Ill Make You Into a Grandson Today
The Emperor stared at the banknotes on the desk, stunned for a moment before his lips slowly curled into a smile. "Well, I'll be. Is the sun rising in the west today?"
The little rascal actually knew how to show him, her Emperor, some respect.
Cassidy leaned in, confidently laying out her grand vision. "Uncle, once I strike it rich, I'll send you money every day. I'll even cover your retirement."
"Excellent! Excellent! I'll be waiting for you to get rich and take care of me in my old age!" The Emperor was grinning from ear to ear, nodding so much he almost forgot he'd been about to kick her out of his study just moments before.
He picked up the two banknotes, a hint of warmth in his eyes.
His niece might be a rascal, but her respect for him was genuine.
There were no ulterior motives; she really just saw him as family.
It was a hell of a lot more than he could say for his own sons and daughters, whose eyes were always fixed on the Dragon Throne he was sitting on.
The Emperor tucked the money away, his tone softening considerably. "By the way, where'd you get this?"
He remembered his steward, Payne, telling him just this morning that Ashworth Manor was so broke they could barely make ends meet.
Cassidy patted her purse, looking smug. "Earned it, fair and square."
"Oh?" The Emperor leaned forward, intrigued. "How'd you manage that?"
But the second Cassidy saw that nosy gleam in his eye, she knew she had to get out of there. If he started digging, he'd find out she'd just scammed his *other* daughter, the Fourth Princess, out of the money. She clutched her purse, already getting ready to bolt.
"Anyway, I earned it myself. It's getting late, Uncle, so I'm heading out. My dad's waiting for me for dinner."
With that, she bolted from the study.
Cassidy hummed a song as she drove her Maserati all the way home, but the moment she stepped inside the manor, she knew something was wrong. The steward, Mr. King, was directing the servants to move the manor's valuables out.
When she saw them carrying several boxes of her favorite jewelry, Cassidy rushed forward, snatched them up, and gave Mr. King a suspicious look. "What are you doing?"
Was she right? Did her dad have an illegitimate son who'd shown up to claim the family fortune?
Mr. King looked like he was in physical pain, struggling to get a single word out. Honestly, if it weren't for his years of professional training, Cassidy figured the old man would have just sat down on the floor and started bawling.
She didn't even have to guess. This had her useless father written all over it.
"Spit it out," she said. "What did he do this time?"
Mr. King clutched his chest, his voice thick with outrage as his hand trembled, holding up the ledger.
"The Prince went to a cockfight at Crestfall Manor again today! And he lost! A whopping seventy thousand gold pieces! Ever since you bought that brothel and sank a fortune into renovations, the estate has been completely tapped out.
We have no other choice but to pawn off these valuables to pay them!"
*CRASH.*
The moment the words left Mr. King's mouth, he saw the princess kick over a nearby chest. Cassidy set the jewelry down and marched straight for the kitchen. A moment later, she came charging out with a kitchen knife, fire in her eyes.
"Damian Sterling!" she roared. "I'm going to kill you!"
Mr. King jumped, the ledger tumbling from his hands as he saw the gleam of the kitchen knife. "Princess, Princess, please calm down!"
But Cassidy wasn't listening, knife in hand as she headed straight for her father's courtyard. "Calm down my foot! I'm cleaning house today!"
Over in his courtyard, Prince Ashworth was squatting on the stone patio, his eyes fixed on two speckled hens pecking at the ground.
Their feathers were a matted mess and their combs were limp and floppy.
They looked pathetic. But their sturdy bodies and strong legs told him they were healthy birds, not weaklings.
He frowned. His birds were way bigger than the Duke of Crestfall's. How could they have lost so badly?
Before he could figure it out, he heard a furious shout that sounded suspiciously like his daughter.
"Oh no."
Prince Ashworth shot to his feet, frantically looking for a place to hide. But Cassidy was faster. Using her Wind-walking skill, she appeared in the courtyard in the blink of an eye and, without a word, swung the knife right at him.
He yelped in terror. "You insolent girl! Are you trying to kill your own father? I'm your father!"
"I'll chop you into mincemeat!" she shouted back.
The Prince scrambled away, a pathetic sight. "You, you stop right there! We can talk about this!"
"There's nothing to talk about! You gambled away my inheritance, and I'm going to kill you for it!" Cassidy kept swinging the knife, chasing him around the courtyard and creating total chaos.
Mr. King arrived to the terrifying scene, so scared he nearly had a heart attack. He hurriedly shouted at the manor guards, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and stop her!"
The guards were frozen in place, not daring to move.
Both of their masters, the one chasing and the one being chased, were not people you messed with.
If they jumped in, they wouldn't just fail to stop the fight; they might get hurt by accident.
Besides, the princess had always told them to use their heads.
If they weren't sure what to do, they should run.
Saving their own necks was the top priority.
Looking at the useless bunch, Mr. King was so angry he started cursing. With no other choice, he turned to Auspicious, As-Desired, and Reid Donovan, who were just watching the show from nearby.
"You all work for the princess. Why aren't you stopping her?"
Auspicious scratched her head. "Stop who? The princess doesn't exactly look like she's the one losing right now."
Mr. King glared at the clueless girl before turning to Reid. "I heard you're with the Onyx Guard, sent by His Majesty to protect the princess. You must be a skilled fighter." He pointed at the father-daughter bonding session happening across the yard. "Please, Mr. Donovan, help separate them."
But Reid hadn't heard a word. His attention was glued to Cassidy's Wind-walking. He looked at Auspicious and As-Desired. "The princess knows how to fight?"
Before As-Desired could speak, Auspicious jumped in proudly. "Of course. She's been training since she was a kid so she wouldn't lose to the Fourth Princess."
Reid's lip twitched. Was that really something to be proud of? "So the Fourth Princess knows how to fight, too?"
Auspicious's face immediately fell. "Yeah."
Reid was even more confused. "Then why has His Majesty never mentioned it?"
Auspicious and As-Desired's lips both twitched as they wisely kept their mouths shut.
Why not mention it? Because both Cassidy and the Fourth Princess were, to put it mildly, amateurs.
To get an edge on each other, they'd both picked up some pretty scrappy, underhanded fighting techniques.
The only thing they could really show off was their Wind-walking, which they'd gotten good enough at to basically fly.
Seeing their weird expressions, Reid guessed the reason and wisely dropped it.
Mr. King was furious. These three were just standing around chatting while the Prince was about to get himself killed.
Seeing the steward's frantic state, As-Desired tried to comfort him. "Uncle Clifford, don't worry. The princess knows what she's doing. She won't actually hurt him."
Mr. King practically jumped with anger. "Is this about 'knowing what she's doing'? Huh? This is completely disrespectful! If anyone sees this, what will happen to the princess's reputation?"