Alpha's Rejected Mate Returns as Queen

474 Accidental Injury

Selma Payne’s POV:

However, from a certain perspective, Earl of Marlowe’s loyalty was not to be doubted. Even though his family had almost broken off from the royal family, and everyone knew that they coveted the throne, he, as the head of the family, had never supported everything that his people did.

Yes, he did not stop it. However, anyone in his position had no other choice. He could not be a rebellious minister, nor was he willing to break off relations with his family. So, silence and turning a blind eye were the only choices.

But who could say his cowardice did not help push things to the abyss of no return?

He couldn’t stop what happened more than twenty years ago because back then, the old Earl of Marlowe was still the head of the family. However, in the nearly twenty years that he had been in charge, if he had once been able to firmly cut off the ambitions of his clan at the waist, if he had given his father more trust and revealed the descendant of the illegitimate child to his father, then everything would not have come to this point.

As the head of the clan, he was responsible for controlling his own clan. As a subject, he should not hide the royal family’s secrets from the king.

He wasn’t the main culprit but an accomplice that couldn’t be neglected.

“Earl of Marlowe is a good man who did his job well,” I comforted Emma. “He’s old now and should retire and enjoy life.”

Emma was still unhappy. I knew she had something on her mind. “How did things come to this?” she asked after a few minutes.

She had been a trainee secretary for a long time and had seen many conspiracies around her father. The cheerful girl became quieter and quieter, often looking like she had much on her mind.

This reminded me of myself when I first came into contact with politics. The world of power was too bizarre and grotesque. Anyone who barged into it from a peaceful world would sigh at everything they saw and inevitably doubt their morals and common sense.

I’d thought about it before. Was it right to encourage Emma to enter the political arena? She was a girl who yearned for freedom. Unlike Jordin, who was naturally sharp, Emma was not enthusiastic about politics. The fundamental reason she desperately wanted to climb to a high position was to get rid of her family.

And now, her wish was about to come true, albeit tragic.

“No matter what, this is how things are. No matter how much we hypothesize or how much we regret it, it will be of no use.” Emma and I snuggled up to the bay window and whispered, “Even if we always think that we are the masters of power, we are the ones who are dominated by power most of the time. The Evaria Family is like this, and maybe we are the same. Perhaps there was an opportunity to resolve everything peacefully, but it was simply too dim and insignificant in front of the brilliance of power. Up until now, we have no other choice.”

Emma was silent. After a while, she said, “I have never regretted it. Be it leaving my parents, leaving my home, or stepping into the vanity of power.”

She sniffed and mumbled, “We are no longer children. This is the world of adults. The new world of dreams, where we are carefree and full of curiosity, may not exist at all. Only the days we struggle to live are real.”

I hugged her tightly and felt her tremble in my arms.

“... But I just don’t understand. There was no need for anything to happen, so why did things have to come to this? I’m glad that I could escape from that place and didn’t have to follow in the footsteps of my aunt and cousins. But... But I just can’t let it go. Even though a voice in my heart keeps telling me, ‘Don’t be a b*tch, that’s not your home at all, no one treats you as a person’, I can’t help but pay attention to it, get close to it... I always think, that’s the place I grew up in for more than twenty years. How can I break it off and leave it?”

“I’m sorry, Selma, I’m sorry... I can’t help it. I’m always wavering like this...”

Emma began to cry in a low voice.

The sun shone brightly outside the window, but the gorgeous doorposts of the veranda blocked the sunlight at a certain angle, leaving only a faint gray shadow in front of the bay window.

“I swear I didn’t do it on purpose. I really didn’t know... After that quarrel, my parents changed. They have behaved very well since. They no longer forced me to do anything and cared for me like any normal parent. I thought... I thought they had changed. They had seen all my efforts and finally understood me...

“... That’s why I didn’t doubt it when they said it was just a gift for you and General Aldrich. I thought it was a sign that they were going to give in. I thought that accepting their kindness would help you soften your stiff relationship with the Evaria Family...

“I asked the servants to put it in the supplies I gave to General Aldrich. This should have been a bottle of wine to create a romantic atmosphere for you, husband and wife, to reunite after a long separation. But... but-

“Heavens! Forgive me, Selma, I didn’t know! I don’t know! What have I done? Oh, Moon Goddess, how can you forgive me? How can I forgive myself?”