The Villain's Redemption

"Princess… you came." The King had a brilliant smile on his face the moment his own daughter walk inside the cabin. "Sit… Would you like some tea?" The fire from the stone fireplace was the only thing that illuminated the whole cabin.

Lucinia complied without saying anything. She walked towards the king, the floor creaking as she neared him. She couldn't help but wonder why her ability was not working on him. Of course, this confusion was only on the inside, on the outside she looked calm as she smiled at her father.

"I presumed… you agreed to come here looking like that because you already have any idea what was going on?" The King smiled a smile that was too similar to Lucinia's own smile.

"Was it really for power?" She asked, ignoring her father's question. "I have been wondering what could make a man like you, someone who is already considered the most powerful in this kingdom to do such a thing. Do you really want to rule forever?" Is there such a thing as forever? To Lucinia that word doesn't exist.

She stared at her father's smiling face as she thought of everything that had happened so far. First, he wanted his sons and daughter to fight against each other, frame and kill each other. "You were the one who set up everything, right? Zach was one of your men. You forced him to seduce your own son, give Kuzma everything that he ever wanted, give him enough to make him turn his back against us. You wanted him to betray his own kind. You wanted him to become the allies of the witches. Am I right?"

The King only snorted before he lifted the wine glass towards his lips. He elegantly taking a sip before he smiled. "Continue."

"You and Zach planned everything, right? The poison… which was only on the Duke's glass. You thought I could smell it and I did. However, I only smelled it from The Duke's glass. I immediately assumed that everyone had it when only The Duke drank the poison. You wanted to weaken him, not kill him just weak enough so he wouldn't be able to fight once the witches will take me."

"Smart." The King nodded as he crossed his right leg over the other. "Tell me more."

Lucinia didn't hesitate. She let out a long sighed before she continued. "Of course, Gavril wasn't part of your plan. Gavril knew how manipulative you are. He knew that his wives were all planted by you to spy on him. So he sent them all away, under the pretense of finding his true love. This surprised you, yes? After all, he had been doing nothing in the past hundred years. You didn't expect him to arrive before Kuzma did. You didn't expect him to fight Kuzma. The original plan was supposed to be me and Kuzma, while the Duke was poisoned. The original plan would have left me weak as I try to run away from the Kingdom, right? Then, you would have declared me as a criminal, asked your men to find me. You wanted them to exhaust me before you kill me. Of course, you have to make sure that Mo Li is weak, that he wouldn't be able to help me, right?"

"My…." The king let out a burst of dark, sinister laughter. "How could you be so calm after knowing all this?"

Lucinia squinted her eyes. "Why me? You already know that I have no interest in taking the throne from you! Why do you want me dead?"

"How sure are you that I want you dead? What if I only wanted you to deal with the Queen, Kuzma, and Gavril?"

"Bullshit!" Her words surprised the King. To be honest, she honestly thought about this too. The possibility that the King wanted to attack Mo Li and frame Kuzma. Of course, this would anger her and make her kill Prince Kuzma. That would be one headache for the king. However, she soon realized that there is something more going on aside from this. Then she remembered Zacharia.

Zach had been assigned by the Queen to become Lucinia's knight. If one would think about it, they would immediately say that it was the Queen who owned Zach. The man had been serving Lucinia for a few years, meaning, he was very familiar with who the REAL Lucinia cared about in this world. And that is not Mo Li. That would be Madam Liliana, the woman who raised Lucinia.

If they really wanted Lucinia to kill Kuzma then… why would they poison the Duke? Clearly, Lucinia just married the Duke and no guarantee seeing the Duke hurt would trigger her into killing her own brother.

However, it would be different if they hurt Madam Liliana.

Zacharia knows this and must have informed the King about it. "If you wanted me to lose control, you would have hurt Madam Liliana and not The Duke," Lucinia uttered. "However, hurting the Duke meant that he would not be able to save in me in time. You wanted to use the opportunity that he was still weak to hurt me. You know that he couldn't kill you and if my guess is right, you are not allowed to kill him as well."

"Hah!" The King's eyes went wide, he stared at Lucinia for a few seconds before he started laughing. "You… you are one smart woman! How did you guess all this in such a short period?" He narrowed his eyes. "Unless… you already know or perhaps suspecting that I would target Mo Li. Is that right?"

"I want to know why," Lucinia uttered. "I want to know why you wanted me dead. I want to know why you wanted to fool Mo Li into thinking that I leave him. And I wanted to know … I wanted to know if this has something to do with my mother."

"You even know about your mother?" This time the King's eyes showed a glint that was too familiar to Lucinia. Jealousy. "Did that witch tell you about your mother?"

"Victoria is dead. But you should already know that, right?"

"So, she actually told you about Siwa? Did she make you hate your mother too?"

"Why would I hate someone I don't know?"

Her words were enough to shut her father up. Seeing this, Lucinia continued. "Can… you please answer me. Let me hear the truth before you try and kill me?" she asked. Not a hint of fear can be seen in her eyes.