CH 75

‘Curse it! But it’s not over yet… Elena, Elena… Elena!’ Gareth shouted Elena’s name countless times inside his head as he imagined her next to him, soothing him. As soon as he was able to feel her warmth and comforting aura, he could feel his blood cool again.

Gareth raised a corner of his lip, then said, “There’s nothing more to negotiate here then, Lydia, since I don’t plan to be on your side.”

“What about our child? What about avenging your family?”

“I’ll do it on my own. I do appreciate your opinion and will gladly give you a chance to walk out of here while you can in return.”

Lydia’s frigid eyes widened in surprise at the sudden change in atmosphere. ‘Why is he so calm? Shouldn’t he be going crazy? This is concerning his family!’

“Aren’t there three months left now? That’s too long. You can raise the child by yourself and make him the king.”

“Gareth!”

Gareth remembered telling Elena that there would be no marriage nor children. The thought of Adelia had shaken him and had made him want to confirm if Lydia’s child did indeed look like his beloved sister, but such a feeling was no more.

‘Elena…’ Gareth called her name inside his head once again.

“Adelia is probably sobbing in the heavens,” Lydia provoked him at that moment.

‘Ha!’ Gareth snorted in response and crossed his arms again. “I won’t give you much time. Leave if you don’t want to see me side with the king, Lydia. You should know better than anyone to keep your enemy close by.”

Lydia tried to quickly think of an idea. All the die had been cast into Gareth’s field and now it was up to him to make a decision. She wondered if he was really going to remain adamant on his initial decision, as she thought he probably knew better than to avenge his family alone. ‘He won’t be able to refrain from crawling to us eventually. We have the power to confront the king. It won’t take long. I just need the heavens to side with me now.’

“Okay, I’ll go if you want me to leave that badly. But when our child is born and you ask for forgiveness after seeing her, just know that I’ll be willing to accept your apology.”

* * *

‘Oh, my goodness! Where in the world is Princess Lydia going?! It’s almost dark!’ Madel nervously fidgeted with her hands as she watched Lydia collect her belongings together. Elena was also next to her, watching the scene calmly.

“Lady Elena, are you sure you’re going to let her go like this? Are you going to send our lord’s child away?”

“All of this was Gareth’s orders. Obeying the lord’s decisions is the right thing to do,” Elena stated in a clear, decisive voice.

“If I had been able to meet up with Gareth before you, I wouldn’t have had to go through all this. I wouldn’t have been ignored or insulted by you,” Lydia wailed, tears rolling down her face from the pain she was experiencing.

“Did you know everything?” Elena asked.

“What?”

“About Gareth. Did you know everything about him?”

“Of course, I’m the only woman Gareth shared his pain with. He would tell me everything and ask for comfort. I’m completely different from a whore like you,” Lydia spoke in a hoarse voice as another wave of awful pain crashed into her.

Conflicting emotions of disappointment and anger rose inside Elena. However, she put aside her disappointment and coldly rebuked Lydia. “Is that why you kept mentioning Adelia with that mouth of yours?”

At that moment, Madel clung to Elena and pleaded, “Oh Lady Elena, why would you ask something like that? Look at Princess Lydia’s face. She’s suffering from the pain of having to leave like this! Don’t you have any compassion for her?”

“Compassion is given only to those who deserve it. That woman took advantage of Gareth’s terrible past,” Elena replied with a firm voice.

Lydia grabbed her stomach with one hand and shouted, “You must be feeling relieved, Elena! If I end up miscarrying my child, it will be because of you.”

“No, it will be because of you. You’re ruining everything, including your child’s future.”