The Grand Duke's Soulmate-Chapter 498: Scorned and Ridiculed

Meanwhile, Sarah became more anxious as the emperor’s ring was shown to the king. If a magical event occurred when Anna wore it and she demonstrated herself as the Khasif, as Kiev asserted, she would be in serious trouble.

Amid the crowd’s mounting anticipation, a royal guard discreetly approached the chief lady-in-waiting, handing her a secret message from an unknown source. Someone outside the royal court had arranged for it to be delivered to her, and it arrived just in time.

Initially, Sarah felt angered at being disturbed during such a critical moment. However, as she read the note, her eyes glimmered with realisation. She turned to Adam, who was focused ahead, huffing in frustration.

"I should have known! No wonder you took her side so adamantly!" she reprimanded him, now knowing his support for the king.

The admiral looked back at his sister, confused.

"What are you implying?" he asked, unable to grasp her meaning.

Sarah didn’t answer his question.

Instead, she declared, "I will not let you get in my way, brother! Not this time or any other!"

Turning her gaze back to the front, she saw Anna had worn the ring.

However, the expected moment never arrived.

Nothing occurred—no sparks, no tremors, no sounds. Only the bewildered expressions on Kyren and Anna’s faces, as if they shared a secret no one else understood, and the smiling Mederian Prince murmuring in Ro’an, a language most attendees couldn’t comprehend.

The crowd failed to notice that the size of the ring had changed from their distance; only King Kyden was utterly surprised.

Before the king could speak, the chief lady-in-waiting stood up swiftly.

"Not so fast!" her loud voice echoed in the hall.

All eyes turned to her immediately. After throwing the note in her hand, Sarah walked up to the king.

"Return to your seat, Lady Sarah James. I didn’t summon you to come forward," King Kyden ordered, but the chief lady-in-waiting cunningly continued her approach, defying the king’s command.

Though the king was still reeling from Anna’s ability to fit the ring perfectly, he knew he needed to regain control of the situation in the royal court. So, he swiftly responded as Sarah made her move to him.

Lord James hesitated, taken aback by his daughter’s audacity.

"What are you doing? Get back here!" he called after his daughter.

But, resolute in her determination, Sarah ignored her father and confronted the king.

"Your Majesty! I respect you as a benevolent and just king. But how can you deceive all of us?" she questioned boldly.

"What do you mean? How dare you say that to me!" King Kyden shouted back.

All attention swiftly moved from Anna to the lady-in-waiting.

"Tell us the truth, Your Majesty! Was it you who orchestrated Lady Raychard’s escape?"

The accusation bewildered those present.

"Oh, God!" the admiral exclaimed, his expression paling.

How did his sister know about this?

She must have had an informant feeding her exclusive information. He cursed under his breath, clenching his fist—no wonder she had spoken to him that way.

King Kyden opened his mouth to respond, but Sarah pressed on.

"Under the rules of the royal court, if the judge lies and takes sides, he is no longer eligible to lead the trial! So let’s be clear! Admit that you intentionally tried to save the lady by allowing her to escape!"

"Lady James! Watch your mouth!" Aaron shouted as he stood up. "How dare you accuse His Majesty of such a thing!"

"I have proof! Her Highness Princess Lilith bragged about how she saved Lady Raychard with her sister and nanny under the orders from her parents to one of her teachers!" Sarah declared.

The royal court buzzed with murmurs at the revelation.

"Her Highness is just a child!" Aaron retorted.

"A child hardly lies when they speak of specific details! Especially not a princess as she is trained to be righteous!" Sarah sneered.

The chief lady-in-waiting’s confidence dawned on the king. He realised he had underestimated her cunningness, despite the queen’s warnings to be wary of her.

Lilith’s unexpected information spill about the mission reached Sarah in good time. The chief lady-in-waiting must have ears and eyes around the palace to quickly receive such intelligence.

However, the princess couldn’t be held responsible. What does a young, innocent girl understand about the repercussions of her actions? She was probably so proud of herself that she unintentionally mentioned it.

