Queen of Mean

CHAPTER 29

WRITING DOWN her letter of command on a piece of parchment, Tori slid it inside the message holder. "Go," said Tori as she watched the white owl flew to the north.

"Your pet has been glaring at me since I came here, Tori." The wariness of Prince Yei Lin's voice made her glanced at her back. The crown prince of the Ming Country meant Tori's hawk which was situated on her favorite chair. Talia, the northern hawk, was standing still as if it was only a decoration of her temporary room. But if you would look closely, its eyes were moving. Prince Yei Lin was standing there for some time now. Raising her eyebrows, Tori faced him. "Have you secured the warden of the capital's prison cell?"

"Come on. Do you call that a task? That's easy, Tori." The grinning Prince Allistair mocked him as he sat lazily on the couch with a goblet of wine on his other hand. "Oh, before I forgot, my old man sent the royal messenger."

Tori petted Talia before sitting on the chair where it was also situated. "Good. The royal envoy from the Kingdom of Monakre will give us some leeway to buy some time."

The punishment of a royal family who committed treason would be made public wherein the king and the commoners would witness. Unlike the other punishment, Corean would face a gruesome death by the ax. The ax that the executioner would use would be a blunt one that would take the execution six to ten swings before severing the head. The criminal would not die immediately as he would feel his neck breaking. Just thinking about it made Tori's blood boil.

Prince Yei Lin interrupted her train of thought. "It will give us three days exactly."

Three days. Three days to prepare.

Tori served herself a tea before she fed Talia a peanut which the latter happily obliged. "Alice. Bring Marchioness Susana to me."

Prince Allistair who was lazing on her couch immediately stood up. "I'll be going now." He dashed outside her room. You are such a child, Alice.

"What a brat," said Yei Lin. "Duke Castaña's men surrounded his prison cell to keep him safe, but Prince Lauren's knights were able to sneak in."

Tori's eyes were blank as she listened to what Prince Yei Lin said. "Did they cut his tongue off?" Like they did to all the prisoners?

Tori was raging inside. She wanted to lash out, but couldn't. To win this, she must be smarter than Prince Cory. She needed to steel herself like how he steeled himself during those times that everyone hated him.

"No. Duke Castaña made it in time. Tori, what do you want now?"

What do I want? After what you told me, I also asked that myself. I buried myself with the misbelieved that no one will be able to protect me. But a strange prince proved me wrong. He defied my fate and took it as his own. So what do I want? "I want to continue his plan. I will usurp the throne."

"King Elphaim was the benefactor of the tribes that tried to conquer the Arin Tribe. With his obvious favor to Prince Lauren, we must expect an unfavorable judgment even if we present Tessa as a witness."

Prince Yei Lin sat in front of her so she served him tea. "So the trial will just be a farce."

"Indeed. Prince Lauren will expect that we brought the influence of the Monakre Kingdom to prepare for the noble trial. But, we are preparing for more. We will usurp the throne with the help of my vassals' influence."