Capítulo 22: Work For Him Or Go To Prison

"Pardon!"

"I said no one. There is no Emily in this room." she repeated in a blank voice but did not mention her name even when he kept staring at her.

"Her name is Meredith, your highness." Kevin whispered when Cassian sighed. Did that even matter?

"Meredith! I want you to stay. I have an urgent matter to discuss with you." After a long thought, she nodded her head and asked Alec to leave. The boy looked hesitant but could not refuse Cassian's orders.

"I will be waiting for you, my lady." he glared at Cassian and left the room.

"He is my son." Cassian did not mince words as he stared at her.

"I have confirmed it. But.. I also found out that he is still unsafe. I can not announce that! And.. I did not think the child liked me." He sighed. He could feel the cold eyes of the child always glaring at him.

"Hmm, do you know who is behind it?" she asked, cautiously. Though she behaved like an oracle, she was not sure if she should point at the royal family.

What if he did not believe her and she would be punished or more importantly, what if the royal family knew and executed her in the name of treason?

She had to make sure to only leave hints so that he could take action without her name.

"That is not something you should worry about." He cut her in a cold voice startling her.

"I want your help in a different matter." He commanded when she frowned.

"I want you to stay close to him and protect him. And… I need your help in bringing him closer to me."

"And why will I do that?" she asked back, with sharp eyes and a haughty smirk as if shouting, "even if you beg, i am not planning to stay with you!"

"You have burned the orphanage no matter what the reason is for which you will get a sentence of two years. And you have still not paid your loan of gold coins but left your job of slavery for which you will get imprisonment of two years. Last but not least you have beaten an old man. You have to pay him compensation or go to prison for one year." Her face was drained of all the colors as she counted a total of five years imprisonment so far.

"I have yet to add the mistakes you have committed in my palace." he smirked when her face was horrified and for once he enjoyed the silence on her face.

"I did all that to help you and your son. How could you be so cruel to send me to jail instead of rewarding me?" she berated him vehemently when he only smiled.

What should she have expected from an antagonist in the story? He was going to kill the whole empire in the end. Why would he care about her?

"So you can stay alive. If i am not wrong you have an inkling of the perpetrators of this accident. Do you think they will let you live now? You have saved Alec on the day they were going to kill him. They must be afraid that you know more and want to silence you. You must know that only the dead can keep secrets! Right?" She remembered how the men of the crown prince had killed everyone in the orphanage who was aware about Alec so that no proof was left and she gulped.

She had never thought she would be part of this drama. She only wanted to earn her money and leave fair and square. So, she could find a way to leave this novel.

"Only i or prison can keep you safe now. Since I am indebted to you, I will let you choose. If you want to live in the palace, you have to work for me. In exchange, I will make sure that you have all the luxuries of a noble and a good amount of wealth when you leave the palace once this war ends.

But if you chose the prison, the most I can do for you is.. Ask them to give you good food and make sure that other criminals will not kill you. But you have to work in the harsh atmosphere and you will not be able to get rid of the tag of a criminal. I will give you a day to decide." he tapped the table with his hands as he stood up ready to leave when he found her lost.

"Wait!" she called him when he was closer to the door. "I have already decided. I will choose to stay in the palace and work for you." what was there to decide on it! It was clear that he had already trapped her.

"But I want a written contract with all the terms and conditions clearly mentioned in it and so as my salary," she demanded,

"and I will have the right to add a few of my own conditions. Like I will not work as a maid and I will not do any indecent thing."

"Do you have a question about my character?" he asked back with a stared look on his face but she just shrugged.

"Very well, I will prepare a contract for you. But for that, you have to show me your worth first. I want my son to come and greet me without force. This is your first task and it will decide your salary."

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