V2: Chapter 150: The Chaotic Soteland Empire
Night, inside the palace.
"How did Gael become so ill? When did he fall ill? Why didn't you tell me?"
The king stood angrily before Gael's bedside, glaring at Doris. "Doris, what kind of mother are you? How could you let our son become so sick?!"
Doris lowered her eyes, feigning meekness, tears streaming down her face. She pulled a handkerchief from her waist and gently wiped them away.
"It's all my fault. I didn't warn Gael before he left, causing him to catch a cold. It's all my fault, Your Majesty, please punish me!"
It must be said, Doris's weeping appearance was truly beautiful.
In the moonlight, she sat in a wicker chair by the window, tears silently sliding down her cheeks, like dewdrops on lotus leaves in the morning, crystal clear. It was clearly feigned crying, yet she covered half her face with a handkerchief, creating the illusion of a beautiful woman weeping in distress.
Each tear was like a meticulously crafted gem, sliding down her cheek and tracing the contours of her face. Bathed in moonlight, her face appeared even more delicate, and the tears added a captivating radiance. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, providing accompaniment to her silent weeping, and those glistening teardrops were like notes falling from a harp string, landing on the king's heart and stirring ripples.
The old lecher, seeing the beauty in tears, couldn't help but soften. He waved his hand, indicating that the matter was over and he wouldn't pursue it further.
"Alas, Gael is ill; you must tell me."
He uttered only these words before stepping forward and wrapping his fat arms around Doris's slender waist, pressing himself against her like a sticky lump of fat.
Beneath the handkerchief, a flicker of disgust crossed Doris's eyes, but that emotion vanished in an instant, replaced by a fawning smile.
"Doris, I haven't been here in so long. You must be quite lonely."
A lewd smile spread across the king's bloated face. His thick, prickly beard brushed against Doris's face.
Doris pressed her hand against his chest, gesturing to him that Gael was still there.
"Your Majesty, let's go to my room. Don't disturb Gael's rest."
With that, she took the king's arm and left Gael's room.
Doris couldn't help but feel contempt.
This old lecher!
He claimed to be visiting his son, and at first he acted so caring for Gael. But in the end, he was just driven by lust, not even glancing at his son in bed, following me to the room to do those sordid things. His little head controlling his big head—how could he possibly manage this empire?
However, the king hadn't visited her in a long time.
Doris knew, of course, where he'd gone. He was probably out with some young ladies again, enjoying their company. She was getting old, after all. Although her appearance hadn't changed—she was still young and beautiful—that lustful king was always looking for something better. Young and beautiful women were naturally more innocent, and those he hadn't slept with were more attractive.
The wildflowers by the roadside always smell sweeter.
There's a saying: "a wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as a cheating affair, and a cheating affair is not as good as one you can't have." The king was that kind of scoundrel who thought only with his lower body.
However, Doris didn't care much about such things. She knew that even if the king went out to have affairs, he wouldn't depose her as queen. She believed her beauty was top-tier in the Soteland Empire.
Moreover, she possessed a virtue many women lacked: she was patient, obedient, and subservient, never trying to outsmart the king. She knew the king well; he was arrogant, conceited, and looked down on women. If a woman spoke even a single word to him, he would think she was all talk and no action.
Doris had grasped this very nature of the king, and coupled with her own beauty, she had risen to the position of queen in just two short years.
"Your Majesty..."
A few minutes later, Doris, dressed, could barely conceal her disgust as she spoke to the old man with her back to him.
"Lately, things seem rather unsettled in the noble circles. I've heard quite a bit of gossip."
She dared not offer her own advice, instead feigning a gossipy nature, making herself appear as if she wanted to chat about the nobles' affairs.
The king lay languidly on the bed, completely naked except for a blanket, his head propped up on his arm, gazing contentedly at the ceiling. He now had a bit more patience for Doris's words.
"Yes, ha, I think you've heard. Some people never realize their place, always trying to seize power. But it doesn't matter, I'll eliminate them all. Doris, don't worry, you'll be the Queen of this empire until the day you die."
A strange smile curled at the corner of Doris's lips.
"That's wonderful, Your Majesty. It's truly my honor to be your wife. Perhaps my piety moved God, allowing me to marry you."
The King enjoyed hearing such words. He squinted his eyes in pleasure, and in his greasy state, he once again wrapped his arm around Doris's waist.
