Arthur and Lina unknowingly slipped into a world of their own as they continued to kiss. His lips moved down as he kissed her chin before sucking the skin of her slender neck into his mouth, making Lina feel her body temperature rise.
However, she felt it ticklish when it seemed as if Arthur was sniffing and licking her skin in the midst of kissing, making her feel a little surprised.
But suddenly Arthur opened his eyes in a panic as he stopped kissing her and sat back with his head turned towards the other side, making Lina very nervous, wondering if he got angry because she kissed him. She thought that he kissed her as well, or was she just imagining it? She had no idea. Her face was burning up like anything, and she had never been so flustered in her life.
She could hear the echo of her thumping heartbeat behind her ears.
She was about to apologize when Arthur suddenly said in a morose tone, "Lina…I am sorry. I don't deserve you."
Lina raised her head with a confused face, wondering how could a gentle and kind prince not deserve someone like her? Shouldn't it be the other way around, considering she was just a maid? Or was he regretting kissing her? No…His Highness would never lie about things.
"What are you saying, Your Highness? You are the best man I know in the world. To me, it is I who do not deserve or qualify to be something more than a maid to you. If anybody else even heard of the words I am saying to you right now, you know what will happen. But don't worry, I would never—"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Arthur looked at Lina as he said firmly, "Look at me, Lina. I am not the same Arthur you have known for all these years. I am afraid I am becoming something of a monster. I almost killed you a while ago. I seriously have no idea what is happening to me, and I don't want to hurt you by letting you stay near me. Maybe….it's best that you take a long paid leave till I figure things out. I will compensate you twice as well."
Lina looked at his face and did see that the usual glowing look on his face was absent, but instead, his skin didn't seem to be in its best condition, and his eyes were not even the same color.
She was even more worried after hearing her words, wondering why all this was suddenly happening to him. But the moment he told her to stay away from him, she immediately shook her head, "No! Never…The only you can make me leave your side is by killing me. You are everything to me, Your Highness. Even if you say you don't feel anything for me, I will still stay by your side as your maid for the rest of my life. I would never ask for anything and silently take care of you."
Arthur's expression became pained hearing her words, realizing that her love for him was beyond measure. He also realized that she wouldn't leave him no matter what he said.
But at the same time, how could he let something like before happen again by letting her stay with him? Maybe she would stay away if she learned the truth.
I can at least trust her with that.
"Lina! Please do not make things difficult for me. If you knew the truth you would understand," Arthur said as he narrowed his eyes.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Lina felt a bad feeling as she asked in a low voice, "Truth? What truth?"
Arthur grabbed her wrist as he went out of his room, dragging a confused Lina along with him. She noticed that Arthur was looking around warily and when they went out of the palace, it looked like he was being secretive about it, making her wonder why.
Arthur brought her to a place outside the palace…a place he was sure nobody could eavesdrop on.
"Your Highness, please…You are making me worry. What is—"
He rubbed his sweaty forehead with a slight grimace before saying, "I am not feeling good right now. I took something that will increase my cultivation rapidly."
Lina felt her chest harden as she asked in a teary voice, "W-Why? Why would Your Highness do something so dangerous? We all know how bad it is to strain our ethereal core. I don't understand—"
"It's because of my father! You know how he treats me, right? He doesn't look at me like a son but some animal he pushes around or maybe worse than that," Arthur said as his tone was slowly becoming heated up.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Lina bit her lips as she remained silent, knowing it was true. This was why she hated the Xeton Emperor with every bone in her body. But since he was the emperor, she could never say anything against him, even towards Arthur. All she could do was comfort and help him whenever he was in pain. It was even painful for her since she could only watch and not help him for real.
"But I was fine with all that. I would have lived with it…until he killed my mother," Arthur said as he gnashed his teeth with cold eyes.
Lina gasped as she heard his words. But at the same time, she didn't really find it surprising as she felt it off when the Xeton Emperor announced that Damien killed Arthur's mother.
She had personally seen Damien as Alchemist Azrael and knew he was sincerely helping Arthur's mother without any evil motives. There was also no reason for Damien to kill Arthur's mother even if he had something against the Xeton Emperor.
An intelligent man like Damien would have already known that Arthur's mother was of no importance to the Xeton Emperor. So killing her would serve no purpose even if he was that evil.
She believed what Arthur said, and that made her feel even more resentment towards the Xeton Emperor since Arthur's mother was someone she had taken care of for so many years, and she was treated like a daughter by her.
When she died, she felt as if a piece of her heart had died and cried whenever she thought about her.
She slowly looked at Arthur as she asked, "Then the reason Your Highness is trying to increase your cultivation rapidly is because…"
"Because I am going to kill my father no matter what it takes!" Arthur said as his eyes glinted with a chilling light.
