Chapter 271 I completely understand why the old man...
She put on her outer robe, slowly got out of bed, and said coldly, "Of course I'm going back with my father. What am I doing here with you? Watching you stay by the Eastern King's side without any status or title? You're not his mistress, not his wife. Right now, people outside are saying you're his prostitute. You should put on ordinary clothes, walk around the royal city, and listen to what the common people are saying. What you hear might do you good, and help you change and learn how to be a good woman."
Just as parents have expectations for their children, children also have expectations for their parents. I clearly cannot meet this daughter's expectations.
I staggered out of her room.
I locked myself in. Quietly, alone, in a private room in the library.
After some time, the head maid's ingratiating voice came from outside the door: "Madam, lunch is ready."
"I'm not eating anymore."
The voice outside the door paused for a moment, then continued, "Lord Mamboa took Lady Yasmin back this afternoon. Would you like to see them off?"
"Would she be willing to see me?" I was referring to Asmin.
"What are you saying? What daughter doesn't want to see her mother?"
However, Asmin was nowhere to be seen in the dining room. Only Aya and Elijah were there. Aya said, "Aurora had lunch with two of her ministers, and Anrea attended an all-night ball last night and hasn't gotten up yet."
"Staying up all night is bad for your health," I sighed.
Aya chuckled, "Mother doesn't need to worry, she likes the muscular men here and enjoys it."
Feeling a little awkward, I changed the subject, "Should we wait a moment? I'll send someone to fetch Asmin."
Aya turned her face away and didn't speak. Elijah slowly said, "King Bernot scolded Prime Minister Mamboa a few hours ago for failing to raise his daughter properly. Prime Minister Mamboa summoned Asmin and, I don't know what he said, but Asmin ran back to her room crying and hasn't come out since."
“I’ll go take a look,” I said, standing up. “When did King Bernard return?”
In order to spend more time with my children, I deliberately "sent" Bernard out, asking him to patrol the western border for a few days before returning.
“I advise you not to go; she said she doesn’t want to see anyone,” Elijah said. “King Benoit returned this morning.”
I still wanted to go see her, but Aya gently said, "Mother, I suggest you don't interfere too much with your daughter. She's all grown up now."
A casual remark froze my legs.
In the afternoon, I saw Mamboya and Yasumin off. They were both wearing thick hooded long coats, the hoods covering most of their faces and hair. I couldn't see Yasumin's face clearly, especially since she was standing right behind Mamboya. I still vividly remember that little girl from back then, toddling towards me step by step; she's grown up so much now, and we can no longer be as close as we were in childhood.
“I apologize to you on behalf of Asmin,” Mamboya said to me with a smile. “I already know about her rudeness to you.”
“Take good care of her. I should be the one apologizing,” I said.
Manberia smiled like a fox, an old fox, "Apologizing is useless. A mistake is a mistake. You should think about how to make amends."
How can we make amends?
"You really want to make amends?" Manberia asked with a smile. "If you really want to, you can come to the North and talk to us, and we can discuss a solution."
“She won’t go to the North!” Bernot’s cold voice came from behind me. Mamboya shrugged and still smiled at me, “Looking forward to your arrival.” He got into the carriage surrounded by guards, with Asmin following closely behind, not even giving me a second glance.
As I watched their carriage drive away, I turned to Bernard and said, "Perhaps one day I will marry Mamboa or the Elf King, and if they are willing to marry me, we can have children."
“They won’t marry you. Although Manberia’s wife is mentally challenged, her family has always been very powerful and remains the number one family in the North. His chief mistress is the most favored illegitimate daughter of the second most powerful family in the North. You have no place.” Bernard looked at the sky filled with snow and pulled me into the palace.
He said, "The Elf King's queen is the most favored daughter of the most powerful family in the Elf race, the queen is the eldest daughter of a newly powerful family, and even his mistresses come from hereditary noble families. Tell me, where do you have an advantage?"
“It’s better than marrying you,” I said with a smile. “You have a legal wife, mistresses, more than a dozen illegitimate children, several sons and daughters, and grandchildren. They will fight for your inheritance for a long time.”
“My greatest legacy is yours, if you can keep it,” he said.
"Oh, what is it?"
"I'll give you my entire private treasury, okay?"
I laughed loudly, "I don't want your money, and I don't want you either."
I've said it many times: our story is in the past.
He frowned. "You really need my money to run your newspaper. Your daughter doesn't have much money, and even if she did, she wouldn't be willing to give it to you."
“I’m using your money, consider it a loan, I’ll pay you back.” I smiled and ran my finger along his bearded chin.
"Just give you back to me." His breathing became rapid.
I laughed again, "I could call you Dad or Grandpa now. Where I'm from, we call our father 'Dad'."
“You can call me Dad,” he said, his breathing becoming more rapid, “call me that a few more times on the bed, the more you call me that, the happier I’ll be.”
