Those words most likely came out from the mouths of her father, the Marquis, or her uncle, the Grand Priest.
And they were undoubtedly intended for my brother and his wife, who had just delivered a pair of twin boys just a fortnight ago.
"Just give me the order, and I will put her in her place right at this very moment," Argenta hissed into my ear, but I shook my head, putting on a calm, benevolent persona.
"There is no need for you to waste your time. She does not deserve anyone's attention," I say with a grin, my condescending words hastily chipping away the little dignity that Melissa had left.
"Come, sweet Argenta. Let us go and see my royal nephews."
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"Sister!" Gilbert's voice echoed throughout the hall. I smile in glee.
It has been months since I last saw my brother, and now he has returned with my nephews in tow.