The atmosphere in the royal court grew tense, filled with anxious voices. The royal guards moved forward, ready to detain Sarah for her bold accusations, but she stood her ground. What she had discovered was powerful enough to influence the trial significantly.

King Kyden raised his hand, halting the guards and signalling them to return to their positions. Sarah stood tall, her determined gaze challenging the king directly.

The king, however, didn’t waver with the provocation.

"I did!" he admitted.

A gasp of shock filled the hall at his confession. The corners of Sarah’s lips curled up, but she quickly composed herself.

"No wonder you and His Highness the Grand Duke were so adamant not to punish her for the escape! Turns out you both don’t care about what she did!" Sarah declared.

"Don’t drag the Grand Duke into this. It was all my doing," the king insisted.

"I know he wasn’t involved, but allowing this to pass without proper action is abhorrent. Your children and even the royal governess colluded, and I must say, Her Majesty the Queen supported this too!"

Sarah’s remarks stirred discontent among the nobles and members of the royal court.

The Knights of Gerhard, along with their healer and assistant, felt repulsive. The chief lady-in-waiting always had a way of getting under their skin, and now she used this opportunity to her advantage.

"Is this true, Your Majesty?" asked the Duke of Greene, disbelief etched on his face.

The others anxiously awaited the king’s response.

"It is. My queen acted on my orders. The involvement of my children and their governess was unavoidable. I had to do it because of Lady Raychard’s special blood. We need it to protect ourselves should the Laradie plague emerge. Like I said earlier, there’s a possibility it could spread again, and I cannot risk being without a cure. My decision was made in the interest of the people of Cassian," the king explained.

Sarah smiled smugly, knowing the king would have his excuse. He was not one to make such drastic moves without intent.

"Even so, you shouldn’t have acted this way! Fortunately, my brother brought her back. Otherwise, she would have escaped, and we would have lost her forever. Your plan could have failed! You should have just told us if your goal was to keep her for the cure. We could have detained her and taken her blood as needed," Sarah firmly argued.

King Kyden gritted his teeth.

"Anna is not an animal! Though I wanted her to stay safe for that reason, she shouldn’t be treated as such!" he shouted, unable to contain his emotions. "She’s my family!"

The chief lady-in-waiting smirked, turning to the crowd. "Now, doesn’t this prove that we have been lied to? The king has admitted to being biased! How can we proceed with justice when His Majesty and His Highness the Grand Duke clearly support Lady Raychard and ignore what’s right?"

The members of the royal court and the nobles began conversing among themselves in hushed tones.

"Drop it, Lady James! You are being audacious toward my brother!" Kyren yelled.

Sarah turned to the Grand Duke and the king, her arrogance unabated.

"His Majesty was the one who first raised this accusation! Perhaps he wavered and tried to redeem himself with such a move. Clearly, he is the one who does not play fair! I am doing what is necessary to uphold the law and dignity. Therefore, His Majesty has lost his right to judge this trial based on his actions," she asserted.

Murmurs grew louder among the crowd.

The Knights of Gerhard, together with the Grand Duke and the pillar family heads, stood firm in opposition, disputing the statement, while Lord James and his supporters rallied behind Sarah’s claims.

Chaos quickly erupted in the royal court as tensions escalated.

King Kyden’s resolve was once again tested. He understood that all of this stemmed from his own mistakes, and the situation had become dire, leaving him devastated. No matter how he argued, he could no longer lead, as his confession compromised his authority.

Amid the chaos, Anna’s gaze met King Kyden’s.

"I’m sorry..." the king whispered regretfully.

"It’s all right. I forgive you. I understand you didn’t mean for this to happen," she responded.

The princess appreciated the king’s efforts to rectify his mistake. She understood that not everything was within his control; being a king doesn’t mean having authority over everything.

"I’ll manage," she said with a slight smile.

King Kyden noticed that the fear in Anna’s eyes had vanished.

He was confused by her words, but then, the princess suddenly shouted to the crowd, "Enough! All of you, stop this!"

