Chapter 751 Lapitus and Petrino (Part-4)
As Lapitus raised his sword to deal the final blow, seeing his life flash before him, Petrino let out one last shout to try and save his life,
"Wait! What do you mean I poisoned her? I never did anything like that. It was Felicia that actually poisoned…"
But Lapitus was fed up with all of Petrino's lies.
Feeling his ears would only hurt to keep listening, Lapitus did not bother to hear the man out, and using his wife's name as the trigger, Lapitus simply swung his weapon, the huge strike managing to separate the neck from the body in one clean cut.
Being able to cut through all that muscle, tissue, and the thick, solid spinal cord in a single swing, went on to show just how strong of a man Lapitus really was.
*Thud*
As the blade cleaved through the neck, the severed head cleanly rolled onto the sheets with a wet thud, dying them a reddish black hue, the face still sporting the last expression it had made.
It was one of shock and surprise, with a hint of bitterness mixed in.
It was only in his last moments that Petrino truly understood how deeply that woman had played him.
For even with Lapitus providing such a compelling argument against Fabiyana being his daughter, Petrino was still almost certain that she was his.
And the reason he came to that conclusion was because he knew about that poison Lapitus mentioned.
Lady Felicia had used it before!
When Petrino had made her one of his wife's handmaidens, he suspected Lady Felicia of poisoning his wife. rendering her unable to bear any children for him.
And it was through that toxic incense she did it, making her barren and sickly.
As for the reason why.
Petrino suspected that originally, it had been Lady Felicia's plan back then to have a child with him and prevent any others.
That way, with no legitimate heirs, it would make them the only viable successor to his fortunes.
But of course, things did not pan out like that.
Lord Ponticus suddenly made her marry Lapitus.
And so she had to change tactics.
She bore Petrino's child in secret but to masquerade her as it was Lapitus's, she even poisoned herself with a lighter dose of the substance to induce an premature delivery.
The dangers with that move need not be said, as she had to be very sure of the precise dosage just by eyeballing it, or there would be the chances of either a total miscarriage or the tactic not working as intended.
But the greed in her heart pushed her to do so regardless.
And even though she somehow succeeded, it still had lasting effects on her daughter.
One of the reasons Fabiyana looked a good one or two years younger than her age would dictate was due to the lasting effects of this poison.
But to Lady Felicia, ever harming her own daughter for her own gain was not out of the realm of possibility.
What a scary woman!
It was only at the very tail end of his life that Petrino truly woke up to the fact.
She had poisoned herself and had possibly staged that check up with the doctor.
In that way, whether she gave birth prematurely, on time, or even past the due date, all could be attributed to the poison.
As for how she was able to tell Lapitus she was pregnant even a month before she was one, well, Petrino had no good answer for that.
Perhaps Lady Felicia simply foresaw that Petrino would take her during the party and prudently predicted that it would be that time of her month.
Much of the above conjectures were only that, conjectures in Petrino's mind.
He was unable to confirm any of them.
But if Lapitus had not decapitated him if he had given the man time to say his piece, there was a very true possibility that many of these conjectures could have been proven true.
But because Petrino had only slightly lied about a very small detail, it rendered his entire testimony dubious in Lapitus's eyes and might have ended up costing his life.
Who knows, if Lapitus thought everything Petrino said was true, he might have even lived.
But sometimes, just as bundling up truth and lies together can be sold as the entire truth, like Lady Felicia had done with Alexander, other times it could also end up doing the complete opposite, like here.
Petrino had lied about his father because he disliked the man, and that slight mistake had let Lady Felicia inadvertently escape notice by the skin of her teeth.
What a small, yet huge blunder.
"Phew!"
However, unaware of all this missed content, Lapitus finally let out a small but relieved sigh after finishing the deed, turning to look down on the severed dead with a stoic face.
And as he looked at it, instead of being disgusted by it, he was more disgusted at himself for almost believing all the filth that was coming out of its mouth.
None of what he had said was said seriously, and everything about it was promptly forgotten by Lapitus.
Though some things might have been worth truly mulling over, like how Petrino had known Lady Felicia was unlikely to be a virgin.
'Finally …it is over!'
But Lapitus had almost blind belief over Lapitus, so instead he breathed a sigh of relief as with Petrino's death, aware that with this, the entire saga was imminently about to come to an end.
The coup had already succeeded, and all that was left to do was put the finishing touches.
Hence leaving the body there, Lapitus exited the room to rendevous with the others, and then in the following hours, quickly managed to fully secure the whole premises.
By now, the once bustling building was eerily silent, as almost all men, women, and children had been already killed.
And once the nerve center of the city was conquered, Lapitus quickly sent scouts to Alexander's camp to alert them to the opportunity and have them be prepared to enter the city when he ordered the inner gates to be opened.
At the same time these scouts came to his camp, Alexander was still awake, actually entertaining Lady Felicia in his tent.
Over the prior five days, he had gotten to know her better, and through his interactions, though he was not sure why, Alexander had come to feel the same sort of vibe from the lady as he did with Gelene.
To him, it seemed like a bizarre thought to have since they looked nothing alike, but their manners and way of thinking seemed strangely familiar.
Plus, there was also the fact that Lady Felicia was trying to seduce him at every opportunity, boldly showing off her assets to Alexander.
Whenever she came to visit or Alexander went to her tent to learn about the political structure of Tibias, Lady Felicia made sure to have all sorts of wardrobe malfunctions, letting Alexander have all kinds of tantalizing views.
The only thing Lady Felicia had not done was greet Alexander fully nude.
But other than that, everything was fair game.
From nip slips to gazes deep into her ravine, to her creamy thighs, to even a few glimpses of her secret bushy garden, nothing was left off the table.
At one time, she even made sure that Alexander caught her breastfeeding Fabiyana, letting him see how the little girl was nibbling and suckling on her large, leaking nipple.
Something that Alexander had found very tantalizing, his throat feeling perched as he gazed at the other free one.
Alexander knew, that if he did not find a woman soon to relieve himself, he might not be able to resist lying with Lady Felicia.
"Fabiyana! Fabiyana was not drinking milk. She… she was just…"
Alexander also remembered that when the little girl was caught in that situation, unlike her mother she was very embarrassed, zapping away from her the moment she noticed Alexander's intrusion.
After all, only children drank mother milk, whereas she was an adult.
And so going beetred, Fabiyana quickly tried to think of a good excuse.
"Ummm… Mmmm" But despite doing her best, she could only stammer.
Until she was saved by the very person she was trying to convince,
"Haha, not to worry, I know Lady Fabiyana is an adult. She must have been doing it so that she can quickly grow taller!" Alexander lightly chuckled.
It seemed that her mother had not let her in on her little exhibition plan.
And at this rescue, the little girl was very glad, nodding her head strongly with sparkling eyes.
Becoming taller was something very desired, and she was glad Alexander had remembered her saying that.
While Lady Felicia carried out these ats, of course, none of the little tricks escaped Alexander's notice.
It was plain to see to anyone.
But he only chalked these up as a desperate mother and daughter trying to cozy up to him.
It was a move right out of the oldest book and Alexander simply half closed his eyes and enjoyed it. And it was amongst such circumstances that a herald came to Alexander, informing him that the Thesalie gates were going to be opening soon.
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