Forget My Husband, I’ll Go Make Money [Chapter 309]

Previous | Toc | Next

Running Away…(44)

–

With a glance from Aristine, the soldier standing guard in front of her opened the door.

The door that wouldn’t open, no matter how much she knocked, screamed, or begged. Now, it was opening on its own without a single word from her.

For the first time ever, she willingly set foot in this place that she had never entered of her own will.

* * *

Screech.

An unpleasant sound rang out, sending chills down his bones.

Before being trapped here, Alpheus had never heard such a sound.

To him, doors always opened softly and quietly.

It was as if they were making him aware of his position. Letting him understand that he was dragged down to the bottom in an instant. His teeth chattered every time he heard that sound.

However, his anger only lasted the initial week, where he screamed in anger that he didn’t want to hear such noise.

As the door opened, light peeked into the dark room.

From his spot curled up on the cold floor, Alpheus hurriedly crawled towards the door.

A figure stood there, their back towards the light but he could not see their face clearly.

His eyes had gotten used to the darkness, and it took some time to adjust to the light.

He quickly began to run his mouth. He was in a hurry to speak because the door usually closed right after a piece of bread was tossed in.

“G-Get me out of here! Quickly!”

Even as he spoke, he knew he would be ignored.

Rather than a response, he would be tossed some threatening bread and with a bang, the door would slam shut.

Every maid who had come to deliver food so far acted like that.

Yet this time, the door did not close.

Alpheus stared blankly at the door, then the corners of his mouth began to rise in a smile.

Right, how could there not be a single person in this vast imperial palace with proper thinking?

He himself was the Emperor.

“Why are you hesitating! This is an imperial order! Obey immediately!” Alpheus bellowed, trying to act dignified.

However, there was no reaction from the person he was talking to.

The sun rays coloring the floor began to narrow, signaling the closing of the door.

Alpheus grew desperate and clung to the maid’s skirt.

“I—As long as I get out of here, I will give you anything. Gold, silver, imperial treasures! I will even title you with merit!”

There was still no response.

Once the door closed, he would be once again submerged in this pitch-black darkness.

“Please, please help me. please…”

Alpheus begged, throwing his dignity away.

Over the past week, his mind had been exhausted without paused.

For someone who had lived in comfort and luxury his entire life, a life in prison was practically unbearable torture.

Right at that moment, the person who hadn’t responded the entire time, finally opened their mouth.

“Oh my.”

The voice coming from the top of his head sounded familiar.

Alpheus slowly raised his head.

Their face was still obscured by the background lighting so he couldn’t see them clearly. The sunlight behind them was dazzling like a halo.

“Such a pity.”

However, Alpheus realized who she was.

The door screeched again—the sound causing chills down his spine—and the door closed.

At the same time, the light in the room came on.

It was a magic lamp that wouldn’t turn on, no matter how much Alpheus pleaded.

It was only after adjusting to the light somewhat that Alpheus finally saw Aristine’s face looking down at him. It was only then that he realized he was kneeling down in front of her.

“I never thought you would be like this, Royal father.”

A belated sense of shame washed over him.

But Aristine’s face was ever so tender as she looked down at his visage. There was even a sense of pity in her eyes.

Right, the bond between a parent and their child was unbreakable.

What child would enjoy seeing her own father kneeling and begging like this?

Sure enough, Aristine bent down, lowering herself to Alpheus.

Her purple eyes met his directly.

Right at that moment, Alpheus felt a chilling sensation, like something was crawling up his ankles.

“Didn’t you say kneeling down and drowning in tears is no different from a bug crawling on the ground?”

Her voice was quiet.

“For someone who said all that…” Aristine’s gaze swept over Alpheus again. “Ah, did you choose to become a bug yourself?”

Pfft, a curt laugh echoed through the narrow, old room.

An obvious sound of mockery.

Instantly, Alpheus’s face, which had been staring blankly at Aristine, distorted like a demon.

“How dare you! You wench!”

His clumsy hands almost seemed like they would grab Aristine’s delicate body at any moment.

