Chapter 206 The Secret Under the Corridor
Old Lady Titan immediately denied it, "How is that possible? I've always thought you and Mephist had a deep relationship as husband and wife. I couldn't bear to separate you two, I..."
She couldn't continue, because Mephist beside her fell silent for a long moment, then suddenly interrupted her, "Mother, you've been threatening Trion all along, saying you'd make me divorce her - was it because of this?"
Old Lady Titan's lips trembled, "It's not like that."
But Dr. Pascal didn't wait for them to continue. He went on, "It's not just Trion - Candy is included in this too."
Mephist's eyes widened, "Mother, why? Didn't you think Candy brought back great achievements? You were so happy you threw a ball to celebrate!"
Old Lady Titan couldn't explain herself. She shot a hateful glare at Dr. Pascal.
She looked down on not just Trion, but Candy too.
The highest rank in Trion and Candy's families was only baron. According to the plan at the time, if the Titan family could rise to earl or even marquis through Holden and Candy's military achievements, then Trion and Candy, both from baron families, wouldn't be good enough anymore.
Unlike Candy who had military achievements to back her up, Trion came from an ordinary baron family that couldn't possibly help the Titan family, and they couldn't take Trion back either. Since Mephist and Trion were destined to divorce anyway, they might as well keep her around. However, keeping an ex-wife in the house as a mistress would look bad, so Old Lady Titan could only painfully decide to have Trion take Anne's place - selling her still-young body to make connections for the family. In exchange, the Titan family would accept her. It was killing two birds with one stone. Old Lady Titan didn't believe Trion would have the courage to resist.
As for Candy, although she did have military achievements, she was just a woman after all, and Holden's wife. His Majesty's reward was for the Titan family, not for her alone, and even Candy's own family wouldn't benefit from this.
She knew that after the victory in the Eastern battlefield, the Soth Empire wouldn't have any more wars for several years and wouldn't need Candy on the battlefield. In that case, once Candy returned to Titan Manor to fulfill her duties as a wife, she would lose the credentials she'd been so proud of. In Old Lady Titan's eyes, this was no different from losing her value.
Maybe Old Lady Titan couldn't deal with Candy right away, but she could wait a few years, then quietly arrange for an assassin or poison Candy. Either way, they'd tell everyone that Candy had been in poor health due to injuries from the battlefield, so dying young was only natural. They might even get compensation from His Majesty. Then it would be perfectly reasonable for Holden to find a more suitable wife from a family of equal status.
But none of these fantasies had any chance of coming true now.
Candy had held Holden back on the battlefield. Not only did she gain no military achievements herself, she caused Holden to be punished and lose most of his military achievements. After all that hard work going to war, he came home empty-handed.
Old Lady Titan couldn't accept this.
Even now, she desperately wanted Holden and Candy to divorce quickly so he could find a more suitable wife.
Like Anne, who was being told by His Majesty to find a husband.
Dr. Pascal let out a cold laugh, "And you even dared to set your sights on Anne, wanting Holden to seduce her and trick her into getting pregnant. That way the Virlet family heir would carry Titan blood, and you could take the duke title for yourselves."
"Later you thought that since Anne had been married to Holden before and was good at managing the household, if Holden just apologized and promised to remarry her once Candy died, maybe Anne could forget about you arranging assassins to kill her. Old Lady Titan, may I ask you - are you going to pretend you don't know about the assassin situation either?"
"What!?"
The surroundings instantly erupted at the mention of "assassin." "When I heard that Duke Virlet was attacked at the Titan house, it was actually arranged by the Titan family themselves?"
"Yes, I heard Duke Virlet say it herself last time. I don't understand - what does a human life mean to her?"
"My God, when I get back I'm having my people investigate. If we have any dealings with this family, we must cut them all off. We absolutely cannot let such a dirty and despicable family have any connection with us!"
Old Lady Titan shrieked, "I didn't send assassins to kill her!"
Anne's expression was calm, "If anyone here has doubts, you're welcome to visit Virlet Manor anytime. The assassin who tried to kill me is locked in my dungeon. I can have him come out and tell everyone exactly who sent him."
"As for what my life is worth." Anne laughed lightly, "In most people's eyes, I'm Duke Virlet, Commander of the Ivy Knights, Duke Skoda's daughter. But in Old Lady Titan's eyes, and even the entire Titan family's eyes, I'm just a treasure vault, a dowry, an obstacle that would make them rich if they killed me - anything but a person."
"When my mother entrusted me to the Titan family, they swore they would take good care of me. Holden promised he would have only me, no mistresses. I didn't force him to say that, but he couldn't keep his word. Instead, after my family suffered that disaster, he joined with his mother to harm me."
Hearing this, Lucida rolled her eyes disdainfully and said quietly, "Who knows if you or your family did something shameless that made them unable to tolerate you, and caused the Virlet family members to all die... Ah!"
"Smack—"
No one saw Anne's movement clearly. In the blink of an eye, Anne had already closed in on Lucida and slapped her hard across the face.
Princess Kirenya's heart ached. She hadn't even been willing to hit Lucida, yet Anne dared to strike her in front of her - this was a blatant provocation!
If she didn't do something, where would she put her face!
"Duke Virlet, you dare to hit my daughter right in front of me - do you have any respect for me as a princess!?"
Anne's face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost. She stared coldly at Princess Kirenya, "I already said just now that the Virlet family tragedy was a misfortune for the Soth Empire. Yet Miss Lucida insisted on bringing it up again, even blaming me for it - is she saying that I and my family did something wrong by going to war and killing the enemy?"