Chapter 332
I panicked.
There was a woman with Max I didn’t know.
Standing in front of the wall of jewelry cabinets Richard had prepared for me, I felt nothing. It was as if my world was crumbling piece by piece, and the image I held of him in my heart was shattering.
But Max quickly called back. “Claire, what did you want to say to me p>
I shook my head on my end of the line, not making a sound.
“Garrett told me everything went smoothly. Nothing will go wrong p>
I still didn’t say anything. Was I supposed to ask him who the woman was that just called his name?
Shouldn’t he, the one who hung up, be explaining things to me right now?
But he didn’t explain. He was talking about other things.
“Well, you take care in Bravenland.” Max’s words sounded like a farewell.
“What do you mean by that p>
“I just hope Claire can be a little happier p>
“Max Suddenly, there was a loud burst of static from the other end.
Clutching my phone, I rushed out anxiously. “Where’s Richard? I need to find Richard p>
I grabbed a guard on my way.
The servants behind me didn’t know why I was in such a hurry but followed closely. “Princess Claire, the emperor of Bravenland has likely gone to the front lines. Today, he’s negotiating with some of Lily’s remaining subordinates in the slums p>
“Take me to him. No, wait, find Garrett. Where’s Helen p>
I tried to calm myself down. Just then, Helen hurried back from outside and held my trembling body. “What else is Max hiding from me p>
My voice was practically hysterical, but Helen was silent.
“You and Garrett know everything, don’t you? You put on a show for me, pretending there was a crisis in Bravenland to get me out of the way, all because Max chose to give up on me and be with someone else,
right p>
I finally understood. Max and Garrett had just been acting. Richard could handle
things in Bravenland perfectly well on his own.
I had effectively been sent back to Bravenland by Max.
Then Richard would be watching over me, and I wouldn’t be able to leave here to find Max.
Helen handed me her phone. “This was the happy news Serythia announced just as we were leaving It was arranged by Duke Babur-the daughter of Serythia’s most
velme
powerful noble family, Anna. Babur said that if there was no marriage. Parance be wouldn’t help Bravepland and would even cooperate with Lily. So, Mr. Hilton agreed. That day, Mr. Hilton was actually asking you to choose between him and Bravenland. You chose Bravenland, so p>
Helen’s words hit me like a ton of bricks.
So that day, he was asking me to choose.
And I chose to return to Bravenland with Garrett.
A weight pressed down on my chest.
Suddenly, my vision went black, and I collapsed.
When I woke up, Richard was already sitting by my bedside.
I turned over, my back to him. Sometimes I wished everything had just ended in my previous life. At least dying wouldn’t have been worse than this lifetime.
“It’s just an engagement. Once things in Bravenland are settled, Richard will take you to crash the wedding.” The words “crash the wedding,” coming from his mouth, sounded ironic to me.
“Not interested.” This wasn’t the first or second time Max had hidden things from me. Whether it was gratitude or love I felt for him, I was truly sick of living like this.
Always having to guess what he was planning, always being left out.
I decided not to talk about it with Richard anymore and sat up. “Are the slums still in revolt? Are the civilians in danger p>
“They’re not in danger for now. When they heard you had returned to the country today, their morale soared. They fought back against some of Lily’s subordinates and reclaimed some territory p>
Richard’s words brought me a flicker
of joy. I stood up. “Then let’s strike while the iron is hot. I’ll go rally them
again. We can take back all the territory. Since Lily isn’t out there taking charge, maybe this with draw
her out p>