Forensic Imperial Concubine

Chapter 861 The Late Night Visit (Part One)

It never occurred to Toby that Rolando leaving the palace with a woman and without any guards would be a lure for him to show himself and reveal his plans. He thought that as long as he followed Rolando out, he would definitely be captured by Miguel. It was already too late when he realized what Rolando was aiming for.

"You dirty rat!" he shouted at Miguel with an angry face.

"Shut up! You can never blame others for your own incompetence!" Miguel hissed. He then turned to the guards and ordered, "Arrest him and lock him up!"

The guards quickly advanced towards Toby to apprehend him but he was ready to defend himself. Unfortunately, even though he tried his best to hold them off, he was no match for the guards in terms of martial arts. Soon, they were able to chain him and then threw him into a tight cage in a carriage, which drove off and disappeared into the darkness.

When Toby met Rolando again, he was in the jail. Rolando stood outside the cell in his magnificent white emperor clothes, which made him stand out in the dark hallway.

"Rolando, you are a despicable man!" Toby cursed with resentment at the sight of him.

Rolando, however, wore a smile on his angelic face. "You're a prisoner now but you still dare talk so arrogantly. That's really impressive," he said quietly as he stared down on his brother.

His words irritated Toby more. He grabbed the rail of the cell and roared, "Now I understand everything! You won't never risk your life for a woman! It turned out that you actually took advantage of her in order to lure me out! What do you think she'll do if she finds out what you did? I bet she'd hate you until you die!" There was a hint of threat and madness in his voice.

Despite Toby's threats, Rolando's smile never left his lips. "Well, I'm afraid that is why you are no match for me."

"What do you mean by that?" Toby asked, confused.

"I know what kind of person Harper is well enough. She is incredibly smart, so I doubt that she still doesn't know my true intentions. Also, I really intended to take her out to see amazing spots around here. I just used that opportunity to deal with you," Rolando replied patiently. His voice was gentle and his tone playful. "And even though she knows that I have taken advantage of her, I doubt that she'll get angry at me."

"Oh, come on, Rolando. Aren't you being too confident that she's not furious at you right now?" Toby questioned.

"She would only blame me for risking my life," Rolando said, his eyes becoming soft and tender. "She always treats people like that. Once she sees you as her friend, she will treat you as one forever, and she will make sure that you never feel alone." Belongs © to NôvelDrama.Org.

Toby narrowed his eyes and glared at Rolando for a long time. Suddenly, he burst out laughing and said, "Ha ha, Rolando! Are you serious? You sound like you're in love with her! She's Matthew's wife. Remember?" He hated his brother but he knew him well—he was in love with Harper!

The moment Toby's words hit Rolando's ears, Rolando's pupils constricted, but his expression remained mostly unchanged. Seeing this, Toby could not help but wonder, 'Did I just make a false assumption? Maybe Rolando hasn't really fallen in love with that woman. Yes, it was stupid to say that. How could Rolando have feelings for her? If Matthew discovered that another man had fallen in love with his wife, he would go crazy and destroy that man!'

"That's not what I want to discuss with you today. I'm here today to give you a choice," Rolando said slowly. "Do you want to live or die?"

"Will you keep me alive?" Toby asked instead. He was surprised to hear Rolando offer a chance of sparing his life. He knew what Rolando was capable of. Back when Rolando left the Imperial Capital to be a monk, he and his brothers fought with each other just to get the throne. For five years they kept doing that, but as soon as Rolando came back, all their plans and tricks were fell through all of a sudden. It wasn't because they were too weak or because they lacked careful planning. It was because Rolando made sure that none of them would be able to carry out what they were thinking of doing. He was cruel, and he didn't think of brotherhood or love. For him, there were only two groups: one, the people he could take advantage of; and two, the people who were useless to him. Toby was in the latter group, unsurprisingly.

"Of course, I will. Why would not I let you alive?" Rolando said, smiling wider. "But you have to pay a price."

"What kind of price?" Toby asked. He truly found this offer attractive. In his mind, it was better to have a bad life than a good death. Now that there was a chance for him to survive, he would definitely go for it.

"Everything, my dear brother. I need you to obey all of my orders down to the very insignificant one," Rolando said. His smile suggested that he had planned this a long, long time ago. "There happens to be one thing that I need to do, but I think you would fit the bill better than me. That is the offer I'm giving you. It's now up to you if you want to take it or not."

"What do you want me to do?" Toby asked warily. What if Rolando asked him to die? If that was the case, he would rather choose to be killed by Rolando at that moment.

"Don't worry, I won't ask you to die," Rolando said as if he had read his mind. "You can rest assured that won't happen. What you need to do is you must keep this in mind that from now on, you are a prince of the Great Jade Kingdom, and thus, you must do everything to serve the state. You will obey my orders and help me lead our country to peak prosperity."

"What? You want to..." Toby's voice trailed off as he was shocked by what he just heard. He looked at Rolando who was now smiling warmly. Somehow, he felt that Rolando had suddenly become huge, and was now looking down on him condescendingly. Toby struggled, trying to resist his overwhelming aura, but he was failing. Now he realized that while he was only worried about his life, Rolando had already thought about something grander for him.

After minutes of silence, Toby finally had his answer. "Okay! It's a deal!" he exclaimed. Even if Rolando let him go, he would just live like an ordinary person, probably perpetually running away and hiding. But now that Rolando had made him such an offer, he did not see any need to refuse it. Actually, it was the best case scenario he only thought possible in his dreams.

Rolando seemed to have guessed what Toby was going to say. Immediately, he ordered his men to open the prison bars and then threw something to Toby. Toby caught it and when he inspected it, he was once again shocked.

"Rolando, aren't you afraid..."

"You will soon know what you need to do after you get out of the prison. I don't want you to mess it up!" Rolando said. In an incredibly tender voice, he added, "I hope you can live up to my expectations. I believe in you, Toby."