Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Outside the royal palace, hovercars gradually flew away one by one. Inside, as the banquet ended and the guests departed, the entire palace suddenly became quiet and desolate. If Ruo Manni were still there, she would certainly feel that the beauty of the palace had been cloaked with a layer of melancholy.

Although King Adam had attended the birthday banquet with Queen Amber, as soon as the banquet concluded, he returned to the front hall of the palace and might not visit the rear hall for several days.

This was the norm, and those close to Queen Amber had long grown accustomed to it.

Queen Amber returned to her chambers, sitting alone in front of the mirror. As she gazed at her still-beautiful face, she slowly removed the luxurious ornaments from her hair one by one.

Her female aide entered with a face full of worry, looking at Queen Amber as though she had something to say but hesitated.

“If you have something to say, just say it. Why be like this?” Queen Amber said calmly.

“Your Majesty, the Second Prince has already returned to school with his classmates,” the aide said.

Originally, the Second Prince had planned to properly celebrate the Queen’s birthday tonight. His sudden departure to return to school clearly indicated that he was avoiding something and could not stay in the palace any longer.

“Your Majesty, why did you let the Second Prince know about those events from the past? He already has issues with you, and now that he knows these things…” The aide was truly perplexed. These matters were better kept hidden, but the Queen had revealed them. She really couldn’t understand why the Queen had acted this way.

The aide had been by Queen Amber’s side for a long time, even from her youth. She was one of the few who truly understood the events of that time, aside from the Queen herself.

Back then, it was actually Queen Amber who wanted to marry Hua Deyu, not Gina Amber. While Gina appreciated Hua Deyu, it hadn’t reached the level of love.

Queen Amber, however, had been secretly in love with Hua Deyu since her girlhood. But due to family reasons, she was forced to give up her desires and marry the widowed King Adam.

Queen Amber’s love had been unfulfilled, and after marrying King Adam, she had wanted to live a good life. But King Adam’s heart and mind were entirely preoccupied with the late Queen Hua De and focused solely on the Crown Prince. This only deepened Queen Amber’s feelings for Hua Deyu.

Later, Hua Deyu firmly rejected the arranged marriage with Gina Amber, stating that he was in love with Lixi Amber, a member of the collateral branch of the Amber family. Surprisingly, the Hua De family did not object to him marrying someone from the collateral branch of the Amber family.

It would have been one thing if Hua Deyu didn’t have anyone he liked, but the fact that he caused such a stir for Lixi Amber deeply affected Queen Amber, who was pregnant at the time. This stress caused Queen Amber to lose her composure, leading her to commit those infamous actions.

After that major incident, Queen Amber settled down and focused solely on planning for the Second Prince. But three years ago, Queen Amber began to change again.

The aide couldn’t understand what had gotten into her mistress over the past two years. Every action seemed irrational, a case of harming herself without benefiting anyone. She had irritated the King to the point where he barely wanted to see her, and the Second Prince had grown distant from his mother, rarely returning to the palace.

Today’s behavior was even stranger. On the surface, the Queen’s birthday banquet was meant to highlight her status and mend her relationship with the Second Prince.

But the Queen’s secret arrangements had a different purpose.

Someone had wanted to use the Queen to lure the Second Prince and his classmates out of school. Instead, the Queen used this banquet to lure out those plotting against the Second Prince and his friends.

There was no issue with this plan. If done well, it would be a significant achievement that could improve the Queen’s relationship with the King.

However, the Queen leaked the information to the Crown Prince and allowed him to arrange everything. As a result, even if the culprits were caught, the credit would go to the Crown Prince, adding to his merits and prestige.

Additionally, the Queen invited the girl from the Hua De family, who had been switched at birth, to the birthday banquet without taking proper precautions. This led to a scene where Hua Deyu and his wife lost their composure in front of many noble families, publicly recognizing their daughter. This incident became well-known among the upper echelons of society, and King Adam personally had to step in and send an apology gift.

Although the Hua De family agreed not to reveal the truth about what happened years ago, with King Adam getting involved, there were plenty of intelligent people in high society who would speculate on the matter. Who knows what conclusions they might draw?

Those two incidents were not even the most puzzling to the aide. What truly baffled her was that the Queen had arranged for someone to reveal the entire story of the child-switching incident to the Second Prince. As a result, the Second Prince had remained stern-faced throughout the banquet, leaving with his classmates immediately afterward without exchanging a single word with the Queen. It was obvious that he couldn’t accept this revelation.

The Queen wasn’t that ruthless—she had never intended to harm the girl. If she had, she wouldn’t have arranged for the foolish Teresa Du to take the girl away. Afterward, she never sent anyone to verify what had happened, nor did she look for Teresa Du when she disappeared. Otherwise, how could someone as simple-minded as Teresa Du have managed to raise the girl safely all those years?

In fact, the Queen had even rewarded Teresa Du with a large sum of credits in advance, rather than promising a reward after the task was completed.

Hearing the aide’s barrage of “whys,” a bitter smile gradually spread across Queen Amber’s previously calm face.

Why did she do all of this? She had no choice.

A person can’t live without limits and indulge in whatever they want without consequences. Once you’ve made a mistake, it’s incredibly difficult to turn back. Since she couldn’t undo what had been done, and to avoid dragging her son down with her, she had no choice but to act more “vicious,” using this as a way to distance herself from him.

Given the Crown Prince’s magnanimity, if the Queen, who was almost at odds with the Crown Prince, distanced herself from her son, the “lonely and helpless” Second Prince would be fully embraced and valued by the Crown Prince and gain King Adam’s approval.

For over a decade, she had fought to win something for her son but achieved nothing. Yet with just one move from the Crown Prince, her son had gone from being seen as useless to being recognized as a genius. So, what else could she do but accept her fate and admit defeat?

Two years ago, she realized that her son had a brighter future by aligning with the Crown Prince. Her son might not ascend to the throne, but becoming a high-ranking martial artist would also bring him great honor and allow him to live freely without being suppressed by the Crown Prince.

From that moment, she had begun to distance herself from her son, ensuring that she wouldn’t become an obstacle to the brotherly bond between him and the Crown Prince.

She had already trapped herself in this palace, her wings clipped. Her son was her only hope, her final solace.

Of course, she couldn’t tell the aide any of this. If even a hint of her intentions were to leak, and the Crown Prince caught wind of it, he would likely see through her plan.

Hebrew is still young; he can’t outplay the scheming Crown Prince.

“The girl’s true identity has already been exposed, and we have no way to suppress her any longer. The issue is that she’s now Hebrew’s partner, and in the coming years, they’ll go through many combat training missions together. If she finds out that I was the one who orchestrated her being sent to the fringe star, what do you think her reaction would be?” Queen Amber said calmly.

The aide, having been by the Queen’s side for so long, was certainly not without cunning herself. At first, she hadn’t considered this point, but with the Queen’s words, she quickly understood. Her face filled with fear, and she could hardly imagine the consequences: “If that girl harbors resentment, and the Second Prince is unprepared…”

“That’s why he needed to know, so he can be prepared,” Queen Amber said calmly.