Do you want to die too?
Iris pried open her eyes and found Adolphus in front of her. She sat up and apologized for not waking up earlier than him. Adolphus told her not to be sorry.
“You need to leave. I will send you to your room before anyone notices you,” Adolphus said. Iris bowed and got up from the sofa. She started to fold the blanket when Adolphus asked her to leave it.
She put the blanket down and looked at him. “Please forgive me for bothering the master this early in the morning,” she said.
“Come,” he said, and turned to leave. She followed him silently, and soon, she reached outside her room. She opened the door and walked in. She wanted to thank Adolphus and turned to look at him. But, to her surprise, he had already disappeared.
Iris couldn’t believe that she was in such a deep sleep. The couch was soft like a feather and the blanket was warm. She never got to sleep in such comfort and it overwhelmed her heart.Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.
She went to bed and sat down for some time. She recalled that she had to assist the other female servants in the Crown Prince’s personal chores. However, she had this slight fear of encountering those omega female servants. What if they hit her again?
Wait! The sun still had not risen, so she could freshen up to take a bath before coming to their notice. She left the room and went to the servants’ washroom.
An hour later, when she returned to her room, she found a chaotic situation around her.
“Iris, where were you? I searched for you everywhere,” Sarah said, with a panicked look on her face. “Did you get beaten by the senior female servants? The Crown Prince summoned all of them and announced a death punishment for all of them,” she informed Iris.
“What?!” Iris was shocked to learn about that. Iris turned to leave when Sarah asked her to come with her. Iris went with her to the main courtyard, where every servant was present.
Iris gasped for air upon reaching the courtyard. She saw Adolphus in the center while a servant was begging for his mercy. Iris went ahead, pushing the servants away who were standing silent.
“Your Royal Highness, we didn’t beat Iris. We only wanted to teach her how an ideal servant must serve his master. His Royal Highness got into a misunderstanding. Please don’t give us a death sentence,” the servant, who the last day had threatened Iris, pleaded with Adolphus.
One of them saw Iris and walked up to her. “Iris, please tell the Crown Prince that we did nothing to you,” she said, holding Iris’ hands. She was terrified for a second. Iris wanted them to realize what they did to her was wrong. But seeing the tears in her eyes, Iris’ heart melted.
“There’s no use in pleading with her. I am the one who makes decisions here. Anthony, did you not listen to me? Send them to prison. They will all be hung to death. The punishment isn’t because they bullied a servant but because they forgot that I am the one whose rules are supreme,” Adolphus clarified to all of them present in the courtyard.
When Anthony gestured to the soldiers to drag them away, Iris stopped him. Adolphus looked at her, puzzled as to why she had attempted to intervene in that process.
Iris got on her knees. “Your Royal Highness, please forgive these servants this time. It is not good to take someone’s life. They indeed tried to…”
“Do you want to die too?” Adolphus asked her. Iris paused and stopped blinking. “I already said that it wasn’t because they beat a servant. It is because they thought, in my manor, they could make decisions for someone. They tried to show that they were powerful enough to raise their voices against the servant, whom I had selected specifically to assist me. I don’t need such servants.”
Iris got tongue-tied upon hearing Adolphus’ explanation.
“But Your Royal Highness, giving a death sentence to someone is too harsh for a punishment.” Iris, despite his warning, tried to convince him to take back his order.
“You should be glad that I didn’t give the command to beat all of them to their death.” Adolphus’ words intimidated her. Was he the same Adolphus whom she had seen the previous night? He was gentle and caring. Then why did he suddenly turn into a ruthless Alpha, showing no mercy?
Adolphus left the courtyard while Anthony ordered the soldiers to take away the servants who would be punished to death.
“The rest of you can get back to work,” Anthony said loudly.
Iris stood up and asked Anthony to do something.
“I cannot do anything about this, Miss Iris,” Anthony said, and walked away.
Iris decided to talk to Adolphus in private. She went to his room and found that the door was closed. She tried to push it but it didn’t open.
“Did Master Adolphus lock it from the inside?” She murmured and sighed. She stepped back and looked around.
She took a deep breath and said, “Master Adolphus, I want to speak to you. Please allow me to come inside.”
Adolphus, who was with Joshua, knitted his brows to hear her voice. Joshua looked at Adolphus with inquisitiveness.
“Ignore her,” Adolphus said, and handed a scroll to Joshua. They both again heard Iris.
“Master Adolphus, it started because of me. I also broke the rule by staying in the bathroom after the evening hours. Master Adolphus will punish me as well,” Iris said from outside.
Joshua glanced at Adolphus. “I guess Master Adolphus should hear the servant. We can discuss it later,” Joshua opined.
“Bring her in,” Adolphus instructed Joshua. He sat in the chaise lounge while Joshua opened the door. Iris was surprised to see him and bowed. She bit her bottom lip because she thought that Adolphus was alone.
“I will come later,” Iris told Joshua.
“Come inside,” Adolphus said in his deep voice. Joshua gestured for her to walk in and gave her a tiny smile.