Chapter 76
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then the room shattered.
Voices broke all at once.
“That cannot be—”
“She admitted it—!”
“This is irregular—!”
Lady Greenmoor surged to her feet. “The accused has confessed. This council will proceed with formal detainment—”
The doors slammed open.
The sound cracked through the chamber like thunder.
Every head turned.
Marek entered first, silent, controlled, and deadly. His men followed, spreading along the walls with practiced precision, cutting off exits and taking position without drawing blades.
Behind them came Garrick and the estate guards, solid, visible, and unmistakable.
The room stiffened.
Dara blinked. This was not part of the plan.
Cai floated slowly upward. Oh! This is new.
Then Duncan stepped into the chamber like he belonged there, his boots striking the polished floor with deliberate weight. Workers followed behind him, hands rough, faces set, unafraid.
“You’ll have to charge us too,” he said, voice carrying. “If she’s guilty, then so are we.”
Murmurs erupted.
Lady Greenmoor snapped, “This is completely inappropriate—”
“And what’s appropriate?” Duncan shot back. “Letting people rot while you sit on coins?”
The workers behind him backed him immediately.
“Roads were broken for months—”
“Petitions ignored—”
“She fixed it—”
Pressure.
Real pressure.
The kind that didn’t come from titles, but numbers.
Dara stared. They’re defending me?
Cai looked thrilled. You accidentally built a following.
Before Lady Greenmoor could recover, another voice cut cleanly through the noise.
“If Lady Lynara Voss is guilty,” Gareth said as he entered, measured and composed, “then every merchant in this city has benefited from that guilt.”
The merchants behind him didn’t shout.
They didn’t need to.
Their silence carried weight.
“You wish to prosecute her?” Gareth continued, gaze sweeping the council. “Then you may explain to every trade house why supply lines improved only after her intervention.”
The room tilted.
Dara’s thoughts stumbled. This—this isn’t right.
Cai nodded solemnly. This has gone terribly off-script.
At the council table, Councilor Tullis stood. “This proceeding has lost all integrity,” she said calmly. “Lady Lynara’s actions, regardless of method, produced measurable improvements.”
Her gaze sharpened. “I will not support charges built on selective accusation and political convenience.”
“Councilor Tullis—” Lady Greenmoor snapped.
“No.”
Quiet.
Final.
The room shifted again.
Dara blinked. She’s helping me?
Cai grinned. Yes. You have allies.
I did not plan that.
Clearly.
More voices joined.
Bernard stepped forward. “This is improper. The Governess has acted within necessity and under conditions created by council delay.”
Dara turned her head slightly. Bernard…?
Garrick followed, arms crossed, voice blunt. “If fixing the city is a crime, then you’ll have to arrest half the people in it.”
Dara stared. Garrick too?
Cai was delighted. You are surrounded.
The chamber erupted.
Nobles argued. Workers pushed back. Merchants pressed forward. Council members tried and failed to regain control.
It was no longer a hearing.
It was a collapse.
Then—
“Enough.”
The word cut through everything.
Silence fell instantly, as if the world had remembered who was in the room.
Valerius stepped forward.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Completely in control.
He did not raise his voice.
He did not need to.
“You speak of crimes,” he said.
A pause.
“Let us review them properly.” His gaze shifted. “To Lady Arkwright.”
Lady Arkwright went completely still.
“Misuse of treasury reserves under the pretense of stability. Intentional delay of infrastructure funding despite verified need. Retention of emergency allocations to maintain political leverage.”
Silence deepened.
Then his gaze moved.
“To Lady Greenmoor.”
Lady Greenmoor’s composure cracked.
“Manipulation of administrative processes to obstruct approved projects. Suppression of district urgency reports. Selective enforcement to destabilize governance.”
She tried. “Your Highness—”
He did not stop.
“To Councilor Rooke.”
A man froze.
“Acceptance of undisclosed incentives in exchange for delayed approvals.”
“To Councilor Dravik.”
Another went pale.
“Falsification of review records.”
“To Councilor Halvern.”
A chair scraped.
“Collusion in withholding resource distribution across three districts.”
Now the room was not merely tense.
It was unraveling.
Dara stared. Oh.
Valerius stepped forward. “These are not allegations.”
A beat.
“They are verified.”
Then came the final command.
“Royal Guard.”
The doors behind the chamber opened again.
Crown soldiers entered, disciplined, silent, and unquestionable.
Authority made visible.
“Arrest them.”
Everything broke.
The royal guards moved immediately—efficient and absolute. Marek’s men stepped back, yielding space, while Garrick’s guards held the perimeter.
This was not their authority.
This was the Crown’s.
Lady Arkwright did not resist.
Lady Greenmoor did.
It did not matter.
Councilors protested.
“This is unlawful—!”
“You cannot—!”
They were silenced.
Cuffed.
Restrained.
Dragged from their seats.
Dara watched, frozen.
The metal glinted.
The restraints closed.
The arrests continued.
Her gaze dropped slowly to her own hands.
Still raised.
Still empty.
Still—
Wait.
Her thoughts tripped.
The beginning of my exile arc…
Another council member struggled. A guard tightened his grip. More cuffs. More arrests.
Dara’s eyes widened. My cuffs?!
Cai looked at her. This is catastrophic.
This isn’t how it’s supposed to go!
The room blurred around her.
Voices distant.
Everything was wrong.
Completely wrong.
Then Valerius moved.
Toward her.
Through the chaos.
Unhurried.
Untouched by it.
Like the outcome had already been decided.
He reached her, looked at her, and gently took her hands.
Then he lowered them.
Carefully.
As if correcting something small.
Something inevitable.
Dara did not resist.
She couldn’t.
Her brain was still catching up.
Then his other hand lifted, warm and steady, and cupped her face.
The world narrowed.
Silence pressed in.
“Don’t worry, Lynara.”
His voice was low.
Certain.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Dara stared at him, eyes wide and completely stunned.
Inside her head—
…I may have made a mistake.
Cai did not even hesitate. You think?
A pause.
Heavy.
…a serious mistake.
And then another realization hit.
Slow.
Horrifying.
Absolute.
Perhaps… perhaps making the Crown Prince my boyfriend… was not strategically sound for my exile plan.