Mrs.Cessleysvoice trailed off at the end, voice full of worries and it was then thatRihannanrealized what the duchess meant.

Her expression hardened. Ive made it clear before that you shouldnt have any hopes of a successor

My Queen, thats not it. I was just thinking that

Perhaps you take my words as a joke, enough to simply ignore it?

Hearing the queens cold and unexpected response, Mrs.Cessleysexpression flustered. She bit her lower lip and lowered her head.

I apologize, Your Majesty. I acted out of line and made a mistake. This wont happen again.

Just dont say anything tohim or who I met and that I vomited because I was feeling unwell.

But My Queen, thats

If you are my lady-in-waiting, you wouldnt hesitate to ascend to my request. If thats not the caseRihannanpursed her lips together, then do whatever you want.

She turned her head and closed her eyes thereafter, blocking out any outside noise. Mrs.Cessleysworried face made her heart break and her insides as if it was being ripped apart, but this was necessary.

She knew now the person who pushed her into the lake was Leticia but that didnt mean she planned to tell the truth to Igor.

Ironically, shed rather die than seeing them together all over again. She couldnt explain the feeling in her guts, but it told her that if by chance they meet again, theyll fall in love. It was an obvious natural occurrence of two people who fell in love in the past to fall deeper for each other once more in this life.

She could also reason that the reason Igor was kind and affectionate towards her was that he hadnt met Leticia yet. She saw how they practically fell in love at first sight back then and there was no telling how fiery their love would become in this life.

Rihannanlaughed inwardly in dismal bitterness.

Though the thought of Igor and Leticia becoming a couple made her want to vomit, she found herself more revolting. She was trying to rip their fated love in this situation.

It was pathetic, she was pathetic. And what was she doing now? Even lowly animals who had experienced death would avoid everything that was the cause of their death at all cost, yet, here she was, following the same terrible road she once walked down in.

She volunteered to be his wife, and before she noticed, she fell in love all over again.

Love.

When the word popped in her mind, deluges of indescribable feelings rose up from the inside.Rihannanbit her lip hard, enough to bring her back to her senses.

That word was something she was always afraid to touch and explore.

But now, that once empty hatred and loathing she had for Igor had been replaced with pure love. She couldnt understand these feelings she had. Why had she become like this? What happened to all the promises she made back then? It had gone down the drain.

However, if there was one thing different from the past, it was that she wasnt willing to watch Igor cast her aside and choose Leticia as his lover over her. Shell cast him aside before that ever happens.

When she arrived back at the palace, she didnt follow Igors suggestion to visit him right away at the main palace but went straight to the Queens Palace. The curious Mrs.Cessleywho wanted to voice a question kept her mouth shut.

Rihannansmiled bitterly, wondering if this was the point where therelationshipshe built with Mrs.Cessleywill break apart. It was saddening that theyll slowly drift apart, but this was inevitable

In any case, shell leaveArundelland head to Chrichton soon while Mrs.Cessleywould be staying. It was best to keep her distance from the duchess from now on.

Thats right

This was how it should have been in the beginning with Mrs.Cessleyand Igor yet she allowed herself to get close to them until now. Why does she do that knowing how itll end up the same? Had she not learned her lesson properly?