His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 54

Kassian’s eyes kept switching between the two women, his brain working hard to come up with an explanation for what he was seeing. He had rushed back from the Imperial Palace to make sure Raena wasn’t in danger after the news broke out, only to be informed by the guards that there was some commotion in the Concubines’ palace instead. He had decided to pass by quickly on his way to the North Palace when he heard the Screams.

Not even for a second had he thought he’d find Raena there, looking with such a cold and threatening expression at another person – at Lara, of all people. If that wasn’t enough, Raena’s maid seemed to be receiving punishment for something, while Raena’s guard stood with his sword drawn and b***d dripping from his blade. Kassian had almost taken out his own weapon when he noticed the silver-haired man stepping closer to Raena.

The rest of the audience had frozen stiff with his arrival, not daring to run away or look directly at him. When his eyes glided over a few of them, he noticed them all flinching, as if expecting some kind of punishment.

Just what was going on here?

“Your Highness, please save me!” Lara’s pleading voice made him turn back to the two women just as Lara tried to crawl toward him. She managed a couple of steps when her skirts stretched, and she tried to pull them from underneath Raena’s foot. Raena took a step back and Lara crashed onto the ground again, whimpering as she staggered to her shaky feet and turned toward Kassian with a terrified expression.

Her left side was swollen, and by the looks of it, her cheekbone might have been fractured.

He looked toward Raena, who stood unperturbed on her spot. Her face was much paler than usual and despite wearing a cloak over her dress, she seemed to be trembling.

“How long are you going to make me wait?” he hissed, head snapping back to Lara. “Explain!” Lara jumped in surprise, her shoulders slumping as she held the left side of her face with trembling fingers.

“I was just disciplining a thief in accordance with Your Highness’s rules! She stole the ruby necklace you gifted me, and my guards caught her with it! Several maids saw her carrying it through the residence!” Lara cried out, tears streaming down her face. Her speech was slurred and a bit incomprehensible because of the injury, but he could make enough of the words to catch the gist.

“Your wife came and attacked us! She hit me!” Lara burst into sobs, dropping to the ground as if her legs had lost the strength to support her.

Kassian gritted his teeth, turning to Raena, who was just letting out a sigh.

“Is that true?” he asked, impatiently waiting for her to look at him.

“No,” Raena replied with full confidence. “Not the part about Kara, at least. And I did tell her to stop them before I punched her.”

Kassian closed his eyes, running a hand over his face as he tried to calm himself. Why did it have to be tonight of all nights? He was already tired, worried, and extremely frustrated by the turn of events; he didn’t need a fight in his own house as well. Especially between those two.

“Liar!” Lara screamed. “There were multiple witnesses!”

“They are all your servants. They are the ones lying” Raena said without hesitation.

“Then can you prove she didn’t steal it?” Kassian asked this time, and Raena finally looked at him. There was none of the familiar warmth and unadulterated joy on her face, no smile or eyes that shone with amusement; her gaze was cold and full of spite. Kassian pushed down the unpleasant feeling that stirred in his stomach as those icy blue eyes landed on him.

“I’m telling you she didn’t,” Raena said, a smile finally appearing on her face. Unlike the other ones, which made something in his chest flutter, this one made him frown instead. “Don’t you believe me.. husband”

“It’s not about believing you or not,” Kassian replied. “It’s about proper punishment being given to those who break the rules. Stealing will not be tolerated in this household!”

“So that’s your judgment?” Raena asked, her voice raising an octave. “You’ll just believe what you’re told because she said so?” Her eyes darted toward Lara with fearsome animosity and Lara hid behind Kassian, shivering like a leaf.

“No. But there are witnesses and the missing object was found on.”

“Kara is the person I trust most in this world.” Raena interrupted him, her voice shaking. “I’m telling you, she wouldn’t do it! Investigate properly!”

“That’s enough!” Kassian sighed tiredly. His eyes moved to Kara while she stood slumped by the table. Without warning, Sarea’s words echoed in his head, You need to have Kara eating from the palm of your hand. And if she refuses, you need to replace her.

This was it, this was his chance. With Sarea’s condition worsening even further, he needed to control everything that was happening in the North Palace. This was his chance to bring Kara to his side, although this was not the best way to do it.

She had turned down every other attempt to forge a working relationship. A few nights in the dungeon would surely make her agree to anything he offered, especially if he was generous enough to return her to Raena’s side. And if she still stubbornly refused to inform him about her mistress for her own good, he’d have an excuse to replace her. Raena was already mad and scared and she was desperately clinging to the hope that he would pardon her maid just because they were married.

And he probably would have, under any other circumstances. But not tonight. He needed to make sure Raena was protected and he could only do that by putting someone capable next to her.

