Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 214: Dirty Confessions II

Chapter 214: Dirty Confessions II

"Ahem." Francessa frantically cleared her throat behind her hand, her face flushed red with embarrassment. "Pardon me, Your Majesty, I don’t know what it is that came over me―"

"Don’t put too much thought into it, Lady Francessa," Atticus said, interrupting her. He leaned back, casually bringing his cup of black coffee to his lips, sipping on the bitter drink.

Even though he despised this woman’s guts, he still needed to give credit where it was due. She had managed to get her hands on some very wonderful coffee beans, most likely shipped from Raxuvia. These couldn’t be found in Vramid despite the surge of popularity it had a few years ago when it was first introduced to the land.

"It is normal to crave power," Atticus said, sighing in delight at the delectable drink. "It is the reason why many different things can be accomplished. I am sure you have worked hard to become the woman you are today, and to have achieved all that you have now."

Francessa nervously laughed then nodded. She felt it again― that sudden blur in her mind that caused her to feel like she was drunk on too much wine after a long social event. Her lips felt loose and she could feel herself speaking before she even wanted to.

"In a day and age where women are not known to have businesses, it is surely a difficult task," she said. "Many think that it is because of my husband that I am where I am now, but it can’t be further from the truth! I got to where I am today because of my own hard work. That oaf is nothing more than a bum that is dragging me down."

Instantly after those words left her lips, Francessa gasped sharply, a mouthful of cold air inhaled into her lungs. She looked at Atticus’s eyes, meeting the golden gaze that seemed to see through any and everything, making her feel the most vulnerable she had ever felt in years. Then, her line of sight lowered onto the plate that Atticus had just handed her. The leftover blue powder that stained the beautiful cake still lingered, small shimmering specks capturing the light in the restaurant.

This cake...

"Oh?" Atticus spoke again before Francessa could think too much about what she had just eaten. "You don’t seem to be particularly fond of your husband."

The mere mention of that good-for-nothing Lucien Seibert sent Francessa’s blood boiling. She scoffed, unable to help herself but roll her eyes at the mere thought of that man.

Her initial train of thought was lost.

"Fond of him?" she echoed. "What can I be fond of? Fond of the way he spends my hard-earned money like it grows on trees? Fond of him spending his time fraternizing with all sorts of lowly women on the streets and in red light districts? Fond of the way he would then butter up to me and try to distract me from the more important things that needed to be done?"

Francessa began to count off her fingers, ranting one by one.

"Tell me, Your Majesty, would you be fond of a partner like that?"

Meanwhile, Daphne had just finished setting up her sodalite receiver. She and Jonah held onto one each. Hers would be set so that the entire restaurant could hear their conversation. It was charmed so that while the other people present in the vicinity could hear what’s broadcasted loud and clear, Francessa Seibert herself wouldn’t realize how unusually loud her own voice was.

On the other hand, Jonah’s receiver was meant to be much louder. It would play Francessa Seibert’s dirty confessions out into the open streets so that the peasants that hadn’t been invited to her fancy opening day could still listen in to her traitorous confessions.

True enough, multiple people had looked up from their food and were glancing back and forth, trying to search for the source of the sound. They were like sharks that had just sensed blood in the water, hungry for more.

"No," Atticus replied with a pleasant smile on his face, "I will not."

"Which is exactly why Queen Daphne is not a good―" This time, Francessa stopped herself short. Her eyes went wide when she realized what it was she was just about to say before she snapped back.

Good grief!

She had just witnessed Veronica Yarrowood nearly thrown out of Vramid for disrespecting the Queen, and there she was, nearly committing the same mistake in front of King Atticus within no more than ten minutes!

"You were saying?" Atticus prompted.

"Not a... good..." Francessa held her tongue back, fighting against the desperate urge to spill her thoughts right onto the table.

She breathed in heavily, trying to maintain the slowly increasing feeling of pain that was building in her stomach. It felt like cramps at first, nothing she wasn’t used to already, but it soon deepened into something much sharper than that.

"Are you alright, Lady Francessa?" Atticus asked, his tone almost playful. Francessa wondered if she had heard it wrongly. "You look awfully pale."

He raised a hand, beckoning for someone to come over. Francessa’s head was nearly fully pressed into the table with the way she was hunched over in pain. She hadn’t even realized that it wasn’t a waitress employed to her restaurant that had come over but instead, it was the maid that King Atticus had insisted stand in a corner where he could see.

Daphne placed a cup of tea on the table before retreating, shuffling back wordlessly to where she was standing prior.

"Here, Lady Francessa." Atticus pushed the teacup forward. Francessa looked up again to see what the king had offered. Her lips paled even further when she realized it was a blue liquid.

Blue again.

"What... what is this?" she asked shakily.

"Butterfly pea flower tea," Atticus smoothly replied. "A waitress brought it over for you. It’s said to be a good anxiety relievant and mood stabilizer. Perhaps this would help?"

Francessa Seibert needed an extra dose. This woman’s self control was much stronger than that of her husband’s. Thankfully, they already had blue-colored tea on her restaurant’s menu. It was more than easy to add an extra ingredient into the drink.

Under Atticus’s intense watch, Francessa shakily picked up the teacup and drank from it. It was a delicious drink, but more importantly, it was the distinct taste that Francessa remembered from when she had been taste-testing her menu personally. Knowing that this was something from her own restaurant allowed her to calm down a little more.

Perhaps she had been overthinking.

"Are you feeling better?" Atticus asked.

"Yes, actually." As she spoke, she could feel the unease from her stomach nearly instantly alleviating. "It’s quite magical."

"Wouldn’t it be nice if you also had such magical abilities?" Atticus asked. He then sighed and shook his head. "Alas, you’re but a normal human."

"Actually..."