Love's Unexpected Awakening Elowen's Choice novel Chapter 383

Chapter 383 A Calculated Plea

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As the order was spoken, the courtyard erupted into frightened pleas and muffled sobs.

Amid the confusion and rising panic, a slender young maid with a pale face suddenly pushed through the crowd. She hurried forward and dropped into a deep bow at Alaric’s feet, lowering herself so abruptly that the impact echoed against the stone pavement.

“Your Highness, please show mercy. I am Iris, the former Crown Princess’s personal attendant.”

Alaric lowered his gaze. His eyes were cold and distant as they settled on her.

“I remember you,” he said calmly. “You and Daphne were always inseparable. With the devotion you showed your mistress, I doubt you stood by quietly while she carried out all

those schemes.”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“Since the two of you were so loyal to each other, I might as well grant your wish. There is no need for you to be sent to some ordinary household as a servant. I will have you placed in the Velvet Lantern instead. That sort of place should suit you better.”

Iris stared up in shock. Tears gathered quickly in her wide eyes and spilled down her pale cheeks.

“Your Highness must see the truth. Many of those things happened because I had no choice. I was forced by the former Crown Princess.”

Her voice trembled as she spoke.

Then she seemed to make up her mind about something. She pushed back the fabric around her forearms and exposed the skin beneath.

The marks were ugly and raw. Dark bruises and jagged cuts twisted across her arms, standing out harshly under the thin winter light.

Alaric’s gaze fell on the wounds. His pupils tightened slightly, though his expression remained controlled.

Iris’s shoulders trembled as she continued.

“My parents died when I was young, and I have no brothers who could speak for me. My life was destined for service in the palace. The former Crown Princess was my mistress. If she ordered something, how could I refuse? Whenever I hesitated, she would lash out in anger and

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Chapter 383 A Calculated Plea

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threaten punishment, sometimes even my life. Someone as lowly as me had no way to resist.”

She paused, swallowing against the tightness in her throat.

“When she insisted on setting a trap for the Duchess of Duskmoor, I tried to speak against it. Years ago I once received a small kindness from the Duchess, and I have never forgotten it. But when I said so, the former Crown Princess became furious. She accused me of betraying her and forgetting my loyalty, and she forced me to remain in a punishing bow in the courtyard for an entire night.”

Alaric caught the most important detail immediately. “You’ve met the Duchess of Duskmoor before?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Iris answered. “The former Crown Princess and the Duchess grew up knowing each other. I served in the Garrett household from childhood, so I often accompanied my mistress and saw the Duchess when she was still very young.”

A faint smile touched her tearful face.

“She was still a little girl then. Lively and bright, with cheeks as pale as fresh snow. She talked endlessly all day long, and most of what she said was about Your Highness. If she spoke ten sentences, eight of them would somehow circle back to you. I remember it very clearly.”

As he listened, a quiet sense of satisfaction stirred in Alaric’s chest.

Of course.

In those days, Elowen had followed him everywhere like a small shadow, always calling out for him, always trying to catch his attention.

She had been impossible to shake.

Now, as Alaric looked down at Iris kneeling before him with tear-filled eyes, she seemed far more agreeable than she had moments earlier.

His tone softened slightly.

“If what you say is true and you were only forced into it, then we will leave the matter there. You may remain in the Crown Prince’s Wing and continue serving close at hand.”

Iris immediately bowed again, pressing her forehead to the cold stone floor again and again in gratitude.

“Thank you for Your Highness’s mercy. Thank you for sparing me.”

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Chapter 383 A Calculated Plea

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The repeated bows left her forehead aching from the impact with the hard pavement, though the pain hardly compared with the injuries across her arms.

Daphne had always been arrogant and spoiled, but she was not cruel by nature. She had never inflicted wounds like these on the servants who attended her daily.

Those frightening cuts had not come from Daphne at all.

The previous night, in a quiet corner where no one would see her, Iris had taken a shard of broken porcelain and carved them into her own skin one by one.

She understood perfectly well that once Daphne lost her position, everyone who had once been close to the former Crown Princess would soon be removed from the Crown Prince’s Wing.

Within the palace walls, when a powerful figure fell, the followers scattered like birds from a broken tree.

If she wanted to survive, the only safe path was to cut ties with Daphne as quickly and as completely as possible.

So Iris had prepared this painful display in advance. She had expected a moment exactly like this.

Even so, that alone would not be enough.

In truth, Iris had only glimpsed Elowen from afar a handful of times. Any kindness she claimed to have received had never existed.

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