Chapter 35
The cost of misplaced pride
What Izar wanted was for the shepherdess to stay as quiet as a mouse and then disappear.
He hoped she wouldn’t irritate his already frayed nerves until the Emperor would finally step down, and he could dismiss her at an appropriate time.
But did that mean being locked up in such a shabby room?
Looking at the woman lying on the dilapidated bed, he questioned himself again.
A rotten blanket, a place that he didn’t even know existed.
And that terrible, permeating scent of wild roses.
Did he really not know she would end up in such a place?
The attending physician, walking on eggshells around Izar, cautiously spoke up.
“The treatment is finished, Your Grace.”
“…”
“There might be a slight fever, so I’ll prepare plenty of medicine.”
“…Fine.”
Izar dismissively sent the physician away while gazing down at the woman buried in the bed, who did not open her eyes even after a full day had passed.
“…”
Staring down silently, heated rage started boiling up from the pit of his stomach.
Where exactly did this seething anger come from?
Was it because of himself, stupidly staring at a woman who had been beaten to a pulp?
Or was it because of that woman, who stood in a far corner of the room, eyes wide open, saying everything she wanted to say?
But one thing was clear.
His stepmother, Electra, had dared to defy his command.
“…I specifically told you, Mother.”
Izar’s voice was frosty as he muttered, and the woman who had been lurking in the shadows flinched.
“I would handle it appropriately. So, I told you to leave this woman be.”
“But…”
“Was it so hard to follow that one single instruction?”
“Izar, I was just trying to instill some discipline!”
“Discipline?”
His golden eyes turned icy cold as he regarded Electra.
“Is creating a cripple your idea of discipline?”
“Izar…!”
Electra shouted back, pale-faced.
It was the first time her stepson had shown such direct anger towards her.
‘This is dangerous!’
She felt that if she didn’t explain herself properly now, her authority might crumble in an instant.
“I didn’t ever intend for this, Izar!”
“Then what exactly did I see with my own eyes? You were the one using that branch as a whip!”
“That, that sweetbriar branch! The sweetbriar was brought by this woman. Such insolence…!”
“Even if this woman brought it!”
Bang!
Izar’s light tap on the wall echoed heavily. Electra flinched as if she was the one hit.
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