Suspecting Vice Director Donovan
What in the world was Princess Solana talking about?
For a moment, Vice Director Donovan couldn't tell if she was just trying to stir up trouble or if she was genuinely offended she hadn't gotten a wedding invitation. Her words were so blunt, so direct, that it was impossible to guess what she was really after.
Before he could even begin to parse her meaning, a crowd of people barged through the entrance.
Donovan looked up to see Prince Ashworth strolling in, a pair of shiny worry stones rolling between his fingers.
He moved with a casual air that somehow still commanded the entire courtyard.
Right behind him was the Duke of Crestfall, that old fox, stroking his short beard with a smug grin he didn't even bother to hide.
He looked like a man waiting for a good show to start.
On the other side was Grand Tutor Sinclair's son, Ryder, a man known more for his antics than his academics.
He was already hunched over a roll of paper, his brush scratching frantically across the surface.
Donovan froze, his head spinning. When he remembered he was standing there in his wedding robes, a hot flush crept up his neck, his face turning beet red.
He was so mortified he wished the ground would just swallow him whole.
His family, the Donovans, were respected scholars and public servants who valued their reputation and conduct above all else.
This marriage was supposed to have been a quiet, private affair, just a small ceremony at home.
He never would have made it public. But now, some of the biggest troublemakers in all of Argent had somehow gotten wind of it and crashed his wedding without a shred of shame.
Seeing him in the formal red robes, Prince Ashworth's eyes went wide. "You're getting married today? Did I just stumble into this?"
The Duke of Crestfall rolled his eyes. *What a fool.*
The Duke's gaze swept slowly across the courtyard before landing on Lady Bradford, who was also dressed for a wedding. His whole demeanor sharpened.
"I may not have the sharpest memory," the Duke said, his voice cutting through the chatter, "but I'm not senile yet. Isn't Vice Director Donovan's first wife still alive and well?"
The air in the courtyard went still.
Seeing Donovan's flushed face, the Duke's tone took on a mocking edge, each word dripping with ice. "Could it be that you heard the Marquis of Stonehaven was thrown into the Imperial Prison, and you just couldn't wait to get rid of his sister so you could marry someone new?"
"You killed the Marquis of Stonehaven's sister?" Cassidy's eyes widened in disbelief, her finger trembling as she pointed from Donovan to Lady Bradford. "To marry *her*, you took out your wife's entire family? You, you're a monster!"
Hearing this, the Fourth Princess's almond eyes widened. She tugged at Cassidy's sleeve, her expression worried. "Cassidy, wait. What do you mean, 'took out her family'?" Was there something else she didn't know?
At that moment, Ryder Sinclair only wished he had more hands.
This was escalating from a secret second marriage to a full-blown family massacre, this was getting good!
He furiously scribbled a new headline: *Choosing a Mistress Over a Wife Leads to a Bloodbath!
Framing the Loyal to Wipe Out a Family!*
Prince Ashworth's eyes widened as it all clicked into place.
The Marquis of Stonehaven's sister *had* married the oldest son of the Donovan family.
He remembered now, the son had sworn an oath to the old Marquis that he would never take a second wife.
Ashworth had thought this Donovan was a kindred spirit, one of the few decent men left.
Who would have thought he was just another two-faced phony? It seemed the beating he'd given him last time wasn't for nothing.
Ashworth glared at Donovan, his gaze turning cold. "The Donovan family has some nerve." *Trying to go after my brother's throne?* he thought. *They must have a death wish.* He made a mental note to tell the emperor to hurry up and arrest the entire family.
Upon hearing the accusations, Paige Donovan, who was being held back by the maids, suddenly threw them off and stumbled forward. Her eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.
"Father, was it you?" she cried. "Did you frame my mother's family? Was it because my uncle refused to side with the Third Prince that you were so heartless? You framed his family, had them all thrown in prison, and now you won't even spare my mother?"
At that moment, Paige couldn't have cared less that a Prince and Princess were standing right there, or that her words might bring ruin to the entire Donovan name.
Her eyes were locked on her father, consumed by a single, burning thought: she had to know if the disaster that had destroyed her uncle's family had anything to do with them.
If her father could treat her mother so cruelly, kick her uncle's family when they were down, and even try to have her mother killed...
that cold-blooded ruthlessness had already destroyed any loyalty she had left for the family.
Facing the storm of accusations, Donovan felt a buzzing in his skull. His mind went completely blank, the thoughts seeming to freeze solid. He just couldn't understand. He was just taking a second wife. How did that suddenly get twisted into treason?
He looked frantically at Prince Ashworth and stammered, "Prince, I, I didn't! The Marquis of Stonehaven's case has absolutely nothing to do with the Donovan family. You can't all just accuse me like this without any proof!"
Cassidy shot back, unconvinced, "If you weren't involved, then why did you marry her? If you have no grudge against the Marquis, why would you humiliate his sister this way?"
Prince Ashworth snorted. "When the Marquis was imprisoned on suspicion of treason," he added, his gaze sharp, "you're his relative. Not only did you not help clear his name, but you rushed to submit a petition to close the case. Are you afraid the Emperor will find clues and uncover the truth?
Is that why you're so eager to have the Marquis's entire family executed?"
The Duke of Crestfall stroked his beard, smoothly backing up the prince.
"The Donovan family was dead set on recruiting the Marquis of Stonehaven for the Third Prince. But he's a stubborn man, loyal only to the Emperor. It would've been one thing if you'd just failed to recruit him,
but you were probably worried he'd turn around and report your treacherous plans to His Majesty. That's why you had to get rid of him!"
A deep sense of satisfaction settled over the Duke as he finished.
A cold chill shot up Donovan's spine. What the Duke said was true. He *had* privately mentioned to the Third Prince that the Marquis was too stubborn, that if they failed to win him over, he might report them to the Emperor.
But they hadn't had time to act on it! And their plan wasn't to frame him for treason, it was to find some leverage over his son and daughter. Before they could do anything, the Marquis's entire family was placed under house arrest, and the Marquis himself was thrown into the Imperial Prison.
Donovan's face was deathly pale, his lips trembling. "Duke, don't you dare make such baseless accusations! Recruiting the Marquis? Fearing he'd report us? That's all nonsense! I, I have never done such things, nor have I plotted them with the Third Prince!"
He was seething with confusion. Wasn't the Duke of Crestfall usually content to stay in his manor, raise his chickens, and stay out of court politics? Why had he suddenly started caring about the Marquis of Stonehaven?
Donovan was completely lost, his mind racing to figure out when his family could have possibly offended the Duke of Crestfall.