Alexi Ethren nodded his head, "I think so, there wasn't a chance to escape, and there weren't any movements in the Empress Dowagers's Palace as per the reports of the Imperial Guards..."

Arianna Woller became taken aback before she smiled, "I see..."

"You head in... I'll arrive in a few minutes..." She turned and left, causing Alexi Ethren to crease his brows.

'Did mother find something that I've forgotten to consider?' He mused.

He smiled and shook his head before pushing open the door, and what entered his view was full of white and a unique fragrance that made him feel that this was undoubtedly a woman's room.

The room was white as snow, with a king-sized bed in the center while the edges were fixed with other types of luxurious furniture. There were even other instruments such as a flute, zither placed aside to play at suitable times, and there was even an unfinished painting by the side on a desk.

However, what remained in his sight was the woman who had ostracized, kept him suppressed, and the sole person who was responsible for the loneliness he has suffered during his childhood.

Iona Ethren!

Iona Ethren sat on the foot of the bed, her gaze transient as she looked outside the window. She looked at it for a while before finally moving her lips, "The heavens determine one's fate, was it?"

Alexi Ethren snorted before he entered the room as he walked, "Perhaps, but what I do know is that Karma is real..."

"Your retribution has come, Iona Ethren."

Iona Ethren finally turned her head to look at Alexi Ethren, and her elegant appearance matched her current fate that garnered one's pity, "Shouldn't you call me first mother?"

Her voice sounded melodious yet ridiculing, but it was unknown if she was ridiculing herself or him.

Alexi Ethren laughed, "Haha, I've severed ties with that bastard, so you're no longer my first mother, and have you done anything deserving for me to even call you with the word 'mother'?"

Iona Ethren let out a wry chuckle, "Indeed, I don't deserve to be called mother by you..."

"After all, I've hated you from the moment you appeared in this Imperial Household..."

"Just because I'm an offspring of lowly birth?" Alexi Ethren chuckled.

Iona Ethren shook her head.

"It doesn't matter... I hate all of you, including your father..."

Alexi Ethren's brows creased, "So you're also a victim of that bastard?"

Iona Ethren let out a wry chuckle.

"Guess what? I don't care..." He coldly uttered.

"I haven't forgotten how you made my teenage years a nightmare with you controlling all the palace maids who served me to go against me and commit every other wrong at the slightest chance of an opportunity to suppress and bully me..."

"I don't care what you think about me, Alexi Ethren..." Iona Ethren shook her head again, "But I want to live and retain this power I currently hold..."

"Hahaha! As expected, you're a power-hungry woman!"

"So what if I am?" Iona Ethren's eyes shone, "Aren't you here just for the treasury? I won't interfere with your business, and I know that you'll soon leave from this Empire..."

Alexi Ethren's eyes widened as he smiled, "What makes you say that?"

"You probably subordinated yourself to the Conferred Queen, haven't you? The Imperial Protectors also considered this, and though there might be a chance that you will be a puppet, they still took you in as the Emperor."

"That meant that you're here only to fill the gap that the Empire lost, a worthy Emperor for the time being, and if possible, use your connection with the Conferred Queen to gain benefits..."

Alexi Ethren's eyes flashed with an approving glint, "Smart... But you're wrong in some ways, but I won't deliberate on it..."

"I have said all I want to say, and the rest is that I am at your mercy..." Iona Ethren spoke before she closed her eyes as if waiting for fate to swallow her.

Alexi Ethren felt amused. Even till the end, this woman acted like she knew everything and has accepted her death. How can he just let her die like that after all she did?

Besides, her only son, Hadre Ethren, had backstabbed him at a crucial time. 

Where and who was he going to take it out on?

Hadre Ethren's son, Uspar Ethren? Or Hadre Ethren's wives and other children?

No! It was this woman in front of him!

He stared at her luxurious white robes and her pale skin that glistened like snow. The Empress Dowager's crown on her head made him increasingly irritated.

He walked towards her and stood right before her, looking at her beautiful face. She still had her eyes closed despite him being so close to her.

*Pah!!!!~*

Iona Ethren's face fiercely swiveled to the right. Her lips quivered, and her eyelids shook as a red palm print appeared on her left cheek.

"Remove that crown on your head and beg for your life... If you do that, I might consider..." Alexi Ethren coldly spoke.

During his time surviving outside the Ethren City, he didn't dare underestimate women. He had killed his fair share of women in the past who were mostly mountain bandits, and even women who were in normal families but possessed venomous hearts.

He knew how loyal they could be as well as backstab the next moment as long as they got what they wanted. He felt that this power-hungry woman in front of him should belong to the latter.

Iona Ethren trembled as she heard his words. She knew that she was going to be humiliated, and it further aggravated her as the surging blood she was suppressing cascaded down her lips. She still had her eyes closed, but for some reason, her dainty and snow-white hands moved to the head before she removed the golden-purple crown.

"Do it!"

*Clang!~*

Iona Ethren dropped the crown as she shivered while the crown made sounds of her fate increasingly become unknown.

"Beg for your life..."

Iona Ethren's lips quivered; however, she didn't make a sound. The fear in her heart was overwhelming her, but she refused to give in as seconds passed.

Just when her eyes became moist, she inclined her head and looked at him in the eyes.

*Ripp!!~*

Abruptly, her white clothes were torn apart!

Iona Ethren couldn't believe what had happened as her eyes shot wide while her face became pale, her hands subconsciously moving to hide her bosoms and private. However, what she saw wasn't Alexi Ethren tearing apart her robes, but it was a woman with a black veil on her face!

"Mother?" Alexi Ethren became speechless as he looked at Arianna Woller holding Iona Ethren's torn robes.

Arianna Woller cruelly smiled as she looked at the woman who was left with nothing other than her innerwear. She had said that she had got scores to settle with the one who had made her son suffer in the past, and she really meant it.

"You!" 

*Pah!!!!~*

Another slap!

Iona Ethren held her right cheek as she felt it sting than the first one she received. Tears started to fall out of her eyes as she bit her bottom lip, but she stayed silent and became momentarily dazed as it was far too overwhelming to be humiliated like this!

"Alexi, you're rather soft with women. Don't you know that to humiliate them utterly, you would have to strip them bare first?"

"Mother, I..." Alexi Ethren couldn't believe what he heard from his mother.

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