Chapter 8
Chapter 2
14.32
The King departed as quickly as he had come. In an instant, the room was empty save for me, Valerius,
Elara, and a few servants.
The moment the King was gone, Valerius stood up. There was not a trace of remorse on his face. Instead, he began to order me around.
“You may be the Lady Protector, but you are still my wife. It is your duty to care for your husband and mana- ge the household. Go now and prepare me a feast, and warm some wine. I need to rest.”
“As for the child… he died for the King, so his life was not in vain. I have chosen a name for him. We will add it to the family records.”
He waved his hand dismissively, as if he had done nothing wrong, as if my new honor was somehow his
own.
laughed, a cold, silent laugh. This shameless, ungrateful man… how could I have ever been moved by his kneeling in the street? It was all just a performance to lure me into his trap.
Elara, too, had recovered her composure. She leaned against Valerius, her eyes full of venom. She had torm- ented me endlessly since she entered our home, and today, she had been thoroughly humiliated. She was not about to let it go.
“Yes, my lady,” she said, her voice cloyingly sweet. “Even though you are the Lady Protector now, you must remember that if my lord husband was not the Captain of the Royal Guard, you would not have had the cha- nice to save the King. You must not be disrespectful to him simply because of your new title.”
Valerius nodded in agreement. I looked at the two of them, and felt nothing but disgust. They were on the verge of death, and still they postured.
I clapped my hands. A stern–faced matron and several burly servants entered, carrying instruments of tortu-
- re.
Valerius was a military man, but he had spent time in the dungeons. He knew what those instruments were for. His face changed, his eyes widening in terror.
“What are you doing? I am your husband! If you do this, do you not fear that will divorce you? To strike a husband, to be disrespectful to him, is a crime punishable by torture!”
I settled into a chair, a serene smile on my face. “If you know that striking a husband is a crime, then surely you know that striking a wife is as well?”
The things Valerius had done to me in my past life would have been enough to have him executed. But the Valerius of this life had not yet committed those atrocities. He scoffed at my words.
“But rest assured, I will not be the one to strike you. These instruments… they are for you. You both claim to be each other’s one true love, do you not?”
“Now, I will tell you this. If you wish to live, you must kill the other. Or expose them. The more you reveal, the happier I will be. And if I am happy, perhaps I will let you both go.”
Chapter 2
14.32
Valerius stared at me, dumbfounded. Before he could speak, I cut him off. “The King himself said it. This is a family affair. And in a family affair, is it not normal for someone to die?”
