Chapter Twenty Nine

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Maria Contessina did not know if what she heard was gossip or not.

The duchess had noticed that the imperial palace had been more silent than usual. She hd noticed the dark atmosphere looming over the palace grounds. She was not the one to believe in superstitions yet the impostor could feel that something was wrong.The palace personnel had let her enter the palace without any hesitation. Technically, Maria Contessina was still a member of the royal family.

Her feet then led her to the the west wing of the palace. Maria Contessina did not realize that she was heading towards the crown prince's chambers. The area was silent, almost deserted.

If one looks under the guise of Maria Contessina, one could see the hideous sins she committed under the angelic face she possesses. One could see beneath the angelic mask she carried, was a vile and cruel woman who was willing to risk everything to get what she wanted. The duchess walks closer to the crown prince of the Philippine Empire.

Devil take the hindmost, indeed.

Maria Contessina then understood the silence that the palace carried. It was due to the fact that the emperor and empress are willing to hide the fact that the crown prince was ill. She could not blame them as the media would be willing to pounce on them like a pack of wolves on their prey.

Her gaze drifts to the still form of the crown prince.

Maria Contessina shall choose and decide. The devil shall make her choose where she'll decide on her fate. If the crown prince lives, she' ll lose eventually. If he lived? She did not want him to live.

Her old game of killing.

The duchess thinks she has the odds. She convinces herself that she was in control yet everything has changed. Every second, she convinces herself that she should finish her nephew off. It was risky, yet she was always willing to risk everything. All the rules of her game had changed.

Rearranged perhaps? Every odds was at stake.

Fate was willing to test if Maria Contessina was willing to let the devil take the hindmost.

In the end, when every game of fate was done. Either way, the devil had taken over.Was she sure? Victorina was unsure. Her gaze scanned the crown prince who dared not to wake up. It was unusual for the once lively crown prince to be quiet.Such a strange child indeed...

Such a different sight.

The cards are set, the deal was set in stone. Maria Contessina knew that she was not bluffing anymore. Let his mother fall, Maria Contessina decides. She had chosen the inevitable and the impostor shall see. She shall win, once and for all. The devil had taken over.

Victorina stood over the crib. Her nephew slept peacefully, unaware of what was to transpire next. She had found his stillness to be odd yet she brushed it off. Why would she care?

The situation was giving her a sense of deja vu. Under the guise of Maria Contessina, Victorina was standing the same place just over a year ago. On that same day, she withdraws from the urge to kill her nephew. She had spared him once, should she spare him once more? With a pillow hovering in front of his still form, the impostor decides.

Maria Contessina dropped the pillow on her nephew's face.

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