Awakening Love Reborn to Be His Duchess (Elowen Hale) novel Chapter 565

Chapter 565 Cracks Beneath Honor

Colton let out a dry, cutting laugh. “Studying day and night? Really?”

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His eyes settled on Ayden, sharp enough to make him flinch. “You’ve gotten a lot better at lying without blinking. I’ll give you that.”

Ayden went pale.

d

“Those two sons of yours,” Colton went on, voice low but biting, “do they put even half as much effort into their studies as they do wasting coin in pleasure houses? I’ve seen their desks. They look like they’ve never been used. Books still stiff from the binder, ink barely touched. And you thought I wouldn’t notice? That I sit here like some doddering old man who sees nothing, hears nothing?”

He leaned forward slightly. “I already know what happened at court this morning. If you hadn’t shown up, I would have had you summoned.”

The room went tight.

Jayce and Ayden both instinctively bent forward in a deep bow, panic written all over them.

“Stay up.”

Colton’s voice snapped through the air. “Now you’re scared? Where was that caution when you did it? This family has stood for generations on discipline and real merit. That’s what built our name. And you throw it all away for what? To prop up two spoiled fools who couldn’t earn their place if their lives depended on it?”

His tone hardened further. “You tampered with the royal examinations, the backbone of the realm, and dragged the Crown Prince into it. Tell me something. Are you trying to bring this house down, or do you just think your heads are impossible to lose?”

Neither of them could speak. Sweat clung to their backs despite the cool air.

Colton drew in a slow breath, forcing his temper down. Anger wasn’t going to solve anything

now.

He leaned back into his chair. “What did Her Majesty say?”

Ayden kept his head lowered. “She sent word that His Highness must deny everything. Blame it on the people beneath him. She also asked that you… steady things at court. Keep everything from spiraling.”

Colton gave a short, humorless laugh. “Convenient. Deny it? When the inquiry begins, every man involved will be questioned until he breaks. No one holds out forever. And she expects me

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Chapter 565 Cracks Beneath Honor

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to ‘steady things‘ while His Majesty is watching every move and Gareth is standing right beside

him?”

He shook his head slightly. “You don’t understand that man. He doesn’t act often, but when he does, he finishes what he starts. No one is going to risk taking favors from us right now,”

The last bit of hope drained from their faces.

Ayden’s voice came out thin. “Then… are we finished? The family… Albert and Liam… all of us… even Her Majesty… the Crown Prince…”

Colton didn’t entertain the panic. “Start talking.”

His voice turned cold and precise. “Everything. From the moment you had the idea, to how you approached His Highness, to how it was carried out. Who handled what. I want every detail.”

They hesitated.

His gaze sharpened. “If you leave anything out, you’re not just dooming yourselves. You’re dooming all of us. If I don’t know the full picture, I can’t fix it.”

Ayden looked like he’d just seen the gallows.

All the color had drained from his face, his lips trembling as he bent forward, struggling to get the words out in any kind of order. The story came in pieces at first, uneven and unsteady.

Jayce stood off to the side, glancing at his younger brother, then sneaking quick looks at their father. Every so often, he gave a shaky nod, a quiet, half–formed “yeah” slipping under his breath as if agreeing might somehow make this easier.

Bit by bit, Ayden laid it all out.

How he had gone to the Crown Prince. How Alaric had hesitated, then agreed. Which examiner had been brought in. How the papers were switched. Who had been paid off to copy the scripts and cover their tracks.

Nothing was left out.

Every detail, dragged into the open.

Colton sat back in his chair without moving, listening in silence.

Late afternoon light slanted through the tall windows, cutting across his tace and splitting it into light and shadow.

On one side, the light caught every line of age, his hair gone pale, the weight of years etched deep into his features. On the other, his eyes were dark, unreadable, his mouth set tight, hard as

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Chapter 565 Cracks Beneath Honor

iron.

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