Awakening Love Reborn to Be His Duchess (Elowen Hale) novel Chapter 679

neporn to Be His Duchess

Chapter 679 Different Roads

The smile in Caetans eyes slowly spread, washing away much of the gloom that had shadowed his expression moments earlies

Looking at her, he said quietly, “I wasn’t really blaming you”

Iris gave a small nod.

Finist

After that, neither of them spoke again for a while. They simply walked side by side along the stone corridor cutting through the palace grounds while the evening wind stirred through the trees overhead, carrying the clean scent of grass and damp leaves.

Now and then, patrols from the King’s Guard passed somewhere in the distance, their armor clinking softly before the sound faded back into silence.

Only when Elira’s residence came into sight did Caelan finally stop.

Iris halted beside him and turned slightly to look his way.

*

No one else was nearby.

Caelan stood there in silence for a moment before speaking again.

“Some time ago, the Duchess of Duskmoor dealt with a man named Barrett. He was one of my grandfather’s protégés. My grandfather spent years grooming him for court and hoped he’d eventually make something of himself politically.”

Iris stayed quiet and listened.

Caelan continued evenly.

“I asked around afterward and learned what happened. Barrett’s son used his family’s influence to bully people and ended up offending one of the duchess’s attendants. Maybe the duchess wasn’t wrong Corbin deserved punishment, and Barrett failed miserably as a father”

He paused briefly.

“But even so, what happened still hit my grandfather hard.”

His gaze drifted toward the palace walls ahead.

“Nothing’s ever completely black and white. This wasn’t really about right or wrong. It was about where everyone stood.”

Iris’s brows tightened slightly, though she still said nothing.

Caclan’s voice remained calin.

“Neither my grandfather nor my mother has openly complamed about it. They both know Corbin started it, and they know the duchess’s punishment, while harsh, wasn’t unreasonable Bur whether things like this keep happening in the future, and whether they’ll always stay understanding about it. He shook his head

faintly. “Nobody knows.”

After a short pause, he continued.

“Prince Alaric is gone now, and Isla’s barely holding herself together. In Vanelle today, my gutter family and Duskmoor Manor stand on opposite sides. The same goes for me and the Duke of Duke

A humorless smile touched his lips.

“It’s not what I wanted, and it’s probably not what he wanted either, but that doesn’t change reality. Some things don’t disappear just because people wish they would.”

By now, Iris fully understood what he meant.

Back when Prince Alaric and Isla still held power, Elira and Eloweff shared the same enemy. Because of that, they naturally became allies and supported each other.

But now Alaric was dead.

Isla had fallen completely.

The Baker family had been pushed out of the center of power, and the balance inside the royal couun ba changed entirely.

Elira and Elowen were no longer true allies.

More accurately, now that their shared enemy was gone all that remained were their separate loyalties a positions.

Behind Elira stood Rodney, generations of respected nobility, and the old ministers who prided themselves on preserving royal tradition.

Behind Elowen stood Cassian, military prestige, and the rising faction that despised the former crown prince’s camp after the court qualification trials scandal.

The two sides were already beginning to push against one another. Eventually, conflict would cone

And beyond politics, there would always be smaller disagreements waiting to grow up larger des

Royal courts were never gentle places.

Perhaps one day, Elira and Elowen would stand directly across from each other with nowe of they still shared now.

The thought sent a faint chill through Iris.

Caelan watched her expression carefully and knew she understood

He took a slow breath, as though finally deciding to say son

time.

“Iris… can I ask you something one more time?

ng he had been

Chapter 679 Different Roads.

She looked at him quietly.

Finish

“When you say you want to stay beside the Duchess of Duskmoor… what is it you actually want to do there?”

Iris answered without hesitation.

“I want to serve as an advisor.”

Caelan blinked.

Then he looked genuinely caught off guard.

“But you could do that beside me too.”

Iris slowly shook her head.

“But the duchess is a woman. She understands things men don’t.” Her voice softened slightly. “Some hardships only women truly understand.”

1

Caelan looked at her steadily.

“Iris, if being a woman is the reason you want to stay beside the duchess, then yes, maybe she understands your struggles better, and maybe life would be easier for you there.”

His tone grew quieter.

“But have you ever thought about all the other women/in this world?

“The women sold into brothels. The women abandoned by their husbands. The women their own families cast aside. The women driven into dead ends because life gave them nowhere else to go.”

His eyes never left hers.

“What happens to them?

“They don’t have your luck. They don’t have your intelligence. And they certainly don’t have someone like the Duchess of Duskmoor willing to help them.”

Iris froze slightly.

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