Kissing Hellfire: Marry Me, Evil Lord
Chapter 76: Stop Dreaming

Chapter 76: Stop Dreaming

"Breakfast is served, Your Highness."

Lauren was sitting in front of her vanity table while combing her hair when Sally came. Alec had already left earlier that morning.

When she went down to the dining hall, this time only the four of them were present. The King and Queen, then Cassandra and her. When she took a seat, she saw how livid Queen Thalia’s look was as though she could kill her with her eyes. But she dared not speak anything ill in front of the King.

"Although Casper’s death is not yet solved, I allowed Prince Dominic to leave. Alec and the rest of the council guaranteed that he did not do it, so I just let him go back to his kingdom. After all, our family caused him great embarrassment."

It was the first time they had a meal together since the night of Eloise and Casper’s death. The castle was busy mourning in the past few days and the Queen didn’t want to get out of her room. The King spent most of his time in the court because now that his only son had died, he would need to appoint a new successor as soon as possible to regain the kingdom’s stability.

"You are Eloise’s mother, Thalia. How come you failed to notice that she was practicing sorcery? As the mother of my children, it is your job to look out for them," King Martin said without raising his voice but his words were sharp, showing his disappointment toward the Queen.

"Eloise is a grown-up lady, Martin. Did you expect me to watch her every move? It is not just you who have lost children, I did as well! Why are you blaming me?" The Queen teared up. She stood up and left the dining hall while crying.

"Continue your breakfast. I have lost my appetite," said King Martin before throwing his napkin on his plate and storming out of the hall, leaving Cassandra and Lauren at the table.

Lauren focused on her plate, pretending oblivious to how Cassandra was darkly staring at her across the table.

"Are you happy now?"

Lauren lifted her gaze. "What do you mean, Cassie? Eloise and Casper are dead, the whole castle is grieving. There is no reason to be joyous."

The head maid, Isobel, was quick to dismiss the waiting maids in the dining hall considering where the two princesses’ talk was heading. As the head maid in the castle for more than a decade, she knew when the servants should leave the royals alone to deal with their matters.

The women of Evardin’s royal family had sharp tongues and wouldn’t hold back their words except when the King was present. So, to avoid rumors from circulating which would only put the servants in a difficult situation, it was better for them to not listen when the royals were talking aggressively.

"Stop the act, Lauren. You must have known Eloise was a black mage and put something on her drink that night to make her run wild. And who knows it is also you who got my brother killed because you are too eager for the throne. Who is the next one you want to kill?"

"What if it is you?" Lauren chuckled. "You are smart but you are too imaginative, Cassie. How on earth would I know Eloise was a black mage when we rarely spent time together? And about Casper, the poor boy might have done bad things to me in the past but he was bedridden these years and could not even talk. He was already pitiful. I am not kind but I still have a little heart, I won’t do that to a child."

"Do you expect me to believe you?" Cassandra mocked and the next second the knife on the table flew in the air, but it stopped half an inch in front of Lauren’s right eye.

The sudden move did not make Lauren flinch. She remained in her seat and smiled at Cassandra even with the knife floating in front of her.

"Are you threatening me?" she asked calmly.

"Are you threatened?"

Lauren put down the utensils and wiped the corner of her lips with a napkin.

"If you are so eager to kill me right now, Cassie, why don’t you do it?"

The knife threatening Lauren spun in the air and when it stopped, this time the sharp edge was pointed at Cassandra. It flew back to her and stopped an inch away from her eye, making her stiffen in her seat.

The knife fell to the plate a few seconds later, creating a loud clinking noise against the plate.

"You can manipulate objects," Cassandra muttered as if it was shocking news. "You must be doing sorcery. How can you do that when you are not a pureblooded arch mage?"

Pureblooded arch mages, senior mages, and vampire mages were the only ones who could manipulate objects through spells. But the object manipulation spell could only allow the caster to manipulate certain objects depending on how skilled and powerful they were. The Monserrate family was a bloodline of pureblooded arch mages, except Lauren whose mother was a lowly mage, so everyone expected her to be weaker and could only cast simple spells.

"It is a secret, Cassie. We are sisters but we are not friends, so you can’t expect me to tell you my secret," Lauren said. She was about to rise from her seat and leave the table as she was done with her breakfast when Cassandra spilled wine on her face.

"I thought that might wake you up from your daydream. You should know your place, Lauren. Don’t forget that you are just my father’s daughter to a lowly concubine. You are a bastard so stop dreaming of becoming the queen someday. You don’t deserve it."

"And you think you deserve it?" Lauren couldn’t smile now. The wine trickling down her face and on her chest felt awful.

"Let me tell you this, Cassie. Regardless of what you think, I will be the next queen of this land and you can do nothing about it. It is you who should stop dreaming that you stand a chance against me."