So You Killed Leo
The Duke of Crestfall was completely baffled, his brow furrowed. Facing the Emperor's murderous glare, his voice was tight with a mix of urgency and utter confusion.
"Your Majesty! I... I'm at a complete loss. When have I ever stolen a servant's lover? And a pregnancy? Your Majesty, I've been framed!"
Seeing the Duke dare to argue, the Emperor only grew angrier.
He pointed a finger at the woman kneeling on the floor. "This woman is carrying your child. The proof is right in front of you. What's there to argue about?"
The Duke flinched and glanced over at the kneeling woman. In an instant, his confusion vanished, replaced by pure shock and a wave of shame that washed over him.
"Your Majesty, please, you must see the truth! This woman... she is not carrying my child!"
A surge of anger rose in his throat. He pointed at the man kneeling beside the woman and gritted his teeth. "The child she's carrying... it belongs to my illegitimate son."
Hearing this, the Emperor shifted his gaze to the other man, who was shaking like a leaf.
The stern, imperial mask on his face froze, then cracked.
All that intimidating presence just evaporated, leaving him looking completely mortified.
He cleared his throat, his glare shooting toward the real culprits, who were trying to blend into the scenery off to the side.
Prince Ashworth flinched. Cassidy froze. In perfect sync, the father-daughter duo looked down and pretended to be fascinated by the tips of their shoes.
The Emperor fumed. What a pair of troublemakers. They had just cost him every last shred of his imperial dignity.
The Duke of Crestfall saw the Emperor's look and immediately understood. It was those two. Again.
He was so furious he could barely speak. "What, exactly, did the Prince and Princess tell you when they came to the palace? Why don't you say it out loud so I can hear it, too?"
Seeing all eyes on them, Cassidy spoke up with shameless confidence. "Duke, how can you prove the kid isn't yours? That it's your illegitimate son's?"
Prince Ashworth immediately straightened up. "That's right, you old snake! You aren't crazy enough to throw your own son under the bus, are you? He might be illegitimate, but even an animal protects its own. How can you be so vicious? What would your ancestors think?"
The Duke was shaking with rage. "I have never seen this woman before in my life. Just like you two, I only laid eyes on her tonight for the first time. Why are you telling such bold-faced lies just to smear my name?"
Seeing that the Duke seemed to be gaining the upper hand, Cassidy immediately pivoted. "You say the child is your illegitimate son's? But isn't this woman Leo's lover? So your son steals another man's girlfriend? Is the reputation of House Crestfall really that pathetic?"
Prince Ashworth immediately chimed in, "Like father, like son!"
The Emperor stared at them, completely stunned.
Now he understood the mountain of complaints on his desk about the residents of Ashworth Manor.
So this was how they acted outside the palace, like a couple of petty bullies.
No wonder all the powerful families in Argent avoided them.
The Emperor was seriously regretting leaving the palace with them. This was just embarrassing.
Thankfully, Steward Payne noticed the Emperor's discomfort and quickly guided him to the main seat, putting a little more distance between him and the chaotic father-daughter pair.
The Duke of Crestfall closed his eyes. They had found his weak spot. He'd never expected that rebellious son of his to be so wicked. What an absolute disgrace to the family.
Seeing the Duke's ashamed and angry expression, the father and daughter exchanged a look. *Did we hit a nerve? Why does he look like that?*
Cassidy immediately turned her attention to the scholarly-looking man still kneeling on the ground. "Did you commit treason?"
The man was already shaking uncontrollably just from being in the Emperor's presence. Cassidy's question made him shudder so hard he practically pressed his forehead to the floor. "Princess, please, you have to believe me! I'm innocent! I would never, ever commit treason!"
The Duke's heir, standing nearby, let out a cold snort, his expression filled with disgust. "He didn't commit treason, but he was bold enough to bribe a servant to try and kill me!"
Cassidy's eyes widened. "You like Leo's lover, too? What is this, some kind of soap opera?"
The Duke's heir flushed a deep, furious red. "Are you kidding me? I'm the heir to House Crestfall! As if I'd be as shameless as him!"
Facing Cassidy's suspicious gaze, his chest heaved with anger. "It was my father's 'good' son who played these dirty tricks. He secretly bribed my servant, constantly winding me up and provoking me just to ruin my reputation."
"The last time I got into a fight with Ronan Redgrave, it was that servant fanning the flames. Afterward, he pretended to give me advice, telling me to go apologize, but he had already set a trap for me."
He pointed an accusing finger at his illegitimate brother on the ground. "My father's 'good' son actually bribed that servant to poison Ronan Redgrave at the Stonehaven matriarch's birthday party, planning to frame me for it. Luckily, the servant messed up, so his little scheme failed!"
Hearing his legitimate son repeat the phrase "my father's 'good' son" over and over, the Duke of Crestfall's eyelids twitched, his old face burning with shame.
Cassidy looked at the Duke's heir with disdain. "Are you really that dumb? You're the so-called heir to House Crestfall, and you let a servant manipulate you like that?"
The heir choked, a stifling anger blocking his throat as his cheeks turned bright red. "It's because my father's 'good' son is the vicious one! He set a trap to harm me, and I lost my cool for a moment!"
Cassidy shot the sputtering heir a dismissive glance before turning back to the man on the floor. "So, you were the one who ordered the servant to steal the letters and plant them in the Marquis of Stonehaven's study to frame him for treason?"
The man frantically shook his head. "Princess, I swear, I didn't commit treason!"
He suddenly looked up, tears and snot streaming down his terrified face. "I wasn't thinking straight. I just ordered Leo to give the young master of Stonehaven something that would make him break out in a rash, hoping to frame my brother. Other than that, I had no other wicked plans."
After speaking, he bowed his head to the floor again. "But Leo didn't even do it! He lied and said he did, shook me down for a bunch of silver, and then ran off and disappeared."
Cassidy tapped her chin, looking thoughtful. "And then you held a grudge, so you not only stole his lover but also had him poisoned?"
The man's face went white as a sheet, his voice filled with panic. "I didn't steal Leo's lover. Celeste and I were already in love."
As he said this, his expression twisted, and he clenched his fists, glaring viciously at the woman beside him. "But I was kept in the dark, too. I had no idea she was still seeing Leo behind my back!"
"As for the poisoning," he stammered, "I only asked Celeste to give him some laxatives to mess with him and then find someone to get back the money he took from me. I really don't know why the laxative turned into poison. I'm being framed, I swear! Please, Princess, you have to find out the truth!"