"That is not my problem anymore!" Prince Andrew coldly replied and motioned for his men to castrate Alrick in front of the Minister and his entire household!

Alrick screamed like a pig when his balls and genital were fiercely removed and thrown into a flaming brazier! A lot of the womenfolks in Martell's Mansion fainted including Erica after they witnessed the humiliating and brutal act!

Prince Andrew looked at the frightened, pale, and unconscious image of Erica. Although he is still very mad, he finally decided to spare her life since the main culprit already paid dearly! He threw another stack of papers toward Minister Martell. The Minister paled and shivered after checking the content of those papers.

"If you dare to expose what happened here, you know what is next!" He smirked and silently left the place together with his men.

Prince Andrew returned to his courtyard and immediately took a bath! He gritted his teeth as he scrubbed himself, especially his intimate part fiercely! No matter what he does, he was unable to remove the severe psychological and emotional burden! He is very ashamed and blamed himself for not being able to avoid the scheme and prevent what happened! He feels severe anxiety and fear that Beatrix will discover everything and she will be disappointed and disgusted with him! He is extremely afraid that she will no longer love him and marry him willingly!

He did everything to conceal what happened to everyone, especially to his beloved Beatrix. As he expected, Minister Martell cooperated with him to keep everything a secret. He felt so guilty but he could not bring himself to tell Beatrix what happened, especially when Minister Martell informed him that Erica is pregnant with his child!

How am I going to explain to Beatrix?

Prince Andrew tried to test Beatrix's reaction if ever she will be informed of what happened.

"Beatrix, I have a friend who is an official's son. He is already betrothed to the girl he loves so much but one day, he fell miserably into a scheme and accidentally got another girl pregnant. What do you think he should do?" He carefully asked her.

"I think he should take responsibility to the mother and child. I am sure his fiancee will be hurt but she will understand the situation and back down on her own if she knew." She replied without hesitation.

His heart beats faster while his whole body feels so cold! He knew that Beatrix is serious and stubborn with her beliefs! He immediately figure out that she will let him go if she knew!

I am not going to tell her before our marriage!

To make matters even worse, his Imperial Father and Imperial Mother will probably force him to take responsibility if they found out what happened since an imperial child is involved. That is a situation he could never allow to happen!!!

I am not going to make myself miserable!

So again, he convinced Beatrix to marry him earlier. If ever the truth is exposed, it will be too late for her to let him go since they are already legally married but she did not agree to move their wedding!

Next, he worked harder to make Beatrix pregnant too so she cannot let go of him! The existence of a child will bind them stronger and encourage her to marry him earlier so he assigned a trusted physician to check her pulse daily but the physician always told him bad news!

He grew more anxious and desperate as Minister Martell sent him news of his baby's healthy development even though he is not asking! He thought of aborting the child countless times but he is probably not that rotten to resort to that method. After all, the child is still his flesh and blood, and innocent too.

Erica is always shamelessly sending him letters, asking him about marriage, and pressuring him about the child's paternity. He does not care about Erica but the child is pitiful if he or she is not acknowledged even as an illegitimate prince or princess...

I am doomed if Beatrix knew before our marriage so I am not going to tell her before our wedding... But after our marriage, will Beatrix approve of letting Erica enter as the lowest rank concubine so the child will be acknowledged?

So he asked her.

"Beatrix, if ever I bring in another woman as the lowest rank concubine, are you going to allow it?" He carefully asked her, making sure that she will not erupt next.

"If that is what you want, who am I to stop you?" She smiled sweetly and continued. "But if I want to leave you, I also hope that you will not stop me too!"

He could feel his back was drenched in beads of cold sweat...

I will never dare to bring Erica after our marriage! It is not an option!

He thought deeper...

Will Beatrix approve of adopting the child as our own after we are officially married?

So he asked her.

© 2021 Jezel Mandin Sapata-Gentiles. All Rights Reserved.