The Scarred Queen's Rise (Athena) novel Chapter 654

“Why did it

did it have to be me?” he wondered. After all, she keeps plenty of handsome guys most of them far better looking

As if compelled by some unseen force, Ferris stopped in his tracks Holding a black umbrella, Ferris descended the steps and stood in the well of in Gazing down at her, he asked. “Why?”

Lizzie’s body stiffened slightly as her unfocused eyes strained desperately in open wide

She seemed to be searching for Ferris through the hate. But it was no use her vision had failed her completely

Lizzie’s mind was filled with a cacophony of voices the walls of vengeful spirits. She could even feel icy hands clutching the neck, slowly creeping up her back.

This bone–chilling sensation drove her to the brink of madness.

Lizzie wrapped her arms tightly around herself, shivering uncontrollably.

Her lips were pale, and her voice trembled as Lizzie said, “Ever since I was a child, I was raised in the lap of luxury, surrounded by people constantly fawning over me. Yet not a single one of them ever truly cared.

*But that day, when I was whipping a palace maid, you stepped in and stopped me. You told me that as a princess, I should show compassion, couldn’t take lives so lightly.

“Even though you were scolding me, I was strangely happy, because you’re the only one who won’t just obey me because I’m the princess”

At this point, Lizzie broke down in quiet sobs. Bloody tears streamed from her eyes as she clutched her head in agony

She sobbed, “I wanted to be a good person–truly, I genuinely wanted to turn over a new leat. But the very first thing Arthur did after seizing power to have someone violate me. It was he who destroyed my entire life.

“In this treacherous palace, with no one to rely on, how could I possibly survive? So threw caution to the wind and became the slur–only by doing this could I make Arthur lower his guard against me.”

Lizze threw her head back in hysterical laughter, “A princess by birth, yet living such a wretched life. I can’t control my fate, can’t break free from their grip so choose to wallow in the fith myself

Clutching her chest in agony, Lizzie wore a pained expression, her clouded gare seemingly fixed on Ferris

She stretched out a trembling hand toward him and pleaded, “Y’m dying, Ferris. Won’t you just hold me? I truly don’t resent you. For me, death is a kind of release

That hand, once caked in mud, was now startlingly clean, scoured by the relentless downpour.

Ferris’s brow furrowed slightly as he remained motionless. Disappointment welled in Lizzie’s eyes. With a bitter, self–mocking laugh, she murmured, “or course, who would ever want to hold someone like me?”

Suddenly, her hand was enveloped by a large, warm grasp. Ferris’s low voice resonated in her ear. “In your next life, never again be bom into royalty”

Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating Ferris’s face a fleeting glimmer of pity flickered in his eyes. His fate, in a way, was the same as Lizzie’s.

Trapped, unable to break free, and powerless todave himself, he could only sink deeper into this quagmire.

Lire clung desperately to Ferris’s hand, blood streaked tears streaming down her cheeks in a ghastly display

Like a drowning woman grasping at her last hope, she dragged herself toward Ferris with every ounce of strength she had left.

Just as Lizzie was about to touch the hem of Ferris’s robe, she stopped herself. Shaking her head, she whispered, “Someone at worthless as me

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10.30 Wed, 30 Jul &

Chapter 654

shouldn’t sell your robe Ferits, what love you in this life, I’ll pay you lock in the next.”

Lizzie fished something from within her gown and thrust it into feuris’s hand. “Promita ina, Keep this safe, Never let a second know shout i-

whispered, her voice tense,

Ferris looked down at his palm, startled to find a small key and a single elisit,

Lizzie let out a manic laugh. “My father doted on me. He knew he couldn’t protect me after his death, so he hid a massive treasure trove in my termidory – riches Arthur desperately coveted but could never get his hands on.

“For all these years, he’s searched everywhere, but never in a million years would he have imagined that everything he wanted was hidden fight there in

my territory.”

Ferris looked at Lizzie in disbelief, never imagining she would give him something so important in her final moments

“After I’m gone,” Lizzie pleaded, “please take my ashes to my territory and bury them in a beautiful, peaceful place.”

AD