The Slave Queen - Chapter 92: Chapter 92

By now, the doorman could tell what was going on.
'Lady Raelynn is no longer that pitiful little thing everyone used to push around!' he thought.
With today's wildfire gossip about Julia being angered into illness by Raelynn, even a fool like him had to admit that Raelynn was no longer someone he could afford to cross.
Once he snapped out of it, he immediately dropped to his knees with a thud.
Knowing exactly what was expected of him, he even started slapping himself hard across the face while pleading, "Lady Raelynn, it's all my fault. I was spreading malicious gossip. I'm utterly worthless. Please, don't be angry..."
Raelynn scoffed.
She mused, 'I haven't even said a word yet.
'Turns out, just being someone they don't dare mess with is truly a formidable weapon.
'That alone solves eighty percent of my problems.'
She gave the doorman a look of utter contempt, as if he were trash, and snapped, "Two hundred slaps. Not one less. Miss even one, and tomorrow I'll have Lord Shawn finish the job for you."
The doorman's eyes nearly rolled back as a wave of dizzying panic hit him.
As the most well-informed ear in the Duke's estate, he knew about Raelynn's engagement to Shawn.
Shawn was so young, yet already at the apex of power. His ruthless methods had sent chills down everyone's spine.
'If he really came here to slap me, my poor face...' he shuddered at the very thought.
The doorman was utterly petrified as he redoubled his self-slapping. As he struck himself, his wails of repentance grew louder. "I am so sorry. Lady Raelynn, please forgive me..."
With a satisfied smirk, Raelynn turned to leave for Lunebloom Hollow. Sienna followed close behind.
Just as Raelynn stepped out from under the eaves, a tall, imposing figure abruptly appeared before her, as sudden as a pine springing up in her path.
Before she could even make out the person's face, her slender wrist was seized in a vice-like grip.
Gabriel's furious voice rang out. "Raelynn, is this how the Duke's eldest daughter is supposed to behave?"
Raelynn looked up before meeting Gabriel's furious gaze.
Her lips curled into a mocking smile. "What else did you expect? Should I keep letting a bunch of servants walk all over me, just like before?"
Hearing this, Gabriel instinctively frowned. "Nonsense! How could the servants of the Duke's estate possibly—"
But the words died in his throat.
Because at that moment, he met her eyes. They were so bright and untouched by worldly corruption that they seemed almost ethereal.
Under that gaze, an unexpected wave of shame crept over him.
Flashes of Raelynn's recent behavior ran through his mind. She showed indifference toward him and their parents, but she showed a lot of intimacy to their grandmother.
And then, the scars that marred her body came to his mind.
In that instant, he knew with absolute certainty that she hadn't lied.
That realization gripped his heart like an iron fist.
He thought, 'Is my sister really bullied by the servants in our own home?'
Gabriel cast a stern gaze at the doorman kneeling silently nearby.
The doorman, thoroughly cowed into submission by Raelynn's two slaps, had initially thought that Raelynn was still as unpopular as before since Gabriel had come out to reprimand her.
He assumed he'd misjudged the situation again.
But now, the prolonged silence made him uncertain.
A chilling thought crept into his mind, 'Are the power dynamics in the Duke's estate truly shifting?'
The wind howled through the courtyard as the snowfall intensified.
The doorman stealthily glanced up, only to be caught in Gabriel's piercing stare.
His heart lurched in terror as he frantically slammed his head back down to the ground. "I am so sorry!"
'Just as I thought.' The moment Gabriel saw this, those very words flashed through his mind.
When Gabriel looked at Raelynn again, the guilt in his eyes had deepened considerably.
Raelynn had initially been facing away from the doorman.
After a brief silence, seeing the doorman suddenly beg for mercy, she arched a surprised eyebrow at Gabriel.
Then, a mocking smirk curled at the corner of her lips.
She mused, "So, being the son of the Duke means you don't even have to be polite to the servants."
She thought, 'Just a single look from Gabriel is enough to send these insolent servants scrambling in terror. Looking back, I really was pathetically weak. How could I allow my servants to bully me into such a state?
'But it's not too late to change.
'As long as I'm still in the Duke's estate, I'll never let anyone walk all over me again.'
Hearing Raelynn's biting sarcasm, the guilt in Gabriel's eyes faded slightly.
He realized with a pang that he'd forgotten Raelynn wasn't that sweet, innocent girl anymore.
She was like a hedgehog now, always raising her quills, ready to prick anyone who got close.
He corrected himself bitterly and thought, 'No, not everyone. It's just my parents and I.
'But aren't we supposed to be family? Blood is thicker than water, after all.'
Thinking of this, Gabriel felt a headache brewing.
Adopting a sense of authority, Gabriel said, "Even so, he's already admitted his fault. As a lady of noble birth, you should be forgiving. If word gets out that you're treating a servant so harshly, what will people think? We can't have them believing this is the standard of upbringing at the Duke's estate."