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161

Chapter 161

They all turned to see Darien standing beside them, his face burning with fury.

"We're sorry, my lord, we didn't mean to slander you. Please forgive us."

"Yeah, you didn't mean to, but you were telling them how I was waiting for the sensation to die down so I could send her away or, rather, get married to her? Was there a time I told you I was in love with her? Or did I tell you I was going to free her after what she did to my Luna?"

"I'm sorry, my lord, that's not what I meant. I was only saying what I felt; please forgive me," the maid pleaded.

"I was only saying what she told me. She told me you promised to get married to her once the sensation dies down."

"And you believed her? Not only did you believe her, but you came to tell the bullshit to the rest. If I hadn't come here, you would have boldly passed the message to them. I will only ignore this because this is the first time you are trying this nonsense! I won't take it lightly with you the next time you say such shitty things," he warned her strictly, then walked away.

"You see what I was warning you about? You will end up getting us in trouble. Thank God I never for once took you seriously. I knew you've always hated the late Luna. You are only saying this to change our impression of the alpha. I'm still wondering what your mission is in this castle."

"Don't say that, please. I never hated Luna. I just didn't like the way she was coming back to the alpha. I hated the way she ignored his errors. I only care about her. Imagine if she hadn't come back; would all this have happened?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't have happened, but remember it's not our place to blame the alpha. He's also grieving, for someone who just lost his mate, and now his son has abandoned him too. Though we all know when the time comes he will go get his son, that boy will never forgive him for what happened to us, Mom. Remember, the boy witnessed everything that happened; he was around each time he yelled at her. He was watching every single time he supported Sandra over his mom. All we need to do is pray that everything in this castle works out. Other than that, let's just mind our businesses!"

"You are right; let's just mind our businesses. But what about that Sandra lady? Even at this point, she's still bossing around."

"It's not hard; let's make her life a living hell, just the same way she did to the late Luna. I know we can't kill her directly, but there are other ways for us to make her pay. You know when I talked to her, she kept asking questions like, was she there when you took the food? Did she talk to the alpha? I guess the lady who came earlier threatened to poison her; that's why she's scared you added something."

"We can't kill her, but I believe we can make her life unbearable. There's no need to poison her because that's just like giving her a quick and easy death, and that's like having mercy on her."

"I heard she's allergic to strawberries. Let's do something good with that. She will pay for killing Luna. If she thought killing the Luna would make her the next in command here, then she's fucking wrong. And since she still has that silly idea, she needs someone to change it for her. She needs to know that her days of being bossy are over. Even if she's freed later, I will make sure she doesn't leave in one piece!"

"But what if the alpha gets mad at us?"

"You heard what he just said; he no longer gives a fuck about her. He has never cared about her; he was only under her charm. Now that he's free from it, do you think he will still back her up? Someone who killed his Luna? Hell no!"

"If you say so, then we can just go ahead and do whatever we wish to do. The alpha won't get angry; rather, he will consider us to be helping him."

Darien slowly opened the door, sneaking in like he didn't want the old man to wake up.

"Don't sneak in, Darien. I already perceived your scent from afar."

"Dad, good afternoon," he greeted, taking a seat beside him.

"What's so good about the afternoon? I know I was incompetent, but I never raised you this way. I never raised you to be this heartless!"

"Dad, what do you mean?" He twitched his brow in confusion.

"Don't even pretend, Darien. I've heard everything that happened. I know you feel guilty; that's why you haven't been here to see me for days. Tell me, Darien, why did you do it? You could have at least chased her out rather than planned to kill her with that funny woman."

"Dad, where did you hear that from?"

"Where did I get that from? It's been circulating in this place for months. Each time I get up to take a walk, I end up hearing them discuss how cruel you were to her. They even said you tampered with her brakes; that's how she fell into the bridge. Everyone had their own version of the story."

"Dad, you also believed them? You believe I'd do such a thing?" he asked, his voice filled with guilt and anger.

"I dare not deny the fact that for a second I fell for it. The rumors were too much for me to ignore, like some were personally ringing in my ears like they knew I was your dad. I couldn't ignore the fact that I fell for it."

"Dad, you have to believe me; I had no hand in what happened to her. And besides, Sandra has been using charm on me. She made me do every single thing she wanted. It was just recently that Dora told me she was sent by Henry and her mom."

"Can you just hear yourself speak? I never expected this from you, Darien. I thought you could do better! How come you managed to fall so hard for her charm?"

"Dad, you don't understand. It happened so fast; it all felt like a dream. From Alisha going missing to her showing up on the day of the coronation, I was supposed to get mad at her, but funny enough, I couldn't even gather the strength to do it. I know I messed up, and I'm trying to mend that."

"I heard you mention Henry and one other person. Who's that?" he asked. Darien twitched his brow; he could remember telling him all this a few days ago, so how could he forget? It was then he remembered what Drake told him weeks back; it's normal for him to forget things.

"Henry's mom is not dead; it's been confirmed."

"I told you the other day, she won't die that easily. She practices a lot of black magic. Back then in the castle, after your mom died, I caught her, and that's the reason she killed your sister and me. That day, they chased your sister and me until we got to a cliff. Your sister fell down the cliff, while I managed to hold on. I didn't expect her to follow me there; she thought I was dead, so she left me."

"So you never saw her dead body? All these years I've concluded that she's dead. If you didn't find her corpse, then there's a possibility that she's alive."

"I don't think it's possible for her to be alive; she must have probably followed her down the cliff to finish her completely."

"We can never tell."

A soft knock was soon heard on the door.

"I guess the nurses are here to give you your medications."

"Yeah, they've been feeding me food I don't even understand. They claim the doctor said I should be eating only fruits. I don't want to eat them anymore."

"Sure, tell me what you want to eat, and I will go get it for you."

The person at the door knocked for the second time; it was then they remembered someone was outside.

"Come in."

Drake walked in with a nurse behind her.

He completely ignored Darien and walked up to the man on the bed.

"How are you feeling today?"

"I'm feeling better; at least I can walk around and get what I crave. I'm tired of being fed with..." Darien quickly cut him off.

"That's okay, Dad. I'm here now; just tell me whatever you want, and I will go get it for you," Darien told him. He looked at the nurse, then chuckled.