Novel Square
54
“I did it! But why? Why you have come to destroy me again?”
“Do you know how hard it was for me to become the empress? How much I had to endure to become an empress dowager?”
“Finally, I sat high above the masses, without being held in contempt. Why couldn’t you allow me to indulge a little longer?”
Crying, shouting, Priscilla’s tears finally let out.
Alanna didn’t say anything.Exclusive © material by Nô(/v)elDrama.Org.
Gazing at her once beloved sister for a moment, Alanna cracked into a smile.
“You said nobody loves you? When you were a child, you stole father’s jade fan. Who was the one to get beat for you?”
“When you were ten years old, you fell into a pond and nearly drowned. Who risked the life to save you?
“When you were fifteen years old, we were escorted to the Kyrma Empire…”
There was a sudden break in her voice, as if she had been reminded of some terrible memory.
Those clear and cool eyes caught a scarlet, with deep disappointment and hatred.
“Who was the one who came in the way when countless tried to defile your innocence during the journey of a thousand five hundred kilometers towards the East? Who grabbed a knife and fought them to the death? Whose innocence was trampled on for your safety?”
Priscilla stood there dumbfounded.
She stared blankly at Alanna Nelson. Events of the past sprung to her mind following Alanna’s claims.
They were still young at the time when trouble fell upon their family. Before Priscilla realized what was going on, she was escorted to the Kyrma Empire with her sister.
While on the way, Alanna taught her to rub mud on her face to conceal her beauty from bad guys.
However, she was too fond of her appearance. Although she said yes, she was not the least bit willing to follow her words.
Finally, while everyone was sleeping one night, she quietly washed away the mud on her face.
She combed her hair as she admired her beautiful face in the water.
But at that moment the soldiers behind saw her and rushed towards her as if they had found a rare treasure.
She was so frightened that she kept screaming as hard as she could.
In the end, her sister came out to save her.
She did not know what her sister had told the soldiers.
Later, the group of soldiers stopped pestering her and took her sister to the woods behind.
She resumed her beauty sleep. The next morning, her sister returned with bruises and wounds on her face. Although her clothes were tattered and her hands covered in blood, she never talked about what happened the night before.
Priscilla never gave a second thought but found it strange that the few soldiers had not appeared since then.
The young girl then may not know what had happened, but she was in her thirties now.
She already knew what had happened that night in the woods.
It was just that she was not willing to admit and face it, as if the truth that made her regret would not exist as long as she avoided it.
Priscilla looked at her sister and suddenly began to laugh.
And the laughter turned into tears.
It was like a wild animal’s crying, with a shrill anguish and remorse.
A soldier came trotting up with a wooden box in his hand.
“Your Highness, the imperial jade seal is found.”
Alanna picked it up and took a glance before nodding.
She led her men and walked away.
A sudden shrill cry was heard from behind.
“Sister!”
Alanna stopped in her tracks but did not turn back.
The setting sun radiating into the palace, veiling a golden shimmer on the young general, her straight back reminded Priscilla of the time when Alanna taught her how to use the spear.
“Sister, I was wrong! I was wrong! Please forgive me! We’re sisters! You can’t kill me. I’m your sister!”
She fell on her face and crawled all the way, with tears and snot mixing. She no longer looked like the Empress Dowager of Kyrma Empire.
The woman in the combat wear still did not look back, but her eyes, which were covered in the sunset glow, were stained with twinkles of red.
Her face tightened, and the hand holding the seal trembled slightly.
Scenes of their younger days – taking her sister to climb over walls, on trees, and play with mud but was met with her sisters dislike, flashed in her mind.
Nevertheless, these scenes were soon replaced by images of their innocent people dying in her hands.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
After a long time, she said in a cold voice, “The Empress Dowager Priscilla of Kyrma Empire is found guilty beyond forgiveness for absence of virtue, going rampant and oppressing the people! She is hereby sentenced to death!”
The sky thundered and a thunderstorm began
to sound.
Priscilla stood still and stared in disbelief at the woman standing outside the palace gate.
The woman reached into her bosom and brought out a bottle of poison and laid it on the ground.
“This is poison extracted from the heptad snake. You were bitten by this type when you were younger. I risked my life sucking the poison out for you. As a result, I was stuck in bed for three months. I almost lost my life. Now… take this!”
With that, she left with large strides, not paying her more attention.
The scene finally came to an end.
Strangely, it was eerily quiet in the auditorium.
Zoe was feeling awkward.
Was her performance that bad?
Impossible! She had integrated all her understanding of the character into the role.
Suddenly, a burst of applause broke out.
Looking up, she saw Nathan.
He stood up from behind the monitor, with a look of disbelief, looking at Natalia excitedly.
“Great! It was awesome!”
As he spoke, the rest of the audiences pulled themselves out of the action, and then began to applaud.
“It’s wonderful! Fancy acting is like that!”
“Right, I thought it was real for a minute.”
“I’m moved to tears!!”
Zoe breathed a sigh of relief.
Apart from payback for the lash, her suggestion earlier to play this part stemmed from the impression left in her when she first laid eyes on the script.
She wept for sisterly feud and was regretful for the strong-willed and forbearing female general.
It was never her intention to rule the world at the end of the day!
However, things that were within reach of normal people, the most ordinary family affection and sibling harmony was, to her, unattainable.
For some reason, Zoe felt a sense of loss even though the performance was a success.
Nathan came forward and smiled, “You did great. It was refreshing and captivating!”
Annie intentionally covered a face and forced to smile, “Director Nathan. You flatter me!”
However, Nathan did not pay much attention to her now.
She didn’t even notice she was covering her face.
Instead, he stared at Zoe closely and even asked with an ingratiating smile, “Zoe, do you really like this film?”
Zoe was confused.
She didn’t know why he asked her that.
She honestly nodded. “Yes, I read the script two years ago when it was first out. I liked it then.”
As if he discovered treasure, Nathan rubbed his hands excitedly.
“Great to know that you like it.”
Watching as the event unfolded, Annie had a bad feeling in her stomach.
Was he trying to get Zoe to act in this film?