Blind Heiress Kissed The Mad Regent Chapter 09

Blind Heiress Kissed The Mad Regent Chapter 09

“That person is your real mother. Mae Cole. The woman who raised me.” I looked down, my fingertip tracing the faint old scars along my arm.

Marlowe and I had been switched at birth by the Voss Estate’s former wet nurse. She took me to Rural Northern County, where I never knew a single day of kindness.

I was forced to chop wood, haul water, wash clothes, and cook meals as a small child. The smallest mistake

meant a beating.

And my bad eyesight-that wasn’t something I was born with, either. When I was little, she dropped

something heavy on my head. It damaged my eyes, and we never had the money to see a doctor. So it just…

stayed that way. Permanent.

When the Voss finally discovered Marlowe wasn’t their blood and tracked me down, I was brought back to

the Capital.

Mae had no choice but to release me, but her heart always, always belonged to her real daughter, Marlowe.

Terrified I’d return and steal everything from her, Mae stayed in the Capital, secretly staying in contact with

Marlowe.

When she found out Marlowe got shut in that Chapel copying verses because of me, neither of them felt a

shred of guilt. Just hate. Every bit of it, they pinned on me. “This whole thing with the snakes, you two

cooked it up together.”

I stared at Marlowe’s trembling form and spoke with certainty. “If I had to guess, after she handed you the

snakes, she didn’t leave town. She’s hiding in a Capital inn right now, waiting for the news of my death. Isn’t

that right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marlowe still stubbornly denied it.

Not long after, the guards strode back in. “Your Highness, we have the woman.”

Mae Cole was shoved through the door. The moment she saw Marlowe, a flash of maternal warmth crossed

her face, barely concealed because of the crowd. But when her eyes landed on me in bed, they turned vicious and cruel. She lunged at me, cursing. “You miserable little brat, why aren’t you dead yet?”

She never got close. Silas kicked her across the room, sending her crashing into the wall. He had exhausted

every ounce of patience. “Drag these two vicious snakes out of here. Tear them apart.”

Marlowe panicked, scrambling to clutch the King’s trousers. “Your Majesty, please, just listen! They don’t have a single piece of real evidence.”

“It’s all speculation, and now they want to skip the law entirely and convict us anyway? My mother’s no one. She just came to see me. She had nothing to do with those snakes!”

Seeing the King’s moment of hesitation, I laughed softly. “Proof? Of course I have proof. You grew up pampered in the Capital. You’ve never set foot in the Northern County, so you wouldn’t know the black viper’s

nature.”

“Its venom is lethal, perfect for an assassination, but it’s nearly impossible to find. To keep it alive, you have to feed it human blood. Every single day. Over time, it memorizes its keeper’s scent. It’ll only go after the one

it knows.”

I signaled the guards to bring the chest with the snakes back in. The moment it was opened, the serpents poured out, their tongues tasting the air. They all slithered frantically toward Mae. And because Marlowe shared her blood, several snakes immediately veered toward her, coiling around the hem of her dress.

“AHHHH! Get them away! Get them off me!” Marlowe screamed, flailing wildly and sobbing in sheer terror.

“In front of everyone, the snakes are only drawn to you two. That is your irrefutable evidence.” The truth was finally, completely exposed.

Marlowe knew the game was over. She scrambled to my bedside, collapsing at my feet. “Elara, I was wrong!

Please, beg His Highness for mercy! Forgive us, just this once!”

I turned my head away, refusing to look at her.

Beside me, Silas gripped her chin, his voice laced with a cruel, playful edge. “I’ve changed my mind. Ripping

you apart is way too kind.”

He glanced at the snakes still slithering on the floor. “You’ll both rot in the dungeon beneath Thorne Manor.

Locked in for life, day and night, with these snakes. You’re going to choke on the same poison you cooked

up yourselves.”

Their piercing shrieks and wails faded into the distance until silence finally returned.

In the days that followed, the physicians studied the black vipers’ nature and successfully created an

antidote, completely purging the remaining venom from my body. My damaged eyes, under meticulous daily

care, slowly began to recover their sight.

Silas picked a new date, and this time, he gave me the kind of wedding the Capital had never seen. No

schemes. No poison. Just candlelight, music, and a hall full of people actually happy for us.

Year after year, he kept me safe. Season after season, I never left his side.