Chapter 6
I returned to the Beaufort Keep with Lysette.
Prince Reynard had been staying at the royal palace these past days, attending to matters of state with the king. This gave me time to reunite with my
parents.
I lit a candle and sat at my desk, reviewing the accounts.
My dowry.
Every tapestry, every jewel—all left behind at Blackthorn Keep. It was a tangled ledger, one that would take time to settle.
I didn’t sleep until late into the night,
At dawn, I returned to Blackthorn Keep with a convoy of wagons and a retinue of armed guards.
I wasn’t trying to hide anything.
When Rosamund arrived in a hurry, my family’s steward was already counting the items being taken from Blackthorn Keep.
Rosamund, startled, rushed to my side.
“Elinor, surely there’s been some misunderstanding? Lord Cedric never dissolved y
looked at her and suddenly smiled.
your marriage. Must you be so hasty in severing ties?”
“I heard Cedric wed you with full ceremony–a procession, the bishop’s blessing, witnesses from every noble house.”
Rosamund hesitated for a moment, a flush rising on her cheeks.
“Yes.”
“Then you are his lawful wife. By the laws of this kingdom, there is no place for me.‘
Rosamund lowered her gaze, her eyes flickering.
She reached out to grab my sleeve, as if to kneel before me.
“Is it that you care about this? Rosamund is willing to be a concubine, to step aside for you.”
I couldn’t understand her reasoning.
”
Why would she want Cedric to demote his wife to a concubine? Was she truly so desperate? Or simply foolish enough to hand Cedric’s enemies a weapon?
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I felt disgusted, shaking off lier hand forcefully.
She staggered back, her hair in disarray but somehow still charming.
I knew Cedric had arrived.
But he didn’t help her up. Instead, he walked straight up to me, standing firmly before me.
Cedric’s face was haggard and pale, dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept all night.
“I’ve investigated. You didn’t arrive back in the capital by your family’s carriage. The carriage you were in was of a very high standard. It’s not something ordinary people can use You were a lonely woman in Verdantia, so that carriage could only belong to…”
He paused, his eyes dull.
“Unless you’re some lord’s kept woman, there’s only one man in Verdantia who could-
I knew what he was implying
That I had become a mistress.
But it didn’t require much to see the truth. Cedric had known me for over a decade, yet this was how he saw me. Anger boiled within me.
I grabbed the ledger from the steward and threw it at him.
Cedric cried out in pain, holding his shoulder as cold sweat broke out on liis forehead.
Rosamund gasped and glared at me, filled with hatred.
Chapter 6