"If only all women were as obedient as you, Doris. You're a good woman, and a good wife."
A good woman, a good wife?
Doris smiled.
"To be praised so highly by Your Majesty, I'm truly happy. I wish Your Majesty could come and keep me company every day."
This was, of course, a lie.
Doris wished the King would spend every night with other ladies; she truly didn't want to see that disgusting, pig-like face, which made her feel physically nauseous every time. Doris didn't consider the King the father of her son; she felt that Gael was her child alone.
She needed to hurry, she needed to push Gael to the throne as soon as possible.
To be honest, Doris was somewhat troubled. Besides dealing with the King, she also had to be wary of Liang Di. Although she didn't know what evil intentions this guy harbored, she guessed she wanted to overthrow the Soteland Empire and seize the throne for herself.
She had a pretty good grasp of that. However, she had overlooked one thing: neither Liang Di nor Octaville wanted to sit on the throne, let alone Hilary and Liang Lin. What they really wanted was to put their like-minded Third Prince, Walden, on the throne.
Meanwhile, the third prince was still playing the role of a carefree fool in the palace. No one paid any attention to this useless illegitimate son; his presence was extremely low. Sometimes, Doris would even forget that the king had such a son.
"Your Majesty, the noble circles have been quite unsettled lately. I'm very worried about you. You must be careful."
On the surface, it was concern, but in reality, she wanted the king to investigate more thoroughly, uncover more problems, and then she would warn her people to be cautious. This way, she could create chaos among the king's cronies.
As the saying goes, serving a king is like serving a tiger. The king, recently swayed by Liang Di's schemes, was quite nervous. Hearing Doris's words, he thought about it and realized there was some truth to it.
With so many dogs, some were bound to have ulterior motives; it was common for someone to be lured away by a few bones.
"Hmm, don't worry, Doris. Just mind your own business." The king's tone gradually turned displeased, probably annoyed that Doris talked too much.
Doris understood.
"I know, Your Majesty." She gently tucked the king in and lay down beside him. "Your Majesty, it's very late now. Let's go to sleep early. I'm worried about your health."
Actually, she didn't want to waste any more words with him; she felt that saying another word would only make her feel nauseous.
Five months later
Gael's health had almost fully recovered. During this time, although he hadn't bothered Liang Di again, he had written her many letters at his father's request. Of course, Liang Di had also replied to him many times, many of them containing ambiguous hints.
"Gael, young ladies are all shy, especially a young lady like Liang Di."
After reading her correspondence, the king couldn't stop smiling.
"I knew no one could resist your charm. You have the same style I had back then, lad."
Gael sat on the bed, still somewhat weak, but he smiled along with his father.
"I used to think Miss Liang Di didn't like me, but it seems it was only a matter of time."
As for Liang Di, during the time Gael didn't bother her, she focused on her work, acquiring many more shops, and expanding her tailoring business to several empires. She was no longer satisfied with just the surrounding empires; she had even crossed several empires, establishing business ties with the wealthiest empire on the continent.
It wasn't exactly something she accomplished in just five months; it had been planned for a long time, but the opportunity had been delayed.
Firstly, the distance was too great; a four-month carriage journey was a major problem. Although sea transport would be more convenient, no one dared approach the ocean, so that method was abandoned.
Fortunately, this empire was far from Soteland, and they didn't have much of a concept of magicians, even finding them magical and reverential. This made things much easier; there was no need to hide the teleportation array, and transportation wasn't a major issue.
However, it was tough on the young magicians in the magic tower; no one had told them they were "couriers" before they arrived.
"....."
When Liang Lin went to Liang Di's room, Liang Di was engrossed in writing, seemingly calculating something. Liang Lin didn't disturb her; it wasn't anything important, she was just bored and wanted to see what Liang Di was doing.
She sat quietly to the side, waiting for Liang Di to finish her work before speaking to her.
".... Phew~"
Liang Di suddenly let out a long sigh, smiling broadly to reveal eight teeth, and held up the paper in front of her high.
She had noticed Liang Lin enter the room earlier, but was doing arithmetic and couldn't let her train of thought be interrupted. Now that she had finished, she jumped up, skipping and hopping with the joy of a child, and hopped over to Liang Lin's side.
"Sister Liang Lin!"
"We are now the richest nobles in the Soteland Empire! No, that's not right, because we're not just nobles anymore! We can even rival the royal family!"
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