Chapter 99 The Final Gambling Table
This morning, the royal hall felt crowded for everyone present. The tall palace walls and golden pillars looked like a giant cage waiting for its prey.
The smell of burning beeswax candles filled the air, heavy and pungent. I stood in the corner, observing from afar as the Mercer family and the royal family faced each other.
Time was up. The time the king had given Gisella and Didier to make their decision had run out.Gisella stood up. Today, she wasn't wearing a fancy dress, just simple clothes, as if ready to leave at any moment.
She looked directly at the king, who sat on his throne with a blank expression. Her voice remained calm as she began to speak.
"I will not continue this engagement," she said. Her voice was not loud, but the echo in the hall made her words sound like an explosion.
"I no longer wish to be bound to Prince Didier. I want to start a new life, a life of my own choosing."
Silence.
Didier reacted immediately. His face turned red all the way to his ears, the veins in his neck bulged, and his fists clenched on the table until his knuckles turned white. He was clearly not used to being rejected, let alone in public.
"What did you say?" Didier hissed, his voice low and sharp. "Do you think this is a game? Do you think, after all the drama you've caused, you can just walk away?"
Gisella's parents jumped from their seats in a panic. Her father turned pale; her mother even looked ready to pull her daughter's hair out in front of the king.
"Be quiet, Gisella!" her father snapped, pointing his finger, his body trembling with anger. "You are embarrassing our family! Bow your head and apologize to the Prince now!"
"No," Gisella replied curtly.
Her mother almost fainted, clutching her chest; she cursed Gisella in a threatening whisper. "Are you trying to ruin our future? Who do you think you are, huh? You're just a burden lucky enough to catch a prince's attention!
Chaos broke out instantly. Didier stood up, looking ready to force or intimidate Gisella. Gisella's parents shouted and blamed each other. The atmosphere turned into a marketplace.But the sound of a golden staff striking the floor stopped everything.The king looked at them all with a lazy gaze.
"Enough," he said. Just one word, but it made Didier freeze in place. "You are all so noisy this early in the morning."
The king leaned back, looking at Gisella, then at Didier, who was still angry. He didn't look surprised at all; rather, he looked like someone watching a show whose ending he already knew.
"Didier, sit down," ordered the King.
Didier held his breath, glaring at Gisella with a murderous look, then sat back down roughly.The king sighed deeply. His gaze shifted to the Mercer family, who were still trembling.
"You want to sell your daughter, and now you feel offended because the merchandise refuses to be sold?"