The Slave Queen - Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Raelynn stared coldly at Julia. "You deliberately provoked Grandmother. What exactly were you trying to pull?
"No surprise — born of some country woman, raised in the Duke's estate all these years, and still clinging to those petty, low-class tricks."
Julia went pale at the accusation, panic flashing in her eyes.
She hated nothing more than people bringing up her background.
No one in the Duke's estate had ever dared say it to her face.
And yet now, it was Raelynn — that wretched girl — who had said it.
"Enough!"
Smack!
Hugo's furious shout landed at the exact same time as his palm across Raelynn's cheek.
She hadn't been on guard and was knocked off her feet, crashing to the ground.
It was the second time in two days she'd been struck.
Raelynn sat there, holding her face, not moving right away.
No one noticed the fire of grim determination burning in her eyes.
Cecilia instinctively took two steps forward to help, but then abruptly stopped herself.
"Raelynn... that was too much."
In the end, she still sided with Hugo — and the foster daughter Julia she loved most.
But Raelynn suddenly let out a burst of laughter.
Hugo frowned, staring at her.
Something felt off. In just a single day, Raelynn... felt different.
Then, her laughter cut off as abruptly as it began.
She sprang up, and before anyone could react, lunged at Julia — yanking her by the hair and dragging her back hard.
Julia screamed in pain as she was thrown to the ground in a tangled heap.
Raelynn climbed on top of her in one swift motion, one hand around her throat, the other slapping her across the face again and again.
The sound of slaps filled the courtyard, loud and relentless.
By the time Hugo and Cecilia snapped out of their shock and pulled them apart, Julia's once-delicate face was swollen beyond recognition — she looked like a pig's head, barely able to cry, let alone speak.
Cecilia turned white as a sheet. She clutched Julia tightly, staring at Raelynn in disbelief. "Raelynn... how could you...?"
"You disgrace! I'm cleaning house today — you hear me?"
Hugo was trembling with rage, storming off to find a stick.
But then came Raelynn's cold, cutting voice.
"Go ahead. Kill me. You might as well kill Grandmother too while you're at it — is that what you want, Lord Hugo?"
He froze mid-step.
And then her voice came again, this time with a chilling edge.
"From now on, if anyone in this household lays a finger on me, I'll return it to Julia tenfold. No — a hundredfold. I promise you that."
All three faces turned ghostly pale.
Julia trembled in Cecilia's arms, and Cecilia hugged her tighter.
Hugo's chest rose and fell with fury. "You dare speak like this?"
Raelynn met his gaze without flinching, eyes sharp and steady.
"I carry your blood. And yet she targets me again and again. Lord Hugo, Lady Cecilia — do you really think I'm the only one she's after?"
Neither of them knew how to respond.
They hadn't expected that.
Julia, still dizzy from the beating, was moaning in pain when she suddenly snapped.
"You're lying! I love Father and Mother the most — it's you I hate! I hate everything about you!
"Why did you have to come back? If you'd just stayed away, none of this would've happened! You ruined this family!"
Blinded by pain and rage, she completely lost control — forgetting Cecilia and Hugo were standing right there.
Cecilia slowly turned to look at her, stunned, unable to believe the words coming from Julia's mouth.
But Julia didn't notice.
Her swollen face had nearly swallowed her eyes — she couldn't see Cecilia's expression, nor imagine the emotional storm those words had just unleashed.
"Julia... how could you say that? Raelynn is your sister!"
Cecilia finally spoke, her voice shaking.
Julia froze. Only then did she realize what she'd just said.
She shook her head wildly in panic. "No—no! Mother, Father, I didn't mean it! That's not what I meant! I just—"
"You were just angry, right? Just said it in the heat of the moment?"
Raelynn, standing off to the side with calm composure, smiled faintly and finished the sentence for her.
Julia stiffened again.
Her eyes flashed with fury, but thankfully, they were so swollen she couldn't open them — and any trace of rage was hidden behind her puffed-up face.
Even Cecilia, standing closest, didn't see the hatred flicker across her gaze.
Julia burst into tears. "Why do you hate me so much, Raelynn? Why do you despise me like this?
"Would it take my death for you to forgive me?"
With that, she suddenly lurched toward a nearby tree — as if to smash her head against it.