Chapter 258 "I want you, I want to earn a lot..."
Bernard is very poor now and is frugal in every way. He spends most of his funds on training and recruiting soldiers, and usually eats only the simplest meals, similar to what he ate in exile.
I'm very curious; it's said that it's hard to go from luxury to frugality. Bernard has spent many years in the capital, his wife and mistress were born and raised there, and his children, needless to say, have been pampered since childhood. How could they possibly endure such hardship?
By subtly inquiring, I learned that they were using their own savings to improve their meals, which the prince couldn't interfere with. No wonder...
“I’m sorry to have made you suffer.” Bernard was obviously aware of what I had been asking.
"Why did you kidnap me? I was doing just fine in the Elven Realm."
"I don't want you to have a fifth child with the Elf King."
"What's it to you? We broke up a long time ago."
He suddenly hugged me tightly, saying, "I can't bear to part with you. I only said we should break up in anger, because I was angry that you married Desen."
I broke free from him and said calmly, "I'm not just saying this out of anger."
He suddenly knelt down, hugged my waist, and said, "I'm proposing to you now, please be my second wife. I promise I will treat you well and give you the status and dignity you deserve."
"What second wife? What nonsense are you spouting?" I said with a half-smile. "You don't have the concept of a second wife in the Eastern Territory. Besides the legal wife, the most you can have is a chief mistress."
"If I become the King of the East, I will set the rules."
I burst out laughing, "If I win five million, I'll give you a villa, haha."
Regardless of whether he understood or not, she forcefully pushed him out the door, saying, "Alright, alright, go ahead and get busy. You want to be the King of the East, but you can't just talk the talk.
After the door closed, I stared at the burning candle and fell into deep thought.
After about two weeks, I gradually adapted to life here and met Bernard's wife, mistresses, and children. Princess Nora and her mistresses dressed much more simply than before, with their hair tied back, all looking like domestic women. The children obediently followed their mothers, giving me a slight bow as a greeting.
The mistresses nodded slightly to me, but Princess Nora stood smiling and watching me, as if waiting for me to bow.
Out of politeness, I simply nodded to her. She frowned slightly, clearly dissatisfied, but held back.
She smiled and said to me, "We're family now, so we should all respect each other."
I smiled faintly: "Yes, respect is mutual."
She continued with a smile, "In our Eastern Territory, mistresses are required to bow to the legal wife."
I said, "I am not a mistress. I have a marriage certificate with the Elf King and I am the legitimate queen of the Elf race. I also have a wife, Princess Yani of the Southern Realm, and we are also legally married."
She choked.
The mistresses chuckled softly.
That evening, Bernard said to me gently, "I'd like to ask you for a favor. Could you please be a little more polite to Nora?"
"I've always been very polite." I sat in front of the fireplace warming myself. It had started snowing last night, and the temperature underground had clearly dropped.
"When you see her, will you be able to bow? Just a slight bend will suffice."
"no."
"Then nod?"
I looked up at Bernot and smiled. "Have you ever seen a king bow and scrape to his subordinates? At the very least, I am the Grand Chancellor of the Western Kingdom and the Queen of the Elven race."
Seeing that he didn't speak, I smiled and said, "What have you given me this time? Gold and silver jewelry, power and status, or... the title of mistress?"
“I earned my power and status myself, and the title of queen was given to me by the Elf King. What can you give me? You have given me nothing from beginning to end. On the contrary, I saved your life, whether in Black Castle or in the former place of exile.”
His face flushed red and then turned pale, his brows furrowed tightly, and his fists clenched so tightly that he finally slammed the door and left.
The next morning, he came to my room and said very politely, "Since I can't give you anything, and I don't want you to suffer with me, then..." He paused for a moment, as if with great difficulty, before saying, "Go wherever you want."
I was surprised and stood up from the bedside. "Are you serious?"
He said calmly, "You can leave now."
I quickly packed up—there wasn't much to pack anyway—and hurriedly took the "elevator" to the ground floor.
The wind howled across the ground, and snow fell heavily, turning the world into a white expanse. I instantly lost my way.
I was so bundled up that I couldn't take another step forward.
In this godforsaken place where no one can help me, and now it's snowing heavily, how am I supposed to get out?
