Chapter 250: The Mad Empress Dowager.

Crash!

An exquisite, expensive piece of porcelain struck the floor with tremendous force, shattering into countless fragments.

"Are you all dead? You stand around watching me all day, yet you can't even deliver a single message!"

The woman, dressed in magnificent finery, wore a vicious expression. Her once-beautiful face had twisted into something almost unrecognizable.

The maids stationed by the door remained unmoved, watching her coldly.

The more the woman thought about it, the angrier she became. She snatched up another intact porcelain ornament and hurled it to the floor, adding its shattered remains to the pile.

The porcelain had come from a great empire in the distant East and was worth a fortune. The pieces delivered to the woman's palace were among the finest of their kind.

To her, however, they were nothing more than objects to smash when she needed to vent her anger.

Their value meant nothing to her.

What mattered was the son who had imprisoned her in this remote palace.

Eighteen years ago, she had believed she was finally free. Overjoyed, she had followed her son out of that dreadful underground prison and moved into this magnificent palace.

But her happiness had lasted only a few days before she was driven mad with rage.

She was forbidden to go anywhere beyond the palace. Cold, expressionless maids and guards stood permanently at its entrance, treating her like a prisoner and restricting her freedom.

Her madness had erupted. She had screamed hysterically and smashed everything in the palace until she had no strength left and collapsed unconscious on the floor.

The following morning, she had awakened in bed to find the palace spotless. Every furnishing had been replaced, as though the destruction of the previous day had never happened.

Wonderful. How absolutely wonderful!

She supposed she ought to be delighted that she'd given birth to such a capable son.

"Danton! Danton! You monster! Why don't you just die?"

The woman hurled vicious curses at the master of the royal palace.

The maids by the door barely lifted their eyelids, watching her outburst with complete indifference.

The woman threw herself onto the bed and began tearing at the silk sheets like a madwoman.

After an indeterminate amount of time, she finally exhausted herself. Too tired to tear anything else or continue shouting, she lay sprawled across the ruined bed, panting weakly.

Click!

The tightly shut palace doors suddenly swung open.

At the sight of the newcomer, the maids immediately dropped to their knees.

Hearing the commotion, the woman turned her stiff neck and glared through the disheveled hair hanging over her forehead at the tall man approaching her.

His jet-black hair fell smoothly to his waist. His features were handsome, with a delicate, almost feminine beauty, and his figure was tall and slender. He wore luxurious dark-purple robes, while the royal crown upon his head proclaimed his exalted status.

"Mother, why are you having another episode?" the man asked gently, bending slightly as he approached the bedside.

"Dan... Danton!"

The woman pushed herself upright and hurriedly straightened her tangled hair. A maidenly shyness appeared on her face, utterly unlike the crazed expression she had worn moments earlier.

She spoke in a soft, affectionate voice.

"It's been so long since you last visited your mother. I've missed you terribly. I wanted the maids to summon you, but they completely ignored me. They wouldn't listen to a word I said."

She pointed toward the maids, who were still kneeling on the floor, and a flash of malice crossed her eyes.

"Have them killed! There's no point keeping servants who refuse to obey!"

In less than a moment, her vicious nature had resurfaced.

Danton reached out, gently smoothing her hair with his long, slender fingers. His voice was as tender as a lover's whisper.

"Mother, you're tired. You should rest."

The woman shook her head.

"No! I'm not tired."

Suddenly, she seized Danton's wrist and yanked him toward her, forcing him to face her. A fierce light blazed in her eyes.

"Why... why won't you set me free?"

Danton lowered his gaze, the corners of his mouth curling upward. Despite his beautiful face, there was something terrifyingly sinister about his expression.

"Mother, you mustn't be so greedy. I've already granted you eternal youth. Isn't that enough?"

The woman's pupils contracted.

She shoved him away, clutched her head, and let out a piercing scream.

"Monster! You're a monster! I regret ever giving birth to you!"

Danton straightened and elegantly brushed his shoulder with his fingers, seemingly deaf to her curses.

He glanced at the porcelain fragments scattered across the floor and spoke with chilling indifference.

"Human, my patience has limits. Be quiet."

The woman's screams stopped abruptly.

Terror flooded her face, and she curled into a trembling ball.

Danton paid her no further attention. Turning to the kneeling maids, he ordered, "Clean this up."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The maids bowed their heads to the floor.

Danton departed at an unhurried pace, leaving the woman staring blankly after his retreating figure.

She truly regretted everything.

Forty-five years ago, desperate to outshine the First Princess Consort and win her husband's favor, she had listened to the poisonous advice of a necromancer and sacrificed her soul to the Dark God.

She had gained eternal youth.

But she had also conceived a monster's child.

Back then, she had been naive and foolish, believing she had finally triumphed over the First Princess Consort. Little had she known that the child growing inside her would nearly cost her life.

Throughout her ten-month pregnancy, she had wasted away until she was little more than skin and bones. Only her belly had continued swelling to a terrifying size.

With the last of her strength, she had finally given birth.

Yet when she saw the newborn open a pair of eyes as deep and unfathomable as an adult's, she had instinctively reached out and wrapped her hands around his tiny throat.

The infant's piercing cries had attracted the maids, who stopped her before she could kill him.

