The Duke's Bed Warmer

Chapter 178: An Old Scandal

Alina stared at Emeric like she couldn’t understand his language anymore.

"What do you mean she’s not the king’s daughter?" she mumbled.

Emeric looked even more exhausted suddenly, as if he didn’t want to be the person to explain this to them.

"Audrey is Chancellor Crane’s daughter. Not the king’s."

The room fell completely silent.

"That’s impossible," she whispered.

"I thought so too," Emeric said. "Until I read the records myself."

He looked at Austin who was still in shock.

"The affair between the late empress and Chancellor Crane had apparently been happening for years. The king discovered the truth while the empress was pregnant with Audrey."

Alina didn’t know what to say or how to react.

"And he still allowed her to remain empress?" she asked.

"What else could he do?" Emeric asked. "If the scandal had became public back then, the monarchy would have collapsed. The empress was loved by the people. Chancellor Crane was already becoming powerful politically. The kingdom would have become unstable. Publicly revealing the truth would’ve destroyed the royal family completely."

"He buried the scandal to protect his own reputation," Austin finally spoke.

Emeric nodded.

"He erased the scandal as thoroughly as he could. Audrey was officially adopted by the king before she was even born."

He then pulled out another paper from the stack and slid it towards them. It was the copy of the adoption paper. The royal seal at the bottom of the document left no room for doubt.

"You remember...we wondered why Chancellor Crane was protecting Audrey? At that time we thought it might be because of king’s order," he chuckled. "But turns out he protected Audrey because she was his own daughter."

"If this information becomes public..." Austin stopped midway, like even imagining it was dangerous. "The royal family will collapse."

"Along with the kingdom," Emeric added.

The room turned silent again.

"Does Audrey know?" Alina asked, after a while.

"No," Emeric answered immediately.

"Only three people knew the truth. The king, Chancellor Crane and the late empress," he looked at them both. "And now us as well."

Austin suddenly let out a bitter laugh under his breath.

"That explains it," he murmured.

"What?" Alina asked.

"The king."

Austin stared at the documents as if he had finally cracked the puzzle he had been trying to solve for years.

"He never truly treated Audrey like an heir," he said. "He gave her power, status, privileges... but every time succession discussions came up, he delayed them."

This information was new for Alina.

"At that time I thought he was just being cautious because she was a woman. But now..." he looked down at the adoption papers again. "Now I understand he was never planning to let her inherit anything."

Emeric nodded, agreeing with him.

"He acknowledged her publicly as his daughter but making her queen would’ve been unacceptable to him. Chancellor Crane would’ve revealed the truth himself considering how power hungry he is."

"So that’s why the king is so interested in you getting married to Audrey despite you being a duke?" Alina said.

"A perfect political solution," Emeric said.

Austin looked disgusted by the realization.

Alina looked down at the documents again. Her perspective of Audrey began to change. She found her life tragic now.

Audrey had spent her entire life around the fact that she was the princess. But if she discovered that the crown she had built her entire identity around was never truly hers...it would completely destroy her.

"If there is anything powerful enough to stop Audrey’s marriage with you...it’s this," Emeric said, looking at Austin.

But Austin didn’t reply. Emeric looked between them both before asking the question neither of them wanted to answer yet.

"But the question here is do you actually have the courage to use this information?"

No one answered. Austin lowered his gaze.

Despite all the hatred between him and Audrey now, he couldn’t forget the fact that she had once been the closest person in his life. When his parents died, she had stayed beside him while everyone watched him like vultures waiting for him to crumble. She had sat beside him during funeral ceremonies, had argued with nobles twice her age for insulting and mocking him. She had climbed castle walls with him as children and had shared her secrets with him no one else knew.

Childhood Audrey still held a special place in his heart. And if this truth became public, she would lose everything overnight including herself.

Alina could see how conflicted he was. Austin hated the adult version of Audrey, given how she had even tried to poison Alina.But this...this was something he could never imagine doing something to her.

Sensing the awkward tension in the room, Emeric stood up.

"I’ll leave you both alone for a while. You can discuss your strategy," he said and went upstairs.

Alina stared at the adoption document again. She had expected another scandal, details of some other crime of hers. Not something like this.

"She tried to poison you," Austin said suddenly.

Alina turned and looked at him.

"She tried everything she could to ruin your life. She is no innocent," he said. "But if we use this information...it will not only destroy her but the whole kingdom will also face consequences."

Alina didn’t say anything because he was right.

"But if this is what it takes to save our relationship, then I’ll do it," he declared.

Austin reached across the chair and held her hand firmly.

"This decision is yours, Alina," he said. "If you want to use these documents against them, I’ll stand beside you," he said as he brushed his thumb over her knuckles. "No matter what happens after."

"And if I don’t?"

"Then we have another way that we have already discussed a number of times."

There was no uncertainty in his voice. He was ready to destroy the whole kingdom and even sacrifice his position for their relationship if she asked him to. But the truth was she didn’t want him to.