Chapter 48 Laura's Punishment

"The least punishment is hitting her twenty times and the worst is…,"

"Have mercy your Majesty," Adhara went down on her knees before Chris could make the pronouncement. She stretched her hand and pulled the terrified Laura to her knees.

Joanna could not help but smile at such a rare sight.

[Was this the ever proud mother and daughter duo begging on their knees?]

She rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't imagining things.

"It is written in the law that it is your Grandmother who wrote that particular law. I wonder whether she had foreseen that this was how her grandchild was going to turn out, that is why she made the law so rigid," Kayden said coldly. His face was cold and deprived of any emotions. Laura and Adhara's pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Since I wasn't accompanied by any of the maids it would be unfair of me to ask Chris or any of the guards to carry out the punishment so Miss Joanna Anderson will be the one to carry out the punishment," Kayden said sternly to the shock of everyone.

For a moment Laura and her mother thought they misheard what the king had said.

Joanna gave Kayden disapproving glares but he immediately avoided staring at her. He turns and faces the mother and daughter duo.

"Get ready to receive your punishment, Miss Laura Anderson," Chris said sternly following Kayden's signal.

"Your Majesty, it's my fault for not teaching her well so please temper justice with mercy. I promise I will teach her well…,"

"Mercy is only available for those who are merciful," Kayden replied with a stern expression. He wasn't moved by their cries or pleas.

Joanna pulled the left sleeve of Kayden's shirt after Chris signalled him to proceed with the punishment.

She pleaded with him with her eyes but Kayden who always listens to her for the first time didn't do what she wanted.

"Slap her ten times and each slap must be hard and painful just like it is stated in the law," Kayden's fierce tone made Laura tuck at the hem of her mother's clothes. She pleaded with her eyes for her mother to save her.

"It's an order, Miss Joanna," Kayden said in an even colder tone.

Since it was a royal order Joanna didn't waste time executing it. She went over to where Laura and Adhara were kneeling.

She deliberately avoided staring into the woman's face because she knew that the woman's murderous glares were directed at her.

"Sorry, Laura but it is a royal order and I can't disobey it. No matter how wretched my life is, I still value it too much to throw it away for your sake," Joanna said before she descended her raised hand on Laura's right cheek.

Bam**

The slap was so loud that the Andersons' maids, now on their knees, held their cheeks. The intensity of the slap made them feel as if they were the ones being hit.

Laura held her burning cheeks. She glared daggers at Joanna who was secretly grinning at the girl's misfortune.

Joanna didn't allow Laura to recover from the first slap before she landed another hot slap on Laura's opposite cheek.

Bam***

The second slap was even louder and more painful than the previous one. Thank goodness Anthony was taken into the house earlier or else Joanna wouldn't have had fun inflicting bodily injury on Laura.

The usually chatty Adhara could only watch her daughter being punished with clenched fists.

At that moment she swore to make Joanna pay dearly for the humiliation.

Joanna kept on slapping Laura. Each slap was hard and merciless. At the fifth slap, Laura whose cheek had swollen began crying.

Bam***

The tenth slap came. By this time Laura's cheeks were reddened and badly swollen.

"You should be happy that it is Miss Joanna who carried out the punishment. She went easy on you because she is kind-hearted. I am sure you wouldn't have been able to make use of your mouth for at least three days if it was the female warriors or the maid who did it," Chris said.

He resisted the urge to burst out in a peal of deafening laughter when he saw the sorry state Laura's face was in.

[The King has barely started avenging his woman's suffering for all these years and they are already like this. I wonder the state they will be in when they realise just how vicious their king really is]

Chris focused his gaze on the mother and daughter duo who were now hugging each other tightly.

"I will take her with me now," Kayden said as he grabbed Joanna's right hand to the astonishment of everyone. They turned to leave only for Kayden to pause walking due to Laura's utterance.

"How dare the daughter of a mistress lay a hand on me, a true born? Cutting her into tiny pieces won't be enough to subside my anger," Laura said with a clenched fist.

Kayden turned and shot a murderous glance at Laura. "Did you just say something?"

"I said, thank you for letting me live, Your Majesty," Laura said with her head bowed.

King Kayden and his entourage left Anderson's home afterwards. The moment their car zoomed off, Laura went mad in rage. She took out her anger on the security guards and the maids.

As if that wasn't enough she turned her room into a mess within a matter of seconds.

Back in the car Joanna sitting in the backseat with Kayden turned and glared at him.

"Kay, do you hate me so much to the point that you want to end my life on my birthday…,"

"How could you say that?" Kayden interrupted her sternly. In the car, Chris was his only subordinate so he didn't have to care about the rules or whatnot.

"Why are you pretending not to know what I am saying? After what I did, I am very sure that today will be my last day on earth. Roasting ten of me alive for what I did won't be able to pacify the hatred Laura and her mother feels towards me. I am afraid I won't get to live passed today…,"

"Who says you were ever going back to that house?" Kayden asked sternly.

"Also, instead of you, they should be the ones fearing for their lives since starting from this moment they will be at the mercy of the Queen of Twipera Kingdom''.

"Queen!" Joanna gasped as she stared at his handsome face.

"Yes, Queen. Starting from today you will officially become the Queen of Twipera Kingdom. I am going to announce it later at the banquet tonight. My word is Law and no one will dare to defile it," Kayden said fiercely.

He was surprised when Joanna raised her right hand and placed it on his forehead. Because of the sudden closeness, Kayden's heartbeat doubled per second.

His cheeks became reddened.

Chris handling the steering suddenly turned into a deaf, dumb and blind person overnight. He acted like he didn't see anything when he clearly did.

"Did you suddenly lose your mind after waking up or did you consume too much alcohol? Is that perhaps the reason you are saying such nonsense…," Kayden raised his hand and grabbed her hand still placed on his forehead. He brought her hand to his chest which was beating so rapidly.

"Does it still feel like I am joking to you?" Kayden asked while staring into her purple orbs that emanate innocence. She looked so innocent that he felt the urge to tease her right there.

Joanna's cheeks suddenly grew hot and her heartbeat increased as she stared into his dark eyes that spoke of endless darkness.

Despite that, all she could see in his eyes was darkness she couldn't stop her heart from beating for him.

She pulled her hand away when she could no longer handle the foreign feelings anymore.

She swirled her body so that her back was facing him. "Don't… Don't you know that a single man and a woman are supposed to keep their distance? What will you have me do if you ruin my chances of finding a good husband…,"

"What other husband do you need when he is sitting right beside you?" Kayden asked. He raised his hand and touched her shoulder.

"I never agreed to marry you so whatever you are thinking is just your wishful thinking," Joanna said.

She pulled even further away from him. The funniest thing was that she avoided looking at Kayden's face as she talked.

When Kayden wouldn't stop pulling closer to her, Joanna pretended to be fast asleep. He shook his head smiling when he saw how hard she was trying to keep up with the act.

[Teasing her is a thousand times more fun than watching the most comedic movie. I guess I am in for even greater fun now that she will be living with me as my wife]

Kayden's smile spread across his face as he stared at Joanna's fluttering eyelashes.

Kayden kept on staring at her face until the car pulled over in front of his Quarters.

Joanna was welcomed into his chambers in a manner befitting for the Queen.

Although she didn't know what Kayden was up to, she decided to play along since going home after what happened wasn't an option.

Two hours to the time of the banquet, Joanna got prepared for the banquet by the maids who were ordered to oversee that Joanna looked her best for the party which was going to be attended by many dignitaries.

"You look just perfect," Kayden complimented after examining the gorgeously dressed lady standing not far away from where he sat.

...

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