Divorce The Duke, Marry The King!
Chapter 90: With Child?

Chapter 90: With Child?

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Belle offered a warm smile, though it never reached her heart, and bowed politely before turning to face the crowd.

"Pardon my manners, I was momentarily distracted by such beauty," Hezekiah jested, pressing a hand to his chest in a feigned apology. Laughter rippled through the hall.

Then, with a sweeping gesture toward Belle, he declared, "This is Belle Harts, the mother of my future children and your soon-to-be queen!"

Silence fell.

Belle stiffened, her fingers instinctively intertwining as nerves crept in. She braced herself for what she feared most.

"Your Majesty, if I may....I object to this union."

As expected, her father never fails to surprise her. A middle-aged man, clad in an extravagant attire, stepped forward. Gasps filled the hall.

"How dare he?"

The nobles and aristocrats gawked, both stunned by his audacity and eager to hear his reasoning.

Belle didn’t need to look up to recognize the voice. It was the man who had played a hand in her very existence—her wretched father.

There were times she wished she could erase her surname, but in this age, women wielded little power. Bound by senseless societal rules, they followed them like obedient puppets, stripped of dignity.

Hezekiah, fully aware of the man’s identity, merely smiled. "Pray, tell, why do you object?"

"Others may be oblivious, but I, along with my fellow ministers, know exactly who Lady Belle is. We will not permit you to wed the former wife of the Duke of the North."

A murmur of shock surged through the crowd.

"The former Duchess of the North?"

"She was said to have died after a miscarriage, how is this possible?"

"She dares to seduce the king? As if betraying the Duke was not enough?"

"She has no shame! Sitting so boldly after ruining her first marriage, I weep for her!"

The same people who had admired her mere moments ago now glared with scorn. Belle swallowed hard, her hands trembling.

This was why she had never been ready to face them.

She was no longer the fragile woman who had once cowered in fear—she could defend herself. But this was no simple fight. There was no easy way to clear her name without unraveling the painful truth.

Izabella. That woman had ensured every slanderous rumor spread like wildfire, all to turn Quinn against her.

And judging by the contempt still festering in these people’s hearts, it had worked far better than she had ever anticipated.

There was only one way to set things right, to finally reveal the truth she had spent so long running from.

"What law forbids a man from marrying a divorced woman?" Hezekiah’s voice boomed through the hall, cutting through the noise. His eyes darkened as he challenged the room. "And as you said, she was formerly married to him. They are no longer bound. So tell me, why does it concern our union?!" He questioned, his gaze intimidating.

"You may not know, but she miscarried while still wed to the Duke and has since been declared infertile. A king cannot take an infertile woman as his queen," Belle’s father declared, his voice resolute. He was intent on ruining her, no surprise there.

"Infertile, you say? Then how do you explain the child currently growing in her womb?" Hezekiah countered, his words slicing through the air like a blade.

Gasps erupted as heads snapped toward him, including Belle’s. She stared at him in disbelief.

Did he just announce a false pregnancy? If she truly could not conceive, this would only add fuel to the fire.

"Your Majesty..." she called, but he was too incensed to acknowledge her.

"Is our Grace truly with child?" One of the ministers stepped forward, eyeing Belle carefully.

"Yes," Hezekiah affirmed. "And no force on earth will prevent me from marrying her. I care not for her past marriage, her miscarriage, or any slander you attempt to throw at her." His voice carried a weight that silenced the hall.

"That only proves she is nothing more than a harlot," her father sneered. "Conceiving a child before marriage, how can we trust such a woman to be queen? What assurance do we have that she will not bring another man’s bastard into the throne?"

His words were venomous, dripping with spite.

In truth, his anger stemmed not from morality, but from greed. Belle’s divorce had severed his access to wealth, and after squandering a fortune to hunt her down, he had finally found her, hiding beneath the king’s protection. He had to admit, she had inherited his cunning.

Hezekiah’s fists clenched, fury burning in his gaze.

"What did you just call her?" He thundered, barely restraining himself from drawing his sword. Were this man not Belle’s father, he would have been headless by now.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but we only seek to protect you," another minister interjected, stepping forward. "Even if you insist on wedding her, we cannot accept her child as heir."

Minister Gregory.

The moment the name crossed Hezekiah’s mind, his lips curled into a smirk. "Minister Gregory, I never took you for such a devoted guardian of my well-being."

The older man swallowed hard, retreating a step.

"I took her to my bed, and I will take responsibility," Hezekiah stated firmly. "And I say again, no one will stop me."

"Your Majesty," another elder minister spoke, his tone grave. "If you persist down this path, you must be prepared to stand against the Twelve Elders and the laws of our just and noble society. They will never approve of this. We will ensure it."

Hezekiah scoffed. His own ministers dared to threaten him?

"Is that a warning?" His voice turned chilling, his laughter dark.

At once, the ministers dropped to their knees.

"Your Majesty," the eldest among them spoke, his voice pleading, "we are but your humble servants, yet we cannot stand idly by as you make a decision that may harm the kingdom. Forgive us, but we only wish for what is best."

"And I do not?" Hezekiah snapped.