Listening to Charles and Aloque's words, Marianne set down the steaming hot tea in her hands.

The teacup clinked against its saucer with a crisp sound that made Charles's heart involuntarily tighten.

"How truly surprising."

Marianne slightly narrowed her eyes, her gaze examining the two people one by one.

She had always been known for her gentleness and compassion, making people feel like they were bathed in spring breeze during conversations, rarely making her subjects feel pressure.

But now, Marianne had withdrawn her smile, her expression cold, emanating the aura of a superior from within, commanding respect without anger.

"You reflected at home for an entire night, and today you came to see me just for those few painless words of apology?"

Charles hurriedly said: "No, no, no, I have already reflected with Aloque. Every one of Your Majesty's accusations, I plead guilty to."

Charles spoke sincerely, even changing his form of address, hoping only to calm Marianne's anger.

Thinking of yesterday's events, Charles was so regretful his intestines nearly broke.

How could he have imagined that Celitia, having only gone to the academy for a few days, could curry favor with Marianne and Sophia?

If he had known, he wouldn't have followed Aloque's wishes and locked Celitia in the dungeon.

If he had put on a show of dispensing justice, he might even have pleased Marianne, and the matter of promotion...

The more Charles thought about it, the more he beat his chest in regret.

However, Aloque beside him didn't think so at all.

Listening to her husband's humble apologies, Aloque, who felt she was clearly the wronged party, couldn't help but speak up:

"Your Majesty Marianne, you're being unfair. If Celitia hadn't injured Olar, why would I have ordered her confined to the dungeon? My poor Olar is still lying in bed, and the doctor says he needs three days of observation to see if there will be any aftereffects!"

Not expecting his wife to be so uncooperative, Charles's expression changed dramatically: "Shut up, Aloque! Who gave you permission to speak?!"

But Marianne laughed and waved her hand, saying: "Let her continue."

Aloque thought her words had convinced Marianne and became even more righteous:

"Yesterday's offense to Your Majesty was my fault, but it was all because innocent Olar suffered such terrible treatment. Your Majesty, please judge the matter fairly, stop protecting Celitia, and let her receive the punishment she deserves!"

Aloque spoke extremely quickly, finishing before Charles could even cover her mouth.

"Innocent Olar?"

Marianne laughed in disbelief.

"Pinning a maid against a pillar to beat her, and when Celitia came to stop him, even planning to beat her as well—such a violent brute becomes 'innocent' in your mouth?"

Aloque stretched her neck defiantly:

"But in terms of results, Olar neither managed to injure the maid nor Celitia. The only victim in this entire incident was him!"

"He actually dares to claim victimhood? Let me tell you, Aloque, Olar brought this upon himself!"

Marianne had let Aloque speak to hear what other opinions might come from her mouth, and was now almost laughing from anger.

"Olar initiated violence first, Celitia defended herself second. Even if you took Celitia to court, the court would only find her innocent."

At this point, Marianne's eyes grew colder, her gaze sweeping over Aloque like a blade.

She was too lazy to say more to Aloque and directly pronounced judgment:

"You knew Celitia was ill, yet you ordered her confined to the dungeon, nearly causing her death in the cell. Undoubtedly, you committed attempted murder, only failing to succeed. This constitutes attempted homicide, which according to law carries at least three years imprisonment."

Marianne beckoned to the side, calling over the lady-in-waiting standing nearby: "Go call the guards."

The lady-in-waiting received the order and hurried outside, while Aloque stared in disbelief, pointing at her own nose:

"Attempted murder? Three years imprisonment?? Your Majesty Marianne, you can't do this!!"

"Why can't I?" Marianne smiled coldly. "Not only you, but Olar also committed attempted murder. He'll be imprisoned with you. Now mother and son can be reunited—are you satisfied?"

Seeing that things had spiraled out of control, Charles very quickly abandoned both of them:

"Your Majesty is right. This time it was Olar and Aloque's fault. I have no objections to the punishment you've decided."

