The Grand Duke's Soulmate
Chapter 455: The Heartbreak Upon Arrival

Chapter 455: The Heartbreak Upon Arrival

"Perhaps you should hold back for now. There are already many people inside, including Mr Amares and Mr Norman. Jessy has also mentioned that no healer could attend to Lady Raychard except for His Highness Prince Kiev," Anryr advised, positioning himself to block Sarah from entering Anna’s chamber.

The chief lady-in-waiting, accompanied by her subordinates, Naise and Bridgette, had arrived with the royal healers, as instructed by the queen.

"I’m merely following Her Majesty the Queen’s orders. If you prevent me from bringing in the royal healers, you’ll be directly disobeying her," Sarah replied, her tone steely as she faced the steward.

At Anryr’s side, Charles leaned in, whispering his counsel.

"You might want to let them through. I heard Her Majesty instructing her to bring the royal healers here. After all, this is the palace and her domain."

Anryr felt a weight pressing on him as he contemplated allowing Sarah to pass, though he was acutely aware of her authority. Yet, swayed by Charles’s reasoning, he relented with a reluctant nod.

Suddenly, a muffled shout erupted inside the chamber, the voice thick with urgency. It was clear that a tense atmosphere had settled within the room.

Sarah hesitated at the unexpected commotion. What could possibly be happening? With King Kyden inside, she knew no one else would raise their voice in such a way other than him. But why?

"I should take a quick look first by myself. If everything is in order, I will summon you," Sarah decided as she turned to the royal healers, who awaited her command.

Aware that her companions had faced the consequences of their earlier mistakes, she understood the importance of remaining vigilant in front of the monarch.

"As you wish, my lady," one of the healers replied respectfully, bowing slightly to the chief lady-in-waiting.

With determination, Sarah placed her hand on the door handle, ready to open it. However, just as she was about to turn it open, the sound of rapid footfalls echoed through the hallway, startling everyone outside.

They turned in unison, and to their astonishment, Kyren Raychard, the Grand Duke of Gerhard, appeared before them.

Gasps of surprise filled the air; no one had expected the grand duke to return at such a moment.

"Your Highness!" Sarah exclaimed, taken aback as Kyren approached the door.

Panic marred his usually composed demeanour as he pushed past her, disregarding her presence entirely and barged in. She stumbled slightly, losing her balance, but Charles quickly steadied her.

Fuming, Sarah wriggled free from the chamberlain’s grasp and hurried inside after Kyren. The others wanted to follow her in, too, but Anryr halted them just in time, advising them that the situation inside was unknown and that it was best for them to wait and give way for the grand duke to meet his wife.

As the chief lady-in-waiting followed Kyren to the bedroom where the gathering crowd resided, she heard the king’s raised voice within.

"The Grand Duke is unable to have a child with any woman! No matter how he tried, no woman can bear his heir! That’s why he refused to become king and stepped down! Rafe and I have been keeping this secret for a long time, so none of you can lie to my face and tell me the baby is his! Admit now who is the father of Anna’s child, or I swear I’ll kill you all!"

Kyren’s eyes widened as he absorbed the king’s words. His steps came to an abrupt halt at the threshold of the opened door. The crowd, filled with confusion and bewilderment at the revelation, was all focused on King Kyden, leaving the grand duke unnoticed in the shadows behind them.

"What did you say?" The words slipped from Kyren’s lips, barely above a whisper, as he fixed his gaze on the king.

The monarch and the gathered crowd turned, and only then did they register Kyren’s presence. Shock rippled through their faces at the sight of the grand duke.

"Kyren! You... you’re back!" King Kyden exclaimed in alarm, his pallor evident as the colour drained from his face.

Hearing her husband’s voice, Anna struggled to rise from the bed to meet him, but her body still felt weak, recovering from the strain. Healing magic would take time to restore her energy fully, and she could not move towards him.

"Kyren! Kyren!" she called out desperately, but the crowd obstructed her view. All she could see was a silhouette of his figure standing behind them.

With heavy boots thudding against the floor, Kyren stepped forward, crossing the threshold into the bedroom as the rest bowed and made way for him. The room then fell silent, all eyes on the grand duke as he approached the king.

"Is Anna pregnant?" Kyren asked his brother with a shaken voice.

"Allow me to handle this matter first. You’ve just arrived, and you should take some time to rest," King Kyden said, deliberately averting the grand duke’s piercing gaze.

"I need to know," the grand duke’s voice cut through the air, harder now, his expression darkening. "Is she truly pregnant?"

The king hesitated, a lump forming in his throat as he struggled to find the words.

"She... she..." he stammered despite being acutely aware that his brother had already heard him.

"She’s pregnant..." Kyren made his own statement, a solemn expression settling on his features as he pieced together the king’s reluctance to confirm it.

The weight of those words crashed over him like a tidal wave, shattering his world into fragments. Anger began to spike within him, a fiery ember emotion that threatened to ignite into an uncontrollable blaze.

Why had the woman he cared for so deeply turned away from him?

Was it truly because he had expressed his desire not to have children?

The very thought twisted his insides. If only she knew that he would have given anything to embrace the role of a father and build a family with her. But circumstances had stolen that dream from him, leaving him with an ache he had hidden beneath layers of duty and ambition.

