Chapter 360. What Will Happen To The Princess? (1)

Translator: Aura / Editor: HB168

Duke Elgy carried a child who looked around with fearful eyes. He was identical to the princess. Of course, he also resembled Rashta.

“Why do you have Ahn?! Ahn!”

Alan shouted and ran towards the child, but was immediately blocked by the knights.

“Duke Elgy. What are you doing here?”

Sovieshu now had a severe headache. As soon as Duke Elgy appeared amidst this chaos, his anger increased.

In any case, Duke Elgy calmly answered,

“I don’t know how this child came to me. I heard that the child’s father and mother were here, so I came to return him.”

Alan, who had been pressed against the floor by the knights, cried out,

“Ahn! Ahn!”

Duke Elgy glanced briefly at Alan, then turned his attention back to Sovieshu. He seemed really worried.

Sovieshu was curious about Duke Elgy’s true intentions, but now there was no way to find out. However, it had become clear that Duke Elgy did not care about Rashta.

After the knights released Alan on Sovieshu’s order, Alan ran to the Duke to snatch Ahn from him. But the Duke handed the child over to him without resistance.

Rashta was overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions when she saw him. She had asked the Duke to take Ahn to a family who wanted a child. She did not understand why he had appeared here, nor why he had used the expression ‘the child’s father and mother’.

However, now was not the time to think about that.

“Your Majesty, the princess is really your daughter. Please believe me. Your Majesty has always believed in me. Please believe in me once again.”

Rather than argue with Duke Elgy, Rashta pleaded with Sovieshu again.

But it was useless. Sovieshu was so angry and hurt by this situation that he didn’t want to hear any excuses now.

When he first met her, Sovieshu considered Rashta as pretty and delicate as a wildflower. Innocent, honest, and without greed. He thought she was completely different from the nobles.

While he was disappointed by her numerous times when she was his concubine, Sovieshu believed that Rashta truly changed after becoming the Empress, as she tasted power and was looked down upon by the nobles.

However, this conviction disappeared once it was revealed that the princess was not his daughter.

Does the fact that the princess is not my daughter mean that Rashta mocked me even in those days full of her purity and joy? Since when? Since when did Rashta deceive me? Was it really been a coincidence that she fell into the trap at the hunting ground?

At that moment, one of the nobles present shouted,

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty! We should also take this opportunity to find out if the rumor that Rashta lied about her past is true!”

“Yes! We should also find out if that little boy is Rashta’s child! We need to know if Rashta deceived His Majesty about her past in order to get married!

The nobles agreed one after another.

Rashta was enraged. Her eyes became bloodshot as she watched the nobles demand that the empress take a test to find out if the child was her son.

Rashta suddenly wanted to shout, ‘Emperor Sovieshu accepted me even though he knew all about me.’

Rashta was annoyed that Sovieshu was playing the victim while she and the princess were in a bind.

Rashta wasn’t completely incorrect. Although Sovieshu did not know about Ahn and Alan, he did know that she was a runaway slave and decided to deceive the nobles.

Of course, most of the nobles would not believe her. But Rashta would be satisfied to sow doubt in some of those present, as she wanted to harm Sovieshu as much as possible.

It would only take a moment to reveal this secret, but there was no guarantee that it would turn out the way she wanted. In contrast, it would be an ace in the hole if she kept the secret.

Rashta clenched her teeth and glanced at Alan.

“She has no shame.”

“She wanted to make the illegitimate daughter she had with Viscount Roteschu’s son a princess. It wasn’t enough for her to hide her past!”

“His Majesty will be divorced soon, right?”

“What divorce? He should throw her out.”

“His Majesty left Empress Navier for someone like that, tsk tsk….”

The nobles talked non-stop.

“Your Majesty, it’s a mistake! The princess is your daughter, I swear it! Please, let’s repeat the test! Your Majesty! Please! One more time! Please!”

Rashta cried out pitifully again, but it did not move Sovieshu at all,

“It has already been made public that she is not my daughter. It has already been made public that she is that man’s daughter. Is there any need to repeat the test? How many more times do you want to humiliate me, Rashta?”

“Your Majesty… I’m telling you the truth. The results of both tests were absurd.”

Sovieshu did not feel sorry for her. His shock at the fact that the princess was not his daughter and that Rashta might have deceived him from the start, made him colder than ever to Rashta.

Sovieshu coldly told the priest and the knights, “Do a paternity test on that child. I don’t need to see this.” Then he turned and left the temple.

Rashta tried to chase Sovieshu, but was stopped by the knights.

“You must obey the emperor’s order to take the paternity test.”

“‘Let me go! Let me go!”

Rashta tried to shake off the knights, but they didn’t care since they had been beaten by Rashta before. The empress would soon be deposed anyway.

Alan, who still held Ahn in his arms, was roughly dragged away again.

In the process, Ahn nearly fell to the floor, but the little boy was unharmed because he was quickly caught by the priest.

Viscountess Verdi, who now held the princess in her arms, watched the situation with bated breath and decided to follow Sovieshu.

Sovieshu’s heart skipped a beat as he glanced at her, but he didn’t order her to stop following him. Instead, he got into the carriage and left without a word.

After Viscountess Verdi got into the carriage in which she had come with the princess, her carriage followed Sovieshu’s carriage.

Viscountess Verdi wrapped her arms around the princess, whose eyes were reddened, patted her back and murmured,

“Princess, I’ll protect you. No matter what others say, to me you are still a princess.”

Since she had taken care of the princess so far, even from before she was born, Viscountess Verdi had become very attached to the baby.

She didn’t care if the baby wasn’t a princess. She felt sorry for the baby who would be judged by everyone through no fault of her own.

She hoped that Sovieshu would still love the baby, or, at least, that he wouldn’t treat the princess too coldly.

“Bu… bu…”

“Princess. His Majesty loves you, but he is a little angry now. He will soon hold you and take care of you again…”