The Romantic Trials Of A Transmigrated Empress

Chapter 367: Conversation with Lady Florentine.

The queen’s chambers were under heavy guard. All the knights and servants that worked there were part of

Sigrid’s organization. Everyday, they sent her a written log of all that transpired in the chambers. If anyone

strange was seen around, they were reported immediately.

The De-Kensington’s had paid off a few red knights and sservants who were trying to sniff around for

information. Attempts had been made to bribe the servants. Sigrid had told them to accept the bribes and pass

off bogus information.

The bedroom door was opened from the outside by a maid and Sigrid entered the room. She had no idea what to

expect when she entered.

In terms of hygiene, the room was spotless, there was no funky smell. She did smell herbs and a lot of medicine.

The queen was being fed many useless potions that were sent by the mage estate.

Her condition was the sand she was laying on bed. Surprisingly, she had no lost weight. The maids were

keeping her well fed.

Lady Florentine was sitting by the window, looking outside. Three red knights were posted outside of it so she

could not climb out. Even if she wanted to, she would not make it far because every inch of the chambers was

secure.

Her threat to throw herself out of the window was an empty one.

Sigrid stopped by the bed first and looked at the queen. "You look well."

As soon as the queen heard Sigrid’s voice, she sat up slowly, throwing her hand around in what looked like angry

jerky movements.

Sigrid laughed and walked away.

She pulled a chair for herself and sat down at the table at the window where Lady Florentine was sitting. "You

havefor a short period of tso make it quick."

Lady Florentine turned away from the window and she glared at Sigrid. "You have no right using that tone with

me. | am the mother of the queen. My family has been noble for far longer than your Thorin family. Have you no

respect?"

"No." Sigrid replied with a casual shrug.

Lady Florentine’s thin lips seemed to thin even more. Her frshook as she trembled in anger. It seemed like

she had lost weight.

"You must be proud of yourself for defying all odds and turning Roland into a puppet whose strings you can pull

whenever you please." She smiled.

Sigrid leaned back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other. "Lady Florentine, | have no idea what you

mean. | am the wife of the crown prince, his partner. He does not pull my strings and | do not pull his. We find

value in each other. My grandmother taughtthat. Perhaps if you had taught your daughter differently, things

would be different now."

Lady Florentine suddenly turned calm. "I know what a partnership is and | also know that in every partnership,

one leads and one follows. You are the leader, | have heard whispers about you, you know.

The courtiers are not blind. They know who whispers in Roland's ears about what to say and when to say it.

When to smile and when not to smile. How to fake being sympathetic..."

"It is called being strategic. Every ruler has a strategist Lady Florentine, it is neither new nor criminal." Sigrid cut

in. "Just cut to the chase. What is that you want to say to me?"

"I want to return to my home." She said.

Sigrid winced. "Mmmm...that is not what we agreed on Lady Florentine. It was your wish to reunite with your

daughter and die by her side."

Lady Florentine stomped her walking cane on the marble floor and raised her voice. "But she is not dying and

don’t you dare claim that she is suffering from a plague because | have seen people struck with plagues before.

She is the epitof good health, just mute, partially deaf and blind."

Sigrid leaned forward, her expression unreadable. "Splagues are silent."

"Except that this is not a plague." Lady Florentine spat out in a hoarse voice. "I know poison or a magic spell

when | see it. The fact that this happened to my daughter while the king was still well tellsall | need to

know."

"And what is it that you know?" Sigrid asked curiously.

lady Florentine eye’s narrowed. "Don’t play the fool here, not with me. It is not as if you are planning to letgo

anyway so you might as well tell the truth.

Raff Maximus is a beast, he used my daughter to secure his rule. He bedded her so that he could secure

legitimate heirs. After getting what he needed he brought in his mistress and threw her in a corner to rot away in

loneliness."

One of Sigrid’s thumbs run across her palm, "Whose fault is it?"

"His, of course." She answered with all the self attributed righteousness she could muster. "He cto us when

he was losing the fight for the throne to his brother Prince Harley. Never before had he expressed any interest in

honoring the betrothal between him and Maurelia. Suddenly, there he was..." She turned the window, her eyes

lost in visions of the past. "You should have seen him. He groveled at the feet of my husband when he was

begging to us to support his cause.

He promised to take Maurelia as his queen, to empower the De-Kensington house. My son was supposed to be

the prminister, not Windrider. He swore to worship Maurelia and love her."

Sigrid snorted.

Lady Florentine whirled her head around sharply, glaring at Sigrid. "You seem to have an opinion about that."

"Your husband should have known that making a future king grovel at his feet would arouse his hatred for the

rest of his life." Sigrid laughed briefly. "I cannot be the only one that saw this coming, surely someone else had

the sense to say this to your husband, you, the queen or your family."

Lady Florentine was loathe to admit it--[and she would not], but Sigrid was right. Lord Benwick, young as he was

back them had warned them about it. He had written them a letter in which he told them to retract their support

for Raff Maximus before it led to the downfall of the De-Kensington house.

They never listened. But after Raff took the throne and Maurelia birthed Roland, the changes started. Red knights

from the Maximus family were suppressed and most dismissed or demoted. Their influence in the red knight

army dished.

And the De-Kensington private army, King Raff started by cutting down on the number of knights, for six

thousand to three thousand. And then he sent them to various wars, never ending wars which they fought until

their army winnowed to eight hundred men.

They had not given up and over the years, they had done their best to rebuild it. Today, it stood at two thousand

five hundred strong.

But they were always tense, waiting for the king to cafter them. They all knew that day would cbefore

Roland took the throne, which is why they had always wanted him to be crowned sooner than later.

Unfortunately, Roland was not doing much to help them!