Surprised to see the person coming to visit him, Howard knelt and bowed. "Your Majesty, how can I be of service?" he said in a trembling voice.

"That's enough. You don't have to bow to me now," the emperor said at once. Andy immediately fetched a chair for the emperor to sit. Howard was in the cell while the emperor was on the outside. Then the emperor ordered, "All of you can leave now."

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Andy promptly as he bowed, before he led the guards to leave.

Now, there were only two people left in the prison—Howard and the emperor. The latter inspected the former solemnly for a long time, with his stern eyes fixed on him. When he saw beads of cold sweat beginning to form on Howard's forehead, he slowly asked, "Do you really have nothing to do with Kevin?"

"Your Majesty, I swear to God that I have nothing to do with Prince Kevin. I'm loyal to you, Your Majesty. Someone must have framed me for this. I know clearly who it was, but I don't want to reveal that person. Or to be more precise, I dare not to

e? And if Matthew and Kevin decided to conspire against him, the consequences would be unthinkable for him. Considering that possibility, the emperor felt extremely uneasy, yet he kept calm and his face gave no hint of his thoughts. This was not something he would share with Howard.

"Harper is Charles' daughter. Could it be possible that she would abandon her own family and side with Matthew?" the emperor asked in a low voice. In fact, he believed that was the case, and he trusted Howard's words. If the whole thing was contrived by Harper and Matthew, then he must protect Howard from death.

"Your Majesty, perhaps you don't know that there was only one person who ever treated Harper well in the Chu Clan. That was our grandmother. The others disliked her and treated her badly. Now that Grandma has passed away, Harper has no more loyalty to the Chu Clan and she will surely side with Prince Matthew. Your Majesty, don't be fooled by her!" Howard said in all earnestness. "She is a really vicious woman. Don't fall into her traps."