Chapter 2

Moreover, the sight of the man, who was leisurely sitting on the sofa, smiling at her agony seemed unreal. He wasn’t even surprised to see Ellenia fall down after drinking the tea he had given her.

“Gaius, why…?”

“Poor Ellenia.”

The man stood up and approached her. His arrogant gaze and slow step reflected how insignificant he regarded Ellenia in his heart. He no longer bothered to hide his true feelings about his dying wife. He sighed as if he was making a big decision, then bent his knee, and lifted Ellenia’s head roughly, causing her to groan in pain.

“I gave you everything…. You said you loved me! I raised Paris as my own son and made him the prince, so why…?”

“Yes, you’re right. You were such a good mother. You raised Paris as if he was your own child..”

He smirked.

“I’ll be the emperor, not the prince. He’s ‘my’ son. He was me and Satin’s son.”

Hearing the name of his ex-lover who had not been mentioned for the past 10 years came out of her husband’s mouth, cause Ellenia’s body to freeze in shock.

“Satin Arietta…?”

Satin Arietta was Paris’s biological mother that was unknown to anyone. When Ellenia met Gaius, he kept the secret by lying that he was a single man who was taking care of a child that lost his mother who died from an illness.

Elleina loved him so much that she accepted Paris and raised him as a prince. When the two had children, she believed that Paris would assist his sister who would be the empress someday.

“I believe you love me…”

“Love..?”

Gaius suddenly grinned.

“Stupid. You stupidly chose me, someone who had nothing aside from a child and a face.”

“How can you…how can–”

“I can’t believe you were drunk in love just because we matched a little bit…you were so blinded in love that you took a boy without your blood inside the imperial palace.”

He pushed his already fallen wife.

“If you want to blame someone, blame your father. Satin died because of the emperor. My family was destroyed for committing treason.”

The words he spat were filled with anger, he glared at Ellenia with bloodshot eyes.

“And now your father tried to snatch the empire away from my son. Don’t you think it is unfair?”

Ellenia’s world was turned upside-down instantly, the tears dripping down from her eyes.

“Ellenia.”

Gaius suddenly changed his tone gently and reached out his hand to stroke Ellenia’s cheek. At the touch, his tender golden-eyes that were looking at her gave her a vain hope.

“Please, Gaius…tell me this is a lie. Tell me this is a joke, please!”

Thud-!

But the next moment his hand pushed her face away. Ellenia hit her head against the cold marble floor, while blood continued dripping from her mouth.

“Hahahahaha! What did you expect? Until the end, you are really such an idiot.”

He grabbed the struggling princess’s chin and forcibly turned her head to the side, then whispered in her ear.

“I. Don’t. Love. You. At All.”

Ellenia who fell weakly darted her lips. The blood poured from her lips once more. As if he was almost done with menial work, Gaius brushed his knees and shrugged as he stood up.

“You don’t know how grateful I am to you for raising my child as your own. That would erase your father’s thousand of sins. Of course, your father and daughter’s death is inevitable.”

“…You…Ah-”

“What?”

“Apol…Apollonia, my daughter..”

Princess Ellenia called out that particular name while her eyes gradually blurred. Gaius, who barely understood what she was saying, laughed blandly.

“Nia is also my daughter, so I’ll try to not kill her as much as I can. I’ll let her grow up quietly to be a good hand for political affairs. For me, Paris and the empire.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the princess’s body began to convulse little by little. She frantically looked at the corner of the room, mumbling something, but her correct words never came out.

Gaius, who saw her struggling desperately, only wriggled his eyebrow with a bored expression. Before long, her final breath left her body and she weakly tumbled to the ground.

“It’s finally over.”