Wrong Marriage and Sweet Love

Joyce never expected that Rohomes was currently at the critical moment of power transition. Clint brought her to Rohomes, but what was he planning to do? She had heard before that the succession dispute in Rohomes was intense, and Clint’s position as the crown prince was not stable. However, in reality, Clint held the majority of power, and if the emperor were to pass away… if he didn’t leave the throne to Clint…

Joyce took a sharp breath.

Clint was cunning and would never give up easily. Rohomes would definitely fall into internal conflict.

No wonder she saw Watanabe repeatedly whispering to Clint today. It turned out that something big had happened in the royal family. Even the media couldn’t hide it anymore, as news about the emperor’s critical condition leaked out. The situation must have reached a critical point. It was likely that a change would happen in just a few days.

She browsed through some internal network news that she could access, but they were all official statements with nothing new or interesting.

Now, all she could do was try to remember the phone number of Kane’s branch company in Rohomes. But the more she rushed, the harder it became for her to recall. She tried several numbers, but none of them were correct.

After a while, Joyce stood up.

It was pointless to continue wasting time like this. She needed to move around and relax herself.

Opening the door, Joyce walked downstairs quickly. When she reached the living room, she found Clint sitting on the sofa, leisurely looking at his phone as if he had nothing to do with the world even if it collapsed.

Hearing Joyce coming downstairs, he looked up. “You came down so quickly?”

“Heh.” Joyce sneered. “You blocked all external communication, so I couldn’t contact anyone. What can I do? I can only come down and continue wandering around.”

“If you have any needs, you can contact me,” Clint said casually. “As for others, it doesn’t matter if you don’t contact them.”

Joyce cursed silently in her heart. It didn’t matter to him, but it mattered to others.

“Speaking of contact information, I don’t even have your contact number now. Give me your number,” Joyce handed him her phone. “Enter your number here, and also give me Watanabe’s number in case I can’t reach you and have urgent matters.”

Clint glanced at Joyce again before taking her phone and entering his own number and Watanabe’s number. Then he handed it back to Joyce.

“Can I go out? This place seems nice, in the city center. There are various high-end shops within walking distance. If I’m bored, I can go shopping,” Joyce sat down opposite Clint.

“Not for now. Maybe later, wait a few more days,” Clint picked up the teacup in front of him. Inside the white porcelain cup was green tea, which he sipped lightly.

Wait a few days? Joyce thought to herself. Could it be that he was waiting for the emperor’s passing? Waiting for the result of the succession before letting her leave?

Clint seemed to remember something as he took out a small envelope from his pocket and handed it to Joyce. “This is for you.”

Curiously, Joyce took it and asked, “What is this?”

“Open it and you’ll see,” Clint drank another sip of tea.

Joyce opened the envelope and found a black credit card inside with a golden chrysanthemum emblem printed on it.

“A credit card?” she asked in surprise.

“Yes. This card has no spending limit; you can use it however you like,” Clint pointed at the credit card. “Surprised? Back when you were in Khebury, you gave me a credit card too.”

Joyce remained silent.

She didn’t know if he held a grudge or remembered her kindness.

“Don’t think too much about it. You’re the first person willing to take care of me like this. I will treasure the card you gave me forever,” Clint smiled faintly with a hint of tenderness in his eyes.

“You were unknown at that time, penniless. I didn’t mean anything else by giving you a job and a place to stay, as well as a card. How could you interpret it as me taking care of you?” Joyce couldn’t understand; he was really good at twisting things around.

“You arranged a job for me, gave me a place to stay, and gave me a card. How else am I supposed to interpret it?” Clint’s smile grew wider.

Joyce was speechless.

Could it be that this was the reason why he went through so much trouble to kidnap her?

“What use do I have for a credit card? I can’t even leave this villa. You won’t let me go out but give me a card just to mock me?” Joyce threw the credit card on the table. “I don’t need it.”

“Not now, but soon enough. Keep it,” Clint’s voice turned cold.

“How soon?” Joyce tested him. “How long is ‘soon’? Clint, I saw the news about the emperor being critically ill. Why are you so calm sitting here? What are you planning?”

“You saw it?” Clint put down his teacup. “Yes, as you’ve seen, my father’s end is near; it will happen in these few days. It’s not a secret; since even the media reported it, they did so with my permission.”

“Why aren’t you at the hospital with him?” Joyce was confused; wasn’t this supposed to be the most critical moment in the succession dispute?

At that moment, Clint’s handsome face suddenly turned cold as he involuntarily clenched his fist.

Why wasn’t he at the hospital with him?

Because someone else was there day and night by his side-Reuben!

And his father had ordered that no one else be allowed to visit!

He could only obtain information through other channels.

Rohomes’ Palace Hall.

Reuben sat on the sofa with a cup of green tea in his hand. He felt restless and unconsciously took a sip and then another sip until there was no more tea left in his cup. Yet he continued raising his cup as if there was still tea inside without realizing that it was empty.

Grizela noticed this and couldn’t help but remind him, “Your Highness, shall I pour some tea for you?”

Reuben snapped back to reality and looked at his empty cup; only then did he realize that he had been lost in thought for quite some time.

He put down his cup on the coffee table and said dismissively, “No need.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Grizela respectfully retreated to one side.

The situation had developed into an extremely delicate state now-everyone feared making mistakes because one wrong step could lead them straight into hell.

