He had been lingering near Beaufort Keep, and the guards had driven him away several times.
After his punishment, he had never received proper medical treatment, and now he was a cripple, limping as he staggered toward me.
The guards had already drawn their swords, pressing them to his neck.
He staggered forward, nearly falling to my feet.
He looked up at me with red eyes, shouting, “I was framed! Rosamund isn’t who she claims!”
I paused in my steps.
Cedric looked at the guards around me, signaling me to dismiss them.
I spoke, “It’s fine. You’ve fallen so low now, how could anyone else harm you?”
Cedric gritted his teeth. “This could worsen my crime.”
My curiosity piqued, I ordered for him to be restrained and brought into a room, ensuring he couldn’t move, before dismissing everyone else and listening to his story.
She’s Lord Pembroke’s daughter. I ruined her family during the succession wars. She took revenge.”
I finished listening, speaking coldly, “I cannot help you, nor can I ever assist you.‘
“You think I will exchange the charge of bribery for a crime of collusion with the daughter of a traitor? No matter what, you and she are one.”
He closed his eyes, his face pale.
“I know I can never clear my name. So, does she sever your ties with Edric like this?”
I slammed my hand on the desk, my gaze as cold as ice.
“You are the father of Edric. All of this happened under your watch. Take him away.”
Cedric was roughly dragged out by the guards.
”
Rosamund arrived to take him away, and it seemed they would continue their mutual torment for some time.
But from then on, I would never see either of them again.
My time in Crownspire was brief, and everyone knew I had severed ties with Cedric. News of him and Edric never reached me again.
I raised Lysette and tried to make up for the missing five years.
Aurelia was nine years younger than Lysette.
Lysette doted on her relentlessly. When Aurelia first learned to walk, she would cling to the walls, stumbling after her elder sister while babbling, “Sissy!”
Those were blissful years.
Several winters later, the King stripped several dukes of their lands–all except Reynard. He had already petitioned the crown to name Aurelia and Lysette as his heirs. They would receive incomes and partial governance rights, though these privileges would end with their generation. The King granted it gladly
Having witnessed my disastrous marriage to Cedric, Lysette refused to wed. I let her be. As a countess, she wanted for nothing—why shackle herself to a man?
Aurelia, however, had a childhood sweetheart. I didn’t interfere. Pampered by Lysette and Reynard, she understood propriety but tolerated no slights. As a royal kdnswoman, none dared offend her anyway.
Reynard had met the boy several times. Though reluctant to praise, he admitted, “His character is sound” That settled my doubts.
When Edric turned twenty–four, he passed the imperial examinations and was appointed a magistrate. Traveling to his post through Verdantia during Midwinter, he sent greetings to our household as etiquette demanded
Seeing him alone, Lysette took pity and received him. He wept before her. Later, she told me he resented Cedric’s neglect -a resentment others now used to brand him unfilial. While his peers entered the royal academy or took capital posts, he was exiled to the provinces.
Chapter 12
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“This outcome is mercy enough,” I said. At least he remained a seventh–rank official.
Lysette smiled and spoke no more of him.
As dusk fell, servants lit the lamps. The kitchen had prepared dinner. Aurelia shut the door and nestled beside Lysette, chattering.
“Silas gave me a bracelet of rubies yesterday. What could it mean?”
Lysette rested her chin on her hand. “I wonder…”
Aurelia was oblivious; Lysette knew little of courtship. They could ponder all night and never guess.
Reynard glowered. “The boy’s lovestruck.”
Aurelia’s face flamed crimson as she buried it in her hands. I stifled laughter.
The night stretched long before us, ripe for endless conversation.
Tomorrow would come.
After the year’s longest night, light would return.
