“It’s fine. They won’t be mad. They’ll understand Juliette and think it was just a momentary slip–up.” Luciana knew exactly what Dorian and her parents were thinking.
They’d been fooled for so long, and how could they admit their mistake so suddenly?
The next day, a servant of the Queen came to summon her to the palace.
The Queen had heard about the recent conflict between the siblings and guessed that Dorian had upset her, thus hoping to persuade
Luciana not to take it to heart.
At the same time, she planned to remind Dorian to stop running around so much and avoid angering the King.
No one else could control Dorian, but he’d usually listen to Luciana.
In the past, without the Queen even asking, Luciana would’ve taken responsibility and reassured her.
But this time was different.
Every time the Queen mentioned Dorian, Luciana just smiled without a word—no scolding, no complaints–but her attitude was distant.
As a result, the Queen swallowed back a lot of her prepared advice.
“Luciana, Dorian is still young. He might not understand your efforts. There’s no need to hold it against him,” the Queen said, taking her hand
and patting it gently.
Luciana withdrew her hand. “It’s fine. I’ll just stop bothering him from now on.”
“Don’t say that. Well, go fetch him right now. I want to talk to him.” The Queen gave the nanny a look.
The nanny left for Dorian. Then, she explained the situation and urged Dorian to apologize properly to Luciana along the way.
Dorian couldn’t help but sneer. ‘Of course, Luciana couldn’t be as cool as she’d acted yesterday.
‘She loved controlling me–there was no way she’d actually let go.
‘Just one night, and she’d already run to the palace to complain. If this was how it was gonna be, why bother with that tough act yesterday?‘
Dorian didn’t say whether he’d apologize or not, just followed the nanny silently to Celestine Hall.
The moment the Queen saw him, she feigned anger. “What were you doing yesterday?”
“I went to see my sister. It’s been a while. I missed her,” Dorian replied flatly, not even glancing at Luciana.
The Queen blinked, baffled. ‘If they’re this blunt about it, then they can’t have any real bad blood between them.’
Seeing her misunderstanding, Dorian frowned and clarified, “Mother, I meant my other sister.”
It suddenly hit him–Juliette kinda deserved pity here.
The second anyone brought up his sister, it was always Luciana that popped into their heads.
“Mom, you’re way too biased.” Dorian glanced to the side, clearly displeased.
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Chapter 16
The Queen was a bit stunned by this accusation.
She was biased but wasn’t she favoring Juliette? Luciana was always the bigger person, never making a fuss over things. Everyone knew she was sensible, not like Juliette, who acted out all the time.
So, letting Luciana take the fall? That was just second nature to everyone around here now.
“You used to be closest to Luciana.”
Dorian denied it. “Mom, if you say things like that, my sister might misunderstand. You can’t just favor one and forget about the other.”
Luciana was sitting right there, but the way he spoke made it sound like she was an outsider.
Not only was Luciana invisible to his eyes–she got zero space in his heart either. Instead, he was over here fighting Juliette’s battles like it was his damn job.
The Empress was baffled. ‘Juliette? That kid who couldn’t care less about him? What is this–some kinda sudden conscience attack?‘
“Mom, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave first.” Luciana didn’t want to hear any more.
The Empress watched Dorian shooting off his mouth, scared he’d stoke Luciana’s rage even hotter. She didn’t dare keep her–not with this
loose cannon around.
At the same time, she thought Dorian might as well not have come at all. It seemed like Luciana really had fallen out of his favor.
To her, Dorian was still young and playful, not understanding Luciana’s efforts. A good talking–to would set him straight.
After leaving Celestine Hall, Luciana asked about Jacob Hutton, the hostage prince from Velmora Empire.
She didn’t plan to go herself, instead sending Camille to gather information.
While waiting for Camille by the waterside pavilion, she heard arguing in the distance. Listening closely, she realized it wasn’t an argument- just one–sided bullying.
It was Lady Emilia picking on someone—the Ninth Prince, Caleb Langston.
Emilia had been riding high lately. With the war between Duskwyn Empire and Velmora Empire, her brother had distinguished himself in battle and recently returned. Right now, she was basking in glory.
Caleb’s mother had passed away long ago, and he had no one to protect him. Today, Emilia had taken a dislike to him, accusing him of lacking manners, and was about to punish him.
The area near the lake was paved with stones, cold and damp. Kneeling for two or three hours would likely leave him injured.
Luciana walked over unhurriedly. Seeing her approach, Emilia stopped her scolding.
“Who’s so blind as to upset you, Lady Emilia?” Luciana greeted her with a bright smile.
Pleased by her friendly and enthusiastic attitude, Emilia softened slightly. She tilted her chin toward Caleb. “Prince Caleb just bailed the moment he saw me. Ain’t no respect left in that boy’s bones!”
Luciana soothed, “Rage wrinkles your gorgeous skin–ain’t worth wasting a frown on him, Lady Emilia. With so many people coming and going here, those who know will say he’s ignorant, but those who don’t might think you petty. You’ve already taught him a lesson–he’ll
know better next time.”
Truthfully, if Luciana wanted to save him, even with a firmer tone, Emilia would’ve let it go. That was how she’d always handled things
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before
But today’s Luciana was different–she negotiated gently, coaxing Emilia as much as possible. Emilia was surprised.
Faced with her honeyed words, Emilia had to pay the courtesy debt–couldn’t exactly spit on the olive branch. Thus, she cut Caleb some
siach.
“Alright, for Princess of Latymer’s sake, I’ll let you off.” With that, she swayed away.
Caleb looked up in disbelief, glaring at Lady Emilia as she left.
“Stop staring at her. She won’t come back,” Luciana said.
Camille stepped forward to help Caleb up, only to find his clothes soaked at the hem, his sleeves completely drenched.
Luciana gasped, “Where’ve you been playing? Didn’t greet Lady Emilia earlier ‘cause you were scared she’d scold you?”
Looking disheveled, even if he’d gone to greet her, he’d still get an earful.
Just then, rustling came from the nearby bushes, followed by a weak meow.
Caleb tensed up and looked over, but Donovan was already there, scooping up a drenched tabby from the grass.
The kitten mewed faintly, shivering all over.
Caleb quickly explained, “It was stuck in the water–I just pulled it out when Lady Emilia showed up.”
The kitten looked tiny, eyes wide with fear, trembling uncontrollably while letting out weak little mews now and then–pitiful and frail.
“Seems sick. I’ll take it to the Royal Menagerie. The critter–keepers there know their stuff. You–get those robes changed, stat!” Luciana’s heart melted as she scooped up the kitten like it was glass.
Then she told Donovan, “Give him my cloak. It’s a long way back. Don’t catch a cold.”
Caleb wanted to refuse, but Luciana was already hurrying off, worried the little life in her arms wouldn’t hold on.
At the Royal Menagerie, an old servant checked the cat and said it was sick and needed medicine.
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