Chapter 168

How to Tame My Beastly Husband — Chapter 168. Excessive Force (1)

Eucaly was desperate.

For two days, she had been locked in an underground prison with only poisoned food and water to drink, and she couldn’t take it any more. She had no idea how much poison she had consumed, and she would give anything to escape.

“His Majesty did order me to do something else,” she said desperately.

“What?”

“He asked me to observe your relationship with His Lordship, and report…report if there seemed to be trouble. So, perhaps His Majesty intended…”

Eucaly paused, biting her dry lips. Raphael was listening so intently, it seemed he had stopped breathing, and Annette saw his jaw clench when she fell silent.

“I see,” said Annette. “Once I died from the poison, then His Majesty would use the trouble in our marriage to accuse Raphael. Wouldn’t he?”

“What?”

Raphael’s eyes trembled. It had been bad enough to learn that his father had arranged for his wife to be poisoned, but would he really have accused Raphael of the crime when she died? The bare thought made his stomach turn.

Seeing the sickness in his face, Annette patted his hand, but did not turn her focus from Eucaly. The doctor’s face had stiffened at her words.

“Isn’t that right, Eucaly?” Annette asked conversationally. “After you killed me, you were to say that Raphael had forced you to do it. It would be more believable if it was known that our relationship was bad. I don’t know why else His Majesty would have asked you about the state of our marriage.”

“……”

“His Majesty was counting on you as a witness. And he promised that he would have to imprison you for a little while, but he would free you later. With a generous reward, right?”

Eucaly shuddered, but said nothing, and Annette laughed. It seemed she was really coming to understand King Selgratis very well. Not only was it a despicable way to commit murder, but then he would pin it on someone else. If only she had known this in her last life.

“Foolish Eucaly. His Majesty lied to you.”

Eucaly’s eyes trembled. She had had no choice to confess, and still she was clinging to hope. Whatever the King had promised her, he must have spun a very pretty dream.

It was time to shatter it.

“Do you think he only has a few of you? I have spoken to other people just like this already. I have seen how His Majesty treats his pawns. Are you curious? I can tell you all about it. You should have a glimpse of your future.”

“What are you talking about, my lady…?”

“Those poor knights that carried out his orders to kidnap Lady Keers, for example,” said Annette. “He had them locked up in prison too, and told them to wait for their reward. But one unhappy morning, some other guards appeared to give it to them. They were beaten to death, shoved into bags, and loaded into a cart. Their bodies were cremated. I heard their ashes were buried somewhere behind the palace.”

“……”

“That’s how His Majesty keeps his promises. Do you understand your situation now?”

“I don’t believe it,” she said as if to herself, her hands clutching the bars. “No, I’m sure His Majesty wouldn’t, he promised…”

Her mouth snapped shut. It seemed she didn’t quite have the gall to name the reward she would have received for killing Annette in front of her victim. But never mind that, Railin could look into it.

But Raphael wasn’t going to wait for that. Throughout this interview, he had been restraining himself, but it seemed the only thing that distressed Eucaly was the thought of being robbed of her reward. Furious, his hand smashed out, slamming into the bars of her cell.

Crack

The bars bent inward.

The force Raphael had unleashed was incredible. Eucaly froze, her face blank, as if her heart had stopped in her chest. For a moment, she had felt like some terrible beast was charging at her.