Her husband summoned a physician, who diagnosed her with madness.

From that day onward, she had lived in a world without sunlight or hope.

She endured twenty-seven years of imprisonment before her son killed the First Princess Consort's son and became king of the Kingdom of Cecilia.

She had believed her suffering was finally over and that she would regain her freedom.

Instead, she had spent another eighteen years imprisoned in this palace.

A monster was still a monster.

Such a creature could never be trusted.

"Danton... Danton... May you die a horrible death!"

The maids silently cleared away the broken porcelain, ignoring the Queen Mother's frenzied curses.

After leaving the secluded palace, Danton strolled along a spacious corridor.

Every guard he passed bowed respectfully.

A young attendant hurried toward him and dropped to one knee.

"Your Majesty, the envoy from the Kingdom of Kakawen has been waiting in the audience hall for four hours."

"Has he?" Danton continued walking without slowing.

The attendant rose and followed him respectfully.

"The envoy has also brought four young men and women who are said to rival Elves in beauty."

"Oh?"

Danton raised an eyebrow, his interest finally piqued.

"Then let's have a look."

Having accomplished his task, the attendant fell silent.

After walking a few more steps, Danton asked casually, "Sahn, how much did the envoy from Kakawen pay you?"

"One thousand gold coins."

Despite having his bribery exposed, Sahn showed no trace of guilt and answered without hesitation.

"Only a thousand gold coins?" Danton sounded unconvinced.

"And two high-grade bluegan stones," Sahn admitted, not daring to conceal anything further. "Your Majesty knows I've been having a fine sword forged recently."

Bluegan stones could increase a weapon's toughness. A single stone was worth a hundred thousand gold coins.

The envoy from Kakawen had certainly spared no expense in buying his cooperation.

And since Sahn had accepted such generous payment, he naturally had to provide a little assistance in return.

Danton narrowed his eyes.

"Don't let it happen again."

Sahn immediately knelt.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Inside the royal audience hall, the obese envoy from Kakawen repeatedly wiped the cold sweat from his face.

He had been waiting for four whole hours, from afternoon until well after nightfall.

And that damned attendant had taken his bribe and promptly disappeared without a trace!

He was beginning to suspect he had bribed the wrong person.

The Kingdom of Cecilia was no longer what it once had been. Securing an audience with its king was now almost impossibly difficult.

If not for the wealth and prestige he hoped to gain, why would he swallow his anger and stand around waiting in this cold, unwelcoming palace?

Grrrrumble—

"Who? Whose stomach was that?"

Lauk turned to question the four young men and women standing behind him.

All four were young, appearing no older than seventeen or eighteen. Each had golden hair, fair skin, and exquisitely delicate features. Their revealing clothing and beautiful jewelry made them look like decorative ornaments, dressed solely to please the eye.

They had stood behind Lauk for four hours and were already weak in the knees and ravenously hungry.

Nevertheless, no matter how hungry they were, none of their stomachs had made such an embarrassing noise.

The girl standing on the far left raised her hand and pointed at Lauk.

Lauk frowned and placed a hand on his enormous belly.

Grrrrumble—

The sound came again.

Humiliated and furious, he snorted coldly, wishing he could turn around and leave immediately.

He was Lauk Sikari, a duke who held considerable power and status in the Kingdom of Kakawen!

His king had personally dispatched him to negotiate peace with the Kingdom of Cecilia, yet he had been subjected to such outrageous neglect.

It was infuriating!

Just as he struggled between his pride and his ambitions, faint footsteps sounded behind him.

"Your Majesty, this is Duke Lauk, the envoy from the Kingdom of Kakawen," Sahn announced, stepping forward.

"Oh, is that so?"

Danton passed the delegation without stopping, approached the throne, and seated himself with effortless elegance.

Lauk immediately plastered a smile across his face, making the fat on his cheeks quiver.

"Your esteemed Majesty, I am Lauk Sikari. It is my greatest honor to visit your kingdom as an envoy on behalf of my sovereign."

He placed his right hand over his chest and bowed to the man on the throne.

Danton rested his forehead against one hand and lounged lazily in his seat.

His gaze passed over the obese envoy and settled on the four young men and women behind him.

"Are these the humans supposedly as beautiful as Elves?"

Lauk's smile stiffened.

His tiny eyes darted about before he shuffled two steps aside and began enthusiastically promoting his offerings.

"Indeed, Your Majesty! I selected these gifts with the utmost care and brought them here especially for Your Majesty."

Danton studied the four with an ambiguous smile, then pointed toward the girl on the far left.

"You. Come forward."

The girl trembled slightly.

Her bare feet touched the cold floor as she approached the throne with frightened, hesitant steps. The ornaments adorning her body chimed delicately with every movement.

When she was about two meters from the throne, she stopped, lowered her head, and stared at the floor, silently awaiting the king's command.

"Raise your head and look at me," Danton ordered.

"...Yes, Your Majesty."

The girl lifted her breathtakingly beautiful face, her blue eyes shimmering.

When she finally saw the king seated upon the throne, she couldn't help revealing her surprise.

She had expected a man in his forties or fifties.

Instead, the king was young and extraordinarily handsome.