Chapter 36 — The Price of Arrogance
Louis felt an uncontrollable anger surging through him.
He couldn't hold it down.
How dare this spoiled brat harass his sister?
His own sister.
The person he already felt guilty toward.
The Crown Princess he had spent years searching for, turning every nook and cranny upside down in the hope of finding her.
And now that he had finally found her, Chloe dared to treat her the same way she treated everyone else she considered beneath her?
His sister hadn't even spent a month in her rightful home, and she was already being treated this way.
After everything she had suffered out there.
People had regarded her as a nobody in another country. And although she had married Kingston, Louis still couldn't forget the humiliation she had endured from the court officials—and from a woman who, by tradition, was supposed to marry Kingston.
And now, after finally returning to her own home, she couldn't even be respected here?
All because he had tolerated Chloe's nonsense for far too long.
All because Chloe had never experienced the harshness of being unwanted or abandoned.
All because she had been pampered from childhood until she believed the world owed her everything.
Well...
It was time someone taught her a lesson.
Louis stood before her like a persecutor delivering judgment.
His voice remained calm.
Too calm.
But the chilling tone made Chloe shiver.
"Chloe, even your father won't be able to save you this time."
Her face drained of color.
"It's time to teach you a lesson. I wonder if all those people you've bullied will come after you once they learn you've been denounced and disowned as the Prime Minister's daughter."
Chloe's lips trembled.
Louis's eyes remained cold.
"You are nothing but the peasant—the commoner—you've always looked down on."
He turned toward the guards.
"Guards."
Several men immediately stepped forward.
"Take her to the northern region of the country, where farming is good. Find farmers who have no children to help them on their farms."
His gaze returned to Chloe.
"Tell them she is there to work as a helping hand. Let's call it a little humanitarian service."
Chloe's entire body went cold.
Her face became completely drained of color.
She was frightened out of her wits.
She's dead.
How was she supposed to farm?
She had never even washed a dish in her entire life!
"Wait!"
Her voice came out trembling.
But Louis was already turning away.
"And tell her father to see me. Immediately."
He took a few steps before stopping.
Then he turned back toward Chloe.
"Actually, let me correct a few things before you leave."
Chloe's heart sank.
"You people thought I tolerated your bad and uncultured behavior because I liked you, didn't you?"
Chloe stared at him.
Louis's expression remained emotionless.
"Let's settle that once and for all."
He paused.
"I never liked you."
Chloe's heart cracked.
"Nor do I love you."
Her lips parted.
"In fact, it's the complete opposite."
Every word struck harder than the last.
"You were simply too gullible to notice."
Chloe's knees gave way.
She slumped against the wall before sliding helplessly to the floor.
He really knew how to destroy someone.
Not just physically.
Mentally.
He had stripped away every bit of arrogance she possessed with nothing but words.
Her entire fantasy had collapsed.
All this time, she had been living on wishful thinking.
Her friends had warned her.
They had told her that Louis wasn't interested.
They had told her she was imagining things.
But she had refused to listen.
She had shunned them instead, convinced that they were simply jealous.
Now their warnings were coming back to bite her.
Louis is a devil.
He had completely destroyed her without ever raising a weapon.
What was her existence supposed to be now?
She had been trained to become a Queen.
From the time she was a little girl, she had admired Louis.
She had loved him secretly and openly.
She had spent years believing that one day she would stand beside him wearing a crown.
But now he had shattered that dream in a few sentences.
She needed to wake up.
She needed to face reality.
But what would the people say?
The very people she had used her power, status, and imagined future position to belittle.
The people she had undermined.
The people she had treated politely when it suited her and rudely when it didn't.
The people whose feelings she had never cared about.
What would happen when they learned she had fallen from the position she had always bragged about?
How would she face them?
How would she survive their laughter?
Before she could even think of an answer, one of the guards grabbed her arm and dragged her away.
Lucas watched her disappear.
"What a waste of air."
Kingston's expression changed as he looked at his brother-in-law.
His respect for Louis went up another notch.
Roseline, however, felt a little uncomfortable.
She couldn't deny that Chloe deserved consequences, but the punishment still unsettled her.
Yet she understood that sometimes strictness was necessary, especially with someone who had repeatedly abused a false sense of status within the palace.
Who knew how many people she had mistreated outside those walls?
Roseline could already imagine the terrible things Chloe might have done if no one had ever stopped her.
Whatever comes her way, she brought it upon herself.
Amid her thoughts, she suddenly felt Kingston's hand rest gently on her thigh.
His fingers moved in slow, soothing circles.
Roseline looked toward him.
His eyes reassured her.
It's fine.
He mouthed the words softly.
She smiled back.
He understood her so well.
He knew exactly what she was thinking about.
Not wanting the people who cared about her to worry, Roseline pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and returned her attention to her meal.
They finished eating unhurriedly.
Surprisingly, the pleasant atmosphere returned as though nothing had happened.
After dinner, they all moved outside into the garden to enjoy the cool evening air, relax, and play for a while before retiring for the night.
They had been there for nearly thirty minutes when Chloe's father finally arrived.
The Prime Minister stormed into the garden.
He didn't greet anyone.
He didn't acknowledge the people seated before him.
His eyes went directly to Louis.
"Your Majesty, you can't do this to my daughter!"
His voice was filled with outrage.
"You know she loves you. That's why she does all these things. She's only trying to protect what she thought was hers. An apology should be enough. You can't send your future wife to such a faraway place—"
"Hold on, Prime Minister."
Louis's voice cut through his speech.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
"It seems the power in your hands has started making you want to rebel."
"What?"
The Prime Minister looked stunned.
"Your Majesty, how can you say that? Why would I rebel?"
"Oh, you're not rebelling?"
Louis's eyes narrowed.
"Three crowns are sitting here, yet you make no attempt to greet any of us."
The Prime Minister's face stiffened.
"And yet you dare to question my order?"
Silence.
Louis leaned back slightly.
"I suppose my governess failed in teaching me properly after I lost my parents at such a young age."
His tone became dangerously sarcastic.
"That must be why you're doing her job now."
The Prime Minister swallowed.
"Teaching me my role."
Louis continued.
"Teaching me how I should think."
His eyes sharpened.
"And apparently, teaching me how I should give commands."
The entire garden went silent.
No one dared breathe too loudly.
Lucas, Roseline, and Kingston could all feel the waves of anger rolling off Louis.
Then something happened that caught all three of them by surprise.
Louis's eyes began changing.
The familiar color disappeared, replaced by an eerie golden glow before shifting again toward white.
Roseline's eyes widened.
Kingston stared.
Both of them instinctively turned toward Lucas.
Lucas only shrugged.
Then he mouthed two words.
"Bloodline."
A small, knowing smirk appeared on his face.
Roseline and Kingston exchanged a look.
Who exactly was Louis?
And what kind of bloodline could make a person's eyes change color when their anger reached this level?
Neither of them had an answer.
But one thing was certain.
The Prime Minister standing before Louis had absolutely no idea what was happening behind those calm, deadly eyes.
And if he did...
He would have been terrified.