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“I’m here to catch a cheater!”

Raymond couldn’t help but wear a puzzled expression that seemed to say, “I didn’t even call you a cheater, yet here you are, accusing me of being one?”

His wife brushed past him and lifted the white quilt.

“Who are you calling a cheater? Don’t be absurd—” Raymond’s disdain evaporated as his gaze landed on a naked figure hidden beneath the quilt. “What? The tavern owner?”

A wave of dizziness hit Raymond, his mind reeling as if struck by a hammer. “What’s the tavern owner doing here?”

Estelle’s complexion paled slightly as she directed her fury toward Raymond.

“Still playing dumb? You know exactly how he ended up here! Let’s see how you’ll weasel your way out now!”

“Weasel-? What?”

Raymond struggled to comprehend what there was to explain about two grown men sharing a bed.

Could something untoward happen between men?

That’s-…

Before he could ponder further, the tavern owner was startled awake by Estelle’s grim countenance. He let out a cry and then curled up in a corner, clutching the quilt tightly around him, and pointed accusingly at Raymond.

“He seduced me first!”

“Seduced…? What are you talking about?” Raymond struggled to understand the tavern owner’s words.

He took a step forward, attempting to seek clarification, but a sharp, undeniable pain once again assaulted his rear, as though something long and hard had been mercilessly rammed up into him the night before.

He immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Could it be that…

A thought Raymond never wanted to face suddenly popped into his mind, and he couldn’t erase it, no matter how hard he tried.

“He was the one who kept refilling my glass and forced me to drink!” The tavern owner continued to defend himself, desperate to clear his name. Unfortunately, he was adding fuel to the fire.

“I’m just a tavern owner; I can’t refuse a patron’s request. He was the one who got me drunk last night! I don’t know anything about this!”

What the hell? Weren’t you the one who initiated the conversation last night?

Raymond was about to counter the tavern owner’s claims but a commotion erupted outside the room.

“Raymond! Raymond! What trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?”

Razer burst into the room, followed by Raymond’s mother and a throng of relatives, mostly from Estelle’s family. Even the Empress, who rarely left the palace, was present.

Raymond almost burst out laughing.

These people were trying really hard to slander him… How could such a coincidence occur?

And here was his wife, running around the place barely a day after giving birth.

“Mother…” Estelle threw herself into the Empress’ arms, looking pitiful with tears streaming down her cheeks like pearls.

“I can’t believe Raymond has been cheating on me, and with another man, no less.”

“What? Is that true?” The Empress’ anger was palpable as she fixed Raymond with a piercing stare. “Is Estelle telling the truth?”

“Someone’s trying to frame me! I’m innocent!” Raymond retorted.

“Innocent?” Estelle snapped, pointing at the tavern owner who was cowering in the corner of the room. “I caught you red-handed! How are you innocent in this matter?!”

“This is clearly a setup to frame me!” Raymond’s gaze hardened as he locked eyes with Estelle.

“It’s obvious who made the first mistake. Why resort to such desperate measures, Estelle?” he asked.

“What? Are you accusing me of setting you up? You shameless b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲! I can’t believe you’d try to slander me even in this situation!”

Estelle stormed up to Raymond, punching him in his chest before turning to the Empress once more.

“Look at him, Mother! He rarely comes home, and when he does, he engages in such disgraceful behavior, and with another man no less! He’s embarrassing me!”

Raymond boiled with anger, his voice rising as he confronted Estelle.

“Rarely come home? Why do you think I haven’t been coming home? Who do you think I drowned my sorrows for yesterday? It’s all because of you! Because you can’t control yourself, because you cheated on me!”

“SEE!” Estelle pointed accusingly at Raymond, her hands trembling with rage.

“He’s deflecting because he knows he’s guilty. Where’s the evidence? When have I ever cheated on you?”

“You want evidence? That’s simple… I have the evidence-…” Raymond began looking around as he searched the room for the b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ baby, only to be interrupted by Razer, who gripped his sleeve firmly.

“Raymond, my son… That’s enough.”

“Why should I stop? That woman is bullying me! I can’t just—” Raymond’s voice trailed off, shrinking into a whisper as he suddenly noticed his parents, who seemed to have aged twenty years in an instant.

“That so-called evidence of yours, is this it?” The Empress suddenly slapped a piece of paper onto Raymond’s face.

“Take a look for yourself,” she said coldly.

Raymond accepted the paper, only to find it was a DNA test report. In the results column, it clearly stated:

Raymond Cassellman is the biological father of Princess Estelle’s child.

Raymond’s vision darkened and he felt a chill creeping over his body.

He had gone straight to the tavern as soon as he left the maternity ward yesterday to drown his sorrows. And during that time, he hadn’t sustained so much as a scratch—where had they obtained his blood for testing?

Then again, he shouldn’t have been surprised. The doctors in the hospital, the passersby, the relatives, and even his own parents… All of them sided with Estelle. Who was he to fight her?

“Hmph, we’ll wait for the Emperor to pass judgment on this matter. Someone, arrest Raymond Cassellman!” The Empress’ command sliced through the air as she departed, wrapping her arms around the tearful Estelle.

As cold shackles clamped onto Raymond’s wrists, he kept his head bowed, and his entire body rigid like a puppet.

He couldn’t feel anything, save for the faint echo of his parents’ voices.

“Why are you so foolish… my son…?”

Heh, am I foolish?

Raymond couldn’t help but question himself.

◆◇◆◇◆

The verdict soon arrived—the Emperor upheld his promise made on their wedding day and sentenced Raymond to death by a thousand cuts.

It was a gloomy afternoon on the day of the execution. A crowd had already gathered at the execution platform, criticizing Raymond, who stood there in prison garb.

“Did you hear? This man married Princess Estelle, only to betray her the day after she gave birth.”
“I did. The scandal has spread far and wide. Rumor has it he forced himself upon the other party.”
“And to think, the person he cheated with was another man!”
“What? You must be kidding right?”

“No, I’m not making it up. My great-aunt’s second cousin’s fifth niece works as a waitress at that hotel. She saw him entering a room together with another man at midnight.”
“Good heavens, how dreadful.”
“Not only that, I also heard that he didn’t like his newborn son because he thought he was too ugly.”

“What? No babies look attractive on the day they’re born!”
“Exactly, which makes him an absolute wretch!”
“Princess Estelle deserves better. How could she fall for such a man? If I were her, I’d be driven to despair.”
“Ugh, what a scoundrel. I once thought him and Princess Estelle were a perfect match, but how mistaken I was.”
“A wolf in sheep’s clothing, indeed! He should be dead!”