Chapter 844: Dirty Polictics-1

Chapter 844: Chapter 844: Dirty Polictics-1

At this point, Alana was genuinely tired of talking to him.

She picked up a broom and began sweeping the floor.

Slowly, she swept toward Lova, forcing him backward step by step.

"Please do not sully our place by standing here."

Lova’s expression immediately darkened.

"Is this how you treat customers? I assure you that no one will ever taste a single bite of food from this shop."

Alana continued sweeping without even looking particularly concerned.

"That will depend on what other people think, but we can discuss it after the opening day."

Lova’s face became red with anger.

He finally stepped outside, clenched his fists, and muttered under his breath.

"Who do you think will allow you to operate in this entire city if I am against it?"

With that, he turned around and walked away.

Meanwhile, Ivy had finally called for a special meeting.

Their plan had now reached its most important phase.

They needed to cure Princess Catherine. Jade looked at Ivy seriously.

"The herbs."

Ivy nodded calmly.

"The herbs have been growing well in the temporal storage. If I am not mistaken, they will soon be ready to harvest. Once they are mature, I suggest that we directly give them to Catherine, heal her completely, and then ask her to nominate me as a candidate to the throne."

Hearing those words, Jade shook his head for the first time.

"I think it would be better if you do not approach the matter that way."

Ivy narrowed her eyes. "Do you know something?"

Jade nodded.

"The current king is already deeply suspicious of his own sister. He believes that even Princess Catherine might secretly desire the throne."

He paused before continuing.

"If Catherine, who has never shown any interest in politics and does not let her son or daughter participate, suddenly brings an illegitimate child into the royal family from outside, His Majesty will definitely become suspicious. He may believe that Princess Catherine has been secretly colluding with you and other people to challenge him."

Ivy’s expression became serious.

"That would put everyone under enormous pressure."

Jade nodded.

"It would. You could then become an obvious and easy target for anyone who wants to attack Catherine’s faction. They could use you as an excuse to create trouble, and because of your connection with her, you would be dragged into the conflict whether you wanted it or not."

Ivy slowly clenched her fists. "So you mean I need to create coincidences."

Jade nodded. "Exactly."

He took out a plain map and spread it across the table.

"Ivy, your main and only task will be to make sure that no unexpected exception or variable appears. If something does happen, you need to remain calm and respond accordingly."

Ivy looked at the map for several moments before finally nodding.

"I understand."

After the three of them discussed the strategy in detail, Ivy returned to Princess Catherine’s side.

By then, Catherine had recovered to the point where she could finally get out of bed and walk around for short periods.

However, she still occasionally coughed up blood.

Every time it happened, Eugenia and Valer would become frightened, their expressions immediately turning pale as they rushed toward their mother.

Catherine, however, remained calm and composed.

She would simply wipe away the blood and reassure them as though nothing serious had happened.

"Do not worry. I am fine."

Her serene attitude often left Eugenia and Valer helpless.

For so many years, their mother had always been the calm one in their family, the person who endured everything without allowing fear to show on her face.

Now, watching her slowly recover because of Ivy, both of them felt an unfamiliar sense of gratitude.

They might not openly express it, but deep down, they had begun to care about the girl who had appeared so suddenly in their mother’s life.

More importantly, they could no longer deny that Ivy genuinely cared about their mother as well.

They had even begun thinking of ways to reward Ivy for all the effort she had put in so far. As for curing their mother, however, neither Eugenia nor Valer had much hope.

Even the finest divine doctors on the entire planet had been unable to cure Catherine, so how could Ivy possibly succeed where they had failed?

Perhaps Ivy had bribed many people to secure this opportunity, but neither Eugenia nor Valer felt particularly upset about it. If anything, they thought it was only right for Ivy to receive something in return for her efforts.

After all, even if she could not cure Catherine, she had at least brought some hope into their otherwise hopeless situation.

Catherine, however, seemed to understand her children’s thoughts far better than they realized.

Compared with them, she was much more clear-minded and could remain calm even when faced with complicated situations.

One day, she suddenly looked at Eugenia and asked, "Do you want to support Ivy in becoming a candidate for the throne?"

Hearing those words, Eugenia faltered and turned toward her mother.

Having spent so much time with Catherine, how could she fail to recognize the cautious tone in her mother’s voice?

"Mother, you don’t want me to support her, do you?"

Catherine calmly shook her head. "Honestly, I don’t. If I had the opportunity, I would remove Ivy from the race for the throne myself."

Eugenia frowned.

"Mother, tell me something. Don’t you think Ivy deserves at least a little chance to inherit the throne because she is hybrid? Besides, she is, in a way, the biological daughter of the current king. Doesn’t that give her a legitimate reason to participate?"

Catherine laughed softly, although there was a hint of bitterness in her expression.

"Do you truly believe that the only reason I abandoned my chance to inherit the throne was because I lacked sufficient blood compatibility at the time?"

Eugenia stared at her mother with a puzzled expression.

The sudden change in topic had caught her off guard, and she struggled to understand what Catherine was trying to tell her.

"Honestly, Mother, I cannot understand your thought process. I have already investigated your blood compatibility, and it is much higher than King Hugo’s. If you possessed such an advantage, why did you willingly abandon your claim to the throne?"

Catherine leaned back against the cushions, allowing herself a moment to collect her thoughts before answering.

"Do you know how much I loved your father? I loved him so deeply that I was willing to break every imperial law if necessary just to avoid taking another consort."

Her gaze drifted toward the window, where the pale light of the afternoon fell across the room.

"Back then, I believed that if I inherited the throne, I could easily bend the rules to suit my wishes. I thought that as long as I possessed enough power, I could protect the person I loved and live according to my own desires."

She paused briefly, and the faint smile on her lips disappeared.

"However, one day, I overheard my own father discussing his plans to make me the queen. At first, I was thrilled. I thought he had finally recognized my abilities and was willing to support me in becoming the ruler of this planet."

Catherine’s fingers slowly tightened around the fabric of her dress.

"But the words that followed chilled me to the bone. My father said that a king was practically useless because he could not produce enough heirs on his own. According to him, a queen was essentially a baby-making machine. Once she ascended the throne, she could repeatedly produce heirs and secure the royal bloodline. She could also be married to men from different continents to establish alliances and maintain control over the entire planet Astra."

Eugenia’s expression gradually changed as she listened.

Catherine let out a quiet, humorless laugh.

"Can you imagine how I felt when I heard those words?"

She turned toward Eugenia, her eyes carrying a deep, lingering sadness.

"At that moment, I realized that the entire system surrounding the throne was rotten to the core."

Catherine continued speaking, her voice remaining calm despite the painful memories she was recalling.

"If that had been the only problem, perhaps I could have endured it. However, I was repeatedly subjected to assassination attempts. My own siblings were willing to frame me just to earn a few points in the eyes of our so-called father, who valued calculations and political advantages above everything else."

She paused, and her expression grew distant.

"I personally witnessed how the queen, my father’s own soulmate, gradually withered away because she could no longer bear the thought of him being involved with multiple consorts."