Heartache and Standing Up for Ninth Royal Uncle

Madmen aren't scary; what's scary is a madman who's too smart. If Prince Damien of Southlyn is allowed to live, he'll become an even more unhinged lunatic than the Ghost King.

"Kill him." Prince Nolan, having gotten what he wanted, decisively keeps his promise and takes Prince Damien's life.

Behind him, Prince Damien's crazed and twisted laughter echoed, but the sound quickly faded away.

Prince Nolan didn't pause and continued walking out.

With the intelligence supplied by Prince Damien, their victory over Southlyn is close at hand. As for the plague in the border villages—once the war ends and there are no rotting corpses, everything will be manageable...

But is it really that easy?

The day after Serena returned, she sent Simon Sun to find William Wang—William was sure to know the situation on the Southlyn front. If Simon truly wanted to do something, he'd still need the court's power; he couldn't manage it alone.

As for the massacre of entire villages, Serena warned Simon in advance: "The court always considers the interests of the majority. Even if you think these actions are cruel and excessive, don't point fingers or parade your own righteousness in public. You need to understand that, with your current strength, you can't change the decisions of those in power—and you can't guarantee that persuading them to spare a village won't let the plague spread further."

Serena's words were like a bucket of cold water, chilling Simon to the bone. "Master, do you also think the court's extermination of villages is right?"

"Of course it's wrong. But this isn't the only wrong thing in the world. Besides, you also need to consider others: if an entire village has an outbreak, and you don't deal with it in time—don't eradicate the source—more and more people will get infected. The person making this decision may be ruthless, but they have their own position." Serena was almost cold, a stark contrast to her usual maternal warmth, but Simon didn't find it contradictory.

His master had always shown a nearly cold kind of mercy.

"Don't worry, Master, I won't act recklessly." Over the years, Simon Sun had seen plenty of darkness; he was still pure, but no fool. "Master, if things are dangerous at the front, I want to go. I want to do my part to stop the epidemic from spreading—so there won't be any more massacres of villages."

Serena nodded with genuine relief. "That's the right approach—don't despair, don't blame others, don't give up."

"Master, what about you?" Simon asked cautiously.

Simon knew all about yesterday's rewards, and how Prince Nolan had waited all night for Serena. He thought his master should reconcile with Prince Nolan; after all, Prince Nolan truly treated her well.

"Me? Have you ever seen your master complain about fate, or give up on anything?" Serena knew exactly what Simon meant, but she really didn't want to answer directly.

This past month, Prince Nolan had done everything so well that everyone around Serena felt she was being unreasonable—too difficult, too ungrateful.

"Master, Prince Nolan is the baby's father. Are you really going to let your child be born without a father?" Simon looked worried; he was afraid that if he went to the front, there'd be no one left to care for Serena.

"He has a father." Serena touched her belly. "Don't worry about me. Jada and Mira are here, Spring and Autumn are always watching over me, and I have plenty of people to take care of me. Besides, I’m the head of the manor—I’ll be fine."

"Master, is it really impossible between you and Prince Nolan? I can see it—Prince Nolan truly treats you well." Simon was still unwilling to give up, hoping Serena would change her mind.

Serena let out a soft sigh and, after a long pause, said, "Simon, if I stay with him, I won't be happy." The issues between them have no solution.

"I'll drop it, Master—your happiness is what matters." Seeing Serena so downcast, Simon didn't dare say more and obediently took Logan Ling to find William Wang.

As they left, Logan Ling quietly reminded Simon, "Don't let yourself get used by Prince Nolan—he did it on purpose yesterday."

"Huh?" Simon paused and turned to look at Logan Ling.

How did Logan Ling know that Simon was defending Prince Nolan because of what happened yesterday?

So easy to fool—it's a wonder he's made it this far. Logan Ling looked up at the sky, genuinely thinking Simon should be sent to Zed for training for a while. Still, as long as Logan was around, no one could hurt Simon.

He would make sure Simon stayed safe.

Logan Ling didn't say much more; he just told Simon, "Your master is smarter than you. She knows exactly what she's doing."

Even Simon Sun was standing up for Prince Nolan, feeling sorry for him. How hard must this be for Serena?

Yes, Serena was deeply uncomfortable. Prince Nolan's ostentatious rewards and his personal visit to Feng Manor had made her the enemy of every noblewoman in the Capital. And her refusal to see him only marked her as arrogant and spoiled.

Fortunately, Jada, Mira, Spring, and Autumn were all well-trained—none of them ever tried to plead Prince Nolan’s case in front of Serena. Otherwise, it would have broken her heart.

Prince Nolan had done far too many things with hidden motives—Serena didn't believe for a second that his actions yesterday were without purpose.

"Baby, what should Mama do?" Serena touched her belly, feeling stifled and, more than anything, helpless.

She knew that if she let Prince Nolan keep flaunting his 'affection,' everyone would believe he was too good to her—that whatever happened, it was her fault.

Just thinking about Prince Nolan’s talk of marrying her made Serena even more irritable.

Prince Nolan wants to make her empress. If she refuses, the whole world will curse her; if he keeps pushing, every official will call her a femme fatale.

She wasn’t afraid for herself—but what about her child?

"Baby, your father is just too ruthless. Even now, he’s still forcing me." Serena lowered her head, tears falling one by one.

"Baby, it’s not that Mama doesn’t want to accept your father—it’s that I just can’t." Call her dramatic or stubborn if they want. Her heart belonged to Prince Nolan, and only to him, but she truly couldn’t be with him without resentment.

Before, she could forgive Prince Nolan so easily, never minding the hurt he caused, because she believed they’d always be together. If you wanted forever, you couldn’t pick at every wound—making a fuss would only hurt the relationship. But now...

She no longer believed she and Prince Nolan could walk that road together.

"Why was it so easy for you to let me go before, but now you won’t?" Serena asked her belly, not expecting an answer. But behind her, a voice she didn’t want to hear spoke up.

"Serena, I want to ask you too—what will it take for you to forgive me?"

As Serena stood frozen, Prince Nolan slowly approached and embraced her from behind...

"My Serena..."