They had clearly agreed that coming here today would only require an apology, but that woman just had to open her mouth.

Fine, let her talk, but Charles could already see that Marianne was determined to punish them—no amount of apology would help.

In that case, let those two take the fall.

Charles made this decision to sacrifice pawns to save the king naturally and without guilt.

Even Aloque hadn't expected her husband to so readily agree with Marianne's disposition, her eyes involuntarily widening.

She was a duke's daughter—Charles had made many promises back then to convince her to marry beneath her station.

"Charles, you—"

Aloque was so angry she could barely speak.

Marianne's blue-gray eyes quietly observed Charles. After a moment, she laughed again:

"How decisively you abandon them, Charles. You're still the same—haven't changed at all."

Charles forced a smile: "Your Majesty has shown me great kindness. I naturally would never object to Your Majesty's decisions."

"Those are your words, Charles."

Marianne raised an eyebrow slightly. "You bear responsibility for failing to properly discipline your wife and son, making you essentially their accomplice. You cannot escape punishment either."

Now Charles was truly panicking: "Your Majesty Marianne, I—"

Before Charles could voice any defense, Marianne had already interrupted him:

"You're stripped of your position as court guard, your noble rank reduced by one level for a year. Go home and reflect."

Charles's expression changed on the spot: This punishment was too severe!

He really couldn't understand how such a small matter could lead Marianne to make such a decision.

"Your Majesty Marianne! Please reconsider—this punishment is too harsh, I really cannot accept it!"

Now that the stick had hit him, Charles finally became completely frantic.

"Moreover, even if you want to convict us, it should follow legal procedures and go through court trial!"

"Legal procedures? I explained the law to Aloque yesterday—it was exhausting, and she didn't listen to a word. Now you want to talk law with me."

All her usual gentleness disappeared as Marianne curved her lips in a smile as cold as winter.

"Let me tell you, Charles—I am the law."

Charles stared blankly at Marianne, momentarily speechless.

Marianne usually didn't participate much in politics and often yielded to Duke Augustus, focused on maintaining palace tranquility.

This gentleness and compassion had made many forget that she was still the Queen.

The door opened and four guards hurried in, surrounding Aloque on both sides.

"Don't make this too unseemly. Even going to prison requires maintaining dignity, Aloque."

Marianne elegantly gestured to Aloque, signaling the guards to take her away. "Please."

"Your Majesty Marianne! You can't do this!!"

Seeing that Marianne was serious, Aloque completely panicked. "Charles! Why are you just standing there? Think of something!!"

Never mind thinking of something—Charles looked ashen at this moment, still immersed in shock, unable to recover.

Aloque was pushed toward the door by the guards, on the verge of complete breakdown.

"Charles? Help me, Charles!!"

Lady Aloque's screams gradually faded as Charles's complexion alternated between green and white, extremely ugly.

Faced with Marianne's sudden assertiveness, despite his great unwillingness, Charles had no choice but to accept it.

"This incident has greatly angered Your Majesty. I have nothing to say and willingly accept punishment."

Charles let out a long sigh and took his hat from the maid's hands.

"According to Your Majesty's decree, I shall take my leave and return home to reflect behind closed doors."

His expression was somewhat dazed as he swayed toward the exit, clearly having suffered no small blow.

"Take care."

Marianne watched Charles leave, the smile on her lips gradually disappearing.

Charles was still the same—very good at acting according to circumstances.

Whether Celitia, Olar, or Aloque... in his eyes, they were all just chess pieces.

Pick up whoever was useful, abandon whoever wasn't as soon as possible.

Poor Celitia, having such a father.

Thinking of that pale face, Marianne felt a slight ache in her heart.

Instructing the maids to clean the room, Marianne stood up and returned to the palace she had come from, planning to check on Celitia again.

The chamber was very quiet. Marianne didn't let the maids follow and tiptoed in herself.

Approaching the bedside and seeing the girl curled up like a cocoon with the quilt covering her head, Marianne immediately rushed over in panic:

"What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable somewhere? Let me see!"