The Scarred Queen's Rise (Athena) novel Chapter 354

Lizzie turned deathly pale and immediately dropped to her knees. She begged, “Your Majesty, please calm your anger! It was just a moment of foolishness that led me to make such a mistake. I beg you, please give me another chance!”

Smuggling a male lover into the palace was nothing short of outright defiance of imperial authority.

“Damn it!” Arthur cursed. Despite doting on his sister, his fury made his head throb.

He glared at the painted beau standing behind Lizzie and roared, “Guards! Drag this abomination out and beat him to death with clubs!”

The imperial guards immediately burst in and seized the man, who clung desperately to Lizzie’s legs, wailing, “Princess, save me! Please, save me…”

Though Lizzie wanted to intervene, she dared not plead for mercy after seeing that Arthur was still fuming.

‘I can’t understand why those perfectly good fireworks had exploded into flames. To make matters worse, this entire mess ended up backfiring on me,‘ Lizzie thought.

Suddenly, she remembered Xander’s cold, merciless gaze as she had approached the palace, and a thought struck her: ‘Those eyes are an unmistakable warning sign. The memory sent a shiver down her spine.

‘It was him. He had to be behind all of this, Lizzie concluded.

As she turned her gaze to Xander, she found herself ensnared by his merciless eyes.

His stare was as cold as the eternal ice atop a mountain peak. Just one look sent a chill straight to her bones.

On the other hand, Xander’s lips curved into a faint, knowing smile.

Lizzie’s whole body trembled in fright as she thought, ‘It has to be him. It must be him.

‘He’s avenging Athena.‘

Lizzie had thought Xander, her uncle, was letting her off the hook, but in truth, he had merely been biding his time as he awaited the perfect moment to strike.

This realization drained the color from her face, and a murderous glint flashed in her eyes. While she wanted to fight back desperately, Lizzie couldn’t summon the courage to do so.

‘Prince Xander is warning me,‘ she realized. ‘This time, it was my male lover who paid the price. If there’s a next time, it’ll be

1. me.

“That damned Athena! How dare she bring such utter disgrace upon me? I’ll make her pay for this!‘

After all this commotion, the gala dinner couldn’t possibly go on.

With a dismissive gesture, Arthur ordered everyone to leave before returning to the Inner Chambers

On their way out of the palace, Athena walked side by side with Xander.

Suddenly, she halted and stepped directly in front of him.

Her clear eyes met his as she probed, “So, this is the ‘drama‘ you were talking about?”

1/2

Xander knew exactly what she was asking, and he replied honestly, “Those fireworks were rigged from the start, and I didn’t need to intervene. But as for Lizzie’s little scandal, that was my doing.”

“Prince Xander, were you standing up for me?” Athena asked again.

Xander chuckled softly in response, “Doesn’t she deserve to be taught a lesson?”

Athena hesitated momentarily before pursing her lips as she slowly extended her open palm towards Xander.

Resting on her palm was a tiny, jet–black vial, and its opaque surface gave no hint of what might be inside.

Xander looked puzzled and asked, “What’s this?”

Athena flushed with embarrassment as she explained, “It’s a madness–inducing drug. Lizzie has humiliated me more than once, and I swore vengeance. So, I was planning to slip it to her lover during the chaos, but you beat me to it.”

Xander arched an eyebrow, a faint smile playing on his lips as he questioned, “So you’d already figured out who her lover was?”

“Though his skin was fairer than most women’s, his frame was too broad for a maid. And that veil couldn’t hide the way he looked at Lizzie. No real maid would ever look at her mistress like that,” Athena explained.

She drew a breath and continued, “These male lovers are all trained to seduce with every glance.”

Xander nodded approvingly in response, “That’s a sharp observation.”

He took the vial from Athena’s hand and slipped it into his robe.

Athena stared at him in surprise as she asked, “Prince Xander, what are you doing?”

“It is for self–defense,” he murmured.

But his deep–set eyes burned with such intensity that Athena felt as if she might melt under his gaze.

A blush crept onto Athena’s cheeks as she averted her gaze, feeling uneasy. “Prince Xander, you hardly need my medicine for self–defense,” she murmured.

After all, with just a flick of his hand, he had already reduced Lizzie to utter disgrace and ruin.

Athena was genuinely grateful for Prince Xander’s intervention.

After a moment’s hesitation, Athena reached into her pouch, pulled out another small item, and placed it gently in Xander’s palm.

Chapter 355