Chapter 83

"Lord Gregory, I had already thought about that. Yesterday I barely survived thanks to General Qi saving me, and I saw how powerful the Qi Army is. So on this trip, I've decided to have General Qi follow me and bring his army to personally protect me."

"No!" As soon as Elara finished speaking, Lord Gregory slammed his teacup on the table with a loud bang, and his face turned completely dark.

He still hadn't figured out how General Qi and Elara got involved. How could he possibly let the two of them leave Plumera Capital together?

But just as he harshly spat out that word, Elara didn't back down at all. Instead, she took out a brocade pouch from her chest and waved it lightly in front of him. Her tone was deliberately surprised and troubled.

"Huh? Lord Gregory, you disagree? But I was really frightened yesterday. After I finally woke up back at the residence, I tossed and turned thinking it over and over. I realized that the only one left who could ensure my safety might just be my royal uncle up in the northern border."

At the mention of Regent Martin, Lord Gregory's stern expression froze. Elara, however, continued as if she hadn't noticed.

"After all, last time when you told me that I had nothing to fear inside Plumera Capital, I really wanted to trust you completely. But unfortunately, the result was me nearly being assassinated yesterday."

Her voice turned aggrieved and reproachful. Lord Gregory, sitting on the throne, looked as if his face might change color. His hand subconsciously gripped the teacup tighter.

"So, when I woke up last night, I immediately had someone start writing. While shaken and terrified for my life, I had no choice but to write to my royal uncle and send a letter. I told him about what's been happening to me in Plumera Capital and that I planned to leave for my territory to rest and recover. At the same time, I also asked him that, if he had some free time, he could visit me there. I even sincerely invited him to return and spend the year-end festival with me."

After she finished speaking, Elara gave Lord Gregory a proud and relieved smile, as if the idea she came up with was brilliant.

"This way, with my uncle personally stationed there, I don't think anyone with bad intentions would dare try to assassinate me again. Don't you agree, Lord Gregory?"

Lord Gregory: ...was she indirectly insulting him?

If Elara wasn't still temporarily untouchable, he would've had people drag her away right then and give her a brutal beating just to vent this burning fury in his chest.

Two hours later.

Inside a luxurious residence somewhere in Plumera's capital.

A whip lashed hard across Imani's body.

The cold whip tore through his clothes and struck his carefully maintained pale skin, but strangely, it didn't leave any marks.

Still, Imani trembled from the pain. Every muscle in his body tensed instinctively. He bit his lip hard, choking back every whimper and cry in his throat.

"I didn't send you to Elara's courtyard to become some sort of consort! After so many days, how many useful messages have you delivered? Out of all those, how many actually mattered?"

"Hmph. Elara and General Qi have already formed some secret connection, and you didn't even notice? But you remember every little trivial thing? Imani, don't think I won't lay a hand on you just because you're my nephew. You're still nothing more than the son of a slave from the brothel. Think carefully about what I sent you to do. If you stay this useless, I have no reason to keep you here."

Imani couldn't speak from the pain. His once-flashy red robe was now torn and scattered on the floor. Compared to his usual fine clothes, he looked completely pathetic and miserable.

He took two shaky breaths, then said with trembling lips, "I... I understand…"

Lord Gregory stared at the young man's pained expression and picked up a cup of tea from the table. "I'll give you three more months. If you still can't get anything useful by then, you can go back to your birth mother. From then on, you won't bear the Gregory name. Wherever your mother is, that's where you'll live too."

Imani's body shook even more violently. It was as if he recalled something terrifying. He clenched his teeth to endure the pain, then forced himself to kneel and bow low to the ground.

"I... I cough... I remember your teaching... I won't... cough... forget again…"

Imani may have been the illegitimate son of the Gregory family's second house, but before the age of twelve, he lived in the Marigold City brothel. His mother was a servant bought by a male courtesan. Even with a female identity, her status was worse than ordinary people.

Because she had a female identity, she was chosen by Manager Lao to become a courtesan.

Imani was the result of her frequent service to different clients. Until he turned twelve, he didn't even know who his father was.

He was the son of a lowly courtesan and a slave. And because he was male, his status was even lower than his mother's had been.

He begged for food in the brothel and lived like a rat, constantly humiliated. His face had been more beautiful than his mother's since childhood. At age eight, he was nearly lured by a twisted guest and almost violated. He barely escaped with his life, but was badly injured.

However, that guest had high status. When a scandal erupted in the brothel, and they couldn't find the injured Imani, they dragged his mother out to take the blame.

From that day on, Imani's already dark life became even worse.

His mother had tried to reject Manager Lao's offer to become a courtesan by threatening to die. But suffering doesn't end just because someone holds onto their dignity.

When she was starving and close to death, someone threw her onto a client's bed. From then on, she was branded a courtesan and became one of the rare female courtesans in the brothel.

In this era where men far outnumbered women, there were many who would never see a woman in their entire lives. So once she became a courtesan, she never had a break from clients. And since most regular women lived far above others, the desperate men who came to the brothel were often twisted and aggressive.

His mother was tormented day and night under those conditions.

When she became pregnant with Imani, she wanted to get rid of him. But her father stopped her and told her to give birth. If the child was fathered by someone powerful, they might gain some protection in the brothel.

Imani was born in this misery. His mother always saw him as a source of pain and filth. She either ignored him and let others bully him or beat and scolded him herself. Sometimes, she was even more brutal than the rest.

So when he was finally taken back to the Gregory estate and saw the luxury and wealth, Imani swore he would climb up at any cost. He would leave behind his past life as something less than a rat.

He would live a better life. A good life.

Now hearing Lord Gregory telling him to return to the brothel and live again with his mother, it triggered deep, instinctual fear in him.

"If I could take you away from that place," Lord Gregory said, "I can just as easily send you back. Get out. Don't disappoint me."

Imani's voice trembled as he forced out, "Yes…"

After Imani left, Lord Gregory stood up and exited the residence through a hidden path behind the Gregory estate. He boarded a carriage headed outside Plumera's capital. He sat in the carriage for over an hour before it stopped in front of an unremarkable estate.

This remote estate was over fifty kilometers away from the capital. It was surrounded by mountains, with no government roads or village paths nearby. It was extremely hidden.

Inside the main hall, just as Lord Gregory stepped in, he heard voices arguing.

It was the heads of the Zhu, Yan, and Lin families.