Awakening Love: Reborn to Be His Duchess Chapter 557: A Court Turned

Inside the royal audience hall, Alaric stepped forward with easy composure, as if the tension in the room had nothing to do with him.

"Piers, I received the newly appointed scholars under my father's command. That much is beyond dispute. As for the duchess, she claims her condition was disturbed, but claims alone don't make truth. Did anyone from the Royal Physicians' Guild confirm it? Hugh is a traveling doctor at best. His word carries no weight here. And more to the point, he answers to Hale Manor. It's just as likely this is a staged accusation meant to drag the Crown Prince through the mud."

Piers tilted his head slightly, studying him. "And what exactly would she gain from that?"

A faint, cutting smile appeared on Alaric's lips. "Resentment runs deep. She never forgave me for refusing her hand, and she still clings to the glory Duskmoor Manor once had. Now that my uncle has fallen from favor, the responsibilities that used to be his have passed to me. You can imagine how that sits with them."

He didn't wait for a reply before continuing, his tone sharpening.

"And let's not pretend this so-called Lady of the First Rank is some gentle soul. She throws her weight around whenever it suits her. During the royal examinations this year, she publicly humiliated a court official and his son. The whole capital was talking about it. So tell me, Piers, did you miss it, or are you choosing to look the other way?"

"Your Majesty!"

Archer stepped forward, voice already thick with emotion. "On the day the results were posted, my useless son had just stepped out of the examination grounds. He exchanged a few heated words with another candidate, nothing more than youthful temper. But the duchess decided to back that boy. She forced both me and my son to Hale Manor and made us haul water and tend the gardens like servants for half the day!"

The Royal Inspector, Quentin hurried forward to add his voice. "My son suffered the same. We refused to go, so she had him tossed into a pig pen. When he came home, the smell wouldn't wash off for days. He's been waking up screaming ever since, and now he can't even sit at a table if pork is being served."

A wave of uneasy murmurs spread through the hall. Some officials frowned, others looked openly disturbed.

Piers's grip tightened around the carved ivory tablet in his hand, the tension showing in his fingers.

Archer pressed on, louder now. "It's only natural that Piers would defend the Lady of the First Rank. His wife is kin to the Duke of Duskmoor. His ties to Hale Manor are close. Anyone in his position would do the same."

Quentin stepped in smoothly, picking up the thread. "That may be true, but we serve the Crown, not our relatives. If every man here starts using his office to settle personal scores, dressing it up as righteous accusation, then we're inviting chaos back into this court. Have we learned nothing from the years when factions tore this place apart?"

He paused, letting the weight of that sink in before continuing, "Piers serves in the Ministry of Crown Justice. Oversight and public accusations are not his responsibility. So what are we looking at today? Duty, or something else entirely?"

The shift was subtle but unmistakable. What had begun as scrutiny of the Crown Prince was now turning into suspicion of Piers.

Piers frowned, searching for a way to respond, but the ground had already started to tilt beneath him.

Around him stood men who had clawed their way into power through the examinations, men who could twist an argument until truth barely mattered.

So this is what Father meant. This isn't about right or wrong. It's about who controls the story.

Alaric watched it all unfold, satisfaction flickering in his eyes as he lifted his chin slightly.

Then a steady voice broke through the tension. "Your Majesty, I would say they are not entirely wrong."

Heads turned as Gareth, the Lord High Chancellor stepped forward from the ranks of civil officials.

He looked as he always did, calm, measured, impossible to read. Alaric glanced at him, a hint of surprise crossing his face.

Gareth rarely took sides. He had built his reputation on staying above the fray.

And yet here he was.

Even he knows which way this is going.

A trace of satisfaction touched Alaric's expression.

Facing the throne, Gareth spoke, his tone heavy with meaning. "And precisely because of that, I must admit my own failure. It is the duty of the Royal Censorate to keep watch over officials, to speak when something is wrong, and to keep order in this court. If the Crown Prince has crossed a line, we should have been the first to say so. Instead, it has fallen to the Ministry of Crown Justice to speak up, risking accusations of bias and factional ambition. That failure rests with me, and with the entire Censorate."

Alaric's expression froze, then darkened.

That's not support. Not even close.

Quentin reacted instantly. "Piers is your own nephew, Gareth. Anyone in your position would feel compelled to step in."