However.

Crunch!

“Aaaargh!”

Alpheus screamed and his body curled up.

“My, my hand…”

He tremblingly grabbed his right hand. His right finger was twisted awfully.

A golden energy briefly flickered around Aristine before disappearing.

“I never thought you were this senseless,” Aristine clicked her tongue. “Have you forgotten what it means to be 〈Enlightened〉as a god-ordained existence in the Imperial palace?”

Within the walls of the Imperial palace, Aristide was perfectly safe. It was her sanctuary.

That was why she appeared alone before the emperor, even though he was not restrained.

“Or has the knowledge of ‘Enlightenment’s power been lost as well?”

Alpheus looked up at Aristine, who was standing up from her crouch.

Before his finger could even touch Aristine, it was bent back. Was that the power of a true emperor?

“Speaking of which, I heard you say, ‘Imperial Order’.” Aristine continued.

Alpheus gritted his teeth. How could he be thinking such nonsense about a ‘true emperor’?

He was the true emperor.

He had been coronated, bestowed the scepter, the crown had been placed on his head, and he had taken the oaths…

He was the only living royal family member who had gone through that lawful process.

“To think a deposed king would go as far as to impersonate the emperor.”

Deposed king.

At those words, Alpheus’ gleaming eyes glared at Aristine.

It was humiliating.

“How dare you wench…!”

“You wench?”

Aristine quietly repeated.

He wanted to argue and say he could call her whatever, but strangely enough, his lips refused to move.

But he couldn’t assuage the fear that was swallowing him whole.

Alpheus pushed himself to yell loudly.

“You’ve gained audacity after gaining some power! Even filial piety is above you! What sort of ungrateful behavior is this, to imprison your own father in such a wretched place and not even give him proper food!”

Aristine gave no reply and Alpheus was encouraged by that.

Using his healthy hand, he pointed at Aristine and scolded her.

“Do you want me to freeze or starve to death? You think it’s starving that is killing me? You are the one that’s killing me! After committing the unforgiveable crime of killing your father, you think you can become emperor?!”

Aristine quietly watched the emperor as he fumed, then she turned away.

Her eyes slowly scanned the room.

In reality, she could tell without looking.

The air was harsh due to lack of proper ventilation and the floor was filled with clumps of dust because it wasn’t being cleaned.

It was on this very floor that Aristine had to spend her nights.

The tattered blanket smelled awful, but she had no choice; she had to cover herself to survive.

Despite that, the thin blanket with its many holes didn’t offer much protection from the cold.

The bread, which was delivered once a day and covered in thick dust, was hard enough to hurt her teeth if she bit into it without caution.

The cup of water given with the bread was so small that she had to reach through the iron bars to catch some rainwater for her thirst. When it failed to rain for consecutive days, Aristine suffered from extreme dehydration.

After that, she pretended to break the cups and didn’t return it.

The maid who threw the bread didn’t react much, probably because she didn’t think Aristine was going anywhere.

Thanks to that, Aristine was able to save rainwater by collecting several water cups.

She watched the outside world reflected in that small cup and drank the dusty water.

That was the environment Aristine grew up in.

No, it would be more accurate to say that she survived rather than grew up.

“This is so strange.” Aristine tilted her head. “I just told them to treat you how I used to be treated.”

“What?”

“You said this was the act of a father for his beloved daughter.”

Aristine smiled and held Alpheus’s shoulder.

“I prepared the same thing for my father, whom I love so dearly. After all, that is the love you spoke of, father.”

Alpheus’s eyes shook incoherently as he watched Aristine.

“Ah, is my love not enough? Then what can I do? Shall I whip you all day, or dump your face in water till you pass out?”

These were the same things done by Alpheus because he wanted to awaken Aristine.

“Or should I set you on fire while you sleep?”

Aristine’s smiling face was as beautiful as an angel’s.

However, all the color drained from Alpheus’s face.

 

 

Advance chapters available on Patreon.

Previous | Toc | Next