498 Imprisonment And Freedom
Selma Payne’s POV:
This was an enviable quality in the vanity fair.
“Thank you for your visit, Madam.” At this point, I should also put on the air. “Your words and deeds make me feel familiar. If you want to, please come to the palace more often in the future. I don’t mean to deprive you of the right to be a good wife and mother, but I only ask that you spare a little time for me when you’re not caring for the family.”
Madam Woof Anca nodded respectfully. “I’m honored by your grace, Your Highness.”
“I vaguely remember that your husband’s family had disputes with the Evaria Family. Fortunately, the evildoers have already received their retribution, so you don’t have to fear their arrogant, domineering attitude and pervasive revenge.”
Her fingers trembled slightly, but I ignored them. “Time can always wash away everything, as long as you’re willing to make up for your past mistakes. It doesn’t matter if it was a week, a month, or... twenty years, right?”
Madam Woof Anca left with weak steps, and Kara shook her head. “This is a pitiful lady.”
I looked up at her with interest. “Do you understand her too?”
“I’ve heard some of it,” Kara said. “When I was young, the Queen liked to gather the girls of the noble families into the palace to hold banquets. I was still a low-ranking servant who served tea and poured water then. I came and went between the guests, and after a while, I heard some rumors about this lady.
“She had just married Mr. Woof Anca, but can you imagine? A girl in her early twenties. On her wedding night, her husband, who was not a good-for-nothing, introduced her to three illegitimate children. The eldest one is even in primary school.
“People say that this marriage is just a deal. The old Viscount of Dark Night Mountain used his youngest daughter to exchange for the support of the Woof Anca Family, while the Marquess of Anca used a little help from the officialdom to exchange his youngest son, who was unable to find a wife at the age of thirty, for an arm candy with an impeccable background and character.
“This lady was a hot topic in social events for a long time because three months after she married, her husband brought home a pair of one-year-old twins. That day, Madam Woof Anca entertained a guest, and her husband used his illegitimate child to trample on her dignity.
“After that, the two lived separately. After eight or nine years, they had a child, the one lying in the ward. However, young Mr. Woof Anca did not like this son very much. There were even rumors that Casti was not his child but Madam Woof Anca’s illegitimate child. However, who knew if that b*stard was slandering his wife? After all, his wife is chaste and quiet, while he has illegitimate children everywhere.”
These things were all mentioned in the investigation report. However, compared to the cold and concise words, Kara’s description gave me a better understanding of the trivialities of this family.
“So the husband and wife had a complete fallout. Mr. Woof Anca and his lover started a new family outside.” I glanced past the thick stack of documents on the desk. The investigation on Casti and his parents was lying on a few of them.
“Who could say otherwise?” Kara suddenly sighed. “The Woof Anca Family was once a famous family that everyone praised. It has only been a few years, but it has become a laughingstock used to liven up the atmosphere at the table.”
The prosperity of a family might require the persistent efforts of several or even more than a dozen generations, but it was so easy to lead it to its downfall.
Building a building took thirty years, but it collapsed in an instant.
After that, I dealt with some work and checked on the children’s condition. Then, I went to a secret villa.
This was private property under my name and had never been made public. Even my parents had never asked about it. After the Evaria Family’s collapse, Emma, who was no longer a suspect, could finally leave the secret prison.
However, the outside world’s condemnation of the Evaria Family was far from over. At this point in time, I couldn’t let Emma go to the front to take the public’s anger on behalf of her relatives who had gone to the countryside, so I temporarily settled her in this private villa.
After I was released from prison, Emma told me she was in a daze about everything that had happened.
“It’s like a dream. Just a moment ago, I was still the King’s secretary in training with a bright future. But the next second, I woke up from the dream. I walked out of the prison gate with nothing on me. It was like twenty years of being at the top of society was just an illusory fantasy.
“But I don’t think losing all of this is a pity. I don’t like that feudal and old family, and I don’t have any attachment to that job that many people have forced on me. Instead, I felt relieved and even grateful for all of this. In the past, I’ve made up my mind many times to cut off the ropes that bound me to where I am, but every time, I find an excuse for myself. Family, power, responsibility, everything has to come first... I only have to step back.
“Now that external forces have helped me cut off all of this, I no longer need to find excuses for myself painstakingly. I’m finally free.”
