RLQ - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Peak of Power & Desire
“I am regretful to see that you seem to have paid no mind to my teachings, neither before nor now.”
When the Queen woke up, she heard a familiar voice, tinged with coldness. The aftereffects of the belladonna blurred her vision for a while before she could clearly see Heinrich sitting in the room.
Adele was not surprised to see him.
The Heinrich family had a long history and was one of the behemoths of the Roland Empire. Families like theirs possessed a depth of power that outsiders could hardly fathom. It was precisely because of this that, even after being expelled from the Imperial Capital over a decade ago, they could still send their heir to the Crown Prince's side.
He had the ability to dismiss Dalton at this moment.
“Six berries.”
Adele sat up, raising a hand to her forehead.
“It takes at least ten to be fatal.”
The moment the second blackcurrant entered her mouth, she knew something was wrong.
In the time after her mother's death, too many people wanted her dead. How to make a young princess disappear from the court as quickly as possible? The answer was belladonna.
In the first month Heinrich served as her mentor, belladonna was mixed into the blackcurrants in her fruit bowl.
That time was truly dangerous.
If not for the Heinrich family's secret medicine, the Roland Empire would not have seen its first Queen.
She would forever remember the difference between blackcurrants and belladonna.
“I am honored that you remember the initial teaching, but why do you not remember the latter half—that for adults with weaker constitutions, even less than ten can be fatal?” Heinrich sat before the candlelight, wearing a black cassock with silver buttons. “Just one more belladonna, and not even a saint descending could save you.”
After his reprimand, he realized his tone was exactly the same as when he was the Queen's mentor.
Adele looked at him.
“If you are so careless with your own life, then I believe the Heinrich family has no need to continue cooperating with you,” Heinrich avoided her gaze. “We need stable partners, not lunatics who gamble with their lives.”
The rebellion itself didn't last long, but it felt as though an entire century had passed since they had faced each other like this.
“Dalton is getting suspicious,” the Queen said slowly.
Heinrich frowned, looking at her.
“Your family may indeed have an inescapable network in the port, but perhaps not so much in Belled City,” Adele pushed aside the silk quilt and walked barefoot to her dressing table. She pulled open a drawer and took out an opened confidential letter. “Reconciliation on August 1st, and within less than a week, rumors that I was infatuated with Dalton and intended to marry him spread throughout Belled City... The speed was too fast, it was suspicious from the start.”
“But he fell for it.”
Heinrich said calmly.
They were like before, teacher and student, quickly understanding each other's meaning.
The Queen and Heinrich had meticulously set a trap for Dalton.
Everyone was saying "marry the Queen, become King of Roland." Hearing it for so long, even if Dalton didn't care at first, he would eventually be lured into the trap. Once Dalton had this idea, in order to pursue the Queen and even propose to her, he would inevitably adopt the posture of a suitor.
In some political matters, he had to start considering the Queen's thoughts and opinions.
Therefore, even with the Queen's extraordinary indulgence towards Dalton in the Privy Council, she could still subtly push things in the direction she desired through this method.
In fact, the most fatal point had been obvious all along:
—How could a commoner possibly marry the Queen?
The nobles would not allow it, the National Assembly would not allow it, and even the commoners would not allow it.
However, traps set with sweet lies and glorious crowns are always the most tempting. Dalton's ambition drove him into it.
“He asked me what I wanted to do, manipulate the Crown Prince of the Rute Empire, just like I manipulated him,” Adele repeated Dalton's words before their argument, word for word.
Prince Arthur's arrival reminded Dalton.
—No matter how brilliant he was at this moment, in everyone's eyes, he was of commoner origin. The rumors were beautiful, but they could never be realized.
“Jealousy is a double-edged sword. It can cut through the fog blinding one's eyes, but it can also cause one to fall into a new mire,” the Queen said meaningfully. “Who is behind the belladonna? The Old God Sect, or Yage? Or both?”
“Both.”
King John VI of Yage was furious at having his marriage proposal rejected. The alliance between the Rute Empire and the Roland Empire forced him to recall his fleet, but he was determined not to let the Queen of Roland have an easy time. Thus... the Yage Ambassador, still within Roland's borders, naturally aligned with the Old God Sect.
“Treason.”
The Queen's tone was chilling.
“You want to use this opportunity to move against the Old God Sect?” Heinrich frowned. “Their backlash will only be fiercer.”
“In what capacity are you speaking? As an Old God follower, or as a family head wary of the emerging merchant guilds?” Adele asked sharply.
The harmonious teacher-student relationship instantly shattered, the facade of warmth torn away, revealing the core of intertwined interests.
“Just a reminder, the Temple Knights have been silent for a long time, but do not underestimate them.”
“I've staked my own life on this gamble, do you think I would do nothing?”
The Queen turned to look at him. She was only wearing a fine linen shift. In the candlelight, the thin dress clung to her body. She looked extremely slender, not unlike the saints in linen shifts holding candles on the monastery walls.
“When I sacrifice enough, I must gain even greater returns.”
She made Heinrich feel like a stranger.
“The crackdown on the Old God Sect will not involve the port,” the Queen handed him the letter. “Tell Archbishop Rhodri, I want to see him.”
Heinrich took the letter and realized something—
Adele was a born political animal. Beneath her beautiful exterior lay a heart of stone, more terrifying than a viper.
She was rapidly transforming.
Perhaps some people would find the Queen cruel, think her heart was cold as iron, but only in Madam Kelly's heart was she always warm, just, and benevolent—no matter what she did.
