A Scumbag Always Gets What He Deserves

17: Desperate Jian Qiao

Note: Prince Andrew shows up again in this chapter and he's a jerk. The last scene contains a depiction of attempted sexual assault. I'll provide a brief summary in the TL notes for people who decide to skip it.

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Jian Qiao held the piece of landscape agate and sat on the sofa as if frozen.

His dark eyes were as quiet as a pool of water without a source, and melancholy spread through them.

No one knew what he was thinking at that moment.

"My lord, it's getting late. We should go back." As evening approached, his two manservants walked gingerly to the sofa and spoke cautiously.

"Ah, is it dark already?" Jian Qiao seemed like he'd awakened from a long dream, a trance-like expression on his face.

He looked at the night-shrouded street, then at a candle beside him, before gently placing the landscape agate into the box. However, when he was about to close the lid, he suddenly stopped.

He held the box, frozen in place, for a long time.

"My lord, it's time to go." The two servants reminded again.

Jian Qiao rubbed his temples and asked tiredly, "Do you think I should bore a hole in it to make a pendant?"

He'd been struggling with this question all afternoon.

The two manservants exchanged bewildered glances, then chose silence. The master regarded this piece of agate as a precious treasure, they didn't dare to offer random suggestions.

Jian Qiao didn't seem to need an answer from the two. After pausing for a moment he murmured again, "But if you bore a hole, won't it be incomplete? It will hurt, right?"

Did a stone need light and freedom, would it cry if it was kept in the dark, would it feel pain if you drilled a hole in it, would its existence be incomplete as a result....

These odd questions were clearly beyond the comprehension of the two servants.

Only a person with a romantic nature would make such absurd associations. Unfortunately neither of them were of this type, so both men lowered their heads and didn't dare to say a word.

The indecisive Jian Qiao hesitated again as he held the agate and fell into contemplation.

Meanwhile, Rege, who'd returned to the ducal palace, stood in the dimly lit corridor, staring intently at the faceless 《Water Nymph》 by the glow of the torches.

"Why did you change her hair to black?" The tired voice of the old Duke came from the end of the corridor.

Several servants hastened to raise their torches and light the wall lamps.

A moment later, Helen stumbled down the steps and through the corridor, shouting at the top of her lungs: "I gave birth to a little prince! I want to see Charles! I want to be queen! I'm Gloria's most distinguished woman! All of you will finally witness my glory."

It was obvious she was mad.

The Duchess chased after her into the misty night, helplessly calling over and over again, "Come back, Helen, please come back! Your baby is long gone!"

These women, who'd once regarded Rege as the thorn in their side, passed by as if they couldn't even see him. Maybe it wasn't that they couldn't see him, but they finally understood—as long as Rege wanted, he could control their life and death.

The old Duke watched the figures of mother and daughter recede, and there was no sadness in his cloudy eyes, no pain, only an endless numbness.

He knew all this had been caused by his own willful arrogance and delusion. When he deliberately betrayed the mother of Rege and Moen, this tragedy was set in stone.