He Tried to Make the Empress His Concubine

Seraphina stepped closer, pushing her face right up to Mother's. "The legitimate daughter, raising a child for me, the illegitimate one. Just thinking about it makes me feel wonderful!"

I was trembling with rage, but Mother gripped my hand tight and would not let me move.

Cedric frowned. "Seraphina, that's enough."

Then, he sighed and turned to Mother, his tone laced with reproach. "Emmeline, I can allow you to continue raising Rosalind. But Seraphina is the legal wife. Once you enter the household, you will serve her and pay her the proper respects."

Tears flooded my eyes all at once. I broke free and rushed forward, kicking Seraphina in the leg as hard as I could. "You're a horrible person! Don't you dare talk to my mother like that!"

Seraphina shrieked and swung her hand straight at my face.

Mother pulled me behind her. The slap landed across Mother's cheek with a sharp crack.

I froze.

Mother's head snapped to the side. A red handprint bloomed against her pale skin, but she held me tightly against her chest, refusing to let go.

Cedric frowned again. "Seraphina, don't hit her."

However, Seraphina was already crying.

She spun around to face the crowd that was beginning to gather, wailing at the top of her lungs. "Someone tell me if this is fair! She stole my daughter! My own child calls her 'Mother' and won't even look at me! So I slapped her once. Is that so wrong?"

The crowd stirred.

"Stealing someone's child is wrong."

"She looks so proper, too. Who'd have thought she'd do something like that?"

"No wonder the woman hit her. She deserved it."

Hearing those words felt like a weight pressing down on my chest. It felt so heavy that I could barely breathe. I wanted to scream that my mother was the Empress, that I was a princess, and that none of them had any right to say such things. However, not a single one of them would have believed me.

All I could do was cling to Mother's leg and sob. "Mother, let's go! Please, let's just go!"

Mother looked down at me and gently patted my back.

Cedric walked over. This time, he reached out to pull me straight from Mother's arms. His voice was strangely, almost unnervingly patient. "Rosalind, come home with your father. Your foster mother isn't fit to raise you. From now on, I'll buy you all the sweets you want. How does that sound?"

His hand closed around my arm, and he pulled hard. I wrapped my arms around Mother's neck and held on with everything I had.

Mother held on to me just as fiercely.

Cedric's voice went cold. "Emmeline, let go. Rosalind is an Ashworth by blood. What right do you have to keep her?"

Mother raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes were rimmed red, but not a single tear fell. "Cedric, listen to me. The most foolish thing I have ever done in my life was to have once treated you with genuine kindness."

Cedric went still.

Seraphina sneered from the side. "Emmeline, what good does saying any of that do? We're taking Rosalind today. That's final."

She reached for me. I shrank back as far as I could, but Cedric was pulling my arm and Seraphina was gripping my collar. Together, their hands were like iron clamps, dragging me out of Mother's embrace.

"Mother!" I screamed.

Mother was shoved to the ground. I dangled in the air, legs kicking wildly, my voice so raw from crying it was barely a sound anymore.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

Seraphina held me by the collar, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Don't be scared, Rosalind. Your real mother is taking you home! From now on, you'll be the young lady of a noble house. That's a hundred times better than living with some abandoned woman!"

I sank my teeth into her hand. She screamed and let go. I hit the ground hard, pain shooting through my knees, but I did not stop. I scrambled to my feet and ran straight back to Mother.