I couldn't stop laughing. "You really know how to have fun! How many beautiful women have you done this with? It's so exciting!"
"Shall we go and get a little exciting now?" he whispered suggestively in my ear.
His heavy breathing tickled my earlobe. I pushed him aside and said, "What nonsense are you spouting? If you can't hold back, I'll have Aurora find you some beauties."
“Don’t tell me,” he suddenly said, sounding a little aggrieved, “I haven’t even touched a beautiful woman’s hair since I came here. I’ve been abstaining from sex for a month now.”
“That’s better,” I said. “It’s good for you to take care of your health.”
He looked displeased. "I'm not old. I asked you to try, but you didn't."
"Why should I try? Wouldn't it be better to find someone young and strong? They'd be more pleasing to the eye too."
To be honest, I now completely understand why old men would date young and beautiful women; no one would date an old woman, or at least a mature woman.
"You absolutely must not go looking for them." He brushed the stray hairs from my face, his tone carrying a barely perceptible threat.
"Haha, do you think I'm scared of you?" I laughed and slapped his hand away, but he gripped it tightly. "I've already warned you."
"If you dare to kill someone I've set my sights on, I will never forgive you."
He hugged me again, very tightly. "You won't find anyone you like, right?"
I did not answer him.
Four or five days later, Anrea, Aya, and Elijah also left. Bernot had to return to the East because three of his illegitimate children had died in a street fight, three were seriously injured, and his legitimate son was seriously ill. The palace suddenly became quiet.
I worked tirelessly on the newspaper for several days and nights in a row, until I was dizzy and exhausted. I collapsed into bed and slept soundly. When I woke up, I didn't want to work. Remembering Asmin's words, I changed into ordinary civilian clothes and disguised myself to leave the palace.
It was broad daylight, and there weren't many people strolling around the streets of the royal city; most were at work. Blacksmith shops, tailor shops, shoe shops, barbershops, pastry shops, and butcher shops were everywhere. I wandered around for a while, then went to a pastry shop and bought some cakes. The ingredients were cheap, but the taste was good. I finished one piece and was about to eat a second when I saw several homeless children staring at me expectantly from the corner of the alley.
I gave them the remaining pastries, and one of the older children actually asked, "Is there any more?"
"That's all." I spread my hands.
“You definitely have more.” The child shouted, and suddenly lunged at me, grabbing at my body. I was so scared that I backed away, and the child screamed, “She has money on her! I felt a money bag!”
The group of children pounced on me. Before I could react, my purse was snatched away, and the children ran off immediately. I chased after them, shouting, "Hey, stop!"
As I was chasing after him, I bumped into another person who was also running quickly. I was knocked to the ground, and he ran forward rapidly. Not far away, I heard a woman scream: "Catch him! Catch him! He stole my change!"
I quickly got up and chased after that person, but I couldn't catch up no matter how hard I tried.
I chased him into a dead-end alley. Suddenly, the man turned around, a knife appearing in his hand, and lunged at me. I screamed and backed away. He lunged at me menacingly. I screamed and kicked out with one leg. Just as his knife was about to stab my leg, his other strong and powerful leg kicked out, knocking both him and his knife to the ground. I was still in shock.
Under the midday sun, a handsome, refined, and youthful face appeared. The boy's tall and slender body was extremely powerful, and he knocked the man down in just a few moves.
His light brown, short, curly hair was slightly damp with sweat, clinging to his swan-like white neck, subtly sexy, giving off a dizzying feeling.
The man was unable to move, so he snatched back the money pouch and threw it to the woman who had chased after him, saying, "Sister, take this."
"What about him?" the woman asked the boy, panting as she ran.
"What can we do? The guards here don't care. We'll just beat them up." The boy said, then looked at me and walked towards me, who was slumped against the wall. "Sister, are you alright?"
"No." I stood up hastily.
"Thank you." The woman who had taken back her purse also walked towards me.
“I didn’t help much,” I quickly said. “He’s the one who found it.”
“He is my brother,” the woman said with a smile. “He just came from the capital of the West.”
I smiled and was about to leave when the woman suddenly said, "By the way, were your wallets just snatched by those kids? I know their parents. Come on, I'll help you get them back."
Without a word, she pulled me up and led me out of the dead-end alley. The boy followed us the whole way. After crossing several streets, we arrived at a place filled with densely packed iron and wooden sheds. "The royal city actually has places like this?" I exclaimed in surprise.
"You're from the outer city, aren't you?" the woman asked warmly. "This is the slum of our royal city. Those who can't afford housing can only live in shacks. Those with a little money can live in iron shacks, those with even less money can only live in wooden shacks, and those who have absolutely no money don't even have shacks to live in. The kids who robbed your purse all live in wooden shacks."
I felt somewhat ashamed, having visited this royal city several times without ever knowing that this slum existed.
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