The Male Lead isn't Following the Script!
Chapter 32: Anna’s Schemes

Chapter 32: Anna’s Schemes

"Linny, what brings you here?"

Alaric easily sensed her, he was a trained swordsman after all. He quickly caught her.

"Can you guys keep a secret?"

"Don’t involve me in this- Master already increased my lessons after the last incident." Aaron shot a look at Adeline and ran away. Whatever shenanigans that gremlin was up to, he was not participating. It’s Alaric’s turn now.

Alaric watched as Aaron zoomed past them with wide eyes. He thought his brother was exaggerating, she was a child, what big troubles could she cause?

"You have to promise to not tell anyone." He missed the very obvious devious smile on her face. It would’ve been his first hint.

"Of course." Now he was curious, what secret was she about to reveal?

"You have to swear."

"I swear I won’t tell anyone." He swore on his knight’s honour that he would keep his promise. What could his little sister say that would make him back on his word? Nothing... Was what he thought.

"I got invited to the palace again and I’m going. You swore not to tell father."

"..."

Now he knew why Aaron ran away. He couldn’t help but frown. He was raised on the values of a knight. He couldn’t go back on his word, he could only try to convince her.

"Linny-"

"No, you swore! You can’t go back on your words!"

She jumped down and ran away just like Aaron did. Alaric stood in place, he was dazed from the conversation. When did his sister become so cunning? How could he not tell their father?!

That was precisely what he instructed the brothers! Don’t let Adeline go to the palace alone. His head was buzzing. He had no other choice but to follow her to the palace when she went. He didn’t know how he would explain this to their father if he found out.

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Benedict abandoned the idea of asking his father if he could invite Adeline after he met the ’kind’ stranger who advised him to not add more burden to his already busy father.

Day by day his mother’s condition deteriorated. He was struggling to bring himself to visit her. He felt like he couldn’t talk to anyone, he stood still watching everyone around him do their work. His entire world seemed to collapse but to everyone else, it was just another day.

On the days he couldn’t bring himself to do anything he would simply go under the bed and wait until the sun set. He didn’t care if he starved. There were too many guests coming in to meet his father so the servants were busy tending to them anyway. The only one who cared about him was his nanny, but he decisively sent her away. He was truly lonely in that big manor.

"Well, we have summoned the priests from the temple as requested. They asked for a very fertile piece of land in a prime location. Despite my raising concerns, you did it anyway. Why even appoint me?"

She pushed her glasses back and walked over to his desk. The Duke of the North was busy going through paperwork for various permits. He didn’t even notice that his advisor leaned against his desk. There were only a few inches between them.

"This is something that has to be done, Miss Anna. Your job is to give advice and compile information, what I do with it is none of your concern." He didn’t even raise his head when he said this. The smile on her face was hard to maintain.

"It’s hard to advise when there are a lot of things kept from me." The moment she said it she knew she made a mistake.

"You know what you need to know. You’re dismissed for today."

The coldness in his words pricked her hard. All her efforts can’t go in vain. There was a severe change in his personality and she didn’t know how to handle it. He was never this rude to her... She couldn’t accept it.

She tried her best to hide that she had been eyeing him. Born into a commoner family she climbed her way to this spot. But that wasn’t enough for her, nothing would ever be enough for her. She wanted power, even if she was one of the brilliant minds of the Empire, she was still a commoner what she wanted was to go from being a commoner to a Duchess. She received many proposals from Barons and Counts but she deemed them beneath her.

She was worth more than that. What she wanted was to be the Duchess. She didn’t know exactly what happened to the Duchess... All the information regarding her remained a secret. What she did know was that her influence was dying out in the manor, and the Duke spent less and less time with her. She had slowly been placing her people in the staff once she caught wind of the decline of the Northern Duchess. She was given an opportunity, she will grab it at any cost.

Once she left the Duke could breathe. He was worried about people knowing about his wife’s condition. Everyone in the nobility was a vulture, once they heard about it, who knows what they’d plan.

He was very much like his son, he closed himself off and drowned himself in work to avoid seeing the state his wife was in. As much as he wanted to see her, he knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself... Anna was a trusted subordinate, at least that was what he thought. Any information about his son came from her.

In his heart he knew that he was wrong, at this moment his son needed him the most. He made a promise to himself that after everything was finalised, he would spend every moment of every day with his son. He couldn’t give his son hope and then take it away. The Holy Temple was the last resort. Once they know, everyone will know.

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