The Queen's Back

After helping Maxwell back to his room, Mona had him sit on the sofa while she went to get the first-aid kit.

Watching Mona's busy figure, Maxwell felt a warm rush of affection.

When Mona turned back with the kit, her gaze unexpectedly met Maxwell's, and in that moment, it felt as if the person she had seen downstairs was someone entirely different. Mona sat next to Maxwell and took out a cotton swabs from the first-aid kit. After preparing the medicine, she said to him, "Could you move a little closer? I can't quite reach you. Maxwell obediently:

y scooted over, his expressive eyes gazing at her, making Mona feel shy. She quickly diverted her gaze to focus on the corner of his mouth.

His lip was already quite swollen and was still oozing blood.

Seeing this made Mona's heart ache.

She gently touched Maxwell's lip with the cotton swab and said, I'll try to be gentle. Let me know if it hurts too much." Maxwell nodded. From this angle, he could take in Mona's features all at once, her big eyes, long eyelashes, petite nose, and rosy lips. The sensation of their earlier kiss felt vividly fresh in his mind. As he stared at her, Maxwell unconsciously swallowed.

His gaze on Mona intensified as if he wanted to hold her right now.

Lost in his thoughts, Maxwell subtly leaned forward, causing Mona to inadvertently press the cotton swab a little too hard against his lip.

"Maxwell, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Does it hurt too much? Want me to blow on it?" Mona said apologetically, realizing that the swab had made contact because he had leaned in,

Maxwell knew he was at fault. He had been momentarily captivated by Mona, which made him lean in just as the cotton swab brushed against the corner of his mouth. "It's nothing, just a bit painful," he said

Mona straightened up to meet him eye to eye, gazing at his lip. She softly blew a couple of times and then asked, "Does that feel better?"

In his entire life, no one had ever treated him with such tenderness as Mona did. All the warmth he had known had come from her. "Much better. Blow on it a little more. It feels nice," he replied.

Upon hearing this, Mona complied and gently blew on his lip a few more times before finishing applying the rest of the

medicine.

"Do you feel any better now? Just a band-aid, but it might affect your looks a bit," she said while tidying up the first-aid kit

She searched for a regular band-aid for quite a while but could only find cartoon-themed ones. Fortunately, Maxwell didn't mind, and somehow, it added a touch of cuteness to him.

Reflecting on Maxwell's cold expression she had seen downstairs. Mona felt she must have been mistaken. He couldn't be cute at that moment.

"Much better. Anyway, it's only you who sees me, so as long as you don't mind, it's all good," Maxwell said.

"I don't mind at all. I put it on myself, so how could I?" After finishing, she put the first-aid kit back in its place and added. "You should go take a shower now. Just be careful not to get the wound wet. By the way, do you have any other injuries?"

Maxwell shook his head. If it hadn't been for Mona's sudden appearance, distracting him, he wouldn't have taken that punch. But now it seemed like the pain was worth it.

"Okay, then I'll go check on Albert next door. He seems to be hurt quite badly," Mona said, wanting to go over. If she didn't, the relationship she had managed to improve with Albert over the past few days would suffer.

Maxwell nodded, watching Mona leave. As long as she treated his wound first, it meant he held a bit more importance in her heart, and that was enough for him.

When Mona reached Albert's room, she hesitated before knocking on the door. "It's me, Mona

"Came to see me after finishing with your husband? Come on in Albert said resentfully. He had grown up with Mona, and it bothered him that, just because she had recently married Maxwell, Maxwell suddenly held a higher status than him. Albert thought. Didn't she see Maxwell pin me to the ground? The first person she checked on was Maxwell, not me. I have punched Maxwell, and although Maxwell has retaliated with a few punches and kicks, it's clear that I'm the one who has suffered more, but she's blind to it.

Upon entering. Mona saw Albert half-reclined on the bed, his cheek swollen and bruised, with the corner of his mouth injured as well. It was obvious that Albert was the one in worse shape.

"Does it hurt? Why were you and Maxwell fighting?" Mona asked. Maxwell had only come to persuade Albert to join the army. And she didn't know how things had escalated to a brawl in the garden.

"Does it hurt? You can let Maxwell hit you to see how it feels. The fight was because of a bet. If I won, I wouldn't have to go to the army, and if I lost, I would," Albert explained.

Now that he thought about it, he felt inferior to Maxwell in every way, gaming, fighting. It seemed that even in Mona's eyes, he was now less significant than Maxwell "Well, you lost," Mona said proudly, surprised that Maxwell had actually made such a bet just to get Albert to join the army.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

"You're still smiling? I'm about to lose it. Once I join the army, you won't get to see your handsome younger brother ast often, Albert said, sounding a bit aggrieved.

In the past, Albert had always felt that he and Mona weren't close. She didn't care for him and often looked down on him. Compared to Barbara, who would play games with him, Mona had always seemed more distant. But since she started dating Maxwell, she had changed a lot, and he had forgiven her for her previous behavior.. Now, seeing her laugh at his misfortune made him feel a twinge of jealousy.

Regarding Albert going to the army, Mona wholeheartedly approved,

The army had strict discipline, which could help shape Albert's character. Maybe he would come back more mature. Most importantly, if he joined the army, the chances of him getting into drugs would be significantly reduced.

Mona couldn't quite recall if Bernard had ever mentioned sending Albert to the army for training. Back then, she had just become engaged to Teddy and was lost in happiness. Surely, Bernard had mentioned it, but Albert had probably thrown a tantrum or used a hunger strike to scare Jane, and the whole matter had eventually fizzled out.

"What are you thinking so seriously about? You didn't even respond to me," Albert said, suppressing the pain to nudge Mona gently.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about how it'll be weird without you around," Mona replied. With Albert gone, the villa would only have her grandparents and Jeremy left, and Jeremy, who had harmed Emily alongside Beatrice, worried her.

Mona couldn't help but wonder if Jeremy would hurt her grandparents over the matter of shares.