The Abandoned Luna's Journey to Power Chapter 289: Cindy's Idea

Queen Isabella's POV:

"I ... I was only borrowing it!" I scrambled for a reason that might convince both Cindy and me. "Besides, why divide things between yours and mine in a family? What's yours belongs to the royal blood, right?"

Cindy shook her head. The look in her eyes made me feel like a clown dancing on a stage.

Just then, with a loud thud, Martha—who had been hiding behind me—dropped to her knees.

She was shaking all over, tears streaming down her face as she knocked her forehead against the floor again and again.

"Your Highness! Your Grace! I was wrong! I'll confess everything!"

"Martha! What are you doing?!" I tried to stop her in panic, but it was too late.

Through sobs, Martha cried out, "It was Princess Margaret! She was the one who provoked the Queen! At the banquet last night, the Princess mocked Her Majesty, saying she couldn't control the Duchess, that she had no authority at home at all. She said if Her Majesty dared to take the Duchess's dragon ruby—and the Duchess didn't dare pursue the matter—then that would prove Her Majesty truly had power. But if she couldn't do it, or if the Duchess made an issue of it, then Her Majesty would owe the Princess 1,000 gold coins!

"To make sure Her Majesty couldn't go back on it, Princess Margaret took the dragon ruby on the spot as proof! She said that if nothing happened today, she would return both the ruby and the thousand gold coins together!"

Martha spilled it all in one breath. Every word struck like a hammer, shattering the last scrap of dignity I had left.

Humiliation burned into rage. I shot her a vicious glare. "You wretched girl! Who told you to spout such nonsense?!"

But I knew it was over.

Completely over.

In front of my son and daughter-in-law, my last shred of dignity had been stripped away.

I wasn't just a thief. I was a fool used as someone else's weapon.

Adam's expression turned pitch-black. He looked at me as though I were a stranger.

"For a bet ... for the sake of your so-called dignity ... you did this?" His voice trembled with disbelief. "Do you even know who gave that ruby? The Crimson Dragon Mercenary Company! If they learn their gift was treated as a wager, they'll turn the Royal Court upside down!"

I slumped back into my chair, unable to argue.

Cindy stepped beside Adam and gently patted his back, soothing him like a lion on the brink of tearing something apart.

"Adam, don't be angry." Her voice was soft, yet carried an odd, calming force. "Now that everything's clear, this is actually easy."

She turned to me, and a glint flickered through her silver-gray eyes.

"Your Majesty, since Princess Margaret was the one who opened her mouth, this actually makes things simpler." Cindy smiled, and there was a slyness in it I couldn't quite decipher. "I can give the dragon ruby to you. We're family, after all. It hardly matters who holds it."

I snapped my head up, stunned. "Y-you... What did you say? You're not angry? You're still willing to give it to me?"

"Of course." She nodded calmly. "But since Princess Margaret said that if I don't pursue the matter, she loses 1,000 gold coins, we shouldn't let an outsider benefit from that."

A fox-like smile curved at her lips. "How about this? Let's go to the Crystal Palace right now. We make it clear to Princess Margaret that I won't pursue it. She hands over the thousand gold coins, along with the ruby, and returns them to you. Those thousand gold coins can serve as your personal allowance. What do you think?"

My eyes lit up instantly.

A thousand gold coins! That was no small sum! And I could retrieve the ruby without returning it to Cindy—gain a tidy fortune and even win back some pride in front of Margaret!

"Good! Brilliant idea!" I jumped to my feet, all embarrassment and fury swept away in an instant. "Cindy, I knew you were a sensible girl! Such generosity—you truly take after your father!"