Empress of Another World

Short Stories 7.7

It was a long yet short week. It was a very productive week for the emperor and the empress.

For the past week, the secret passages have allowed Bina and Princess Beatrice to remain hidden. Lucretius and Bina held each other’s hand lovingly as they strolled down the passage.

Lucretius asked, “By the way, are you sure this is okay? Do you really think it’s safe to leave Duchess Lonensia as is?”

Bina giggled. “I didn’t just let her off! She was such a strong arrogant woman, and I made her kneel in front of me and used her own son against her. I can guarantee you that the duchess has never been humiliated like that in her life.”

Lucretius nodded. “I guess. Even when she was thanking you, she looked like she would rather die.”

Bina whispered sweetly, “So that is why you can’t kill him, Luc.”

Lucretius frowned. He knew who Bina was referring to.

She continued, “I am serious. Don’t kill him. That man is Duchess Lonensia’s weakness. He needs to remain alive, so we can use him against her. Roberto will be our dog leash for Norma. If she loses her son, who knows what she will do?”

From the beginning, Lucretius agreed it would be best to keep the duchess around, so they can use her as they wished. Bina was the empress; therefore, she had full control over the castle. However, she was only one woman and couldn’t rule the entire social world of Cransia. If she got rid of the Duchess Lonensia, the head of the noble ladies, things could get confusing and messy.

Bina needed to keep Norma around. As long as she had control over the duchess, she had control over the noble families.

This whole scandal worked out very well in the end. Roberto’s stupidity and arrogance gave them Duchess Lonensia, yet Lucretius was still unhappy about one thing.

“But to keep that bastard alive? Could it be that you… fell for him…?”

Bina pouted and pinched his nose. “Don’t even joke about something like that! How could you even think that?! Don’t you remember what I said to you? I hated his gaze. It made my skin crawl.”

Lucretius looked unconvinced. “I guess, but…”

“I thought you were just acting like you didn’t trust me… Or were you really thinking I had an affair?”

“Of course not, but…”

When Lucretius didn’t finish his sentence, Bina narrowed her eyes.

“But what?”

Lucretius hugged her tight. “But the fact is that he targeted you. Do you know how hard I tried not to hurt him? Every time he looked at you, I wanted to pull his eyes out. Every time he kissed your hand, I wanted to sew his lips up. I wanted to chop his hands off just for holding your hand.”

“…”

Bina sighed. She was so used to Lucretius now that most of the odd things Lucretius did and said looked adorable to her. She could understand him being jealous of others from time to time, but when his scary side came out like this, she felt concerned. She thought this side of him was gone after their marriage.

Bina said to him, “Stop overreacting.”

“Why would you think this is overreacting?”

“Because it is. If he succeeded, then I would have wanted to kill him too, but he didn’t. He failed miserably, right?”

Lucretius complained like a child. “You are too soft-hearted.”

“We can afford to have hearts now. Katleyanira is gone, and we don’t have any enemies like Prince Coronel anymore. You promised you will do your best to inherit a peaceful kingdom to our child.”