I took two steps back, but unexpectedly bumped into another heavy and tall figure. Bernard actually came out with me and was standing behind me.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I want to know how far you can go."
"I'll go as far as I can."
"Then you can leave."
I gritted my teeth and started walking in the thick snow. Each step was difficult, but I tried my best, trying to find my way as I went.
Bernard followed me the whole way; he went as far as I went.
I turned around and shouted, "Don't follow me anymore."
He ignored me and continued to follow me.
The wind and snow intensified, and all that could be seen were dense snowflakes. The wind howled in my ears, and I could barely keep my eyes open. My whole body grew colder and colder, and my legs began to go numb.
I gritted my teeth and kept walking with all my might. Before I knew it, I had fallen in the snow. I struggled to get up, but another figure was faster than me and picked me up. I was wearing so many thick clothes, and I don’t even know how he managed to lift me up.
“Come back with me, my Prime Minister,” he whispered gently in my ear.
I wanted to say no, but to my surprise, I found that my throat was also frozen, and I couldn't open my mouth at all. I tried to shake my head, but my neck was also frozen stiff, and I couldn't move at all.
"You can't even take a single step now, come home with me."
A tall horse-drawn carriage appeared beside us like a ghost, and he lifted me onto the carriage.
In the warm, moist underground hot spring, I gradually regained feeling in my limbs, and my neck slowly regained its movement. He stood naked beside me, wiping my face, neck, and collarbone, and then down my entire body. He held me tightly, not letting go for a moment.
Finally able to speak, I gently pushed him away. "Alright."
It's getting a bit hot again now, and I'm sitting on the edge of the hot spring pool with my feet still submerged in the water.
He sat down next to me, one arm around my waist, the other smoothing my long, wet, messy hair.
"I like women with superpowers, no matter how strange their temper is, I still like them," he said gently.
"Didn't you say you were going to let me go?"
"Yes, but you can't leave."
"You anticipated this, didn't you? Then why did you still do it?"
“It is precisely because I know you can’t leave that I dare to ask you to leave. You’ve angered me, and I have my moments of temper and want to speak coldly to you, but I’m afraid you’ll really be angry with me, so I simply let you go, even though I know you can’t leave.”
Seeing that I didn't speak, he continued, "I dreamt of you one night, and I tried my best to please you and serve you well in bed. I was afraid that you would really go with the Elf King, but I ended up falling for you instead."
“I don’t want to hear this,” I tried to push him away, but he hugged me even tighter. “I’ve missed you for a long time. I was afraid you would have another child with the Elf King, so I spared no effort to bring you to my side.”
Yes, I found it strange. He was so poor, how did he manage to kidnap me? It turns out he spared no expense in terms of manpower and resources.
"Then, after you kidnapped me and spent all your money, how will you fight your way back to the capital?" I asked.
“This is not your concern, baby.” He stroked my face. “Money can be earned again, but you can no longer stay by the Elf King’s side. The deeper your entanglement with him becomes, the more it will torture me.”
He kissed my lips as he spoke. I tried to resist, but I was no match for his strength. He ripped off my towel and pinned me down, completely naked...
This battle was fierce and intense. I hadn't planned to fight so hard, but he lured me into a state of utter exhaustion, leaving me drenched in sweat and unable to speak. Several times I tried to tell him to stop, but I didn't even have the strength to utter a sound.
When I woke up, I was limp and weak, and he was lying beside me. I glanced at the hourglass beside me and knew that a night had passed.
I got up and put on my outer robe, and he got up with me and put on his own outer robe as well.
“I love you, Lana, don’t abandon me.” He hugged me from behind. “I will give you everything I can.”
"Make more money," I said calmly, "not for me, but for your own family, wife, and mistress."
"I want you, Lana. I'm going to make lots and lots of money for you. I'll satisfy your vanity no matter how much you want to be."
I paused for a moment, feeling like I'd heard those words before, but couldn't quite place them.
“I’m not vain, and I didn’t spend any of your money at all,” I said coldly. “The person who gave me the most money was my ex-husband Artis, who gave me a third of his assets.”
I just used it in the wrong place, on the expansion of the Western Kingdom's capital, and on a bunch of ungrateful wretches.
“I will give you more money later,” he said.
"Then I'll thank you in advance. When I become successful in the future, I'll build you a grand palace too."
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