ent on the battlefield had taught her how to mas

er voice flat. "But how long can somet

oon. Whoever wanted the title o

"Then, Sister, you just wait and

back to her study. It wasn' t until she closed the heavy wooden door, shu

er mind drifted back to the past, to the days when her entire family had marched off to war, leaving her alone in the vast

was the same as it had always been, but

f over and over again. Emotions fade. Nothing in this world last

on her old wounds, developing new strategies for the upcoming war, and w

ent a servant with a gold ingot every few days. Ea

me and accompany the Duchess as soo

l. It was the same expression he wore when she and the Crown Prince were children and had misbehaved, climbing trees to raid bird nests or p

vate, secretly applying medicine to her stingi

no

ake you' ve made?" His

in her study for days, her only contact with

t your presence that day, Clara has been unwell. The imperial physicia

gravely ill, and the physician says that witho

with accusation. "Eleanor, yo

fraid of was hearing those words from him: "You have disappointed me." To avoid disappointing him, she had studied ha

easily cast her aside with those same words. It felt as if

er an explanation. "I didn' t do it. There' s no antidot

ou want me to kneel in the ancestral hall or

sharp, cri

d shattered. His eyes blazed with an even deeper anger. He wa

ped an antidote for Miss Clara, but it' s still

y are you stammering?" Arthur snapped

opped to his knees. "It requires the flesh and blood of Miss Cl

canvas of conflicting emotions. He wave

avy and suffocating. Arthur' s gaze fell upon Eleanor, and

d because of you, so you shou

filled with a cold, burning anger. "Uncle, don' t forg

ted. She is General Vance' s biological daughter. It was your mother who couldn' t

rce of a physical blow. "Clara

e. Her father had never taken a concubine, had never looked at another woman. Cou

dy taken out his personal dagger. He held it o

s is over, you and I will go

was unyielding. "Clara' s health and the

taken a knife for him on the battlefield. That blade had gone straight through her abdomen, and she had barely survived. The price

rely a whisper. "Uncle, my body was a gift from my parent

insist on this, then not only will our marriage be over, but even