Josephina picked Tracy's front teeth with the plier and without hesitation, she pulled it out. Tracy went wild as soon as she saw her teeth fall to the ground.
To a lady like her who took great pride in her beauty, the pain of living with a disfigured face was far greater than the pain caused by the forceful removal of her teeth.
At least the physical wound would heal in a minute due to her regenerating ability but that wasn't the case with the emotional wounds. She will have to live with it forever.
"Your Majesty, I know Tracy can be a handful sometimes but believe me, she is not bad. If not for anything but for the fact that she has served by my side for a long time, spare her, Your Majesty," Queen Theresa swallowed her pride again and pleaded on Tracy's behalf.
Joanna kept her eyes glued on Kayden's face wanting to see what his reaction would be but to her dismay, he didn't bat an eyelid.
He acted as if the Queen Mother was talking to a statue and not a person.
[I know Kayden to be the kind of person who would not wait for his mother to repeat the same thing twice before he carried it out, what has come over him today?]
Joanna marvelled at what she witnessed.
"If you dare as much as to stop the punishment halfway or miss a single one of it, you will be charged with the crime of disobeying the King..."
"Your Majesty!" Queen Mother Theresa interrupted. For a minute there she forgot that this was not a private conversation with the King.
She composed herself and stepped backwards when she realised what had happened.
Josephina, who had paused midway due to the Queen Mother's interruption, turned to continue with the punishment.
"Your Majesty, she is not the Queen so charging my chief maiden with the crime of belittling the Queen is invalid," Queen Mother Theresa spoke up at the same minute Josephina wanted to pull out the third teeth from Tracy's mouth.
Joanna lowered her head as the Queen Mother diverted a murderous glare at her.
[I know this insolent bitch deserves to be punished for disrespecting me but Kay will be put in a tight corner if this continues. And this is not the outcome I desire]
Joanna was in deep thought as she thought of what to do to save the day.
"She might not be the Queen now but that position is hers. This insolent maid is aware of this and still went ahead to disrespect her. If it was left to me, she would have been put to death instead of only getting her teeth pulled out" Kayden said coldly. He folded his hand behind his back and signalled Josephina to go on with the punishment.
"Your Majesty," Joanna didn't forget to call him with the appropriate title.
"I know the maid deserves to be punished according to the palace rules for such a high level of insult she poured out on me but unfortunately I don't want that," Joanna stated to everyone's surprise.
Everyone including Kayden fixed their questioning gazes on her.
[I know she must be happy to see me get embarrassed since I never really liked her from the beginning so I wonder what she is scheming this time around]
Queen Mother Theresa peered at Joanna's beautiful face. She tried to guess Joanna's thoughts but she couldn't no matter how hard she tried.
"If you are doing this because you feel bad for her then you don't have to," Kayden started in a firm tone.
"Every employee in the palace is well aware of all the rules in the palace. Her actions today were intentional. If I don't teach her a lesson today, I am certain one of them will repeat the same thing next time. Showing her compassion is the last thing you should do, she doesn't deserve it," Kayden retorted while glaring at the now-quiet Tracy.
"Isn't benevolence one of the virtues a Queen must possess?" Joanna quizzed when she saw how serious Kayden was.
"Also, I am not that kind, Your Majesty," Joanna continued.
"I plead for leniency for her not because I feel sympathetic towards her but it is just that my heart is overwhelmed with joy today and as such I don't want to see blood. I wished nothing or no one would ruin this day for me," Joanna stated in her calmest voice.
"I wish His Majesty would grant this wish of mine," Joanna muttered with her head bowed towards Kayden's direction.
Despite knowing that the chances of the angry Kayden doing as she wanted were slim, Joanna still decided to gamble on it.
lightsnοvεl Silence enveloped the entire hall after Joanna's last statement.
Josephina waited for Kayden's instructions and when he didn't utter a word, she took the initiative to break the awkward silence.
"Your Majesty, should I go on with the punishment?" Josephina asked curiously.
Joanna subconsciously bit her lower lips as she waited for Kayden's verdict.
Kayden averted his attention to Joanna's face following Josephina's question.
"She is exempted from the punishment," Kayden said to Joanna and Tracy's delight.
Joanna, whose head was lowered, raised her head and stared at Kayden's face after he made his verdict.
Her eyes sparkled as she kept them locked in his eyeballs.
She tried to say something but held back when she realized that they had companies.
"But from today onwards she and her household are forbidden from ever setting foot into the palace again," Kayden concluded from where he stopped.
Tracy's lit-up face lost colour the instant she heard Kayden's pronouncement.
Although this outcome wasn't what she expected, Queen Mother Theresa couldn't challenge Kayden's judgement.
He was the King after all and had the final say.
"Let's go," He ordered and strolled towards the entrance. Joanna bowed to the Queen Mother before she followed Kayden.
Joanna had so much to say to him but ended up unable to utter a word since there were guards and maids everywhere they went.
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