Rofan Rule #1: Don’t You Dare Break the Original Story - Chapter 44

Anne Agnes Avery, the prince’s fiancée, had recently been appearing at parties almost every day. She wasn’t alone. She attended with a man, and each time it was a different one.

Though their status was insignificant, they were fairly well-known figures in high society. Men who served noblewomen with their bodies, in other words, hopeful candidates for patronage.

Anne Agnes openly flirted with these men, then disappeared with them before the party was even over. Whether she returned straight to the Avery manor afterward was unknown. There were only endless rumors, that someone had seen the overlapping shadows of a man and woman on the garden terrace, or that a carriage parked by the roadside had been shaking.

Until the sordid story was finished, Logan said nothing. Benjamin glanced at the prince repeatedly, watching his reaction. Logan only stared into empty space with both fists tightly clenched.

Benjamin shook his head. So why did he suddenly fall head over heels for the woman who had crushed his dragon egg.

Dragon egg, dragon egg! That damned dragon egg was the root of all evil.

While Benjamin kept muttering about the dragon egg to himself, Logan suddenly rushed out of the office. Startled, Benjamin hurried after him.

“Sir! Ah, no, Your Highness!”

But before he could catch him, Logan was already running quickly down the corridor. There was no need to ask where he was headed. A storm was about to break inside the palace.

Benjamin let out another deep sigh.

* * *

Logan went straight to find his mother. Rather than confirming the truth of the rumors, meeting the queen came first. Once she began to act, it would be too late even if the rumors later proved false.

“Sit.”

Beatrice received him calmly, as if she had been expecting him. Logan remained standing and looked around the room. Her disheveled appearance, and the bottle of liquor on the table. It was a strong drink to be having in the middle of the day.

She refilled the glass she had just emptied. Logan spoke without sitting.

“What’s going on.”

Beatrice lifted her eyes at him crookedly. Logan met her gaze without backing down. The queen snorted and brought the glass to her lips. After draining the bitter liquor in one go, she spoke mockingly.

“You’re slow to hear things, Logan.”

Instead of denying it, Logan remained silent. He didn’t want to hear Anne Agnes’s misconduct confirmed by his mother’s own words. Beatrice waved her hand dismissively.

“Your engagement has been broken. Congratulations. You hated this marriage so much.”

“I will handle my own affairs.”

“This isn’t only your affair.”

Logan glared at his mother fiercely. True to her title as the Bloody Queen, she was a woman who placed politics above even her child’s life or death. The fact that she had sent him straight to the engagement ceremony before his injury had even healed proved it.

When dealing with such a queen, bringing up emotions was foolish. Logan spoke calmly.

“Are you planning to give up your connection with the Avery family?”

“No, that wouldn’t be wise. This is no time for us to turn our blades inward. We will still take the daughter, it will simply be delayed a little.”

“What do you mean…”

Delay the timing? Logan was about to ask, but then he understood the answer on his own.

The queen’s goal was only one thing, to bring Avery blood into the royal family. The groom didn’t necessarily have to be Logan. She still had three sons who would come of age within a few years.

Beatrice’s conclusion was entirely reasonable. Anne Agnes Avery’s scandalous behavior. The queen was convinced the girl had staged a little act to avoid a royal marriage, and it was an effective method.

A woman already entangled in disgraceful rumors couldn’t be made the future queen. If the royal family accepted a woman whose reputation had fallen into the mud, royal authority would sink with it.

But she had no intention of letting House Avery go. She would keep her waiting a few years, then marry her to the second or third prince. After causing repeated trouble, the girl wouldn’t dare refuse.

Logan bit hard into the inside of his cheek. Anne Agnes becoming his younger brother’s wife? The moment the thought formed, anger surged through him like flames. Grinding his teeth, he spoke.

“Anne Agnes… will marry me. As planned.”

Beatrice looked at her son with an unfamiliar expression. A face consumed by uncontrollable jealousy. She tilted her head with curiosity.

“That girl must be quite skilled.”

For a moment, shame flickered across Logan’s face. Even he knew how ridiculous he looked. Not long ago, he had shouted that he wanted nothing to do with that woman, yet now, he wanted her more than anything. He himself couldn’t understand why.

But one thing was certain. He couldn’t give up Anne Agnes like this.

“Don’t do anything… please don’t do anything.”

Before Beatrice could even answer, Logan left the room. Even as anger burned inside him, he wanted to see her. Logan headed straight for the Avery estate.