Laverntorphe Palace, the Palace of the 3rd Queen - Verace Syrr
Inside one of the rooms in the Palace, a man that Keon would never forgive even in death can be seen sitting in a chair in front of a table that has a set of chess on top
His eyes have a calculating light in them as he stared at the chess pieces in front of him
"To think that I would use the hypnotic potion this early" Lawrence Morningstar muttered before looking at the person kneeling in his side
If anyone in the Palace were to see who was kneeling to whom, their jaws would surely drop into the ground
After all, why would a Queen of the Empire kneel in front of a 'powerless' Prince?
The 3rd Queen, Verace Syrr is naturally a very beautiful Moon. He has light pink hair and eyes that made him look really gentle and cute
He has that kind of face that no one would think of as capable of doing anything bad
His innocence can definitely be sensed by everyone. However, such an innocent-looking face currently has an empty expression in it as if he was in a trance
He just continues kneeling mindlessly even if his knees seem to be hurt already
Out of all the Queens of the Empire, Verace was the one that didn't fight for power and influence though that is meaningless in front of power struggles. As such, he became the one responsible for raising the motherless Lawrence
Because of Verae's naivety, he was reduced to a mere pawn under Lawrence's power
Lawrence continue thinking while ignoring the kneeling Queen before his personal and loyal servant entered his room
"Your Highness, it was a success. The Emperor did not agree with the engagement yet thanks to the Empress' interference!" The servant - Lynn reported while bowing his head
"Cutting off the tiger's claw even before it can use it" Lawrence muttered as he played with a chess piece in his hand
"Before Keon could regain the power he should have as the 1st Imperial Moon and use it to fight against me, I should cut off his claws"
"Lynn, monitor the Princess and report his actions to me!" Lawrence ordered and the servant immediately excused himself to do his bidding
——
After exiting the meeting room, Keon immediately seethes with anger. If not for the Duke and the Duchess still being with him, he might have exploded already
"Your Highness, do not worry. I promise that I would do my very best to let your and my son's love bloom fully!" Qain promises after he saw the not so good expression on Keon's face
That brought the moon back to reality and he immediately showed an innocent smile that made Cain shudder
A villainess is really a villainess. Look at how easy it is for him to act and deceive people!
"Your Grace, your promise assured me. Cain is very lucky to have you as his mother" Keon replied with a smile that only looks like a sad smile in the Duchess' eyes
With how the Empress acts, who would ever think that Keon was loved by his own mother?
As such, the Duchess can't help but feel pity for Keon
"Your Highness doesn't have to be so formal with me. You can just call me mother as for this man..." Qain trailed as he hit his husband with his elbow. "... you can just call him as father"
The Duke rolled his eyes at how his wife treated him and Keon laugh lightly at then
"I-I'll try to d-do that" Keon replied while showing a hint of awkwardness. "... and please do not be formal with me too. Y-you can call me by my name" he continued
The way he acts instantly earned him tons of positive points from Cain's parents and they smiled at him lovingly
'Mother, father, don't be deceived!' Cain cried out in his heart though he didn't let that escape his mouth
"Alright, we will do as our future son-in-law wants!" The Duchess replied with a light laugh before giving his son a look
"Accompany our son-in-law and make sure that his heart is settled. With what happened earlier, he needs you the most on his side. I and your father will leave now and don't worry about going home late, we will leave the carriage for you"
With that, the Duke and the Duchess head out immediately as if they want to give the 'couple' a chance to be together
Cain watches his parents' retreating back with a twitching face. The last thing he wants to do is to be with Keon, okay?
With a sigh, Cain looked at his fiancé to be and he saw him in a deep thought
Keon looks so serious to the point that he cannot even sense his surroundings anymore
It gave Cain the chance to stare at him. Only now did Cain was given a chance to do this and the longer he stared at Keon the more there is something he feel that he cannot quite explain
Cain doesn't know what that is and he ended up staring at Keon for too long until the Princess snapped back to reality
"Cain!" Keon called out in a serious manner and the Young Duke's mind immediately returned to his body
"W-what?" He ask, not knowing why he was feeling nervous
Fortunately, Keon was thinking too much to the point that he did not notice Cain staring at him
If not, just how embarrassing it would be on Cain's side?
"I just thought of an idea to force His Majesty to accept our engagement" Keon said with a smile and Cain raises his brows
"And your plan is..?" He questioned
"For my plan, I have you to come with me. You'll be my biggest backing and pillar in the negotiation!"
Although Cain doesn't know whatever Keon was planning but since it was for the sake of their engagement that would help them fight against Lawrence, he could only comply
As such, the two immediately head out of the Imperial Palace to head into a certain place