Chapter 233 "If you really want to be good to me, perhaps..."
"I'll think about it," I said.
He smiled and said nothing more.
The following day, amidst the continued chaos within the royal palace, I officially announced the list of candidates for the second round of interviews. I spent an entire night reviewing all the exam papers; twenty people were shortlisted, and I would conduct interviews that afternoon, selecting ten more for the final interview.
“I only plan to choose two or three people,” I said to Letea as we walked down the corridor. “Too many will only cause trouble.”
Letea smiled and said, "Where there are people, there will be trouble; even when there are few people, there will still be trouble."
“But there will always be less,” I said.
Not far away, a young boy in a magnificent robe was surrounded by elegantly dressed servants. I paused for a moment, then stopped at the corner of the corridor.
They approached quickly, and the young boy in the magnificent robe bowed slightly to us. Letea said calmly, "This is Andrew, the son of the Lord of the Independent Royal City, the Minister of Finance, and the Grand Duke of Shay."
The young boy in the elegant robe was tall and slender, with long, reddish-brown hair tied back, revealing his handsome features.
"Hello!" I said with a faint smile and politeness.
The young boy in the elegant robe was reserved and modest; he simply smiled and stepped aside, displaying great politeness.
Letea and I continued walking, and Letea asked with a smile, "What do you think of him?"
It was only then that I realized he was the same person who had mentioned Beatrice to me yesterday.
I stopped in my tracks. I wanted to turn around, but I held back. I didn't want others to think I was interested in him.
"He's so grown up, are you really going to force us to be a mother and son?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly.
"Age is not a problem; what matters is whether our interests align."
In the afternoon, the shortlisted candidates seemed distracted during my interviews, forgetting what I was saying twice in a row. I had to cancel the interviews at the last minute and reschedule them for another day.
"Am I destined to be controlled like this for the rest of my life?" I murmured to myself, sitting alone on the rooftop where I had sat the last time. "If my marriage is controlled, then perhaps my life and death will be controlled too."
I've always been forced into marriage. My marriages to De Yaruo, Manboya, Desen, and my two marriages to Artis—which one was truly my own choice?
And another thing, I've actually been married so many times! Lying on the rooftop with my head tilted back, I let out a long sigh.
Do I want to be controlled by someone for the rest of my life?
I lay there until sunset, then returned to my study and began sorting through the files of the finalists. I also looked through a lot of information about the capital city, working on it until midnight.
After dozing for several hours, still feeling groggy, I was suddenly startled to find the door burst open. I jerked my eyes open and just as I sat up, a maidservant, trembling, said through the bed curtains, "Your Highness, Prince Letea and Grand Duke Shay wish to speak with you."
On this continent, women are merely tools, even those who have won battles.
I came to the reception room outside the bedroom wearing a bathrobe and a sheer overcoat.
Letea and a burly, bearded man in a magnificent grey robe sat on the sofa, with an agreement on the table in front of them.
"Wow, such a big show of force, are they trying to force the emperor to abdicate?"
I smiled and sat down on the sofa next to me.
“Sign this.” Letea smiled and looked at the magnificent gray-robed bearded man. “By the way, this is Grand Duke Shay, the main contributor to our siege.”
I was surprised to realize that I rarely interacted with the high-ranking officials in the capital, and there were many people I had never even met.
I deserve my current passive position! But sometimes it's not that I'm unwilling, but that someone deliberately isolates me from them. They can't see me, and I can't see them. To see me, they have to go through Letea first.
"What is this?" I picked up the agreement.
“A kinship agreement,” Letea said. “You voluntarily recognize Earl Andrew, the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Shay, as your adopted son.”
"Why would I do that?" I asked, still smiling.
“You don’t have to sign,” Letea said calmly.
“But your position will be in jeopardy,” the gray-robed, bearded man said, barely able to contain himself. “Your life may also be in danger. In our great royal city, there has never been a non-pure-blooded noble who has inherited the throne. You are not from our royal city, nor do you have noble blood. No one will respect you.”
I still had a smile on my face. "Did I say I wanted to inherit the throne and become your queen?"
The atmosphere froze instantly, and silence fell.
Letea and the grey-robed, bearded man exchanged a glance.
I also know that even if an outsider storms the capital and controls the entire palace, he cannot inherit the throne.
I left my room, wearing a bathrobe and a veil.
I was still sitting on the rooftop, the sky was just beginning to lighten, and a cool breeze was blowing, but I didn't feel cold at all.
An hour later, a maid called me from under the roof to have breakfast, but I refused, saying I wasn't hungry.
A little while later, Mamboa appeared beside me. I ignored him, but he chuckled and said to me, "Hey, why are you so hard on yourself? If you can't be queen, you can always come back to the North with me."
"I can guarantee that although you are not the First Lady, your power is comparable to that of the First Lady."
"You can kick out anyone you don't like, including... the First Lady."
I gave a wry smile and said, "I heard that your First Lady is very ill, and you're even planning to marry Princess Yanni."
“That’s a rumor. Who’s spreading rumors about me?” He immediately swore, “It’s not true.”
I smiled faintly, "You only see me as a tool. Sometimes I'm curious, do you men even have feelings? Or are you only driven by profit and desire? Men love money, they crave money, they crave power, they crave power. For women, it's more about possession and desire than love. Do men really have feelings? I don't think so."
He laughed too, “Women also love money, are greedy for money, love power, are greedy for power, and have a desire to possess men. Do women really have feelings? Do you think King Midian and Queen Midian did? Let me tell you a secret, King Midian was poisoned by this queen. Aren't women's hearts also ruthless?”
"Really?" I asked, half-believing.
“Really, he won’t die from being paralyzed; he’s been given a slow-acting poison.”
I stood up, my legs were numb, and I almost fell. Manboya quickly helped me up.
“I’ve decided to go back to the capital, the capital that Bernot gave me,” I said. “There, at least I’ll be a person of real power.”
Manberia helped me up and smiled.
“Look how good Bernard is to me, giving me such practical things. If you really want to be good to me, why don’t you give me a royal city in return?” I said with a smile.
"I'll give it to you, but not now," he said with a smile.
I laughed and scratched his face with my finger. "You little rascal, no, you old rascal."
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