When Madam Kelly returned to the Queen's room, she found the Queen sitting quietly behind the rose window, wearing only a thin shift.
“Why did you open the window?”
Madam Kelly tried to keep her voice normal, but failed.
“They said you were injured,” the Queen said softly.
Only now did she show the weakness after being poisoned, fatigue filling her brows and eyes.
After waking up, Adele had also learned the role Madam Kelly's husband played in the poisoning incident—he accepted a vineyard, allowing a silent woman to become a new member of the Summer Palace kitchen staff. Normally, this would be a harmless matter...
But that new cook had selected that batch of blackcurrants.
Madam Kelly's husband, Bligh, did not intentionally poison the Queen, yet he did bring the threat of death upon her.
The guards took him away.
As he was dragged away, he cried out to her... “Kelly! For the sake of my love for you! I've done so much for you! Please... ask Her Majesty to forgive me, she'll listen to you...” Madam Kelly stood in the corridor watching him being led away, unable to feel the pain in her shoulder.
Madam Kelly held the hand the Queen extended, finding the Queen's hand cold and icy, trembling slightly.
“Let him receive what he deserves, Your Majesty.”
Madam Kelly said, feeling hot tears welling up, yet her voice was unexpectedly calm.
Bligh could not survive.
The Queen and Dalton arrested the Yage Ambassador and a series of Old God followers for "treason." Their accomplices would seize every opportunity to retaliate against the Queen. If the Queen insisted on pardoning Bligh, then what reason would she have to execute the others? If the Queen signed Bligh's death warrant, then what would become of their relationship?
This was a knife, stabbing both her and the Queen simultaneously.
If this was what the enemy wanted, then Madam Kelly would break this knife and throw it into the fire.
“I am so sorry, Kelly,” Adele held Madam Kelly's hand tightly in return. “I am so sorry... I knew it was belladonna, I knew it...”
She felt guilty.
Because if given another chance, even knowing this matter would involve Kelly's husband, she would still seize this opportunity without hesitation. She should have hidden the truth, letting Madam Kelly believe she was accidentally poisoned, but... but she was unwilling and unable to do so.
Having spoken, Adele waited for Madam Kelly's reply.
She didn't know if she would lose this last remaining family member... Yes, Kelly was no longer just a maid to her, but an inseparable family member.
“Don't ever do that again.”
Madam Kelly held the child she had watched grow up tightly, fearing she would disappear in the blink of an eye.
“What if... what if you really hadn't woken up again?”
Adele felt a sense of relief. She knew she hadn't lost her last family member. She hugged Madam Kelly back, the person who had played the role of a second mother in her life.
“But...” she said, “Kelly, besides this life I can gamble with, what else do I have?”
Madam Kelly was on the verge of tears.
“We err, we think, we are tormented between good and evil.”
Adele softly recited her mother's last words before she died.
The night before dawn was cold and long. The candle flame burned and flickered in the Queen's eyes, forming countless shadows—all the women from the past, weak, strong, unarmed, invincible.
Archbishop Rhodri hurried through the corridor.
He knew the Temple Knights were plotting against the Queen, but he hadn't expected them to actually attempt to murder her. When the news came that the Queen had survived the danger, the Archbishop breathed a sigh of relief—for Roland, for the Old God Sect, and also for... himself.
The Queen was not dead, so things had not reached an irreversible point, and the chaos would not escalate further.
As he thought this, the Queen acted.
The belladonna did not take the Queen's life, but instead pushed the Old God Sect onto a perilous cliff.
Colluding with the enemy and treason was a crime even more unforgivable than heresy. A series of Old God followers connected to the Yage Ambassador were arrested. The hatred between Roland and Yage had a long history. After the news spread, the Old God Sect was denounced as "traitors," despised by the people, and their prestige plummeted.
Upon hearing that Prince Arthur was nearly assassinated, the Rute Empire was furious. They declared war on Yage and simultaneously pressured the Roland monarchy, forcing Roland to abolish some privileges enjoyed by the Old God Sect—the Archbishop was certain this was exactly what the Queen wanted.
The Queen's counterattack was fierce, swift, and could even be described as premeditated.
Of course, she had planned it; wasn't he the one who warned her?
The Archbishop felt torn by two voices.
One said: You joined the Knights, you swore an oath... to stand with your brothers, promising chastity, poverty, obedience to God, the Holy Mother, and the brothers of the Order, promising to abide by the rules of the Order, until death... Look at the terrible things you have done? You betrayed your brothers, you led them into a death trap...
One said: You did nothing wrong, the Queen cannot die, Roland needs her, Roland cannot afford new chaos and war. She did not strike at the Old God Sect first; they were the ones who betrayed the country, they were the ones who first forgot honor and creed, this is their just deserts...
But soon, the first voice came back to refute him.
...That's well said, but is it really just for these reasons? Why did you keep that damned diamond? Why didn't you throw it away? When you look at it at night, what exactly do you think of?
...
Everything was a mess.
Since that afternoon, since that confessional, everything had been a mess.
He turned a corner and arrived at the appointed room—the room where they had hidden from the guards that night.
The Queen sat sideways on a Gilt chair by the pale gold curtains, a bound scripture open on her lap. Having just escaped death, her face was even paler, her figure thinner. Before her sickly appearance, even a ruthless executioner would hesitate for a moment before raising the blade. Despite this, she sat very straight.
The Archbishop's footsteps paused.
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