Rolando stood up and got out of the pool. Before he left, he turned to Harper and said, "You can stay and continue to soak
yourself in here. I will find the antidote."
"Rolando..." Harper called out. "We're friends, aren't we?"
Rolando didn't answer her question, but instead, he just continued walking away. He didn't want to be just friends with her. In the
beginning, it was true that he had actually wanted to be her friend, and at the same time, to use her in unraveling the secrets of
the Qin Clan. Now, he completely understood his feelings. So he couldn't tell her that they were friends. What he wanted was to
make Harper his woman. A friendship with her would never suffice.
Rolando went straight to the Bliss Palace where Lilian was embroidering clothes for their unborn child. She was aware of
everything that had happened in the Harmony Palace. When the imperial physician arrived there, Rolando left the palace with
Harper in his arms. She was happy about everything, but she was also a little worried so she couldn't focus on her embroidery
project. By accident, she pricked her hand with the needle.
"Hiss!"
"Your Highness, are you alright?" Daisy asked in a rush.
Noticing some blood dripping from her fingertip, Lilian put down the embroidery pad and wiped her fingers with a handkerchief.
"I'm fine. It's just a small wound."
But Daisy was still so worried and was about to get some medicines. But as soon as she turned around, she saw Rolando
standing by the door. She couldn't see his expression because it was being obscured by the door's shadow, but she recognized
him at first sight. At once, she respectfully greeted, "Your Majesty."
Lilian stood up and bowed. "Your Majesty, what brings you here?"
Rolando stepped into the room and turned to Lilian with a cold stare. Daisy looked at Lilian with so much anxiousness. Lilian
commanded right away, "Daisy, you may leave now and close the door."
"Yes, Your Highness." Daisy left at once.
Rolando passed by Lilian and sat in the host's seat. He stared at her with the same coldness in his eyes, but he didn't say
anything. Lilian was very nervous, but the expression on her face looked so calm. However, the hands hidden in her sleeves
were trembling a little.
"I heard that something happened in the Harmony Palace. How is my aunt?"
Surprised by Rolando's glare, Lilian stepped back a little. She almost thought that he was going to kill her. But thinking of her
pregnancy and that she was the only woman by his side, she had a little more courage.
"What explanation do you have for what happened today?" Rolando continued to glare at her ferociously. He was giving her a
chance to confess everything that she had done. If she didn't cherish it, he would be extremely furious. He wouldn't have a
choice but to ruthlessly force her to reveal everything.
With an innocent expression on her face, Lilian just casually said, "Your Majesty, I am sorry but I don't know what you're talking
about."
"Do you want me to tell you outright that I'm in love with Harper and you are just her substitute?" Rolando said without a bit of
remorse while looking at Lilian right into her eyes.
His blatant words caused Lilian's face to turn pale at once, but still, she forced a smile. "Your Majesty, please don't joke around.
Harper is my uncle Matthew's wife and the princess of the Bright Dynasty. She's a married woman."
"I don't care." As he emphasized on his every word, rage and ferocity were evident in Rolando's eyes. "I'll ask you one last time.
What explanation do you have for what happened today?"
Lilian clenched her teeth and said, "Your Majesty, what do you want me to explain? Please tell me what exactly you mean. I have
no right to interfere if you do like Harper."
But Rolando suddenly approached her, stretched out his hands to grab her neck, and hissed in a low voice, "Give me the
antidote, or you'll know how formidable I can be."
Lilian kept on trying to ease Rolando's hold on her, but his grip on her neck was as tight as iron and she couldn't move it at all.
His eyes were so cold and the impassive expression on his face told her that he would really kill her if she didn't do as he had
demanded her.
A few seconds after, Lilian felt the air was being emptied from her lungs while her eyes were starting to roll back into her skull.
Terrified, she felt death was approaching. She now knew that Rolando really wanted to kill her. A tear fell from the corner of her
eye. The man she had loved for many years was going to kill her because of another woman. Her love for him had turned out to
be the biggest joke in the world.
"Your Majesty!" Miguel's voice was suddenly heard in the room. When he saw what was happening, he hit Rolando's numb
acupoint. As a result, Rolando released his grasp on Lilian's neck. The poor woman was falling to the ground. Miguel quickly
caught her mid-air to prevent her from touching the ground. He then turned to Rolando and said, "Your Majesty, you went too
far."
Rolando stoically looked at the two of them and said, "Lilian, if I don't see any antidote within two hours, I am going to feed you
the poison. Don't try my patience, or you won't be able to bear the consequences!"
"I don't have the antidote that you're talking about. You'd give up your own child for Harper's sake?" Lilian uttered with difficulty.
"My child?" Rolando responded with a sneer. Miguel's heart missed a beat. Just as Rolando was about to say something, Miguel
interrupted, "Your Majesty, he has arrived at the palace. I'm afraid she'll be taken away if you don't leave and stop him now."
Rolando turned to Miguel with a cold stare and waved his sleeve before finally leaving. He was going to deal with Matthew
first.