Chapter 8
"What did you just say? If I didn't hear it wrong, I think I heard the word 'traitor'," Tegu said.
When Natalie didn't reply, Tegu advanced on her.
"I personally think that the word 'traitor' is a bit too strong. I only did what I think is the best for me. I'm far richer now than I was back in Bardia. Your uncle, the king of Bardia, is selfish. He would not give me more money. He kept all to himself. I am not the only who is dissatisfied with the king. Nat, you have to be careful. You are still young. I don't want you to be killed. Your uncle can be assassinated anytime. I cannot assure the safeties of those who serve him. All the people know that you are into politics and you support your uncle. I have to admit that you do very well, but you have to be wise. You have to choose whom you are going to serve carefully. Your uncle is not a good man."
Natalie silenced for a moment, and then cleared her throat. "I believe this is your speech for this evening, right? If you are finished, I want to point out something very important. My uncle, the king of Bardia, is not selfish. The reason why he keeps all of the money to himself is that he doesn't trust you. Yes, you were the favorite of the whole Court, but that didn't mean my uncle trusted you enough to give you more money. His Majesty surely didn't want you to support the enemies. His Majesty knew that you can betray him, but he didn't think you would act so quickly. By the way, thank you for saying that I am good at politics. I really appreciate that particular part of your speech."
Tegu smiled a little bit. "Oh yes, I knew you would put it this way. Then, of course, the king of Bardia is your uncle. You will always defend him. Ah, you are the Duchess of Carnought, how could I forget? You have such a high title that I can never reach. You have land and money. You have a lot of treasures. How can you put down those and serve another person who may not give you such rank. I understand that. I serve the Duke of Larille for money. You serve the king for titles. I respect that—"
"Yes, you are the one who serves for money, but I don't serve for titles. You are the one who is being selfish. You are the one who is discontent with your properties and want more. I am totally free to serve whom I want. Thank you for your concern, but that is totally up to me. Also, please either change the subject or leave me alone. I am tired of the conversation between us already," Nat snapped, a little bit louder.
Tegu became a bit angry. "Oh, fine, you want to change the subject? Well, let's change it. Don't ever talk to me in such way. You are not the little girl I used to know anymore. You were a little angel when you were younger. And don't forget, you are responsible for hiding a 'traitor' six years ago. Remember? That night, your uncle fetched someone to catch me. I ran to you and you hid me in a closet. You let me slipped away. You let a criminal slipped away. Natalie, that was a big crime. But I have to thank you for that. You actually saved my life. Therefore, I am now warning you before you got yourself into big trouble. Leave your uncle. That's all I am going to say." With that, he crossed his arms before his chest.
Nat colored slightly. That was the biggest shame in her life. She actually let him get away, no, it's helped him to get away. Well, Nat couldn't be blamed for that…
Lord Elemer Tegu, born Lord Jenector Illigria, was the favorite of the Bardian Court several years ago. He was extremely handsome and was a very social lord. His look and wits attracted many ladies. As you can imagine, he did not have a good reputation with women. Some rumors even said that Illigria had several illegitimate children. Still, a lot of women hoped to marry him, but Illigria didn't want to settle down so quickly. He still wanted to play, and all the courtiers enjoyed it as a show. Although he's the favorite of the whole Court, the king of Bardia didn't quite trust him. Bardia was afraid that the young lord would betray him one day, and he did.
Bardia was at war with Tagia, a rival country for the past several centuries. Bardia was winning, until Illigria sold the plan of the Bardian invasion to the king of Tagia. Then, Bardia lost a lot of battles. Finally, Tagia won. A large part of Bardian land was under Tagia's control. Millions of men were killed in that war. Millions of dollars were spent in that war. Bardia was furious, and he later found out that Illigria was responsible for the lost. He tried in vain to imprisoned Illigira. For some unknown reason, Illigria got away. Little did he know that his niece was the one who let Illigria got away.