The Duke's Unwanted Second Wife

”What? Why did the Crown Prince send the order to arrest me? Prince August is lying! I did nothing! He has no proof!” Xavier screamed as the soldiers forced him down onto his knees and began shackling his wrists. His wife wept and begged the guards for mercy, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

”I carry an official arrest warrant based on evidence that the Crown Prince has personally reviewed,” the chief soldier stated coldly, holding up the parchment that bore the unmistakable, heavy seal of the Crown Prince’s office.

Within moments, Xavier was dragged ruthlessly from his residence and taken straight to the central prison.

He was shoved brutally into a damp, filthy cell. Stumbling forward, Xavier scrambled back up and grabbed the iron bars, looking desperately at the chief soldier. ”Please, ask the Queen to meet me just once. I beg of you!”

The chief soldier uttered no words. He simply turned on his heel and walked away to deliver his report.

Reaching the Crown Prince’s manor, the soldier bowed low. ”Your Royal Highness, your order has been executed. Xavier is locked securely in the dungeons. As for the interrogation, shall we begin immediately, or wait until the morning?”

”I will interrogate him myself,” Ciaran stated firmly. ”Just ensure there is tight security stationed around his cell.”

”Understood, Your Royal Highness,” the chief soldier bowed low and walked out of the study.

”Brother, you have officially ordered the arrest of Uncle Xavier. But our mother is going to be furious with us,” Sylvian stated, stepping closer to the desk. ”She must have heard the news by now.”

”Alistair Spencer and his family were completely blameless, yet they died without any reason. They were burned alive inside their own home,” Ciaran stated with a deep frown, his gaze dropping to the desk. ”And our uncle had his hands directly in it. I could not ignore it. The evidence August collected points finger straight at Xavier.” He gestured toward the scattered documents that Damian had brought safely from Varos.

”Hmm.” Sylvian’s expression grew deeply troubled as the heavy oak doors of the study flew open, and the sharp voice of their mother cut through the room.

”Crown Prince, did you truly give the order to arrest my brother? Your own uncle?” Queen Victoria demanded, her gaze wide with shock and fury as she stepped into the light.

The two princes bowed their heads in respect before raising them to face their mother.

”Yes, Mother. It was necessary because the evidence points directly toward Uncle Xavier,” Ciaran stated, his voice steady but grave.

Queen Victoria marched toward the desk and snatched up the incriminating papers, her fingers tightening as she prepared to tear them to shreds. Before she could rip the parchment, Ciaran lunged forward and firmly caught her wrists, stopping her instantly.

”Mother, what are you doing?” he demanded, his voice rising to a near-shout against the Queen.

Sylvian quickly swept the papers away from Ciaran’s grip and tucked them safely inside a heavy leather file, keeping them well out of their mother’s reach.

”Mother, you should have no reason to fear this investigation if you have done nothing wrong,” Ciaran stated, his chest heaving as he tried to regain his composure.

”My brother did nothing wrong either!” Victoria pronounced sharply, her head held high as she glared at her eldest son.

Ciaran ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. ”Mother, do not defend what is clearly wrong. I have already asked Father to let me handle this matter. Anyone who attempts to interfere in this investigation will face my authority, and I will not hesitate to restrain them. I truly do not wish to be forced to do that to you, Mother.”

Queen Victoria sneered, her eyes flashing with bitter resentment. ”You trust the words of a mistress’s son, yet you refuse to believe your own mother.”

”I did not believe August at first glance,” Ciaran countered sharply. ”But I have reviewed the reports he gathered. The records Damian retrieved during his investigation were entirely different from the official archive. Your brother tampered with the evidence and wiped his own name from the accounts. Every single soul in that house died by being burned alive in a fire. Do you truly feel not a single shred of empathy toward them?” He stepped closer, staring directly into his mother’s eyes.

Queen Victoria realized with certainty that even her own sons would not stand by her side. She took a few steps back, her face hardening into a mask of bitter silence, and swept out of the study without uttering another word to either of them.

