Awakening Love: Reborn to Be His Duchess Chapter 488: Her Ground

Elowen did not spare him another glance. Instead, she turned to Finn, whose face was bruised but whose eyes were still sharp with anger. "That table. What was it worth?"

Finn wiped the blood from his lip and answered loudly, "Your Grace, good cedar, made by a master craftsman. With labor included, five dollars."

"Alright."

Elowen nodded and looked back at the man. "Five dollars. You'll pay the shopkeeper. And as for his injuries..."

She glanced at Finn's face, about to continue.

Finn scratched his head, a little sheepish. "Your Grace, I went at him first."

Elowen lifted a brow slightly. "I see."

Then that part settled itself. She let it go and turned her attention outward.

The people gathered here were not random passersby. Their clothes, their posture, the way they spoke, all of it pointed to households with standing. Stewards, lesser heirs, men used to having their word carried out without question.

Why were they here?

The answer came together quickly.

Some had likely taken offense when Duskmoor Manor reshaped its businesses, especially the changes tied to Stargazer Pavilion. Now that Cassian stood accused, they saw an opening.

Others had daughters or young women in their families who had read her books and begun to question the lives laid out for them. That kind of shift rarely sat well with those who expected obedience.

So that was why they had come, and it had never really been about the shop at all, because from the very beginning their target had been her, and what they left behind was not damage but a warning.

They believed the Duke was finished, and that she would be next.

A faint chill passed through Elowen's thoughts.

They think I'm already on the losing side.

Her expression, however, remained composed.

Her voice rang clear across the street. "The attack on the Nordian prince is under investigation. If any of you have real evidence, something you saw or heard with your own eyes and ears, then bring it to the city court. Step forward properly, give your name, and testify."

She let the silence stretch for a beat.

"But if all you have are rumors, then stop repeating them like truth and dragging others through the mud."

Her gaze swept across them. "And even if His Grace were stripped of his title, I would still stand where I do now. I hold my rank by royal decree, and I am the sole daughter of Hale Manor. Ode to Springlight and Tales of Luminara are my work. You don't have to like them. You don't have to read them. But if you have not read them, or simply don't agree with them, that does not give you the right to call them corrupt and tear this place apart."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "This shop stands under my protection. If you come here to cause trouble again, you answer to me. If anyone doubts that, you're free to find out."

The weight of her words settled heavily over the street.

Around her, the guards rested their hands near their swords, silent but unmistakable.

The crowd's confidence broke.

People exchanged uneasy looks, then began to drift away in twos and threes.

Before long, the street started to clear.

At the far edge of the thinning crowd, Elowen caught sight of someone familiar.

He stood apart, hands clasped behind his back, dressed in a dark coat, watching without stepping in.

But his eyes had never left her.

Alaric.

Elowen looked away almost at once, unwilling to linger even a second longer than necessary. She turned back to the restrained man. "Pay what you owe, and you walk away."

The man no longer argued. His hands shook as he pulled out a worn pouch. "I'll pay, I'll pay..."

Finn stepped forward, counted out five dollars carefully, then pushed the pouch back into his hands. "I take what's owed. Not a coin more."

Elowen gave a small nod. "Let him go."

The guards released him. He stumbled off without looking back.

With the matter settled, Elowen felt some of the tension ease from her shoulders. She turned toward the shop, ready to head inside with Finn.

"Ella."

The voice came from behind her, low and deliberate.

It made her skin crawl.

Elowen turned slowly.

A few steps away, Alaric stood there, a faint smile playing at his lips.

When she finally looked at him, that smile deepened, touched with quiet amusement. "Ella, what is it this time. Going to remind me I should be calling you my aunt by marriage?"