Published at 9th of December 2019 01:30:06 PM
Chapter 101 – Only I Can Protect Myself (2)
“I’m forbidden from entering the palace?”
I was with my brother when the Emperor’s messenger came to give him the news . The messenger shrank back when Koshar yelled angrily at him .
“Yes . And if you push or threaten Miss Rashta again, you will be punished for threatening the Imperial family . ”
“Who was pushing who?!”
Koshar gave a roar, tearing a cushion with his fist, and the messenger scurried away .
“Can you believe this!”
Koshar didn’t calm even after the messenger escaped the room .
“I pushed her?! Would she even be fine if I pushed her?”
“Brother . ”
“Navier . Is there a problem with her tongue or your husband’s ears?”
“Brother . ”
My attempts to calm him went unheard . I approached Koshar and knocked him on the back . He held the torn cushion close to his bosom and ground his teeth, but after a moment he slumped and apologized .
“…I’m sorry for the cushion . ”
“It’s fine . How about you? Are you alright now?”
“Had you not been there, I might have beaten the servant who delivered the message . ”
“Drop your temper . ”
“But—!”
“You’ll regret it . ”
I was completely dejected by this news, but I was sure that my brother, who caused this, felt far worse . In a situation where the people on “our” side were many and Rashta was one, my fiery-tempered brother simply approaching Rashta would already be considered a threat . If she had spun that as my brother’s fault, that would have been much more understandable .
However, she claimed that she fell because my brother pushed her . Wasn’t that a complete lie? Sovieshu even believed her and gave my brother a restraining order . It was the same when Prince Heinley was asking about the letters . Rashta was a duplicitous woman .
“You need to be careful in the meanwhile, brother . ”
“Careful about that damn woman?”
“Did you hear how the Duchess Tuania got divorced?”
“Somewhat . ”
“Rashta’s the one who played a part in the divorce . She stirred up old rumors about Duchess Tuania and manipulated them to be far worse . ”
“She’s not just a concubine . She’s clever . ”
Sovieshu unequivocally believed in Rashta’s words, and Rashta herself had the ability to manipulate public opinion and win people’s favor . In the midst of that, she was also bearing the Emperor’s first child . It was best not to collide with her .
My brother looked at my face, and couldn’t hold back the swears in his mouth .
“Shit! Damn rotten thing!”
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That night, Koshar found himself drinking with his friend Marquis Farang .
“Hey, drink slowly . ”
Marquis Farang looked on worriedly as Koshar drank like a fish, but the marquis’ concerns were dismissed .
“I want to get drunk . Leave me . ”
“I’m worried that you’ll get drunk and cross the palace wall . ”
“You can stop me, right?”
“Are you serious? I can’t stop you even when you’re sober, so why do you think I can stop you when you’re drunk?”
Koshar snorted and poured another strong drink in his glass .
“My mother and father nagged me as soon as I got home . It will be bad for Navier if I take any action, so for her sake I have to keep a low profile . ”
“…Koshar . ”
“I said a low profile . This is the way it has to be after all . ”
Koshar spilled more liquor into his mouth and slammed the glass down on the table .
“I’m so mad, I’ve never done anything to deserve punishment!”
“Well . This time it was undeserved . ”
“I didn’t push that bitch!”
“I saw . You should avoid her . ”
Marquis Farang did not add that ordinary people stumbled back from Koshar because they were afraid . What his friend needed now was a voice of comfort, not criticism . However, Marquis Farang’s words failed to allay Koshar .
“If that woman has a baby, one day she will devour Navier . One has to strike first . ”
Koshar took a drink, and choked on his liquor . He gave a hacking cough to clear his throat .
“You’re going to strike her? The Emperor’s concubine?”
“Yes . ”
“How?”
“I’ll find out her weakness . ”
“Really . You can’t even enter the Imperial Palace . ”
“I can’t go in . But my money and power can . ”
“Well…that’s true . ”
“You can go in . ”
“What? You’re drawing me into this? ”
Marquis Farang looked like he had swallowed something sour .
“Well . Fine, I’ll follow you . So what are you going to do to dig up her weakness?”
“It depends on what the weakness is . ”
“When you were briefly speaking with the Empress earlier, I asked around . There had been a rumor going around that the woman was a slave . ”
“Slave?”
“At the New Year’s celebrations, someone named Viscount Roteschu claimed that Rashta was a runaway slave of his . ”
“Really?”
“But he amended his words and said he had the wrong person . ”
“Can we use that?”
“It’s going to be difficult for Viscount Roteschu to change his words back . The Emperor went to great lengths to bury that rumor . ”
Koshar replied in a low murmur .
“We’ll decide how we’re going to take advantage of that weakness later . ”
He took a small pouch from his pocket and handed it to Marquis Farang .
“Let’s buy some people to solve this . ”
Marquis Farang glanced inside the pouch and saw sparkling jewels, obtained from the bandits they had driven out from Parme .
“The jewels were collected by the bandits, so it’s difficult to track down the owner even if they are discovered . ”
“Alright . ”
The marquis nodded and pocketed the jewels . Koshar tapped his finger on the table .
“There’s one more thing . ”
“What is it?”
“I need an effective abortion-inducing drug . Something that harms the mother as little as possible . ”
Marquis Farang’s eyes widened . If they were going to obtain an abortive drug…
“Are you serious?”
A dangerous smile spread across Koshar’s lips .