Chapter 84 Rose Betrays for Profit?
Rodolfo: "Ms. Cressida from the Hamilton family actually possesses extraordinary martial arts skills. She can use pebbles as hidden weapons from quite a distance and injured me."
He tore open the clothes on his shoulder, and blood immediately flowed down his fingers.
Yosef saw with his own eyes that a small piece of flesh was missing from his arm, about the length of a pinky finger.
Yosef's handsome face lost its smile.
"Are you sure it was a pebble?"
"Yes," Rodolfo frowned, "Earlier during the ambush, I saw her use a leaf as a weapon to knock the flint out of Little Duke's hand. Otherwise, I wouldn't have risked making a move."
Rodolfo had to ensure the plan was foolproof. He thought he wouldn't need to do anything, but who could have expected Cressida to show up.
She not only ruined Yosef's plan but also got Rodolfo injured.
"Using a leaf as a weapon?" Yosef felt like he'd heard this somewhere before.
Rodolfo said: "During the Battle of Sunrise Peak, General Hamilton used this method to take the enemy commander's head. I heard that thick fog covered the river that day, with only a small boat. Everyone heard sounds but saw no one, and when they finally reacted, the commander was already beheaded, with only a green leaf stuck in his neck. After that, General Hamilton became famous throughout the land."
Yosef's eyes narrowed in thought: "Cressida is General Hamilton's own sister and lived with her brother at the military fortress for several years. It's natural she would know General Hamilton's special skills, but..."
Yosef paused briefly, a dangerous gleam flashing in his eyes.
But her timing was too coincidental—he hadn't seen her at the banquet earlier.
Could she already be secretly in contact with Miguel?
Cameron and Miguel both participated in the Battle of Sunrise Peak back then. Perhaps that's when Cressida and Miguel met.
However, Rodolfo brought up the matter Ethan had asked him to help with not long ago.
"I met Cressida at that time. She seemed calm and composed. I thought she was innocently caught up in the Flower Festival bandit case, but if she's already working with Miguel, then Your Highness Yosef, you must be careful of Cressida. Besides, the Hamilton family's influence is crucial. If they side with Prince Miguel..."
Rodolfo didn't finish.
But Yosef let out a cold laugh.
"Miguel appears to seek nothing and compete for nothing, but actually schemes for military power and constantly builds military achievements. I'm afraid even Marshall is kept in the dark. Interesting."
Yosef suddenly remembered: "The girl Bruce wanted to recommend last time—wasn't she also from the Hamilton family?"
Rodolfo nodded: "Yes, Rose, the goddaughter of the Hamilton Mansion. She's been wanting to meet Your Highness."
The carriage stopped.
Yosef lifted his robe and stepped down: "Tell her to come to the palace. I want to see what she has to say."
Rodolfo didn't follow him down. Instead, he looked down at his bleeding shoulder.
He remembered Cressida's murderous look in that instant.
Walking in the inner palace, he had seen Doyle's imperial authority and the various expressions of civil and military officials.
So Rodolfo knew very clearly that Cressida's gaze was definitely not that of an ordinary woman.
Her overwhelming killing intent was as if she had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, making his back involuntarily chill, feeling like prey targeted by a beast.
When a person is off guard, their eyes reveal their true inner self.
Cressida must be no simple person.
Dusk sunset.
The evening sun, like spilled blood, spread across the gleaming roof of Yosef's palace.
Rose lowered her head as she was secretly led into the courtyard.
In the secret chamber, Yosef wore fine clothes and was wiping his blade.
On the wooden board in front of him lay sliced meat, dripping with blood.
Rose was startled when she entered.
The servant who brought her seemed used to it.
"Your Highness Yosef, Ms. Hamilton has arrived."
Rose quickly paid her respects: "Greetings, Your Highness Yosef."
Yosef turned around, squinting his eyes, taking only a moment to size up Rose before saying: "Sit."
She turned her head, glanced at the bronze chair beside her, and slowly sat down.
