Awakening Love Reborn to Be His Duchess (Elowen Hale) novel Chapter 608

Chapter 608 The One Seeking Revenge

“I heard Her Majesty summoned you to the palace at dawn,” she said gently. “I couldn’t stop worrying after that. Anything important enough to require your personal presence at court couldn’t possibly be minor, and with your health already so poor lately, I wanted to come check on you myself.”

A faint warmth finally surfaced in Colton’s exhausted eyes.

After raising so many sons, the person who cared most about him in the end had turned out to be this granddaughter.

“Grandfather,” Clarisse asked quietly after a moment, “what happened at court today?”

The weariness in Colton’s face deepened.

“Sit down.”

Clarisse obediently took the seat beside him, folding her hands neatly in her lap while Colton slowly recounted everything that had taken place earlier.

By the time he finished speaking, the fire crackling in the hearth had become the only sound in the room.

“The Duke and Duchess of Duskmoor forced open the investigation into the court qualification trials,” Colton said with a long, heavy sigh. “Alaric lost his position as Crown Prince, and now Albert and Liam have been dragged into the case as well. I’m afraid the Baker family won’t be seeing peaceful days anytime soon.”

Shock spread across Clarisse’s face as she listened.

“I never imagined matters had escalated this far.”

Colton leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes briefly, looking as though the weight of the entire family had settled onto his shoulders.

Clarisse slowly tightened her fingers together.

“It seems,” she said carefully, “that the Duchess of Duskmoor truly hates the Crown Prince.”

No.

Not Crown Prince anymore.

Second Prince.

But Colton barely noticed the distinction. Instead, he opened his eyes and looked toward Clarisse sharply.

“Hates him?” he repeated slowly.

Clarisse nodded.

“I interacted with the Duchess of Duskmoor a few times before, and afterward I intentionally asked around about her past.” She paused briefly before continuing. “Before her marriage, she was deeply devoted to Alaric. Everyone in Vanelle knew about it, so I’m certain you did too.”

Colton did know.

The entire capital had known.

“At first, Alaric treated her warmly,” Clarisse continued, “but over time he grew colder and more distant toward her. Eventually she married the Duke of Duskmoor, and that should’ve been the end of things. Instead, Alaric continued provoking her whenever he had the chance.”

Clarisse’s expression darkened slightly.

“During last royal hunt, he slaughtered the horse she’d raised since childhood.”

Colton’s brows slowly tightened.

“The Duchess of Duskmoor collapsed afterward and remained unconscious for several days,” Clarisse continued quietly. “His Grace was furious enough that many people lost their lives before the matter finally settled.”

She looked directly at Colton.

“Grandfather, I don’t think this ends here.”

Silence filled the chamber once more.

At that moment, Colton suddenly remembered the brief instant earlier that day inside the royal court when he had turned around and unexpectedly met Elowen’s eyes across the hall.

Elowen had inherited the finest traits of both her parents. The sharp strength in her father’s features had been softened by grace, while her mother’s gentle eyes carried an unwavering steadiness beneath their warmth.

When she looked at him, there had almost seemed to be a trace of a smile there.

But the coldness in her gaze had felt like winter ice.

Over decades navigating the royal court, Colton had seen countless men scheme, betray, and

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Chapter oua ine One Seeking Revenge

destroy one another in pursuit of power.

Eyes like hers, however, were rare.

He recognized that look immediately.

The look of someone who would chase revenge to the very end without ever turning back.

Colton slowly closed his eyes and released a long breath filled with exhaustion.

Clarisse was right.

This matter was nowhere near finished.

Alaric losing the title of Crown Prince was only the beginning.

And for the first time, Colton finally realized the mistake he had been making from the very

start.

The person truly opposing him had never been the Duke of Duskmoor.

It had always been Elowen.

From beginning to end, Colton had treated everything as another struggle for influence within the royal court, so he responded the same way he always had throughout his political career. He weighed alliances, balanced factions, cultivated support, and attempted to preserve Alaric’s position through ordinary political maneuvering.

But Elowen was never fighting for power.

She wanted revenge.

Nothing else.

An eye for an eye. Blood for blood.

People raised in military households valued loyalty above almost everything else. They grew up listening to stories of honor and sacrifice, learning from childhood that debts written in blood could never simply be forgotten.

And after the destruction of Hale Manor, Elowen had already lost nearly every connection she still had to her past.

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