Chapter 255 Another Cristina

Ashley looked at Isolde indifferently. “There are many ways to kill me? I really don’t believe it!” As Ashley spoke, she smiled again. “You’re really my soulmate. You think I could never get the position. You’ve underestimated me. Isolde, just you wait. If you’re alive until then, I’ll definitely step on you.”

Isolde crossed her arms. “Is that so?”

Ashley leaned closer and smiled coldly. “As for you calling me a traitor, who would believe you? Everyone knows that I killed the rebel king. The King credits me for my contributions and conferred upon me the title of concubine. This is an affirmation of my contributions. You said you want to kill me, but I’m certain you wouldn’t even dare to touch a strand of my hair. I might as well tell you that Oliver is lucky. If you had found him back then, his corpse would have been minced by me and fed to the wild dogs. How could he be so smug today?”

Ashley’s vision blurred, and she felt dizzy. She flew into the air and landed in the lake a moment later. Isolde flew up, stepped on Ashley's head, and fell into the water. She wrapped one hand around Ashley’s neck to prevent her from sinking or escaping. When Ashley could no longer breathe, Isolde pressed her head into the water and said, “Ashley, why are you so careless? Don’t worry, I’ll come and save you. You’ll be fine…”

As Isolde spoke, she forcefully pushed Ashley’s head into the water again. Ashley gulped down a few mouthfuls of water and was pulled out by Isolde. However, Isolde’s arms quickly wrapped around Ashley like a python. Ashley could not breathe at all. Her usually wise brain could do nothing in the face of life and death. She had never thought that Isolde would dare to do this. She wasn’t afraid to match wits with intelligent people, but Isolde, who appeared clever, was in fact a barbarian, a lunatic.

Just as Ashley felt she was about to die, Isolde dragged her to the water’s edge and shouted for help. After a while, Pablo and Oliver arrived with a group of servants. Isolde pressed Ashley’s head down and threatened fiercely, “You have to stay in Valen’s estate for a while. No one can guarantee what will happen, so be careful with your words and actions!”

How could Ashley react? She just took deep breaths and sucked back the air she had been missing. Her head was dizzy, and she wanted to vomit. The water in the lake had a strong smell of mud and rot. She had drunk a few mouthfuls of water, and it churned in her stomach like poison, tormenting her until she was almost dead.

“Quick, Ashley accidentally fell into the water! Quick, pull her up!” Isolde shouted to the people on the shore. A few pageboys came down and pulled Ashley up. Isolde jumped up and stood beside Oliver, drenched. Oliver swept her face with his right hand and wiped away the water droplets. He asked anxiously, “Are you okay? Go back and change your clothes quickly.”

Pablo ordered someone to take Ashley away. He walked over and said to Isolde with concern, “Quickly go back and change your clothes. Don’t fall sick from the cold later.”

“Understood!” Isolde replied.

Isolde watched as Ashley was sent away. Ashley struggled to turn around and glared at Isolde. She had finally caught her breath. Her gaze was indescribably vicious.

Oliver immediately saw through it. As he helped Isolde back, he said, “This woman is vicious. Don’t provoke her.”

“If I don’t provoke her, she won’t let me off. I ruined her plans, forced her to kill Kaman, and destroyed the scheme she had been plotting for years. How could she easily let me go? It’s better to tear off the mask and face things openly, to let her know that I’m not someone to be bullied,” said Isolde.

Of course, she didn’t do it because she was jealous. She just wanted to make her stand clear and draw a good battle line.

“She tried to rope me in just now,” Oliver said calmly, “what exactly is she trying to do?”

“Originally, she was Kamari’s strategist and killed his wife. If we hadn’t attacked Zloimond, she would have become Kamari’s wife. Once Kamari succeeded, she would be Queen.”

“She wants to be Queen?” Oliver was surprised. “She’s quite ambitious.”

“Queen?” Isolde smiled. She thought of Ashley, whom she knew in her previous life. “If she only wanted to be Queen, she wouldn’t have started forming cliques before entering the palace.”

“Huh?” Oliver raised his eyebrows.

“That’s right. Half of Kamari’s rebellion was instigated by her. At the same time, it was also her ambition. She wanted to be someone like the Queen Dowager.”

“To bear a son, elevate her son to the position of Crown Prince, and in the future ascend to the throne as King, ruling as regent—is that her goal?” Oliver frowned.

“Yes, this is her goal.” Isolde looked at him. Initially, she had suspected something from his eyes, but now that she heard he knew nothing about Ashley, perhaps her suspicions were unnecessary. After all, even if he was reborn, it was impossible for him to be reborn in her time. He had died before her in his previous life. At most, he could only be reborn from that point onward.

“One’s ambitions can be frightening at times,” he said thoughtfully.

When he returned to Ningser Pavilion, he saw Cristina blocking his way. Cristina had obviously dressed up. Like Isolde, she was wearing red clothes, which accented her fair skin, so fine that not a single pore could be seen. However, when the two stood together, she was still inferior. Cristina’s facial features were very exquisite, like a doll. Coupled with her fair skin, it could be said that there were no flaws that could be picked out. Other than her slender eyes, which looked a little mean.

Isolde’s face was more heroic. Her eyes were not big, but she was in high spirits. Her nose was not exquisite, but the bridge was just right, complementing her eyes perfectly. The best part of Isolde was her lips. They were plump and full without appearing round and thick, but they were charming and bright. Especially when she smiled, it was very charming.

She had just returned from the village, and her movements were by no means graceful; thus, she was far from exuding an air of nobility and elegance. Yet, the heroic spirit between her brows and the sharp, cold glance she cast effortlessly outshone Cristina.

Cristina raised her arrogant head and said to Isolde, “I want to talk to him for a while. You can go back first.”

It was as if she was the wife, and Isolde was an unpresentable concubine.

Isolde sneezed. Cristina immediately retreated and looked at Isolde in disgust.

Isolde looked at Oliver and said with a smile, “You’re quite the lucky man today; no sooner have you returned than beauties are seeking you out for private conversations.”

Oliver said, “Go in first. I’ll talk to her.” Although the matter of concubines was handled by Isolde, he had to make his position clear so that they would not blame Isolde for everything.