The Prince's Arranged Marriage
Chapter 66: Shadows Beneath the Crown

Chapter 66: Shadows Beneath the Crown

For a time, it seemed things were improving.

Alexander stood beside me in court now—not just physically, but vocally. He supported my decisions. He echoed my insights. Ministers had grown more careful in how they responded to me, and their interruptions had lessened. To the uninformed observer, it might have looked like progress. Like the Veridian prince was finally being woven into Avaloria’s ruling body.

But court politics had never been that simple. And neither had hate.

In truth, the knives had only gone underground.

The whispers didn’t vanish—they just changed tone. Where once they were muttered in defiance, now they were spoken with careful precision, tucked behind fans and goblets, beneath laughter and protocol. My presence in the room might have gained formality, but it had not earned acceptance.

And I began to notice.

It started subtly. A group of courtiers abruptly ending their conversation when I entered the eastern corridor after a council session. Three noblewomen sharing pointed looks as they passed me in the rose gallery, their whispers barely veiled.

"Did you see the way he corrected Lord Emdar?"

"He’s getting too comfortable. As if wearing that crown makes him one of us."

I heard it again and again, in different forms. The sound of a title laced with sarcasm. A bow that came a fraction too late. A silence that pressed a little too tightly when I stepped into a room.

At first, I tried to dismiss it. Royal courts thrived on petty games. Perhaps I was imagining it—seeing malice where there was only mundane snobbery.

But it continued. And it grew.

One afternoon, while reviewing trade policies with two Avalorian envoys in the marble garden pavilion, I caught the tail end of their conversation just before I arrived.

"...should never have been allowed—"

Then silence.

Their faces turned politely blank. Their bows were just a little too crisp. Their questions too cautious.

I answered them all, with the same careful diplomacy I always used. But my skin felt like it was wrapped in frost.

Later that same week, I entered the royal archive for a research meeting, only to find several members of the administrative board packing up their parchments the moment I walked in.

"We didn’t realize you’d scheduled use of the room, Your Highness," one of them stammered. But the schedule I held in my hand said otherwise.

They left before I could speak. My arrival had not prompted inconvenience. It had prompted evasion.

That was the moment I knew—*they weren’t just avoiding me.*

They were hiding something.

---

Alexander, for his part, remained as present as he could. He noticed some of it. He tried to soothe it.

At first, when I told him of the incidents, he frowned with concern.

"They’re intimidated by you," he said one night, as we sat in our shared sitting room. "They’ve never had someone challenge their norms before. Not like this."

"They weren’t just intimidated, Alexander. They stopped speaking the moment they saw me. Why would they do that if they weren’t talking about something they didn’t want me to hear?"

He sighed, rubbing his temple. "I’ll speak with the high ministers again."

But that wasn’t the solution I needed. Not anymore.

"I don’t think it’s just the ministers," I said quietly. "There’s something else happening. I feel it. They’re *coordinating.*"

He looked at me, frowning. "Lucien..."

"I know what it sounds like. But I’m not being paranoid."

"I didn’t say you were."

"But you don’t believe me either."

"I’m just trying to understand. You’re right that many of them still disapprove. But an organized conspiracy?"

His hesitation was a stone in my chest.

"I’m not asking you to believe it without proof," I said. "But I need you to stop dismissing this as court pettiness. I’ve lived among nobles all my life. This is different."

He nodded slowly. "I’ll keep watch. Discreetly."

It was all I could ask.

---

But the feeling continued to grow.

One morning, I walked into the strategy hall and saw Minister Torric and Lady Virelle speaking in hushed voices at the back. The moment they noticed me, they stopped. I offered a greeting. Lady Virelle curtsied. Torric offered a nod, eyes cool. They left with no explanation.

Two days later, I requested a document from the castle records—an innocuous file on a past trade negotiation with Veridian—and was told the record was missing. Not misfiled. ’Missing.’

That same evening, Elara wrote from Veridian. A letter full of her usual warmth, but with a closing line that made me pause.

*"There have been some strange delays in communication with Avaloria lately. Father mentioned it too. Just keep your eyes open, Luce."*

I read the line five times.

The next morning, I visited the communications wing myself. The staff were polite but hesitant. One clerk—young, likely new—mentioned in passing that certain letters were being rerouted through additional security.

"Just for precaution," she said quickly, when I asked.

"Whose precaution?"

"I—I don’t know, Your Highness."

The head of the wing arrived minutes later and promptly dismissed the girl, insisting there was no irregularity.

But I’d seen the look on her face. *There was.*

---

Alexander’s attempts to intervene helped *somewhat.* He made public declarations supporting my voice in court. He insisted I accompany him to every major policy review, every trade negotiation. He made it known—without question—that I was not a passive consort but an active partner.

But it wasn’t enough.

I knew what respect felt like. This wasn’t it.

One afternoon, while reviewing a list of proposed reforms, I noticed several had been edited since our last discussion—subtle redrafts, softening language I had pushed for. I asked about it during court.

"Those are the finalized drafts, Your Highness," Minister Hadrian said smoothly.

"They were finalized without my approval," I replied.

"Adjustments are sometimes necessary to preserve cohesion," Lady Elowen added, her smile thin. "We didn’t wish to trouble you with the administrative minutiae."