Yosef said nothing, so she dared not speak either.
She could only hear the sound of his knife cutting into the meat.
Soon, a bloody person was dragged in, and Rose's face immediately turned pale with fear.
The servants put him down and left. Yosef walked over and stabbed the knife into the man's leg.
Rose covered her mouth in fright but dared not scream.
Yosef suddenly turned around with a refined smile: "Sorry, I forgot there was a guest here."
He pulled out the knife, the person shuddered once, then lost consciousness and didn't move.
Yosef methodically wiped his blade.
"This is a traitor who betrayed me. Ms. Hamilton must also hate such people, right? Two-faced, treacherous—they should be cut into a thousand pieces, shouldn't they?"
He approached, bent down to look into Rose's eyes, his narrow eyes smiling yet not smiling.
Rose's eyes were full of fear as she kept nodding: "Your Highness Yosef, Your Highness is right."
Yosef turned around, put down the knife, and washed his fingertips in the clean water nearby.
"I heard you have something to tell me. It better be useful information, because I also hate wasting time."
After that scene just now, Rose didn't dare play any tricks.
She dropped to her knees with a thud: "Your Highness Yosef, I want to report a shocking secret concerning the Hamilton Mansion."
"What?" Yosef seemed somewhat interested. "Let's hear it."
Rose trembled slightly: "The world believes that General Hamilton has a twin sister, but I've lived at the Hamilton Mansion for ten years and heard a hidden rumor."
"When Cressida of the Hamilton family was born, her brother was already dead. Only she survived. This news came from Tatum inside the estate."
Yosef looked at her, his deep eyes rippling with light.
"How do I know if what you're saying is true or false?"
"The midwife who delivered Clio back then was named Pippa. She must know the truth. Pippa is dead, but her son Isaac is still alive. I've found out where he lives."
Rose's hands shook as she pulled out a piece of paper from her sleeve and handed it up with both hands.
Yosef's slender fingers unfolded it and glanced at it.
He leaned back against the table, his posture relaxed yet giving off an extremely oppressive feeling.
"You're an orphan who depends on the Hamilton family's support, yet you dare tell me such a serious family secret. Aren't you afraid that if the Hamilton family falls, you'll have no one to rely on?"
Rose lowered her head and spoke very quickly: "What good does it do me to keep secrets for the Hamilton family? Patrick doesn't care about my life at all. In their eyes, I'm just a pawn that can be discarded at any time."
"I need to find another way out. I beg Your Highness to help me. As long as I can establish myself in Emerald City, I will never forget your great kindness."
Yosef chuckled: "But you seem useless. I'm more interested in Cressida."
Rose suddenly looked up: "With such leverage, Your Highness won't have trouble threatening her."
Yosef said nothing, silent for a moment.
Suddenly, he flicked a piece of meat with his blade, hitting Rose right on the forehead.
Her body suddenly froze.
"Eat it, and I'll agree," he said with a slight smile.
But Rose's eyes turned toward the bloody person lying over there.
If the meat Yosef gave was all sliced from people, then this piece of raw meat was...
She trembled even more violently.
"Yo... Your Highness Yosef..."
Yosef suddenly burst into laughter, as if finding it very amusing.
"What? Scared? I'm not that cruel."
He called out, and a guard entered.
Yosef gave him Isaac's address: "Go find him, then bring him back as fast as possible. Within five days, I want to see him—"
He drew out his words, stepped forward, and lifted Rose's chin with the tip of his knife.
"You better not be playing me."
"I wouldn't dare!" Rose trembled.
When she came out of Yosef's palace, her legs were so weak she couldn't even get into the carriage and needed maids to lift her up.
Rose gasped for breath, her face pale, but she thought to herself that since Yosef was so terrifying, Cressida would finally suffer when facing him.
Cressida had brought this upon herself. She forced everyone to turn against her—she dug her own grave!
Thinking of this, Rose slowly exhaled.
She could now return to the Hamilton Mansion openly and honestly.