“I want to give the Duke a gift for the engagement. Would a blue gemstone, matching the eyes of your fiancée, be good?”
“…”
“It’s hard to choose a gift. If you could give me some advice, I’d appreciate it. Oh, you must be busy, Duke. Then, I might just ask Miss Penel directly for a meeting.”
“State your purpose for coming here.”
Finally, Ricardo spoke up at the mention of meeting Lienne. Mariette leaned back in her chair with a smile.
“Oh, have you not been listening? I’ve already stated my purpose.”
“Your Highness.”
Ricardo’s cool call made Mariette pause and nod.
“Yes, I understand. You always lose your composure when it comes to Miss Penel.”
He turned his head to look at the Crown Princess, his gaze pressing down on her even as he looked up.
“Why are you here?”
It was a warning not to beat around the bush with him.
“The Crown Prince doesn’t want to rush you, so I came instead.”
“What exactly am I being rushed to do?”
“More of a confirmation than a rush. It’s just a narrow-minded woman’s necessity.”
“…”
“Don’t you know? The Crown Prince has always been helping you. So that you could protect Miss Penel.”
Her words were true. Whenever Emperor Dermaier ordered the annihilation of the Penel family, it was the Crown Prince who first informed Ricardo.
“When you were seventeen, and this time too.”
“There’s nothing surprising about that.”
“Even when the Duke was 12 years old.”
Ricardo, seeing no reason to endure further, straightened up to leave. As he made a move to bid farewell, the Crown Princess contorted her face.
“Hiding Miss Penel alone and hiding her entire family are entirely different matters in weight. The secret will leak out sooner or later. You need to prepare for that.”
“Why did His Highness send you instead of coming himself? Do you intend to be the Crown Prince’s representative?”
Ricardo, visibly annoyed and unable to bear the situation, attempted to stand up, but the Crown Princess uttered something that made him sit back down.
“The Crown Prince can’t walk, Ricardo.”
His movements halted abruptly. Seeing the familiar face of the Crown Princess, Ricardo dropped any pretense of formality.
“Since when…?”
“Since yesterday.”
For 1000 years, the Schneider family that founded the Dermaier Empire has maintained its name without tarnish.
However, to achieve such impeccable integrity, they had to endure the most heinous acts.
The Schneiders mixed their own bloodlines to preserve their purity and power.
Unfortunately, the gods did not favor their actions.
Their pursuit of self-purification led to a horrific outcome.
The deeds were committed by Schneiders centuries ago, but the burden of dealing with them has been passed down through generations.
The practice of incest, forbidden by the gods, had long disappeared, but the tainted bloodline left a continuous trail of hereditary diseases.
Typically, one in each generation suffered from the disease.
This curse-like disease suddenly appeared one day, and until death, it slowly stiffened all the muscles in the body.
“So, you see why I’m in a hurry?”
The Crown Prince had been afflicted with this disease five years ago. Those struck by it meet death within 10 to 15 years after the onset. No Schneider has ever outlived this time frame.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
