The Dragon Queen and her mates.
Chapter 200: A sacrifice

Chapter 200: A sacrifice

Dedicating todays Chapter to Punipun

" What did you say?" Bree was certain that she had misheard the Duke because no way in his right mind would he suggest that they go and hunt magical creatures. Hunting magical creatures became illegal years ago, even if the previous Emperor was a prodigal son of the heavens, even he didn’t dare to break the laws that were written by his ancestors and yet the Duke was suggesting that they go and hunt magical creatures.

Was he not afraid of becoming an outlaw? A criminal of the empire.

The Duke thought that Bree didn’t hear him clearly the first time, which was why he cheekily raised the goblet of wine in his hand and toasted her without her toasting back. " Isn’t it just perfect, your majesty? A woman of your pride and calibre should be hunting magical creatures instead of rabbits and elks, with that noble blood flowing in your veins, should you not be doing something as fun as hunting those who are beneath you, after all its all about survival of the fittest isn’t it?"

He was either baiting her or maybe he was as stupid as he looked but knowing that a man like him was able to hide his dirty dealing for so long Bree didn’t believe that he was a fool. The Duke was no idiot, he was testing her and at the same time trying to create a blatant mockery of her being the Empress.

A woman who was sitting on the throne but was now putty in his hands because of the thing that he added to her meal. It was a humiliation that couldn’t have been worse than being spat on—— she could almost imagine what was going on inside the head of the Duke, he must be eager to show it off to his friends and other nobles. That he, the smartest and wisest of all, degraded the Empress to the point where she broke the law of her ancestors.

For two seconds, Bree wanted to forget all about the plan, the one that Yakov came up with. She wanted to show the Duke just how smart the woman was upon who he was looking down so condescendingly but just as she opened her mouth, someone placed their hands on her thigh stopping her from saying anything that would be considered wrong in this situation. So, Bree had no other choice but to suck back her indignation and swallow the harsh curses that she wanted to hurl, instead, she raised her own goblet and toasted the Duke back with a brilliant smile.

" The Duke sure knows me well," she chuckled ignoring the many knots that were twisting inside her guts, she was a fool to believe that she could take the Duke down easily, he might have the face of a foolish man but he was cunning and vicious, coming up with a plan like that... she was sure that even if she was to come up with a plan to counterattack the Duke’s she would be having a hard time cleaning the stain that would be staining her reputation, something that the Duke will surely work hard to ruin perfectly.

Yakov must have sensed her unease because a second later he turned to the Duke and raised his voice in a somewhat stern expression. " Duke Cilantro, I appreciate you working so hard for making the visit enjoyable for my wife but surely you do know that the hunting of the magical creatures is illegal?"

Duke Cilantro took a furtive glance at Bree and when he saw that she wasn’t saying anything he didn’t bother to hide the disdain that he has always felt for the four consorts. The four consorts were men yet they always had their heads lowered in front of a woman, no matter what the Empress was still their wife and she should be the one with her head lowered not the other way around.

Surely, they were handing out the worst possible education to the children who were born in the reign of the previous Empire, of course, if it was prince Leon then things would have been in perfect order.

He raised his head at Yakov and even though he was smiling at him, all of them could see the hidden mockery that was concealed within that smile. " Of course, I know that it’s illegal but the dragon Queen is not just anyone, she is the Empress of this country, if she were to raise a bow against a magical being who was to say anything against her? After all, I am just trying to make this entire trip for the Empress fun, who is to say that I am doing it for myself? Or is it that the first consort is the one who has the reins of the Empress in his hands, if so then I ask for forgiveness."

’That bastard! He was not only looking down on her but he was also looking down on the consorts, surely he was looking for a way to die in the fastest way possible.’

Sure enough, as she turned to look at Yakov and Blaise, their expressions were more sullen than before. Yakov looked even more solemn than ever while Blaise’s smile had a touch of danger to it and as she watched him swipe his fingers on the knife that he was holding, Bree couldn’t help but shudder. She glanced at the Duke and then lit up a candle for him in her heart, that man just didn’t anger the two men, he cleared the path of his swift and painful death.

But she still had to act out her role, so she turned to look at Yakov and raised a haughty brow. " First consort, since when did you start telling me what I can do and cannot do, are you trying to embarrass me? If this is to be known by others then who knows what the people might say about me that I am being controlled by my husbands, what will happen to my pride?"

She instantly broke in a cold sweat when Yakov turned to look at her sharply, his amber eyes glinting as he coldly said, " I understand what you are trying to say, your majesty but you have to understand that if the news of you hunting the magical creatures was to be made public, then you will suffer quite a lot of retaliation."

" Oh that," Bree replied airily as she harrumphed and said, " I will see who would like to rebel against me but——" tapping her fingers on the table she turned to the Duke and added, " But my consort is right to worry about the bad publicity as well, I cannot just go around killing the magical creatures, who knows that in case the news was to go out, I will have to suffer the consequences of my actions."

Duke Cilantro called Yakov several colourful names in his head as he turned to look at Bree with a smile and said, " Is that so? Then how about changing the rules, your majesty? You and I will only hunt for the animals but in case we catch sight of a magical creature then whoever hunts that creature down will be the winner, after all as the Empress you can at least hunt one of those creatures right?

Why was he inclined on having a magical creature killed?

Bree didn’t know what was going on in the head of the Duke but she couldn’t act too brazenly in case he realised that she wasn’t as in his control as he thought she was, then all their plans would go down the drains, so she smiled and swiftly added, " Is that so? Since the Duke has been considerate enough of me, I will be repaying your good intentions. Let’s do as the Duke suggested, we will be hunting animals but in case any magical creature was to pop up, then whoever kills it first will be the winner."

" He must be trying to catch hold of a sacrifice," as soon as Bree returned to the room, Blaise spoke up. Unlike her and Yakov, he was well-versed in the dark arts and thus understood what the Duke was trying to do actually. Though dark magic was banned in the Empire, he was a mage and curiosity ran deep in his veins, that was why he had studied a lot of books on dark magic and could catch onto why the Duke was so antsy about catching a magical creature. " I read in a book that if the offspring of phoenixes were to be given the blood of a magical creature their powers will manifest before they reach adulthood, most probably there is something that the Duke very much wants to do as quickly as possible and that is why he wants to awaken the powers of the offsprings forcefully."

Forceful awakening made the offspring of the Phoenixes weak but knowing the Duke, the good health of those offspring was at the last of his list.