"Are my proposals considered minutiae now?"

A silence followed, and then murmurs.

Alexander stepped in quickly, correcting them, reinstating the original phrasing, but I barely heard him. I saw only the glint in their eyes.

They were testing the limits now—redefining how much influence I was allowed. Undermining, not just openly, but *systematically.*

---

The following week, I finally confronted one of them directly.

Lord Caelen, a minor but well-connected noble, had always been courteous to me—too courteous, in fact. Polished words. Polished lies. I found him in the orchid conservatory one afternoon, speaking to two other lords in quick, hushed tones. As soon as I entered, the conversation ended.

"Lord Caelen," I said calmly, "I couldn’t help but notice how often conversations end when I enter a room lately."

He gave a bow. "Merely coincidence, I assure you."

"Are you certain? Because from where I stand, it looks very intentional."

He smiled—a thin, snake-like curl of his lips. "I think perhaps you’re imagining offense where there is none."

"And I think perhaps you’re hiding more than you want me to know."

His eyes flickered. Just once. But it was enough.

"I’ve warned Alexander," I continued. "But it’s clear I need to do more than talk."

"Is that a threat, Your Highness?" he asked, still smiling.

"No," I said. "It’s a promise."

---

That night, I couldn’t sleep. The palace felt colder. My chest felt tight.

Alexander reached for me in bed, but I didn’t respond.

"I can’t keep pretending this is normal," I whispered.

He exhaled. "You were right. Something *is* happening. I’ve heard things... indirect, careful things. But enough."

I turned to face him. "Then we need to act."

"We will. But carefully. If we overreach, they’ll use it against us."

"They’re already doing that."

He pulled me close, pressing his lips to my forehead.

"We’ll find them, Lucien. Whatever this is—they won’t win."

---

But even as he held me, I knew the road ahead wouldn’t be easy. Whatever scheme was unfolding around me, it was rooted deeper than politics.

It was personal.

There was rot beneath the court’s gleaming marble—and I was going to find it.

Even if I had to carve through it myself.

The silence between us lingered longer than usual after Alexander’s whispered promise. His arms remained around me, steady and firm, but I couldn’t pretend the warmth of his touch drowned out the cold coil of suspicion wrapping tighter around my chest. I stared at the canopy above our bed, the soft velvet shadows cast by the flickering hearth, and tried to imagine what it would take to unravel what had begun to form around me—a noose made of silken threads and sharpened etiquette.

"Do you believe me now?" I asked after a long pause. My voice didn’t tremble, but it felt like it could.

Alexander sighed, resting his forehead against mine. "Yes. I should’ve listened sooner."

His honesty softened something in me, but it didn’t loosen the dread. If anything, it made the night feel heavier. I had fought wars of words in courtrooms, navigated chambers filled with rivals, and stood my ground in the face of Veridian’s old guard—but this was different. This wasn’t resistance from proud traditionalists. This wasn’t politics.

This was sabotage.

And it wasn’t just aimed at me—it was eating away at the foundation of the union we were building.

"I keep wondering," I whispered, "what exactly they’re trying to achieve. It’s not just about humiliating me or keeping me out of their precious meetings. Some of them are hiding things—documents, decisions, even conversations—and I don’t know what they’re covering up. That’s the part that keeps me awake."

Alexander pulled back slightly so he could look at me fully, his eyes clearer in the soft light. "You think there’s a coordinated plot."

"I don’t think—I *know*."

He hesitated, the way he always did when weighing the burden of belief against the weight of consequence. "If there is... we’ll uncover it. But Lucien, if you’re right, then it means we’re not just dealing with arrogant nobles. We’re dealing with something organized. Strategic. Maybe even dangerous."

I nodded. "Which is why I can’t sit idle anymore."

A long pause stretched between us.

"I want to trust you to handle this," Alexander said quietly. "But I also want to protect you. You don’t know how deep these allegiances go."

"I’m not asking for protection. I’m asking for partnership."

His jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Then we move carefully. We gather evidence. Names. Patterns. If they’re hiding something, we need to document it—not confront them blindly."

"I wasn’t planning to. I’m angry, not reckless."

I sat up then, unable to lie still any longer. The bed, once a sanctuary, felt suddenly stifling. I crossed to the window and pulled the curtains aside. The moon sat high in the sky, casting Avaloria’s capital in a silver hush. The towers and spires gleamed like watchful sentinels, and below them, the streets curled like serpents—beautiful, treacherous.

"How many of them do you think resent me?" I asked softly, not turning around.

"Too many."

"And how many would rather see us fail?"

He didn’t answer.

His silence was an answer.

"I need allies," I murmured. "Real ones. Not people who bow because they must, but people who’ll speak plainly. People who *see* what’s happening."

"There are some. I’ll make a list."

"No," I said, turning back to him. "We will make the list."

For the first time in days, I saw a flicker of fire in his eyes—Alexander, the soldier. Alexander, the strategist. The man I had once hated for his silence, now beside me in shared defiance.

"Then tomorrow," he said, "we start asking questions."

I nodded, stepping back toward the bed.

But as I lay down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were already behind.

And if I didn’t act soon, this court would devour me—whole and smiling.