Humiliation, Vengeance Must Be Repaid Double

Stand upright, sit straight!

Those six words sound simple, but to truly live by them is extremely difficult—at least for Prince Terrence. Faced with Serena Feng’s question, confronted by the mockery in her eyes, Terrence’s guilty conscience made him avert his gaze.

So it really is true!

Terrence’s reaction was as good as a confession. Everyone understood without saying a word, but there was still one thing no one could figure out: "Why? What does Prince Terrence gain from this?"

Someone asked, but before Serena Feng could answer, another voice chimed in: "Isn’t it obvious? Everyone knows Princess Yara admires Prince Rowan, and Miss Feng was once his fiancée. What other reason could there be? It’s just a mess stirred up by love—Miss Feng was dragged in for no reason." The last sentence was full of sympathy.

"But isn’t Princess Yara supposed to marry Prince Chase? She never married Prince Rowan." Everyone in the realm knew about the arranged match.

A black-faced man in his thirties sneered, "Heaven has eyes—those who harm others only end up harming themselves. Princess Yara ruined Miss Feng’s reputation, but what good did it do her? She’s only marrying Prince Chase because she’s royalty and the royal family cares about saving face. Otherwise, why would Yara agree to marry Prince Chase?"

"Outrageous!" Prince Terrence, unable to find anyone else to vent his anger on, seized upon the black-faced man’s words about the royal family and shouted furiously, ready to order the man’s execution. But then he remembered—this was Eastlyn. No matter how displeased he was, he had no authority to punish Eastlyn’s officials. He was about to appeal to the Emperor, but the Emperor made his decision first: "Guards, drag Lord Yan away!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The nearby guards stepped forward. Lord Yan was momentarily stunned, his face flashing with fear before quickly regaining his composure. He shouted at Prince Terrence, "Ha! So you and Princess Yara did it, but you’re afraid of people talking? You can silence me, but can you silence the whole world? Prince Terrence, this is Eastlyn, not Lyndaria. Your Lyndarian men sneaked into Eastlyn and persecuted our noblewomen—what is your true intent?"

Serena Feng was certain that the black-faced man was most likely someone planted by Ninth Royal Uncle or William Wang Jinling. She glanced silently at the two men; William shook his head, but Ninth Royal Uncle gave a subtle nod, confirming that the man was his agent. He’d instructed him long ago to wait for the right moment to speak up, and now was exactly that moment.

Serena Feng couldn’t bear a lifetime of infamy—it simply wasn’t fair to her.

"Guards, seal his mouth." The Emperor had heard enough—and was satisfied—before finally ordering the guards to act.

The black-faced man kept shouting, but no one could hear him anymore.

The man was dragged away, but things didn’t end there. Tonight, the Emperor’s head was already pounding from Prince Damien of Southlyn’s relentless provocations. Now that Prince Terrence of Lyndaria had crashed in, if the Emperor didn’t take it out on him, who else could he vent his anger on?

"Prince Terrence, Lyndaria must give me an explanation for this incident." Eastlyn and Southern Lyn were evenly matched in strength—the Emperor had no wish to start a war, especially not one triggered by a woman.

If the soldiers found out, they’d be furious and lose their will to fight. They risk their lives in battle, and now thousands might die just because of a woman’s careless words?

But Lyndaria was different—Eastlyn had a seventy percent chance of winning a war against Lyndaria, and they’d have a just cause. While every nation had spies, almost none would openly admit it, and no case like Serena Feng’s had ever come to light.

No sane person would use their country’s carefully trained spies just to set up a weak woman.

Prince Terrence was seething at the Emperor’s words, and his resentment toward Princess Yara surged higher than ever.

Women really do bring disaster. Back then, he’d wanted to kill Serena Feng outright, but Yara insisted on humiliating her, pushing her to the brink. He didn’t know what possessed him—he thought it’d be a good chance to slap Eastlyn’s face. After a moment’s hesitation, he agreed.

Now that the truth was out, Prince Terrence felt deeply humiliated—his handsome face twisted with shame. Faced with the crowd’s scornful, contemptuous stares, he forced himself to stand tall, putting on the airs of a crown prince: "Emperor, if you want Lyndaria to give an explanation, you’ll need to show evidence. Does whatever Serena Feng says automatically become the truth? If you demand answers from Lyndaria, then what about my sister’s situation? Shouldn’t you give me an explanation for that too?"

At this point, Prince Terrence didn’t care about Princess Yara’s reputation anymore. After all, he was in the right, and compared to Serena Feng, Yara’s status was far more exalted.

"What do you mean, Prince Terrence? Prince Chase has already agreed to marry Princess Yara—are you still unhappy?" Since Terrence no longer cared about Yara’s reputation, the Emperor saw no reason to cover for her either.

No one knew the exact details, but from the back-and-forth between the Emperor and Prince Terrence, everyone could guess: something scandalous had happened between Princess Yara and Prince Chase.

"So it turns out the one who lost her chastity before marriage wasn’t Serena Feng, but Princess Yara. Interesting! Looks like Miss Feng was the scapegoat all along. I really misjudged you, Miss Feng—if I’d known, I never would’ve accused you of it." For once, Prince Damien of Southlyn was actually being charming.

Of course, he only said it for William Wang Jinling’s sake. Otherwise, he’d never have spoken up for Serena Feng—he usually considered it a win just not to make trouble for her.

Serena Feng almost wanted to say, "Third Prince, you’re finally acting decent." But seeing Prince Terrence’s twisted expression, she decided to swallow her words and just watch the show.

There’s a time and place for kicking someone when they’re down—but now isn’t it.

"Princess Yara and Prince Chase?" Prince Jason and Prince Colin exchanged glances at Prince Adrian, Jason even giving a thumbs-up in admiration. But suddenly, the air turned cold. He glanced over and saw Prince Rowan’s face twisted with humiliation and rage. Jason immediately shut his mouth, not daring to say another word.

One was a former fiancée, the other a secret love. Now one was tangled in rumors, involved with several outstanding men—even rumored to have caught Ninth Royal Uncle’s eye. The other was becoming his cousin’s wife. What a mess...

Prince Rowan, you have our sympathy!

That was the unspoken thought of every man present. Prince Rowan wanted to kill someone, but he couldn’t say a word—not even to defend himself. No one dared speak the truth aloud. He could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger.

Tension crackled in the banquet hall—everyone held their breath, afraid one wrong move would spark disaster. Serena Feng looked calm, but inside she was coldly amused.

All the humiliation and injustice she’d suffered—at last, she was getting a little payback.

Only a little, though. The shame and disgrace that Princess Yara, Prince Terrence, and Prince Rowan had heaped on her—Serena Feng would never forget. If she ever got the chance, she’d make sure to pay it all back, with interest...