Chương 89: Ch. 89: Jorge's Choice
Jorge had been addressing the Crown Prince this entire time, not bothering to look my way. He chose to ignore what I said by asking Baymun, "Your majesty, is Lady Ezran in charge of my punishment?"
I rolled my eyes in disbelief while the demon gave a contemptuous look at Jorge, "Lord De Silva, you certainly are ignorant. I'm only here to observe what the Lady has in store for you - You needn't waste your begging on an unconcerned observer."
I could literally see Jorge's chances of hope crumble before his eyes. He slowly turned to look at me guiltily, "Lady Ezran -"
At this point, whatever he said or did was pointless. He made it perfectly clear that I wasn't worthy to beg a second ago so I didn't want to hear it, "Save it. I've no need for your useless requests of mercy. You're a grown man - Act like one and take your punishment."
Jorge was devastated but remained quiet. I turned to look at Snippet who came running up to me tiredly; It seemed like she exhausted herself. She hopped up on my shoulder, stretched, then laid lazily giving Jorge the stink eye.
Once she was settled, I turned my attention back to De Silva, "Now, what I've learned from our brief encounters is you're a man who values his impending title of King and his own sexual desires. You're not too bright, you use your charms to lure people into doing what you need done and, according to your plight a few minutes ago, you don't want harm to fall upon your land. Am I correct in my assumptions Lord De Silva?"
Jorge remained quiet, but gave a slight nod of his head. Apparently he wouldn't refute the claims.
"So quiet now? Very well, tell me, when will you obtain your crown?"
Jorge's brow furrowed as he looked up confusedly, "It's anticipated to be within the next year, why?"
I nodded my head, "Good. Since I refuse to deal with a perverted fiend when discussing royal negotiations in the future, I'll give you a choice. You can either denounce taking the throne, allowing the next heir in line to receive the title OR . . . You can accept the crown and lose our alliance. The choice is yours."
"What? Lose our alliance? She can't do that, can she?" Jorge looked past me, angrily asking Baymun.
"She can do as she pleases." Baymun coolly replied adding, "You should've considered not offending the lady more than once."
Wow. Baymun was really backing me up . . . The whole situation was bizarre, but hey, I'd take what I could get.
Jorge turned his attention back to me with a pitiful look, "Lady Ezran, don't you think the punishment is too severe? I thought you said you wouldn't punish my people for something that I'd done?"
I shrugged tiredly, "Your people won't be harmed in the slightest so long as you are not their leader. Becoming their King would inevitably allow their fate to be in your hands - Any actions or consequences that you incur will affect the entire kingdom."
Jorge's mouth gaped open, "This is absurd! All I did was ask if you'd accompany me for the evening . . . And, yes, it was very inconsiderate for me to request you be placed under my care. But I swear, it was only because I didn't want to see you executed -"
I raised an eyebrow, "Executed? For defending myself from your advances? It was YOU who decided to bring this to the Crown Prince's attention all for the chance that I'd soon belong to you. If you really wanted to spare me, you'd have kept our little disagreement to yourself. Besides, I made it perfectly clear yesterday I didn't want to have anything to do with you. Tell me Lord De Silva, had I been a more timid, shy girl would you've stopped when told no? Or would you continue until you got what you wanted? How many women have you pestered or charmed until they finally laid with you?"
The Lord's face was flush with guilt. It was clear I wasn't the only woman who fell victim to his advances - I just happened to be the one who got away unscathed.
"Now, please consider your choice carefully Lord De Silva. You have until your coronation to make a final decision . . . We will be waiting to see what you decide.
Jorge was dumbfounded. He kept opening his mouth and closing multiple times, like a fish out of water. I think I broke him.
After a few minutes, he finally looked up with tear filled eyes, "Is there any way you'd reconsider? My kingdom provides valuable resources - We're not a land Bodach could easily lose."
I shook my head, "Absolutely not. From what I've read about what your kingdom provides to Bodach, Loveta needs us more than we need you. We've already acquired access from the Weemason mines, why would we need yours? Also, the other things your kingdom provides are simply leisure items . . . Bodach has no real need for this. I believe that with time, your people will revolt at the limited amount of supplies coming in since Bodach surrounds your kingdom. There would be no trade coming your way - Your people will dethrone you before they starve."
Before Jorge could refute his fate any longer, I waved to the royal guards to escort him out of the gardens. As they were about to carry him away, Baymun interjected, "Just a moment -"
Jorge turned back with hopeful eyes as Baymun continued, "Make sure the Royal Physician checks his wrist once again . . . Apparently he can still use it."
Jorge's eyes turned wide as saucers when the clarity of Baymun's words hit him. He started to spout off another list of grievances while Baymun waved the group away once more.
Watching the men lead Jorge away, I couldn't help but smile. The man had it coming.
I turned back to be met with Kovin smiling slyly as Baymun looked a little less bored and, if my eyes weren't playing tricks, appeared somewhat impressed with me.
"So Ezran . . . How do you know so much about Loveta?" Kovin asked after a brief pause.
I tilted my head, "You gave me all those books to read about Bodach when I joined the army, remember?"
Kovin crossed his arms, "You read all of them? I distinctly recall you being very opposed to learning so much history about the Empire."
I rolled my eyes, "Well, I guess I'll be able to use the information after all."
I didn't want to say out loud that I read each and every book given to me (which were supposed to be for tactical reasons only) because I wanted to retain information in case I needed to undermine the Empire in the future . . . I mean, telling them now would be odd since I'm joining their side (kind of).
Kovin chuckled while shaking his head. Baymun didn't say anything which made me a bit uncomfortable, so I asked, "I wasn't quite sure what you meant about Lord De Silva's fate being in my hands . . . Did I go too far?"
Immediately I bit my lip in regret. Why would I ask that anyway? Asking that made it seem like I was looking for Baymun's approval or something, and besides, Baymun made sure the guy's wrist would be permanently damaged. How could I have gone too far compared to that?
Baymun eyed my lip then looked up with a small smile, "On the contrary - I was quite impressed. I hope the gift was to your liking?"
I gave a small smile, "Yeah. It was. That felt a lot better than I thought it would . . . Are you absolutely sure ending the alliance between Bodach and Loveta will be okay, if it came down to it?"
Baymun nodded his head, "Of course. Like you said, Loveta needs us way more than we need them."
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