Chapter 59
The study at the rented manor was still—not the soft, comfortable stillness of rest, but the deliberate kind that followed a day of movement, decisions, and watching.
Valerius stood by the window, gaze lowered toward the streets below. Ambervale moved beneath him: carts, merchants, laborers, slow in places and faster in others.
It would change.
He had no doubt of that.
Behind him, the door opened, neither loudly nor hesitantly. Edric entered first, as he always did—measured, composed, already aware of the tone of the room. Leon followed, less restrained, though still respectful.
“Your Highness.”
Valerius did not turn immediately. “Report.”
Edric inclined his head slightly. “The council has begun speaking among themselves.”
“Of course they have.”
Leon let out a quiet breath. “Not loudly. Not yet.”
“They won’t,” Valerius said. “Not while I was present, but they will later.”
Edric stepped forward slightly. “They are unsettled.”
Valerius finally turned. “They should be.”
Leon crossed his arms lightly. “She is using her own funds.”
That, more than anything, had lingered.
“Matching treasury allocation,” Edric added.
Valerius said nothing.
Leon frowned slightly. “That’s either very generous… or she has a plan we’re not seeing.”
Edric did not disagree.
Valerius’s gaze shifted briefly to the table. “To accelerate results.”
“That’s what she said.” Leon exhaled softly, then paused. “…Wait.”
Edric glanced at him.
Leon looked between them. “If she exhausts her personal funds…” He stopped, then blinked. “…does that even matter?”
Edric raised a brow.
Leon continued, expression shifting into something halfway between realization and disbelief. “If she becomes Crown Princess, she would have access to the Crown’s resources.” He blinked. “So she doesn’t actually run out of funds.”
Silence.
Then Edric looked at Valerius.
Valerius did not answer.
He did not need to.
Leon stared. “…She’s spending money like it’s temporary.”
Valerius’s voice was calm. “It is.”
Leon let out a quiet laugh under his breath. “That’s… concerning.”
Valerius’s gaze returned to the window. “She intends to see results.”
“That much is clear,” Edric said. Then, after a moment, “She did not accuse them.”
Valerius’s attention sharpened slightly. “No.”
Leon tilted his head. “She questioned them.”
“Yes.”
“Publicly,” Edric added.
“And carefully,” Valerius said. “They spoke more than they intended.”
Leon huffed softly. “She let them expose themselves.”
“Yes.”
A brief silence followed before Edric spoke again. “Her actions will anger them.”
“They already have.”
Leon shifted slightly. “They won’t confront her directly.”
“No,” Valerius said. “They won’t.”
Not while he stood beside her.
“They will move around her instead,” Edric said.
“Clerks,” Leon added.
“Delays,” Edric continued.
“Records going missing,” Leon said.
“Quiet resistance.”
Valerius nodded once. “Then we remove their options.”
Both men straightened slightly.
“Discreetly,” Valerius added.
Edric inclined his head. “Of course.”
“Additional guards,” Valerius said. “At her estate and the governor’s office. Hidden. No disruption to her routine. No interference.”
“She won’t appreciate it,” Leon said.
“She doesn’t need to notice it.”
That settled it.
Edric nodded. “It will be arranged.”
A moment passed. Then Leon glanced at Edric, then at Valerius, and something shifted—subtle, but present.
“…It seems,” Leon said carefully, “you’ve already decided.”
Valerius looked at him. “On what?”
Leon did not retreat. “Lady Lynara.”
A pause.
Edric said nothing.
Watched.
Valerius’s answer came without hesitation. “Yes.”
Simple and certain.
Leon let out a quiet breath. “…I thought so.”
Edric’s gaze lowered briefly in acknowledgment.
“Then the question becomes,” Leon continued, “when.”
Valerius did not immediately respond. Instead, he walked past them to the desk and rested his fingers lightly against its surface, measured and thoughtful. “She is focused on Ambervale.”
Leon blinked. “That’s… not unexpected.”
“No.” Valerius’s gaze shifted slightly. “She has a limited time. She intends to use it.”
The words were deliberate. Careful. As though he had already considered them more than once.
Edric studied him quietly. “And you?”
Valerius’s expression did not change. “I will not interrupt that.”
Leon tilted his head slightly. “So you’ll wait.”
“Yes,” Valerius said after a moment. “I will arrange it properly.”
Edric nodded once.
Of course he would.
Valerius was not a man who did things halfway—not with power, not with decisions, and not with her.
Leon exhaled quietly. “…She’s rebuilding a city.”
Valerius’s gaze lifted slightly. “Yes.”
“And you’re planning a proposal.”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Leon shook his head faintly. “That’s a lot.”
Valerius’s voice remained calm. “She is managing more.”
That ended the discussion.
For a moment, the room fell silent again.
Then Edric spoke. “The council will move within the week.”
Valerius’s tone did not shift. “I’d prefer sooner.”
Leon let out a short breath. “Of course you would.”
Valerius turned slightly, gaze steady. “I want to know who acts first.”
Outside, the city moved on, unaware and unchanged.
For now.
But not for long.
Not with her in it.
And certainly not with him watching beside her.