Chapter 5

I swallowed hard, I felt like I had experienced this nervous and awkward atmosphere before. When my mother remarried for the third time to a man 20 years older than her, but very rich. 

At that time, my mother and her rich husband deliberately invited me and my two sisters to dinner with my mother's husband's two daughters. It was clear that they did not like the presence of our family in the midst of their rich family life.

They kept looking at me, who was the only boy in this newly formed family, with disgust as if I was an ugly village cat and they thought that they were a valuable and honorable breed of cat.

"Damn it, if I remember that moment again, I will definitely find a way to silence those two annoying girls. If only their father wasn't a rich man who gave me a lot of money, I would definitely fuck them one by one. 

"What are you doing? Don't just look at your food, Ella!" Said the old woman. It seemed like he was still annoyed by my attitude at that time. 

"O-okay, Mom!"

"I don't understand, what does His Majesty King Zavier see in you? Even though I'm clearly much prettier than you!" Said the young girl named Jannet. 

"I don't know what he sees in me either!" I said casually. 

"You're strange, that must be because you're good at flirting, right?"

"Men like women who are good at seducing, especially if the person seducing is a beautiful woman with a sexy body."

"Ella, shut your mouth! Speak politely at the dinner table!"

"I'm just answering the question!"

"But that's not a noble lady's answer!" 

It seems that this old woman's anger towards me is getting worse. Her eyes looked like a witch ready to cast a magic spell on me. Meanwhile, the old man sitting in the middle remained silent whenever his wife tried to dominate the situation. What a cowardly man.

Seeing me being scolded, Jannet chuckled. She looks so happy and it's clear she's not a good sister, very different from Emily. 

"Oh yes, I heard that you are often invited to Duke Aiden's palace. Could it be that the man you are after is actually Duke Aiden De Velgmegeur?" Once again, Jannet tried to stir up a fuss and tried to make me the scapegoat. She really is an example of a cunning and cunning woman, it's really unlucky that I have to meet and deal with a woman like this. 

Hearing her words, the old woman immediately stopped cutting the steak with the knife and fork in her hand. I have a bad feeling about this, her ploy to make me a scapegoat seems to be working. Damn it, I don't even know that guy named Duke Aiden De Velgmegeur.

"W-who is Duke Aiden blah blah? I have no idea what you're talking about?" I said with a stupid expression that made me look as if I was pretending not to know even though I actually didn't know.

The old woman's eyes looked even crueler after hearing my answer. I shuddered in horror, not understanding why he could be this angry. 

"Don't lie, Ella! I know that secretly you are often personally invited to Duke Aiden's palace. Is that why you act strangely towards His Majesty the King?" 

This damn woman is cornering me even more. She really looks like an antagonist in a romance drama. 

"Ehm...ehm..." The old man who I thought was my father in his strange life pretended to cough to end the cold war at the dinner table. To be honest, I was actually hungry, but the situation was really unfavorable for me to eat up all the food served on the table.

I heard Emily chuckle at my frightened reaction. I don't know what he was thinking. But judging from the way he glanced at me, I knew in his eyes I looked very silly right now. 

"Ella, after dinner come to the room on the first floor, I want to talk to you privately!" Said the old woman.

"W-what? W-why me?" 

"There are many questions I want to ask you and I want you to answer them all as honestly as possible!" 

"I don't want to! I have absolutely no business with you!"

"I don't want to hear your arguments, Ella! I'm sure you don't want to make me angrier than this, right?" She said while glaring. I gulped, just like a mouse caught red-handed by a hungry she-cat. Her attitude and emotions were truly confusing.

"Ok I understand, Ma'am!"

"Ma'am?"

"I-I mean, Mom. I understand, Mom!"

***

I sat with my hands on my knees, just like a samurai. I don't know why this old woman looks more and more like my mother who is always aggressive and angry whenever her wishes are not fulfilled. Is the menopause phase always like this?

She sat right across from me, glaring at me as if I were someone whose sins could never be forgiven. I swallowed hard several times, it felt so intimidating. 

"I want you to answer my question honestly, Ella! What exactly is your relationship with Duke Aiden De Velgmegeur?"

"I don't have any relationship with him! I don't know who he is!"

"Don't lie...! Tell me honestly, what were you actually doing in his palace? What was his purpose in inviting you?"

"I don't know what you're saying, old hag! I don't know him!"

Damn it, this old woman didn't give me a chance to refute at all. I really don't know who Duke Aiden De Velgmegeur is and I don't know what his face looks like either.

I was still silent and trying to think about what to say next. She didn't want to listen to me at all and insisted that I knew this man and even had a special relationship .

"His Majesty glanced at you, it seemed like he thought you were very beautiful and attractive. But unfortunately you didn't respond well to his interest and instead acted embarrassingly which doesn't reflect that you are a noble girl at all."

"I told you, I'm not interested in him!" 

"But he's a king, Ella! He's a king. How can you say you're not interested in him?"

"Why should I be attracted to men?"

"Because you're a woman!"

"I'm not a woman!"

***