Chapter 102

How to Tame My Beastly Husband — Chapter 102. A Farce

Annette’s eyes flickered at the unexpected question. What did Raphael have to do with this?

“What do you mean?” She asked, swallowing with a suddenly dry mouth as she tried to keep her breathing steady. “Don’t tell me that you think Raphael is somehow behind the assassination attempt. He’s not involved with politics. Nor is he someone with any influence in the Empire.”

“That’s not a bad answer, but that’s not what I asked. Do you trust him?”

Arjen repeated it patiently, and Annette’s pink eyes fluttered like petals drifting in the wind. For a moment, a number of wild thoughts ran through her head, but none of them pointed her to an answer to his question.

Seeing her distress, a bitter smile twisted Arjen’s mouth. He had already considered all these possibilities, and it would not be difficult to explain it to her. But what about Annette? Would such questions hurt her heart?

He had been pondering this for some time.

“Isn’t it strange?” He asked slowly. “I did a great deal of investigation into the accusations against you. At first, I thought it was only a coincidence. When you’re standing on the heads of others, countless arrows will fly at you first. It is only natural that some will try to strike us from our feet.”

“But since both incidents happened in the same span of time, it’s difficult to consider them separately, isn’t it?” She asked, with perfect understanding.

“You are my true sister. So I will ask you. If someone wanted to strike us both at the same time, who could do so? And for what reason?”

Annette paled. She had never been able to unravel the reason for the accusations against her in her previous life, and she was determined to discover the truth this time. But the more she dug into the roots of this conspiracy, the deeper they seemed to go. Where would they lead her?

And what would remain of her life, once she knew the truth?

And then suddenly, she gasped. In her last life, she had never known that Arjen had faced false accusations of his own. And while she had not been able to avoid the tap that had been set for her, he had managed to escape.

Did she trust Raphael? When she thought of that question, there was a face that came to her mind, someone that she had never considered before, who certainly could be responsible.

A shocking thought.

A name that she hadn’t the courage to say aloud.

“By any chance,” she began, her voice quavering, “he…is he involved in this?”

“Do you think so?” There was a sudden weariness in his face. His refusal to deny the hypothesis was an answer in itself.

Annette felt a wave of dizziness, as if she were going to vomit.

“Does father know about this?”

“Maybe.”

“And in that case, I would have to marry Raphael. Why the hell did this happen? There must be a reason…”

Annette trailed off. Her mind was such a tangle that it was impossible to make any sort of intelligent decision, and Arjen smiled bitterly as he looked at her. His left cheek twisted, and the black spider there twitched as if it were alive.

“I told you. That is what happens, when one is above others. All the arrows will be flying for you, from both above and below. Our father wanted you to become Crown Princess, but it seems he didn’t tell you about this.”

Her eyes narrowed at the soft sound of his voice. Outside, she could hear Raphael arguing with Claire about the sword. It was faint, but though he was pretending to be upset, he was really very excited about his gift.

Annette knew him well enough to know his mood even when his voice was barely audible.

A helpless smile came to her face as she opened her eyes. Suddenly, all of this seemed like a farce, and one that she had never wanted to take part in.

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