Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

After giving it some thoughts, Harper accepted the invitation, saying, "Yes, of course. That would be work for me." She, then
stood up, calling out, "Fred, let's leave now."
With the sword resting on his shoulder, Fred followed Harper out of the palace. The murderous look on his face remained
unchanged. Catherine watched Harper leave the palace and regretted having missed the opportunity to trap her. At the moment,
Catherine had to tend to her mother. Her mother had no idea about her misdeeds, though she must be speculating something
after what she had witnessed. If her mother knew what she had done, she would surely be very disappointed.
"Mother, I..." Catherine then stammered. She didn't know where to begin with.
"Catherine, bring your sister back to the palace. I am going to pay a visit to your father," the queen said tenderly. She came close
to Catherine and flicked her hair behind her ear just like she would cajole a little girl. "You should never forget that we are a
family. We must always support each other."
Catherine felt the heaviness in her heart and her vision became blurred. Her throat constricted and she could not utter a single
word. After that, the queen turned around and went to Lance's palace. It had been more than ten years since she visited his
palace for the last time. Now as she walked to that palace, it felt as if a lifetime had passed.
As the sound from outside reached Lance's ears, he had a strong urge to walk outside to welcome his wife inside his palace.
However, after struggling a lot, he could only open his eyes. He was very excited to see the queen inside his palace after so
many years. "What brings you here?" he asked, trying to smile through his pains.
"It was so noisy outside, that I had to come out of my palace to see what was going on," the queen replied. She then took a seat
on the side of Lance's bed. She lifted his hand and began to feel his pulse skillfully to diagnose him. "You're getting old. You are
poisoned by the venomous insect poison."
"Yes, you are right. I'm getting old. And you're as beautiful and gentle as before. Time and tide do not wait for me. But it seems to

she has a lot of grudge

between Catherine and Diana? They seem to have a fight," the queen asked again. Her voice was as gentle and calm as ever. She had no idea about the intensity of the matter. In her eyes, there might be a minor tiff between the two sisters. She could never imagine that the fight was so serious that Catherine even attempted to kill Diana. A bitter smile appeared on Lance's face. He turned his face aside and said in a dejected tone, "Catherine doesn't want to be the Holy Maiden. I think it is high time that we abolish the tradition of having a Holy Maiden in the South Kingdom." The queen remained silent after hearing Lance's words. Then she heaved a sigh and said in her habitual gentle tone, "If she doesn't want to be the Holy Maiden, then she doesn't have to be. Catherine can do whatever she wants. I thought she wanted to be the Holy Maiden, so I had stopped Diana from competing with her. I had no idea that she didn't like it. Moreover, she didn't even speak about it to me. It was entirely my mistake." Catherine was standing outside the door, listening to the conversation between her parents. She was taken aback by the words she heard. As it turned out to be, Diana had never tried to compete with her. Rather, their mother had made Diana move out of Catherine's way because she felt that Catherine wanted to become the Holy Maiden. 'How could I have misunderstood my family members for so many years?!' Catherine's heart wrenched at the very thought of it. "Honestly, I am tired of all this. Now I plan to abdicate," Lance said in a feeble voice after a moment of silence. "And then let's find a place to live in seclusion, where we can live a normal life just like any other ordinary couple. What

long time. You will be fine. You will rise very soon and take control of the kingdom in your own hands. Have faith," the queen comforted

afar, found something changing inside her heart as she heard her father sounding so down and out. Her newly acquired knowledge about her parents' stance regarding her position as the Holy Maiden also melted her heart. Catherine could no longer bear it anymore. She turned around and ran away, while