The members of the royal court and the noblemen fell silent, eyes wide with surprise.

Where did such strength come from the concubine to shout like that?

She had always seemed docile and gentle.

"I’ll prove myself to all of you!" she declared adamantly.

They looked at her, sensing something different about her demeanour. There was a new aura emanating from her.

"Anna..."

Kyren stepped forward, trying to intervene, but the princess gently placed her hand on his chest.

"This is my fight, Kyren. Let me do this," she said firmly.

The Grand Duke hesitated, but Kiev’s following words shifted his perspective.

"She’s right. This is her fight. You must let her show them," the Mederian Prince said confidently.

He looked at Sarah with scornful eyes.

"That woman has played with fire long enough... threatening me, challenging His Majesty, and belittling the Great Khasif. She will learn her lesson."

"She threatened you, too?" Anna asked, turning her head towards Kiev.

"She did! She came down to the dungeon before Sir Navin and Mr Amares met me!" the Mederian Prince replied.

"Lies! You keep accusing me, yet you have no proof!" Sarah shot back.

"I didn’t! I recognise your voice, even if I didn’t see your face!" Kiev retorted.

"Ah, so you met with the Knight of Gerhard and the healer. They must have planned all these stories with you! No wonder it sounded reliable!" Lord James interjected, making use of the statement.

"We didn’t!" Rafe shouted. "We only went to see him to get his confession!"

"I won’t buy that, healer! You knew about His Highness’s binding spell, so you met him to align your stories! None of you can be trusted! His Highness the Grand Duke’s statement is also unreliable, as his emotions cloud his judgment of his wife! Even His Majesty has deceived us and lost his credibility to judge! This trial shall no longer be under his authority! The royal court members shall decide by vote!" the minister declared.

"I agree!" said one of the royal court members.

"Me too!" chimed another.

One by one, hands were raised in agreement, reaching two-thirds of the members, making it hard to ignore their voices.

"It doesn’t matter to me who be the judge, because I know the truth!" Anna proclaimed.

She turned to the Knights of Gerhard, her expression shifting to remorse.

"I remember the possession incident now, Sir Navin," she said to Eric. "I’m so sorry for trying to hurt you all."

The second-in-command knight’s grey eyes widened in disbelief.

"You remember?" he asked, astonished.

The princess nodded.

"I remember it all except for when I passed out. I didn’t mean to harm you, the knights, Prince Kiev, or even Callis," Anna said.

Then, she turned to Kiev with gratitude in her eyes.

"Thank you for protecting me and my child. You have saved me numerous times, Prince Kiev. Now, it’s time for me to stand for you and clear your name."

Sarah smirked smugly, feeling she had the upper hand. She looked at Anna with disdain.

"What are you going to prove, Lady Raychard? That you’re a Ro’an Princess? A Khasif?" she mocked. "You call that worn-out ring the emperor’s ring? What nonsense! Even His Majesty couldn’t verify it!"

As Sarah grew bolder, Anna remained calm, stepping closer to her.

"Anna..."

Kyren called up his wife again, reluctant to have her proceed. His worries were etched across his features.

The princess looked back at her husband.

"I just don’t want you to get hurt. You’re pregnant," he said.

He sensed that something had changed about his wife, feeling the immense magical force emanating from her as his senses sharpened. Yet, he remained resolute in his obligation to protect her.

The princess smiled reassuringly.

"Don’t worry. I’ll be careful, my love."

Understanding her resolve, Kyren held back from stopping her, allowing Anna to approach Sarah. The princess halted right before her.

Gazing at Anna with disgust, the chief lady-in-waiting sneered, "The concubine wears the ring said to be the emperor’s, yet I see no changes. I believe this is just another cover-up to save her! A Ro’an descendant can never be this weak!"

"You’re right. A Ro’an descendant can never be weak," Anna replied, her eyes unwavering as she met Sarah’s glare.

The chief lady-in-waiting narrowed her eyes.

"Then, you better be—"

’Pangg!’

The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr(e)𝒆novelkiss