Wife of The Demon Prince
Chapter 84: The queen’s proposal

Chapter 84: The queen’s proposal

In the magnificent mansion of the Tudor, Claire was seen standing while she held the bedpost as her maids tied her corset strings.

"You idiot! Are you planning to kill me?! Release it a little!" She bellowed in rage. The maid trembled slightly, "Y-yes, milady." As she knew she could be hit if she did it wrong.

Claire had locked herself up in the mansion crying for weeks whenever she remembered the humiliation at the gathering. Her beautiful eyes were a bit swollen. She’d lost everything because of that bitch, but suddenly this morning the queen had sent for her presence in the palace.

It was a personal invitation from the queen herself, she couldn’t afford to miss such opportunity to get to meet the queen personally.

After Claire was done preparing, she immediately boarded her carriage, she’d always wanted to meet the queen in person, but was denied under the pretext that she was too busy. It was a mystery why she had suddenly wanted to meet her in person after her reputation was already tarnished. But Claire had no reasons to refuse such invitation.

_That bitch ruined my beautiful image in the kingdom! I want her to suffer to death!_

She’d suffered so many losses because of Ara. Although Claire had planned everything, but the outcome was always going in the wrong direction for her. Her image had fallen so low that she could no longer show herself in the society. People thought of her as a wicked lady, who tried to ruin Ara’s face and spread false rumors out of jealousy.

Although Ara had embellished some of the details, but it was mostly true. However, Claire was mortified by the public revelation.

_This is all that bitch Ara’s fault!_

If Ara had only accepted the harassment, she wouldn’t have gone this far, but the bitch kept trying to stand up to her and it only made Claire want to destroy her even more. Her dislike had grown into a poisonous seething hatred.

_I want to kill her! Does she think I will back out because of those stupid rumors? Well, she is wrong! I will curse her to death for eternity._

The carriage finally arrived at the castle. Claire stepped out of the vehicle, as she walked inside the building, a servant approached her.

The maid bowed, "Good day, my lady. Her majesty said to bring you in."

"Lead the way." Claire walked into the palace with her posture held as straight as possible. She walked elegantly into the queen’s chamber, and saw Merona seated gracefully.

Claire bowed deeply, "Hail her majesty!"

"Stand up my dear. Its been a long time, lady Tudor." The queen smiled genuinely, her great beauty unchanged despite her age.

At Merona’s gesture of affection, Claire burst into tears, "...Y-your majesty."

"Oh my child, don’t cry...Your father and I are a distant relative, but I’ve been too busy that I couldn’t meet you soon."

It was true that the Tudor and the queen were very distant relatives, but it was too far back to link Merona to Claire in any meaningful way. As Claire thought about it now, the queen was the only person who could bring her out of this humiliation Ara had threw her in, because the queen was the woman of the top in society.

Merona continued in a gentle voice, "I’ve heard some baseless rumors about you going around, but don’t worry I don’t believe any of it."

Claire had no idea why the queen invited her, but the way she was on her side made her feel even more aggrieved as she burst into tears again, "T-that’s right, they all lied on me. It’s so unfair, your majesty."

Merona’s eyes narrowed slightly, but the ends of her mouth still held the soft smile, "Is it true that the Boxton eldest daughter was the one to frame you like this?" She asked.

"Y-yes. That’s true, Arabella Boxton started all those rumors about me." She cried out.

Merona resumed with concern in her voice, "This is not right, if the rumors continue to spread, you will lose your place in society. It’s not supposed to be this way, my dear."

Claire cried even more at Merona’s words, "W-what should I do now, Your majesty?"

In contrast to Claire’s downtrodden look, Merona had an ominous expression on her face. "Don’t worry, dear. From today onwards I will assign you as my right hand lady...Your name will be cleared."

"...Really?" Claire was stunned, because only older and wealthy women were usually appointed to that position, and all the young maidens in the kingdom had dreamt to have such position. While she would serve the queen, but it wasn’t as a maid. To be the queen’s right hand lady, meant that she would become Merona’s closest aide, she would have an even higher authority in the name of the queen, she would be considered the Queen’s voice in many places, and she would be able to influence the queen’s decisions since she would be the first the queen will seek advice from.

If that really happened...no one could say anything against her, they will treat her as one of the royal family!

She quickly regained herself and bowed down to Merona, "Thank you so much! In what way can I repay such kindness you showed me, your majesty?"

Merona’s eyes glimmered like ice, but when she spoke her voice was as soft as ever, "You see...my men caught an intruder in my palace today. And ever since the Boxton came into the picture, there have been many people attempting to drive a wedge between the crown Prince and I these days." She paused for a moment and continued, "It seems to me the Boxton are nothing but bad luck to me either."

Claire’s eyes widened in astonishment, "Your majesty, you also saw the Boxton’s deceit? That’s what they are good at!"

"Yes. If you desire...I’ll help you marry the crown Prince instead of the Boxton eldest daughter." Merona proposed.

Claire’s face lit up at those words, "Really?!"

Merona gave her a nod of her head. She did not say that she disliked Ara directly. She only said she would help if Claire wanted. Thus, if anything went wrong, Claire would be the one to carry the entire blame on her shoulders.

That was the way Merona had been operating in society for a long time. And now, she would use Claire to her own advantage to get rid of the crown Prince!

__

_What does he mean by Merek’s bloody clothes?_

Ara heard what Oliver had reported to Hamon, as she was sitting right next to him. Merek’s expressionless face suddenly floated into her mind.

_I haven’t seen him in awhile now, did he get into trouble?_

Ara’s expression hardened at the thought. However, Hamon’s terrifying aura was more than enough to make an opponent shrink in fear.

Anne, who noticed their expressions, ventured forward cautiously, "Is something wrong, brother-in-law?" She asked.

Hamon turned towards her with a faint smile, "No, it’s nothing. You and your sister can go and tour the palace, you can also watch the play in the evening. I have something important to attend to...if you need anything, just order anybody around. Ok?" He assured.

Anne nodded, "Ok."

"I’ll leave first." He said then turned to Ara, "I hope you enjoy your stay here."

Although he easily concealed any trace of anger, his face was still like stone. Ara knew he was angry, she watched as he rose from his seat. She wondered what happened that made him this way, she wanted to ask him but because of Anne, she kept quite and watched him leave the room with Oliver following behind.

As the door closed, Anne turned to Ara with an excited voice, "Eee! Brother-in-law is the best! I never thought I could give my sister to just anyone, but the more I see how nice he is, the more I feel relived that you’re in a good hand!" She exclaimed as she took the plate of snacks and started to munch on it.

Ara was glad her sister liked Hamon but on the other hand, his expression before he left the room was stuck on her mind. She shook her head to dismiss the unnecessary worries in her mind. He would take care of whatever it was, it shouldn’t be any of her business. She’d only come here for a tour around with her sister and not to meddle in their matter.

It was better to focus on what had brought her here. As Anne munched on the snacks, she sang praises to the cook who made such delicious snacks, "Hmm. This is really delicious. Try it, sister."

Ara took some and tried it, "You’re right, it’s delicious. I like it." She said.

Anne was quick to agree,"I plan to eat plenty of this, let’s ask for more."

Ara shook her head at her sister’s shameless self when it came to food. Her sister was really a foodie after all. The unease in Ara’s mind gradually stated to fade as she spent time with Anne.

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