Sending Shadows to tail her and keep her safe was fine, but he needed someone to protect her during the day to0, whenever he was not around. Someone stronger than a young girl who let her mistress get this close to being poisoned. Because he had no doubt that once Sarea died, Raena would find herself to be an even bigger target.

Raena’s anger was a small price to pay for her safety. He would figure out how to appease her later.

“She has been accused of a crime and caught red-handed,” Kassian said with a careful, controlled voice. “While my guards investigate and I decide on a judgment, she will stay in the dungeon. You there,” he pointed at the guards standing hesitantly behind Kara. They had let go of her shortly after his arrival, kneeling on the ground beside her. “Pick her up carefully and bring her to..”

“Zen,” Raena said softly and her guard suddenly moved, pushing the man he was holding onto the ground. Zen took a few more steps toward the table, raising his sword and pointing it at the two guards. Raena didn’t even look at what he was doing, as if trusting him completely. This made Kassian even angrier than the fact that she had just defied his direct order in front of so many people.

“You dare raise a sword in my presence?” Kassian asked in his most threatening voice, his eyes locked on Zen’s profile. Raena’s guard didn’t move, didn’t look, didn’t even reply. He just stood with his weapon ready, waiting for her orders.

Kassian looked back at his wife. “And you! Do you want to be punished too?”

“I don’t care,” Raena said in a much calmer voice than he expected. “Confine me to my house, take away my privileges. It’s not like they matter that much here where the only law is the word of a biased man who wouldn’t even hear the whole story before passing judgment.” She took a step back, then another, without letting him out of her sight as if expecting him to attack her. “But lay a finger on Kara, and I won’t stay still. She is coming with me back to the North Palace so she can get the medical attention she needs.” Raena stopped by the table and finally looked away from him, crouching by her maid instead. “Can you stand?”

Kara nodded hesitantly and Raena gently wrapped her arms around her, helping her up. With his focus on the two, Kassian just now noticed the state the maid was in – her hands hung lifeless and shattered in numerous places, her fingers a mess that might even be beyond saving. Just how much did Lara punish her?

Kara’s feet buckled and she fell to the ground, dragging Raena with her. A pained whimper came from the maid’s l!ps and Raena whispered something to her, but it was too low to hear.

“Zen, carry her!” Raena said, glancing at her guard. He hesitated for a second, then sheathed his sword and kneeled next to them. As he picked up Kara in his arms, Raena turned to look back at Kassian. “l am utterly disappointed in you. I really thought you were better than that.”

She moved to leave, but Kassian blocked her way. The feeling of being reprimanded, like he was the child between the two, bothered him almost as much as her current expression. Raena stopped before she reached him, looking up to meet his eyes.

“Try to stop me and “I’ll be filing for divorce tomorrow morning.” Kassian blinked in surprise. Soft whispers rose around him, reminding him yet again that they were not alone. The eyes of so many strangers felt like sharp needles all over his body. But most of all, it was her words that bothered him.

“You…” he started, but she tried to go around him again. He reached out by instinct, catching her wrist. Her face changed in an instant, pain and panic erasing everything else, and a small squirm left her l!ps. She looked back at him with wide eyes filled with tears.

“Let go!” she hissed, her voice breaking.

Kassian released her immediately, glancing toward her hand, which she hugged tightly against her chest. Tears slipped from her eyes and she flinched as if just realizing she was crying, then almost ran past him, stopping some distance away and waiting for her guard to catch up.

“Your Highness!” Lara’s sorrowful voice made him flinch. “Your Highness, I’m sorry! I was only doing what the rules…”

“I can’t deal with you right now.” Kassian snapped, turning his back to her and facing his terrified servants for a second. “What are you still doing here? Do you want to get fired? Dismissed!”

He didn’t have to repeat it twice. In a blink of an eye, everyone was gone.

“Your Highness, please don’t be mad at me!” Lara whimpered.

Kassian closed his eyes, trying to ignore her annoying voice that was currently bringing him the worst headache of his life. He walked away, ignoring her voice calling for him again, heading back to where he had left his horse on his way there.

He had made a mistake; he had gone too far.

He knew Raena’s maid was important to her, but he didn’t think a mere servant would be thatimportant.

She was ready to defy the Imperial family and ask for divorce for that? Maybe he should have played it safe and taken her side. He had been too focused on the maid. If it was Yulien in his place, he would have realized all of this in an instant and turned it to his advantage.

Still, the way she was acting tonight… he had been too caught up in the moment to pay proper attention, but now that he looked back at her words, her reactions… that was not the same girl that he first saw running in the garden playing with flowers.

Just exactly what was going on in that place? Was she really pretending all this time? Why was she going out of her way to act like that? Was she plotting something behind his back just like everyone else?

His head hurt. Not of this made sense. He had to speak with his brother, but it was long past midnight. He probably had his own problems to deal with.

No. Kassian could handle his own wife. He was going to confront her tomorrow and get to the bottom of it.