Chapter 187 In the blinding sunlight, he was obscured...
I still remember that there were three great families in the East: the Most family, the family of King Amur, Bennot's biological father, was a traditional, conservative, and centuries-old family; the Duran family, the family of Queen Nere, Bennot's stepmother, was formerly a conservative old-fashioned noble family that had been declining, but in recent decades, under the guidance of its highly capable elders, it had gradually become a powerful new-style noble family; and the Yod family, the family of Abdul, Bennot's adoptive father, was once a staunch defender of the old-fashioned noble family, but in the last ten years or so, its attitude had become increasingly ambiguous, wavering between the old and new noble families.
Abdullah had once promoted his adopted son, Bonot, to the throne, and was known as a "kingmaker." However, due to various conflicts of interest, his relationship with his adopted son gradually became distant, but they could not be completely separated.
The relationship between Abdul's Yod family and the king's Most family and the queen's Duran family is extremely complex, with intertwined interests. Bennot, on the other hand, is independent of these three families. Bennot is at odds with his father and stepmother, and is not directly related to the Yod family by blood. He has conquered ten royal cities on the eastern and southern borders with his own private army and wealth, and is the leader of dozens of important trade projects in the eastern border. In addition, his identity is quite complicated. Although he is the eldest son, he has to be the second son because his mother died early and he is not of pure silver-haired blood. However, the royal family's face cannot be abandoned. The high-ranking nobles of the eastern border strongly demand that he be appointed as the Minister of Procurement or Minister of Finance to maintain the dignity of the royal family. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing for the eldest son to do too poorly, and they would not be able to face the ridicule of other kingdoms.
A few years ago, after Bernard married the Queen Mother's granddaughter, his wealth more than tripled. With the support of his granddaughter's family, his position in the East was basically secure, and his father and stepmother dared not openly make things difficult for him.
Under these circumstances, Abdul had no choice but to cultivate a good relationship with Bernault. His ties with the Most and Duran families were already complicated; if he didn't occasionally cooperate with Bernault, and these two families joined forces against him, where would his Yod family find a foothold?
Summer has arrived, the nights are getting warmer, and invitations to balls are pouring in. I sat at the table, staring blankly at the colorful invitations, while Aya explained to me which invitations were from the Moster family, which from the Durand family, and which from the Yod family and some other scattered noble families.
“They all want to see what Prince Bernard’s new chief mistress looks like,” Aya said gleefully. Like everyone else here, she wasn’t ashamed of being a mistress.
"Where did the former chief mistress go?" I asked, stroking a gold-embossed invitation from the Moster family.
"This...this..." Aya scratched her head, "I don't know either."
Seeing Aya's bewildered and anxious expression, I remembered what Bernard had told me a couple of days ago: he wanted to arrange a clever maid for me and send Aya to the palace ladies-in-waiting for training. I immediately refused, saying, "She's not suited for that kind of rigorous training."
Now, I'm having second thoughts. Is it really good for Aya not to be given the opportunity for training?
"Aya, do you want to go for training?" I tried asking her.
Aya's face immediately showed fear. "No, sister, I'm not suitable."
"Then you should stay at school; it might suit you better." I had already brought Aya from the palace school to the royal palace.
"Sister, do you also think I'm stupid?" Aya asked sadly.
“It’s not that I think you’re stupid,” I tried to explain, “it’s just that the palace is very complicated, and I’m worried that you won’t be able to adapt. You might also be bullied when I can’t see you.”
They may also be taken advantage of or manipulated; naive people are very likely to encounter these things.
Aya thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay, I'll go back to school. You'll be going back to school often too, so there needs to be someone there to look after you."
Aya started packing her things, and I suddenly remembered something and asked her, "Is Shaling's illness better?"
“I heard the fever has started to go down,” Aya leaned closer to me again. “Shaling’s daughter came to see me and told me about it, and asked me to thank you.”
Then I remembered something else and asked, "Shaling's daughter is already over ten years old, Aya, why aren't you married yet?"
Aya paused for a rare moment before saying, "I almost got married before, but my fiancé fell for Sister Shaling. He was a junior guard captain who took a liking to me while I was serving Prince Bernot, so he started dating me. Later, he thought I was a good person and genuinely wanted to marry me. But Sister Shaling also fell for him and started dating him too. I cried and begged him not to leave me, but he had already fallen in love with Sister Shaling, thinking she was smart and beautiful, and refused to be with me anymore. But he didn't marry Sister Shaling in the end. Sister Shaling fell for another man, his superior, a head guard, and they got married quickly."
"Did this minor leader ever contact you again?" I asked.
“No, but I did talk to him.” Aya sat down in my chair. “I told him that Sister Shaling didn’t want you anymore, and asked if you wanted to come back to me, but he refused, saying that he had no feelings for me anymore.”
"Were you still serving Prince Bernard at that time?" I asked.
"No, I had just failed my training and was assigned to the storeroom."
No wonder, men are often very practical; they won't be interested in women who can't bring them benefits.
"Is it because he hasn't gotten married yet?" I asked again.
“No, it’s just that I’ve never met anyone better than him.” Aya suddenly said, her voice trembling with tears. “He was the best to me and the most capable. No man I met after that could compare to him.”
"Come on!" I grabbed her arm. "I'll take you to him."
She needs to demystify him.
