Awakening Love: Reborn to Be His Duchess Chapter 457: Beneath the Surface

The attendant standing before her had no ties of blood or loyalty that bound her to this cause, yet she had still stepped forward and spoken at risk of offending the king.

It was strange how loyalty worked, how people chose their sides. Nothing about it was ever as simple as it seemed.

"Your Majesty..."

Hilda's voice trembled as she looked at Isla's drained, distant expression, her chest tightening with guilt. "I failed you. I should have spoken better, done more. I couldn't turn things in your favor..."

Isla slowly shook her head, her voice rough with fatigue. "No. You did what you could. I misjudged him, especially the Duke of Duskmoor."

Why had she never seen it before?

Looking back now, she realized she had never truly crossed paths with Cassian in any meaningful way.

To her, he had always just been a man of war, dangerous on the battlefield, perhaps a threat to her son's future claim to the throne, but nothing more than that.

So she had acted. Quietly, decisively, arranging for him to be gravely wounded, left broken and unconscious, his legs ruined beyond recovery.

At the time, she had believed it was enough. Now, the thought felt almost laughable.

She should have finished it. She should have made sure he never drew breath again.

Isla suddenly straightened, a sharp realization cutting through the haze in her mind.

His legs had healed.

At the Stargazer Pavilion, they had seen him with her own eyes, standing without the slightest sign of weakness, moving with ease, even striking a man down without hesitation.

And yet today, in the royal study, he had remained seated in that wheeled chair as though he were still crippled.

The answer came to her in an instant.

He had been playing weak.

Setting a trap, waiting for someone to make the first move.

Which meant the Duke of Duskmoor had already begun to act, and their attention had turned directly toward her and the Baker family.

And if that was true...

Then Cassian might not be content to stand behind the throne.

He might be aiming for it.

A chill ran through her. They could not afford to wait.

"Go. Now."

Isla grabbed Hilda's wrist so abruptly that the older woman flinched, a quiet gasp escaping her lips, but Isla didn't loosen her grip. Her voice wavered under the strain of urgency. "Ride to the Baker Estate immediately. Speak to my father and my brother. Tell them to go back over everything tied to that matter. Every record, every person who had a hand in it, no matter how small or how long ago. I want it all checked again, thoroughly. Nothing can be left behind. Not a single thread that could be followed back to us. Do you understand?"

With Beatrice and Alyssa taken back to the palace under Quin's watch, Isla no longer had anyone left inside Duskmoor Manor.

That night, Elowen slept more easily than she had in days, the faint tension between her brows finally gone, her breathing slow and even beneath the heavy covers.

Seren, however, lay wide awake.

She curled into herself beneath the blankets, pressing her face into the fabric as she tried to muffle the quiet sobs that kept slipping out.

Across the room, Rosaline stirred.

The faint sound of crying pulled her from sleep. She lay still for a moment, listening in the darkness, then let out a quiet breath before pushing herself up. She reached for a cloak, wrapped it around her shoulders, and struck a small flame to the bedside oil lamp.

A soft amber glow spread across the room.

Seren was curled tightly under the covers, her small frame trembling with each suppressed sob.

Rosaline sat beside her and rested a hand lightly on the blanket. "What's going on with you? Crying like this at this hour... is it your knees again? Did the pain come back?"

The sobbing hitched, then paused.

Slowly, Seren peeked out, her face flushed and damp, her voice shaky. "Rosaline..."

"They took Alyssa away," she said, her words tumbling over each other. "The palace guards came. I heard them say she's been sent to the laundry ward. They said she'll stay there for the rest of her life..."

Her fear spiraled as she spoke, tears spilling freely. "Am I next? Am I going to be thrown out too and locked away somewhere like that? Rosaline... I don't want that. I'm scared."

Rosaline watched her, the frustration she had been holding onto slowly giving way to something softer.

Before all this, Seren had ignored every warning, clinging to Alyssa as though she were a true friend.

No matter what Alyssa said, she believed it. No matter what Rosaline said, she argued back.

In the end, Rosaline had stopped trying. Some lessons had to be learned the hard way.

She had thought a few days of hardship might finally make Seren understand, so she had kept her distance on purpose.

But now, seeing her like this...

Seren had grown noticeably thinner, her cheeks hollow, her eyes swollen from crying.

Rosaline couldn't bring herself to stay cold.

After a moment, she reached out and brushed the tears from Seren's face with her thumb. "That's enough. You're not being sent anywhere like that."

Seren looked at her, hope flickering through her tears. "You mean it?"

"I do." Rosaline nodded. "Think it through. If Her Grace truly wanted you gone, you wouldn't still be here. She could have dismissed you alongside Alyssa or found a harsher punishment. But she didn't. You're still in the manor, safe and untouched."

Seren hesitated. "But... is she still angry with me? Will I ever be allowed back in the study?"

Rosaline exhaled softly. "Anyone paying attention can see what this was really about. Her Grace is cutting out the Queen's influence from the manor, removing the people placed here to watch and report. That's what this was. But we weren't sent here by the Queen. We serve Lady Elira, and she stands with Her Grace. As long as we don't cross a line again, Her Grace isn't going to ruin us over this, let alone send us somewhere like that."