Does Your Family Have a Throne to Inherit
When Cassidy heard that, she let out a short, dry laugh.
"My father has only one child: me. In all these years, he's never once gone looking for some long-lost son to inherit Ashworth Manor."
Her voice sharpened. "You, Vice Director Donovan, are awfully obsessed with continuing the family line. Is the Donovan legacy somehow more important than ours? Or does your family have a throne to pass down? Do you absolutely need a son to inherit a kingdom?"
"How dare you!"
The moment Prince Ashworth heard the word "throne," he went rigid. He drew the saber from his waist, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "The Donovans have some nerve, daring to covet my brother's throne."
He'd never once entertained the thought of inheriting it himself. The sheer audacity of the Donovans, thinking they could just leapfrog over him and aim for the crown, it was treason. Pure and simple.
The Fourth Princess, who'd been thoroughly enjoying the drama, was stunned to hear her own family dragged into it.
She planted her hands on her hips and shot a withering glare at the old man.
"Even *I* haven't thought about inheriting my father's throne, so who the hell do you people think you are? You're scheming to put your own son in my father's place? Just you wait, Donovans. I'm telling my father everything!"
Ryder Sinclair was practically vibrating with excitement. This had just escalated from a messy family drama to high treason. Inspiration struck him like a bolt of lightning, and he grabbed his brush, scribbling frantically.
"Desperate for an heir, a royal son in waiting topples an ancient dynasty!" he muttered, writing. "The Donovan line burns the Imperial Palace, an empire overturned in a heartbeat!"
The Duke of Crestfall decided he couldn't stay quiet any longer.
After all the humiliation he'd endured lately, he deserved to get a word in.
He leveled an accusing finger at the head of the Donovan family, his voice dripping with disbelief.
"I thought your family just had terrible manners, but I never imagined you were hiding something like *this*."
He leaned in, his voice low and conspiratorial.
"A noble house harboring ambitions of treason? Delusional enough to think you could put one of your own on the throne? Could it be? Are you remnants of the Previous Dynasty, lying in wait all this time just to destroy the Aethelian Empire?"
"What?" the four Rakes shouted in unison. "The Donovans are remnants of the Previous Dynasty?!"
As one, they all took a reflexive step back, putting a safe distance between themselves and the accused family. In that single, panicked moment, each of them was calculating his odds of getting out of Donovan House alive.
The Donovans were speechless. They couldn't fathom how, in the span of a few sentences, their entire family history had been rewritten into a plot to overthrow the empire.
Old Master Donovan clutched his chest, his vision starting to blur at the edges. "I'm going to the palace to see His Majesty!" he choked out.
It finally clicked. These people weren't here to investigate a case; they were here to ruin his family. If he let these lunatics keep running their mouths, his entire bloodline would be done for.
But the instant he declared his intention to see the emperor, Prince Ashworth snapped to attention. With a flick of his wrist, he pointed his saber right at the old man's throat.
"You want to go to the Imperial Palace to assassinate my brother?" he snarled. "Let me tell you, as long as I'm here, you won't lay a finger on him!"
Hearing that her uncle was in danger, Cassidy lunged forward and flexed a bicep. "If any of you Donovans so much as harm a hair on my uncle's head, I will personally tear your entire family down!"
The Duke of Crestfall was momentarily speechless. That father-daughter duo never missed a chance to suck up to the emperor.
Seeing Cassidy and her father so fired up, the Fourth Princess struck a dramatic fighting pose of her own. "You audacious traitors! You want to storm the palace and kill my father? You'll have to get through me first!"
Ryder Sinclair was practically howling with glee, his hand shaking so badly he could barely hold his brush.
"Remnants of the Dynasty betray the empire, while Prince and Princess prove their loyalty!" he crowed. "Treason stains the Golden Throne Hall with blood, as the Princess sacrifices herself for the Imperial Palace!"
Old Master Donovan, already on the verge of collapse, heard Ryder's latest headlines. The rage was too much. His eyes rolled back, and he fell straight backward like a felled tree.
Beside him, a terrified Vice Director Donovan caught him just before he hit the floor, screaming for the family doctor. With the head of the family unconscious, the entire Donovan household exploded into chaos.
Seeing their chance, Cassidy motioned for her group to move. As they hustled out of Donovan House, she tossed a few last insults over her shoulder, then breathed a quiet sigh of relief once they were clear.
She patted her chest, putting on a show of wide-eyed terror. "That was so scary! Remnants of the Previous Dynasty... we almost died in there." Then she turned and started marching in the direction of the Imperial Palace.
The Duke of Crestfall hurried to catch up. "Your Highnesses," he said impatiently, "where are we off to now?" He'd just discovered the simple, thrilling joy of causing trouble with the prince and his daughter, and life was finally starting to get interesting.
Cassidy shot him a look. "What's the hurry, Duke? Trying to starve me to death so you can inherit Ashworth Manor?"
Prince Ashworth gave him a look of pure disgust. "My daughter hasn't even had dinner. What's your game? Trying to starve her so you can run off and join your buddy, Old Master Donovan?"
*How does the Imperial Family produce these terrors?* the Duke thought, exasperated.
"I'm just eager to move forward with the case," he said through gritted teeth.
"His Majesty ordered you to solve this within a month. Now that the Princess has a list of names, if we visit each of them, I'm sure we'll find clues to the Marquis of Stonehaven's case."
He wasn't sure if that Lady Bradford was actually guilty of anything or if Cassidy just had it in for her, but successfully framing the entire Donovan family felt like a massive win, and he was thrilled.
Cassidy eyed him, her expression suddenly full of suspicion. "Are some of your enemies on that list? Are you trying to use me to get rid of them for you?"
"I'm just concerned about the case!" the Duke insisted.
Cassidy's suspicion only deepened. "Well, I'm the one in charge of this investigation, and I'm not in a rush. So why are you? Are you trying to steal my job as Capital Inspector?"
The Duke clenched his jaw. "It's getting late. I'll be leaving now!"
Cassidy gave him a dismissive wave. "Take your time. Don't rush off on my account."
After the Duke was gone, she patted her chest proudly. "Good thing I'm so smart. That guy was clearly just trying to score a free dinner."
The Fourth Princess looked at her, confused. "How could you tell?"
Cassidy huffed. "It's dinnertime, he was stalling, and he kept pushing us to work. I saw right through it. He was angling for an invitation."
The Fourth Princess's eyes widened. "The Duke would really do something like that?" *I had no idea,* she thought. *The Duke of Crestfall is surprisingly shameless.*
Just as he was about to step into his carriage, the Duke overheard them and stumbled, nearly face-planting on the cobblestones.
*How can the Imperial Family be filled with such fools?* he fumed silently.
Seeing that only Ryder Sinclair was left, and remembering he co-owned the Spring Breeze Tower, Cassidy asked, "Are you coming to the palace for dinner?"
Ryder glanced at Cassidy and the Fourth Princess, then down at the paper in his hand, now covered in furious scribbles. A fire lit in his eyes. He turned and started walking briskly toward his theater.
"Not eating!" he shouted over his shoulder, his voice bursting with an excitement that bordered on madness. "I'm going to the Spring Breeze Tower! I'm too fired up to eat tonight!"
His steps were light, almost a skip. "That show back there was incredible! I'm overflowing with ideas, my inspiration is about to explode!"