I found the head maid and had Aya tell her the name of the minor leader. After asking around a bit, the head maid led us there.
It was lunchtime, and the minor leader was sitting with several guards in a room behind a side door of the palace, drinking wine, eating roast meat, and occasionally cracking a dirty joke while laughing heartily.
Aya quietly pointed out to me which man he was: the tallest, with the most muscular chest, a stubble around his chin, and the one laughing the loudest.
Perhaps because they were sitting in the lounge, he and the others didn't shy away from showing their true colors. They took off their military jackets, revealing their hairy chests and thick arms, with the fat around their waists jiggling. They looked quite vulgar.
"I was saying that the girl last night was really hot, she almost knocked me flying."
"Mine was really exciting. That little mouth was stronger than my hand, it made me feel like I was going to heaven."
The little leader laughed so hard he almost fell over. "None of yours can compare to mine. There are so many variations that I almost died on the spot."
"How did you end up on the ground, brother?"
"They'll just get pulled to the ground, won't they?" the little leader laughed.
As he spoke, he even imitated "that girl's" twitching movements, making the group laugh so hard they tumbled off the table and onto the floor.
"Who is it? Which bastard is spying?" Someone inside the house suddenly spotted us and shouted.
The maid leading us pushed the door open a crack, and the men shut up when they saw the high-class maid's attire.
The door was flung open, and I appeared, dressed in fine clothes. The men's expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly put on their clothes. The leader recognized Aya and, while dressing, even gave a fawning smile. I turned and left with Aya.
“He used to be so honest, he never went to places like brothels, I guess he was corrupted by those people.” Aya’s face was pale as she walked down the long corridor.
"You're still not awake?" I exclaimed in shock. "What honest person is there?"
“Maybe he’s too honest and can’t survive in their circle.” Aya actually defended him.
I was speechless with astonishment. Normal social interaction among men? If you don't understand these things, you're excluded? Even if it's not for social reasons, it's perfectly normal for men to visit brothels?
"Besides frequenting brothels, he also secretly seduces married women behind his wife's back," the maid who brought us told us what she had learned. "He has two mistresses, both wives of his subordinates. He tricks them into stealing money from their homes for him, which he then uses to indulge in debauchery and gambling. He doesn't have a good reputation; he's a sycophant who bullies the weak and fears the strong. His superiors have wanted to punish him several times, but they've let him go because his father is a patrol commander. He's the illegitimate son of a high-ranking patrol commander."
I looked at Aya incredulously, "You and Shaling had a falling out over a man like this?"
Aya burst into tears, "I'm sorry, sister, I've let you down."
The maid continued, “He now has three children, and his wife, in addition to taking care of the children every day, also works odd jobs at a nobleman’s house to supplement the family income. He rarely brings money home; most of it is spent on brothels and gambling.”
"You're lucky you didn't marry him," I exclaimed.
Aya's face was horribly pale.
It was late at night, and Aya had long since left, but I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned, sighing silently. A low laugh came from beside me. "Is a maid worth keeping you up all night?"
I sat up halfway and sighed, "I really wanted to give her a chance, help her grow, and help her become a female official, so that people could see that a girl from a village can also be very outstanding."
“But she lacks knowledge and experience, and she doesn’t have the determination or effort to climb the social ladder. She’d rather be mediocre than suffer.” Bernard also sat up halfway, his broad, bare chest surrounding me. “She even fell for a scumbag, which will disappoint you.”
“I don’t understand how a man like that could stay in her heart for so many years and even cause a falling out between sisters?” I sighed. “What’s worse, she hasn’t realized how awful he is and is still stuck in her own thoughts.”
"Want me to give you some advice?" Bernard smiled and hugged me, his hot breath wafting from his broad chest down to my back.
What suggestion?
"If you want a trusted maid, you can take your time to choose, but this one is definitely not suitable. She saved your life, and you really want to help her, but the best way to repay her is to forget her. Give her an ordinary job and never pay attention to her again. If you pay attention to her, some ill-intentioned people will approach her, and she is not smart enough to discern and protect herself. You will only put her in danger."
Two days later, Aya packed her bags and returned to the palace school. I arranged a job for her in the kitchen. She loves cooking and is very good at it. She was happy, and the job suited her perfectly.
Watching her departing figure, the maid beside me said, "I heard that the young leader went to see her that very night, and the two chatted for a while. The young leader was quite reluctant to leave."
I didn't say anything. The best thing to do with her was to stop paying attention to her altogether. Seeing that I didn't speak, the maid didn't mention her again.
The summer breeze brushed against my face, warm and slightly itchy. After seeing Aya off, my maid and I walked across a large lawn in the garden. A large group of people appeared in the distance, but I didn't notice. My maid pulled me in another direction, but I didn't pay any attention.
Occasionally, turning around, one would see a tall, upright young man with silver hair, wearing a crown, a tight-fitting black military uniform, and a wide scarlet cloak. He walked briskly, his long legs attracting attention. His strides were beautiful and powerful, as if he were carrying the wind. All the guards followed behind him, giving him quite an imposing presence.
Under the glaring sunlight, I couldn't see his face clearly, but I vaguely felt that he was very handsome.
“He is Crown Prince Ivanhoe,” the maid whispered to me.
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Author's Note: Please add my new novel, *Animal Farm*, to your favorites. Also, please check out my other novels!
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