Love's Unexpected Awakening Elowen's Choice novel Chapter 498

Isla froze for a beat.

Then realization struck, and her eyes widened. "Have you lost all sense? She's been married. She's your aunt by marriage. How could you even think this way?"

Alaric's smile widened slightly, slow and deliberate. "You seem to have forgotten something, Mother. I've been married before too. Daphne, the one you personally chose for me."

The mockery in his tone was impossible to miss.

Isla felt her chest tighten. "That's not the same. She's a widow, and she's carrying another man's child."

Alaric gave a small shrug. "The child will carry the Valebourne name. That's what matters."

"You... you..." Isla struggled to steady her breathing, one hand pressed against her chest. "What has gotten into you?"

He stood there, completely composed, his gaze cool and cutting.

"I've simply come to see a few things more clearly of late. Take the Baker family, for instance. From the outside, they still look prosperous, but underneath, they're running thin. The younger generation especially. Cousins like Albert and Liam have neither discipline nor direction. They spend their time drinking, chasing pleasure, and wasting coin, and there's no real substance behind any of it. They've sat for the court qualification trials two years in a row and failed both times."

He let the thought settle before continuing, his gaze steady. "This year, the court qualification trials fall under my supervision. I imagine Your Majesty is wondering whether I might... make certain allowances. Give them a gentler path through, so they don't embarrass the family again."

With every word, Isla's face grew paler.

He didn't stop.

"This year, I oversee the court qualification trials. I imagine you were planning to ask me to make things easier for them."

Her silence confirmed it.

"I used to listen to you," he continued. "You said my studies suffered because of Elowen, so I distanced myself from her. You said her family had fallen and she wasn't suitable, so I married Daphne instead."

His tone remained steady, but there was a sharpness beneath it now.

"And what did that get me? Not progress. Just one mistake after another."

He held her gaze. "It made me realize something. You're not always right. In fact, more often than not, you're wrong."

"Alaric!"

Isla struck the armrest and rose abruptly. "I am your mother. You will not speak to me like that."

He didn't so much as flinch. "Why be angry? I'm stating facts. You've already lost your hold over the inner court. The Queen's Privy Seal is no longer in your possession. Your position isn't as secure as it used to be."

He stepped forward and placed the invitation neatly on a carved table nearby.

If not for her, things would never have ended this way with Elowen.

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