--------------------

Christine had been ordered to stay at home until after the funeral of Mrs. Anais was completed and the punishment for her crimes was determined. Francis, however, did not care about her situation, and brought her to his palace.

"Did you dare try to bring me into this matter without fear?" He was horribly angry at Christine, who looked quite unnerved, sitting there on the sofa.

"That couldn't be true. I was just saying it because I was angry with my aunt."

Francis laughed at Christine's frightened appearance. "Really? Do you mean you won't get me involved if you can't get rid of your sins tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course. But you have to save me." Christine insisted strongly, even though she had answered cautiously, with a frightened look.

"Why?"

"I might know something funny, might I not?"

"What something funny?"

"I'll let you know if you get me out of this matter safely."

"If you don't talk right now, you could die." Despite Francis's cold response, Christine did not care. "You know the seriousness of what I've been accused of. Attempts to kidnap and poison the aristocracy are serious crimes." Christine's expression and voice were calm, as if she were talking about someone else.

"While the people under my maternal grandfather are now emphasizing that the attempted kidnapping and poisoning were not successful and the crimes are not big ones, His Highness Killian will never let it go. Even if my maternal grandfather comes back from Vicern, he can't help it." Francis's mouth pouted up. "So, do you want me to save you? Otherwise, you'll say that you did what I told you to do, or I won't learn the fun stuff you know."

Francis sat down opposite Christine and laughed maniacally. "This is really fun, isn't it? It's fun enough now, so I'm not really curious about what you know. If I kill you to stop you from betting on me, everything is done."

Christine faced Francis fierce gaze as he laughed. She was afraid of him because she knew he was a man who could do such a thing, but she could withdraw here.

"Don't you want to know if you can bring down Prince Killian and Princess Kiellini? Don't you know that the death of the Duke of Kiellini has made it difficult to frame this poison case as a conspiracy of Prince Killian? What I know is a weapon that may be able to bring them down very clearly."

Yesterday, Christine heard the will of the Duke of Kiellini delivered to the n.o.bles and the Emperor by a woman named as Count Valerian's cousin. If the woman's ident.i.ty as a cousin was revealed to be false, the Duke of Kiellini's will would also be false. That would make people wonder if the death of the Duke of Kiellini was really a suicide.

"Are you saying that it's a funny story that'll bring down Kilian and Princess Kiellini?" Francis smiled at Christine, who was bargaining with an indignant look on her face, not finding anything scared at his words.

"Okay, I understand. I'll try my best. It's not going to be easy, but it's not impossible." Francis had no intention of doing so, but replied plausibly. 'How dare you bargain against me?' It seemed like it was time to clean her up. Even if she said that she had something big, if it was real, he and his grandfather couldn't have known it.

He soothed Christine in a soft voice. "So, give me a hint of the fun story so that I can work hard on this."

Christine smiled, looking at Francis's smiling face.

"It's about the gift I gave you earlier. I found it in a place I didn't even think about."

Francis managed to frown. She said it could bring down Killian and Princess Kiellini, but she brought up another story?

Francis stopped as he was about to shout with annoyance. Gift? Christine had given him a gift but once. It was a blonde green-eyed woman! 'What's the funny thing about a woman who he was tired of playing with and abandoned?'

Francis laughed without care, not revealing his thoughts.

"I see. I'll look forward to it. Then go back now. If I hold you any longer, knights may come to my bedroom for violating the order of His Majesty." Francis called the servant and ordered him to take Christine out.

----------------------

20. Punishment

"Are you saying that you are Lady Pauran?"

"Yes. Is Lady Anais here? I'm here to offer condolences to the late Marquise instead of Princess Kiellini, who has gone to Vicern."

The butler quit trying to say that she had to go to the Dudley mansion to offer condolences. He heard that she came to see Lady Anais and he thought it would be better to let her in.

Phoebe followed the butler and entered Lady Anais's residence on the third floor.

"Miss is still sleeping." Christine's maid, Penny, frowned awkwardly.

"Well, the princess really wanted me to see if Miss Christine is okay. If she wakes up, I'll say h.e.l.lo to her and go back. Can I have a cup of tea?"

As Penny went out to get tea, Phoebe quickly headed to the bedroom inside. Unlike Christine's cruel and wicked personality, the room was decorated in sky blue and white, giving off a pure and innocent feeling. Phoebe found Christine lying on a bed in the middle of the room, and approached her.

"Uh, what is it?" Christine was in a deep sleep, but woke up at the presence of a person. "You?"

"Do you know who I am?"