”Mother is hiding the truth about herself,” Sylvian murmured into the heavy silence.

He recalled the scathing words August had thrown at him before, and a sickening feeling settled in his chest.

He had always trusted his mother blindly, but the grim evidence before them made the horrifying truth impossible to ignore: she had indeed taken the life of August’s mother.

”Sylvian, Mother is not entirely at fault, you know, for taking the life of August’s mother,” Ciaran stated with a complicated grief.

”August’s mother destroyed the sacred bond between our mother and father. Our father is equally to blame for creating this wretched mess. He needs to answer to August, and he needs to answer to us as well. If only he had not brought a mistress into this palace, none of this tragedy would have ever unfolded.”

Sylvian could not agree more with his brother’s words. The weight of their father’s betrayal had fractured the peace of the entire royal family, leaving a trail of blood and ruin in its wake.

”You are right, Brother. If only Father had not kept an affair and betrayed our mother, none of this would have happened. Yet, an innocent family died because of Mother’s vengeful wrath, and that is what makes this truly painful,” Sylvian muttered.

”Exactly. And bringing out the truth is important for everyone associated with this case,” Ciaran stated.

Ch 2

Queen Victoria halted outside the guest chamber where Damian and Eilika were staying. She forbade the maidservant from announcing her arrival and barged straight into the room.

Eilika and Damian had just finished their dinner. Seeing the Queen enter unannounced, they were both filled with shock. Victoria did not pause; she kept walking directly toward them with furious strides.

”Your Majesty, to visit at this late hour—” Damian began, but the words were cut short when a sharp slap landed across his face.

Before he could recover, the Queen swung her hand to strike Eilika next. Damian’s instincts flared, and he lunged forward, catching Victoria’s wrist firmly mid-air.

”How dare you stop the Queen’s hand?” Victoria shouted, her eyes and tone burning with a rage.

”Your Majesty may strike me, but not my wife,” Damian said, stepping deliberately between Eilika and the Queen. ”I did not bring her here to be mistreated by you. If you have any complaints, they should be directed entirely at me.”

Eilika felt a knot of dread tighten in her stomach as she witnessed the dangerous dynamic unfolding. Staying the Queen’s hand was a severe act of disrespect against the crown.

Victoria yanked her wrist back and sneered at Damian. ”You have actively sought to destroy the bloodline I belong to. Who gave you the authority to bring false evidence against my brother?”

”The evidence is not false, Your Majesty,” Damian countered firmly. ”Your brother bribed the clerical staff in Varos, who then replaced the original records with a fabricated set that completely omitted his name.”

Damian lowered his gaze for a moment. ”The truth needs to come to light, Your Majesty. Innocents died in that fire.”

Victoria’s throat tightened, and she clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. She knew she was unleashing her fury on the wrong person, but from this moment onward, Damian had firmly become her enemy.

”You raised your hand against me. You will regret this day,” Victoria warned without hesitation, her voice laced with venom as she turned on her heel and swept out of the chamber.

The maidservants following in her wake hurried after her, quickly leaving the room.

Eilika was quick to step in front of Damian, reaching up anxiously to check his cheek, which had already flushed red from the blow.

”She—she threatened you,” Eilika murmured, her eyes wide with deep worry. Her cold hand caressed her cheek.

”I must ensure she gets punished for what she has done then,” Damian muttered, his jaw tightening as the sting on his cheek faded.

”Damian, we should not involve ourselves any further with the royal family. Tell your cousins about this and let them handle it,” Eilika advised him, her voice trembling as she kept her hands on his face.

”We are already dragged into this, one way or another,” Damian said, finally looking deep into her anxious eyes.

”It is my fault. I—I was the one who asked you to help Prince August,” Eilika said, her gaze dropping as guilt washed over her.

”You stood on the side of truth. There is nothing wrong with that,” he stated firmly, placing his hands over hers to reassure her.