Yustia rolled her eyes around in the suffocating atmosphere. She had thought that Duke Nett would get up and, of course, the Count would follow, but she was mistaken.
After seeing off the Duke, the Count stared at Yustia as if he had been waiting. His demeanor was as menacing as if he were about to throttle her at any moment.
[Why aren’t you calling your mad son right now?]Count Ilsun glared with piercing eyes. Startled as if struck by lightning, Yustia hurriedly called a servant.
She did command to bring Liurian as the Count wished, but she doubted her son, who was upset with her over yesterday’s incident, would come immediately.
Swallowing a sigh, Yustia desperately hoped Liurian would arrive soon. The time spent alone with the Count was suffocatingly unbearable.
Her desperate wish was soon fulfilled. News came that Liurian had arrived.
“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has arrived.”
“Ah, let him in at once!”
Yustia eagerly relayed the response and stared intently at the door of the receiving room. Soon the door opened, and her awaited son appeared.
“I heard you were looking for me.”
“Yes, Liurian. Please sit.”
Kalif glanced at Yustia and the Count, then slightly narrowed his eyebrows. Given the Count’s presence, it was clear he already knew about Rellia’s affair. However, from the Empress, he saw nothing but a welcoming expression.
For a moment, his mind was muddled, but he showed no sign of it as he took a seat across from the Duke. He then casually greeted him.
“How have you been?”
“I’ve been doing well. At least until I heard that you imprisoned Rellia.”
The Duke spoke without hiding his displeasure. Judging by the fact that he brought up Rellia from the start, it was clear he was quite uneasy.
Kaliph wasn’t the only one who noticed this. Eustia quickly continued, looking at the Duke’s reaction.
“Well, Liou, what do you mean you’ve imprisoned Rellia? Did something bad happen between you two?”
Eustia looked at her son with a nervous heart. She wondered if he might have imprisoned Rellia for a trivial reason, but she was also worried it could be for an absurd reason.
The Duke had not left simply because he had free time. He obviously intended to hear the Crown Prince’s words and judge the situation. And the situation the Duke intended to evaluate wasn’t the validity of imprisoning Rellia.
What mattered was whether Liurian possessed the qualities the Duke thought a Crown Prince should have.
“Why aren’t you saying anything, Your Highness? Aren’t you going to ask if something bad happened between you and Rellia?”
The Duke sharply scolded him. Still, Kaliph merely blinked slowly. His appearance seemed both thoughtless and as if he was ignoring the Duke’s words.
The Duke, unable to endure the Crown Prince’s insolent attitude any longer, was about to slam the table when the seemingly unyielding lips of the Crown Prince finally opened.
“Would I have given such an order if that were the case? Would I have imprisoned an innocent Rellia?”
“……”
“Why? Do you see me as a fool who acts without thinking in your eyes, Duke?”
Kaliph twisted the corners of his lips at the end of his sentence. It was a clear sneer directed at the Duke.
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.”