Hajime Minamoto was an elder in Rohomes’ Palace Hall and currently feeling anxious as he paced back and forth in the hall.

“Hajime, can you stop pacing around? You’re making me dizzy,” Reuben complained.

“Can I not be anxious? It’s already this late; do you still have time for tea?” Hajime raised an eyebrow high.

Reuben didn’t really feel like drinking tea either; he had just come out from his father’s place and needed a moment to catch his breath.

Hajime let out a heavy sigh.

Reuben knew that Hajime wanted him to inherit the throne. But he really didn’t want it; all he wanted was to reunite with his mother.

Since receiving the electromagnetic pulse design drawings from Joyce and using them as an excuse to contribute something valuable to his father, Reuben managed to bring his mother out of the mental health sanatorium where she had been kept all these years and have her accompany his father by his side once again.

After so many years apart from her mother, she hadn’t aged much according to Reuben’s impression; she still had that gentle appearance he remembered from before but with a touch of weariness in her eyes after being isolated from society for such a long time-she became quieter and hardly spoke anymore as if she had grown indifferent towards worldly conflicts-everything no longer mattered to her.

Finally taking a breath of relief after all these years-his only motivation during these turbulent times had been his mother.

With his father on his deathbed now, Reuben often got chances to see her since she stayed by their father’s side most of the time.

But what about afterwards?

He never intended to take on the throne himself; however, everything seemed to push him forward due to current circumstances. Hajime supported him-a veteran member of Rohomes’ Palace Hall-and most members supported him too.

And then there was his mother-who would protect her?

At this moment, he felt annoyed and tired deep within himself.

He had had enough of these days filled with turmoil; there was an impulse inside him wanting nothing more than taking his mother back secretly to Khebury without ever stepping foot into Rohomes again. But he also had responsibilities towards those who trusted him; otherwise where would they go? As for his political enemies-Clint wouldn’t let them off easily either.

Now he was trapped between two choices-unable to decide which path to take anymore.

Recently shuttling between Rohomes’ Palace Hall and hospitals due to changing communication methods meant that all contact with Khebury had been cut off completely.

He didn’t know how Joyce and others were doing recently after taking away those electromagnetic pulse design drawings-what kind of impact did they have?

However, he never revealed any details about those drawings-he wouldn’t.

He promised Joyce that he would handle everything properly-not letting those drawings leak out-he only wanted them as leverage for protecting his mother.

Hajime knew deep down that Reuben wasn’t interested in inheriting the throne himself; however if Reuben didn’t inherit it himself, Rohomes’ Palace Hall would surely be eradicated by Clint.

Hajime sighed heavily again-the room felt even more restless as he paced back and forth while keeping both hands behind his back.

The emperor was deeply suspicious of everyone-he suspected even his own wife and son.

Until the very last moment-he held everyone under control-even if Reuben couldn’t speak properly anymore-he still refused to trust anyone-especially when it came to Kempley-the mother Reuben loved dearly-he still doubted her-even going so far as imprisoning her in that sanatorium-occasionally visiting her but never allowing her freedom or letting her see their son.

Even until now-the crown prince hadn’t been abolished nor had any new successor been announced.

But there were also no actions indicating that Reuben would become crown prince.

Reuben wondered what exactly their father had planned.

Just hearing Hajime pacing around made Reuben feel even more overwhelmed.

At that moment, someone came in reporting news from outside.

It was one of Hajime’s personal guards who stepped forward respectfully saying: “Your Highnesses Hajime and Reuben-I have some new information.”

Hajime immediately stopped walking anxiously asking: “What news? Speak quickly!”

The guard replied: “We’ve managed to gather some information about what happened at East Palace two days ago-we previously only knew that all guards at East Palace were collectively punished but didn’t know why exactly-we have one guard who has close ties with their captain-and through subtle questioning we finally…”

“Get straight to the point! Stop wasting words.” Hajime impatiently urged.

The guard continued: “It seems like His Highness brought back a woman-it should be someone from abroad-but we don’t know yet what His Highness’ intentions are by bringing her back-whether it has anything to do with succession?”

“A woman?!” Hajime found this unbelievable when hearing about bringing back a woman-“How is that possible? He has always been interested only in power; never showing any interest in women-when did this change?”

“It is indeed hard to believe-especially since she was brought back specifically to East Palace-I wonder if His Highness isn’t afraid of offending The Yoshikawa family?” Reuben stood up from the sofa upon hearing this news; things were getting unusual.

Most importantly-he felt an inexplicable nervousness upon hearing about this woman earlier-and had an ominous feeling about it.

“What kind of woman is she? Any description regarding appearance, height or personality?” Hajime asked-“What else did you find out? Hurry up.”

“We don’t know who she is exactly-all we heard is that she has exceptional marksmanship.” The guard answered-“They wouldn’t reveal anything else.”

“What?!”

Reuben was taken aback-the moment he heard about a woman earlier-he felt an inexplicable unease.

A foreign woman with exceptional marksmanship-he happened to know someone like that-Joyce!

No way… What connection could there possibly be between Joyce and Clint??

Could it really be Joyce?!

But how many women in this world possessed exceptional marksmanship? The possibility seemed high.

His heart sank instantly-he suddenly felt terrible all over.

Damn Clint! What is he planning after all?