It was obvious without even seeing it. How much would a man with an already violent temper rage and rant after becoming impotent?
As a result, the servants must have removed all objects that could harm people from the drawing room. It was a good thing for her, too.
Still, the fact that they were asking her to wait in the drawing room meant he was able to move around. Ariella, who wished for Aaron’s remaining life to be as miserable as possible, was truly disappointed.
“His Highness the Crown Prince is here.”
Only after quite some time did the servant announce Aaron’s arrival.
Ariella, who had been leisurely relaxing on the plush sofa, rose from her seat and greeted Aaron with an elegant and refined demeanor.
“You…”
Aaron, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, looked completely different from the last time she saw him.
His once-radiant face was lifeless, his smooth cheeks were sunken, giving him a more sensitive air, and his muscles had atrophied from prolonged bed rest, making him look thin overall. Even his golden eyes, once full of confidence and arrogance, were now dim and sunken.
“What business do you have coming here!”
However, the way he started yelling as soon as he saw her face was no different than before.
Of course, given the circumstances, it was even worse.
“You didn’t even show your face when I was sick, and now you come here…!”
Aaron strode up to the sofa and shouted without even offering her a cup of tea. He was seething, ready to raise his hand at the slightest provocation.
After confirming that the servants had discreetly left, Ariella slowly lowered her long eyelashes. Then, in a low voice, she replied.
“I had no choice.”
“What?”
“I’m neither your wife nor your fiancée. As you said, Aaron, I’m not even worthy of visiting you, so how could I come to see you? Especially with Father and Lizzy watching me like hawks.”
She wanted to tell Aaron right then and there.
That she was the one who had made him that way, that she had orchestrated everything, and that he had been nothing more than a pawn in her hands. She wanted to say it, but Ariella bit her lip and held back.
Having lost his reproductive function and his honor, he would no longer be able to wield the same power as before.
But one never knew what might happen, and one’s words or mistakes could always come back to haunt them.
So, she had to keep her premature arrogance in check.
“I wanted to visit you sooner, too. But this was the best I could do to avoid my father’s eyes.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Do you think I’m deaf?”
Despite her kind words, Aaron’s anger showed no signs of abating.
The reason soon came from his own mouth.
“Rumor has it in Edinburgh society! Arrie, that you’ve become that lowly bastard’s mistress! Ha, it’s laughable. So, that was your best, too?”
He was angry that Ariella had become involved with the man he hated most. He probably thought Nobert had stolen what was his. Even though Ariella had never belonged to him.
“Aaron, do you think that’s what I wanted?”
Ariella calmly asked Aaron, who was looking down at her from just a foot away.
“You know what my father is like. Is it my fault that I have such a man as my father, and that I was ultimately sold for money?”
Aaron flinched for a moment. He had to admit there was some truth to what she said.
Moreover, Aaron’s downfall had played a significant role in Bedford’s financial difficulties. So, if he were a reasonable person, he should feel a sense of guilt.
But Aaron was still a person who prioritized his emotions over logic and reason, so he quickly regained his composure and raised his voice again.
“You should have told me! That you were going to be my mistress, you should have told the Duke yourself! That’s what you promised, that day!”
Aaron grabbed the corner of the sofa next to her roughly and shouted.
The desperation in his voice as he mentioned ‘that day’ made Ariella barely suppress a smile.
She glanced at the clock and realized that more time had passed than she had expected. It was because Aaron had arrived so late.
“…It won’t change anything if you act like this. If I were to officially become your mistress, you should have offered my father more money than the Grand Duke did.”
“So now, it’s my fault?”
“No, of course not. I’m also very disappointed, but that’s just how things are.”
Ariella lightly shrugged her shoulders. Her attitude was too calm to be truly disappointed.
“Besides, you don’t need a mistress anymore, do you? That’s what I heard.”
The way she tilted her head was also quite hypocritical.
“What are you-”
“Why, Aaron, you have ears to hear rumors, but…”
The reason she was acting this way was simple.
All Ariella was trying to avoid was leaking information about her revenge to him. There was no need to refrain from mocking him.
After all, one of the biggest purposes of this visit was to laugh at him as much as possible.
“You don’t have that, do you? The biggest purpose of having a mistress, that.”
Ariella looked up at him, raised the corners of her lips, and smiled. At the same time, she extended a long, white finger and playfully pointed to his lower region.
“How can you have a mistress when you can’t even get it up?”
The moment Aaron realized what she meant, his eyes widened in fury.
Slap!
A large hand struck Ariella’s cheek without warning.
Her slender body fell onto the sofa, and her light blonde hair was scattered.
Ariella sat leaning against the sofa, clutching her struck cheek.
Fortunately, it didn’t hurt as much as when her father hit her. It was pathetic that a young man was weaker than a fifty-year-old man.
“How dare you…!”
Not satisfied with just slapping her, Aaron clenched his fist. Sure enough, his hand came flying again.
Thud!
A dull sound rang out, but this time it was a little different. The place he struck with his fist was not Ariella, but the sofa she had been sitting on a moment ago.
Of course, it wasn’t because Aaron suddenly cared about her.
‘There’s no reason to get hit anymore.’
Ariella quickly scrambled off the sofa and moved to the opposite side of him. Then, she ran towards the door and shouted.
“Kyaaak, help me!”
Unlike her calm expression, her voice sounded like that of a woman in real danger.
She quickly ran and opened the door to the drawing room, and Aaron chased after her, but his speed was slow because his wound had not yet fully healed.
However, Aaron also had something to believe in.
No matter how fast Ariella ran, she wouldn’t be able to escape the Crown Prince’s palace. The servants and knights here would side with their master, not the fake duchess.
“Where do you think you’re going-!”
He believed that without a doubt and followed Ariella out of the drawing room.
However, someone completely unexpected blocked Aaron’s path.
A man whom the servants of the Crown Prince’s palace dared not stop, and whom even Aaron could not treat lightly.
A man, short in stature and slight in build, but possessing an intimidating presence that rivaled anyone, glared at Aaron, his golden eyes flashing fiercely.
Ariella retreated behind him as if seeking shelter, while the servants of the Crown Prince’s palace bowed deeply, not daring to even lift their heads.
“What in the world is going on here?”
The man who demanded the truth in a trembling voice was none other than the master of the Imperial Palace, the Emperor of the Juvenil Empire, William Clarence de Juvenil.
