Love's Unexpected Awakening Elowen's Choice novel Chapter 66

Chapter 66 Stolen Glory

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Years ago, Elowen had traveled with her mother to visit her maternal grandfather for his birthday.

In high spirits and particularly fond of his granddaughter, he had gifted her a sizeable tract of land, complete with a mountain.

Her favorite place of all was the lake hidden in the valley-its waters a clear, vivid blue, bright and dazzling as a precious gem, inlaid amidst the rolling hills.

She named it Azure Lake and took Azure as her pen name ever after.

Alaric snorted dismissively, “What’s there to be jealous of? If she isn’t Azure, does that suddenly make you the author?”

Elowen’s voice was cool. “I’m not jealous. No one has ever seen Azure. It’s easy to fake that identity.”

At her words, Daphne flinched. Her eyes instantly grew wet and red-rimmed. “Fake?”

Alaric glanced at her. “If it’s fake, how would Lady Daphne know about the identifying signals? The scarf and the limp?”

Daphne’s heart skipped a beat. So that was the signal?

It seemed fate itself was aiding her deception!

Elowen was equally taken aback.

The signals she’d hastily concocted, and here was Daphne, performing them perfectly by sheer, unlucky coincidence.

“Now, now,” Isla interjected smoothly, offering Elowen a conciliatory smile. “I understand, Duchess Elowen. You mean well, wanting to ensure we aren’t deceived. But how dare Lady Daphne deceive the Crown Prince and me?”

She would. Elowen thought coldly.

The Garrett family had a history of deceit.

Years ago, if Daphne’s older brother hadn’t forged a military order, Elowen’s sister-in-law wouldn’t have been frightened into a miscarriage-robbing Elowen’s brother of his only child.

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Chapter 66 Stolen Glory

The memory sent a chill through her veins.

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Daphne spoke up, voice trembling with feigned hurt. “The name ‘Azure’ was just something I thought of on a whim. I never revealed my identity before because I wished to avoid unwanted attention. If Your Grace dislikes it, then I will stop writing. I’ll never use the name ‘Azure’ again.”

Elowen frowned.

The performance was masterfully pitiful, painting Elowen as the unreasonable bully.

Mora shot Elowen several disapproving looks, though she dared not speak out against a Duchess.

Elowen also heard Alaric’s soft, derisive tsk.

She knew that sound intimately from her past life-it was the sound he made when he was deeply displeased.

A phantom trace of that old anxiety tightened her chest, and her fingers curled instinctively.

But then she looked down, her gaze catching on the intricate pattern embroidery on her sleeve. A sudden, solid realization washed over her.

I am not the unloved, powerless Crown Princess anymore. I am the Duchess of Duskmoor. Cassian has my back.

Her fingers slowly unfurled. She lifted her eyes to Daphne, her tone measured and calm. “Lady Daphne, we grew up together. You used to visit Hale Manor frequently. But after my father, brother, and uncles fell in battle, your visits ceased entirely.”

The implication was clear-Daphne was a fair-weather friend who abandoned the Hales when they lost their power.

Daphne paled, stammering, “That was because-”

Elowen cut her off cleanly. “Yeah. We haven’t been close for years, so I have no way of knowing if you truly are Azure, or if you’ve ever written a single tale. Now that I am married to Duke Cassian, Princess Maerwyn is my niece. She adores Azure. As her aunt, I feel a responsibility to ensure the person claiming that name is genuine, to prevent any disappointment or misunderstanding. Yet you speak as though I am envious of you?”

She allowed a slight, ironic smile to touch her lips. “Your father once served under mine. If I were truly jealous of your ‘talent,’ your reputation as Vanelle’s ‘little literary prodigy’ would never have flourished. Why would I choose today, in front of Her Majesty and His Highness, to

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12:46 Thu, Feb 12

Chapter 66 Stolen Glory

make such an issue of it otherwise?”

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Daphne was left speechless, tears now streaming freely down her cheeks.

“Enough,” Isla sighed, her tone weary. “Of course the Duchess is not jealous.”

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She turned a gentler expression on Daphne. “We know you are a modest girl, dear. No one is blaming you. Dry your tears.”

After a few more soothing words from the Queen, Daphne finally used her scarf to dab at her eyes, nodding with red-rimmed acquiescence.

No sooner had this scene settled than a sharp, angry voice cut through the hall below.

“Did you do that on purpose?!”

Elowen looked toward the commotion. A girl around ten had shot to her feet, gripping Sylvia’s wrist tightly, her face flushed with fury.

Sylvia cast a helpless glance toward the dais.

“Stop looking around!” the girl snapped, her voice rising. “I worked for ages on my poem! Then you come along and knock over my inkwell! It’s ruined! What am I supposed to present to Her Majesty and His Highness now?”

Sylvia shook her head frantically. “I’m sorry. It was an accident…”

“An accident? ‘Sorry’ fixes nothing!” the girl retorted.

“Then… you can have my poem instead?”

“Your poem? It’s terrible! I don’t want it!”

A murmur of gossip began to ripple through the surrounding guests.

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