The Tyrant's Beloved Doll

Chapters 13-14

Chapter 13: Stop. I'm Fine (1)

"Your highness! What happened?!" Luna exclaimed upon seeing Sezh return to the palace, "Oh lord, look at your face!"

"I just had an upset stomach," Sezh explained before adding, "Raytan didn't do anything to me. Far from doing anything that could harm me, he even escorted me to the palace by himself. I'm not lying."

Luna was so surprised by Sezh's statements that she couldn't even formulate a proper reply and only stared at the princess with her eyes wide open.

"Are you sure that nothing really happened?" Luna asked again.

When she caught sight of the jewelry box in Sezh's hand, she tilted her head in confusion. Sezh just evaded her prying eyes and made up an excuse.

"It's nothing. This was just going to be a birthday present, but I thought it was not suitable enough for him so I brought it back."

Sezh really wished that Luna would just leave it at that, but the look on her face was saying that she didn't believe Sezh and wanted to ask further. She was like a hound chasing after a scent, refusing to let go of the trail.

"Did anyone else come to the birthday dinner?" Luna persisted again with her questions.

Sezh shook her head, "Only Orson."

Aside from Raytan, Lise, and Sezh, only Grand Chamberlain Orson had been in attendance, but even then he only stood by to deliver the emperor's message.

"I see," Luna clicked her tongue, "So he did it again this year."

It turns out that the emperor always summoned Lise to his palace on Raytan's birthday. Normally, there were two reasons why he would call for her on that day: firstly, he didn't want to see Raytan in person, and secondly, he didn't like it when Lise held birthday parties for Raytan.

Sezh was told that this happened since Raytan held his only-one-guest birthday party. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed that Raytan's situation was actually more pitiful than hers. While Sezh was lost in thought, Luna became worried again because Sezh had mentioned Orson. When Sezh asked why she looked so concerned, Luna told her it was because Orson was close to her biological mother, Yerena. But was there anyone in this palace who wasn't close to her mother?

Luna had already been anxious enough to find out that Sezh had gone to Raytan's birthday party, and hearing that Orson had been there only worsened her fears. The situation was bound to become more chaotic, but Sezh, of course, had no idea about what that entailed.

If Yerena were to find out about this, Sezh anticipated that she would be beaten like a helpless dog to a vicious master. In the past, she would have shivered in fear, but not now. She had suffered through her mother's punishments before, so this time likely wouldn't be that scary. Sezh reasoned that she could get away with getting hit a few times.

Unbeknownst to her, she really would be beaten like a dog.

***

Yerena arrived at Sezh's palace early in the morning.

"You insolent bitch!"

Slap! Sezh was jolted from her sleep in a daze. Yerena's slap knocked her back onto the bed. Her cheeks were tingling red.

"There's a limit to how much you can deceive me! How dare you celebrate Raytan's birthday?!"

Yerena snatched Sezh by her shiny blonde hair and yanked with such force that the girl tumbled from the bed onto the floor.