No! This was not the time for self-pity. He needed answers—he craved the truth to confront the raging storm swirling in his mind. He had to hear it from her own lips!

"Move." The grand duke’s voice was low but held an undercurrent of menace. "I want to speak to my wife."

King Kyden remained unwavering and unyielding in his protective stance, blocking the path towards Anna. Queen Emelda stepped forward, positioning herself beside her husband in an attempt to defuse the mounting tension.

"Kyren, there must be some misunderstanding here. Just take a moment to calm down," she urged, her tone soothing. "It’s not as you perceive! His Majesty might be mistaken!"

"I said move!" Kyren roared, his voice echoing in the chamber.

Queen Emelda flinched, her shoulders trembling at the unexpected outburst. Never before had the grand duke raised his voice at her; this was a first, leaving her momentarily stunned.

"Step aside, Emelda. I will handle this alone," King Kyden said, his voice lowered to a tense whisper meant only for her ears.

The moment had become so sensitive; if mishandled, the confrontation could lead to a disaster that would shake the very foundations of their families and the realm they governed.

"Don’t block me, Kyden! Let me speak to Anna, or I swear this will be bloody!" warned Kyren as he gritted his teeth.

"I am your king, Kyren!! Don’t disrespect me! If you wish to talk to her, you have to wait! Not now!"

The grand duke’s fury erupted as he could no longer contain the tempest of rage within him. With a hard shove, he pushed King Kyden, but the king fought back fiercely, holding the grand duke from advancing.

Peering from his brother’s shoulder, Kyren’s eyes locked onto Anna with a raw intensity. Seeing her from that distance, after months of separation, stirred an unbearable heartache within him. He had missed her so much that he dreamed of her in his nights of sleep, yet now disappointment and heartbreak clawed at his chest.

The sight of her, once a source of warmth, now felt like a cold iceberg, its unforgiving presence causing the trust he had placed in her to crumble like brittle ice underfoot.

"Did you betray me, Anna? Did you sleep with another man?!" he roared, each word laced with a pain.

Anna’s heart sank, alarmed by the accusations that cut deep into her very being. Tears welled in her eyes, and as she faced her husband after such a long absence, the rush of longing was quickly eclipsed by confusion and fear.

She desired to run to him, hug him tight and whisper everything that filled her heart. Yet instead, she found herself caught in an emotional whirlwind—an accusation of infidelity she couldn’t understand right after knowing that she was carrying a child.

"No, Kyren! No! This baby is ours!" Anna cried defensively.

Her hands remained on her still-flattened stomach.

"You’re a liar!" Kyren’s accusation was thunderous, a devastating confirmation of the doubts gnawing at him.

Before this moment, he had arrived at the palace seeking an audience with King Kyden, accompanied by his team members; Adam, Sir Ashburne, and Athillia.

But everything shifted in an instant when a frantic servant informed him that Anna might be injured—blood trailing behind her as Drystan carried her away from the main entrance to the west wing. The thought of her in pain clawed at him, and an icy grip of panic took hold.

His heart pounded like it might burst as he raced down the hallway. Anxiousness and shock twisted his gut; he couldn’t shake the horror that something terrible had happened to her.

Never had he imagined the worst—arriving only to learn that his woman had betrayed him!

Rage and confusion coursed through Kyren, making his hands tremble as he turned on Drystan, the knight who had carried Anna to the chamber.

"Did you touch my wife? Did you?!" he screamed as he stalked towards Drystan.

Seizing the knight’s collar with a rugged grip, Kyren pulled Drystan close, their faces mere inches apart.

"No, Your Highness! I swear to God I didn’t! I just got back to the mansion today!" Drystan protested, his eyes wide.

The second-in-command knight, Eric, stepped forward, trying to bring some measure of calm to the situation.

"Your Highness! Sir Mills just married Lady Sylvia Rogers! He hasn’t been at the mansion since you ordered him to take care of the marquess. Even if he came by occasionally, he had never come close to Lady Raychard," he explained earnestly.

In a swift motion, Kyren threw Drystan against the wall, the thud of the knight’s body against the stone structure reverberating through the chamber.

"Then who?!" he yelled, desperation creeping into his voice as he searched for someone to blame.

"None of us did, Your Highness! We swear with our lives that we never committed such a heinous act! We are your loyal men!" the second-in-command knight reiterated.

"It’s the truth! We respect Lady Raychard as much as we respect you! How can we suddenly be accused of this?" Garin, the third-in-command knight, added in support of Eric.

A cacophony of voices erupted from the crowd, with those accused vehemently denying the allegations.

"Then how do you explain the pregnancy? Anna could never be able to bear my child! You heard what the king said!!" Kyren shouted, his voice cracking with grief and anger, silencing them.

"This is not making any sense! The baby surely is yours! She is only intimate with you!" said Eric.

"You do not know my personal matters! It is a fact that the baby is not mine! His Majesty wouldn’t reveal my secret to you all if not for this illegitimate pregnancy!" he interjected sharply, cutting Eric off.

"You can’t have children?" the second-in-command knight asked back, bewildered.

"Not with her nor any other woman!" Kyren revealed.

"This... this can’t be true!"