The Duke's Unwanted Second Wife

”Why did we change the vehicle?” Louis asked, turning his head from the front seat.

”The Queen is furious with us,” Damian replied quietly. ”I could not take the risk of traveling in the same car we arrived in.”

Louis shifted in his seat to look back at him. ”Do you truly believe the Queen would attempt to harm you? Surely that would be too reckless, even for her.”

”It is always wiser to take precautions,” Damian said. ”I had the servants transfer our luggage and the gifts to a separate carriage rather than loading them into the car. Even if the original vehicle is perfectly safe, we lose nothing by being cautious. I will not compromise our safety.”

Louis settled back comfortably in his seat. ”That was a smart move.”

”Still, I do not believe the Queen would strike against us so soon,” Eilika noted thoughtfully. ”The ongoing crisis within the palace walls severely limits her movements. If we are harmed or attacked right now, the immediate suspicion will inevitably fall upon her.”

”And yet, we have been targeted before,” Damian countered. ”The Queen despises the fact that we aided August. She is cornered, which makes her unpredictable.”

Maurice kept his eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead as he finally spoke up. ”Your Grace, regarding the order you gave me to inspect Lord Xavier’s estate... I managed to slip inside last night. Most of the documents in his study had already been cleared out. Quite likely burned to ash. However, I discovered one stray file that had been overlooked. I brought it away with me.”

”What does it contain?” Damian asked, his curiosity instantly piqued.

Louis turned to look at Maurice in disbelief. ”Why are you only mentioning this now?”

”I refused to speak of such matters within the palace grounds where walls have ears,” Maurice replied calmly. He then addressed Damian through the rearview mirror. ”Your Grace, the documents pertain directly to Lady Liliana.”

”What do you mean?” Damian questioned, his brow furrowing deeply. Beside him, Eilika felt a sudden panic tighten in her chest.

”I did not read through the entirety of it, save for the front page which noted that Lady Liliana had accepted bribes. I only scanned the initial lines where her name was clearly written,” Maurice replied.

Eilika glanced sideways at Damian, whose expression had already darkened with deep irritation and trouble.

”What in the world was Liliana doing behind your back, Duke?” Louis muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

”I need to read that file immediately,” Damian said. ”If Xavier had compiled such records, it means...”

”He might have already shared them with the Queen, or intends to bring them before the court,” Eilika finished, her gaze heavy with worry.

”It is behind your seat, inside the leather bag,” Maurice said. Damian reached down, fumbling through the satchel until his fingers brushed against the folder.

The outer cover was weathered and worn, as were the yellowed papers bound inside. He opened it flat across his knees, leaning forward so Eilika could scan the pages alongside him.

”Liliana accepted substantial gifts and consulting fees from the wealthiest merchant guilds when they traveled to Varos,” Damian muttered, his frown deepening with every line he read. ”In exchange, she ensured they were granted exclusive trade monopolies within the province.”

”That explains why so many mid-sized and smaller merchants suffered so terribly in the past,” Eilika remarked. She knew the consequences of those monopolies all too well; it was the very decay of their family business that had driven her own father toward corrupt practices.

Louis knitted his brows, staring out the front window in deep contemplation. ”But why would Xavier go to the trouble of keeping a detailed file on her transactions?”

”Maybe to use it against me one day,” Damian said. ”And we do not know how many more files like this he has hidden away.”

His trust in Liliana had been so blind that he had never once questioned her expenditures or meetings over the course of that entire year. It was only when she reached her seventh month, when her pregnancy complications grew severe, that Liliana had finally retreated to her quarters and ceased her regular activities.

”Damian, you stand to lose everything if this comes to light,” Louis stated, his tone uncharacteristically solemn and pragmatic. ”Even though you had no part in it, Liliana was your first wife, and the law will hold the House of Varos accountable.”

That was the brutal reality of the court and politics.

”Damian had no hand in this, though. All these documents name Liliana directly, do they not?” Eilika asked, her hand resting on his arm.

”But my late wife did it,” Damian muttered, staring blindly at the file. ”I preached about honesty and justice to the entire province, while under my very nose, the woman I cherished and trusted the most committed such acts.”

He kept the deeper, personal truths of her betrayal locked away in his heart, but this political stain was something he could not easily hide from himself.

”Do you plan to expose her then? She is no longer here, so the person who should be held accountable is not present to answer for it,” Louis advised, watching the Duke’s tense expression through the rearview mirror.

”Damian, it is better to keep this buried. Xavier likely held back because Liliana passed away. If his goal was to bring down the House of Varos, he would have struck five years ago when the wounds were fresh.”

Damian didn’t utter a single word. His mind was exploding with every thought he didn’t want to focus on. Liliana had not just deceived him; she had made a fool of him in the very areas of his life where he had placed his faith.

Eilika placed her hand to his now, giving it a gentle squeeze. He glanced at her.

”Would it not be wrong of me to keep this hidden?” he asked, genuinely wanting her counsel.

”It would be,” Eilika replied, meeting his gaze. ”But you must also weigh the consequences of bringing it to light. The treasury of Varos suffered under those monopolies, and the common people paid the price for her greed. Unearthing this truth now will not undo the damage, but it could very well destroy the stability you have fought so hard to rebuild. So, think carefully about this. I will be with whatever decision you make. And I know you’ll make the righteous one.”