"Regret what?" Dn frowned, clearly puzzled. Tm doing just fine, actually."


    He might have given up a life of luxury after walking away from the Stonor family, and sure, his days were harder and his work tougher-but for the first time in a long while, he felt truly at peace.


    To Dn, that was enough. He believed that one day, Eliza would forgive him. So no-he didn''t regret a thing.


    "What are you two even doing here?" he asked, ncing between Matthew and Anthony. "If you''ve got something to say, say it quick. I''m on the clock, and I get paid by the hour."


    He was saving up to buy Eliza her favorite pastries. He had no time for pointless talk.


    "And what''s so wrong with this life?" Dn shot back, expression darkening. "At least I live it with a clear conscience-and with joy


    Matthew couldn''t understand.


    per young master in the


    Stonor family,


    "You had a better choice!" he barked. "You had a way out! You could''ve stayed a proper young and instead you chose this? To be some useless nobody?"


    Dn chuckled coldly. The Stonor family might have everything, but it has no Eliza. Wherever she is, that''s where I belong


    Matthew''s face twisted in rage. "So what, Sophie doesn''t count as your sister anymore?"


    "She never was. Dn said tly.


    His words didn''t just infuriate Matthew-Anthony''s face turned to ice. "Wow. I didn''t expect you to be the coldest of us all. You used to dote on Sophie just as much as anyone else. And now, what-she''s trash to you? Something you can toss aside when it''s no longer convenient?*


    "You''re damn right Dn said, voice calm and sharp. I''m cold and heartless now. And I''ve got nothing more to say to a bunch of fools who still haven''t figured out what''s truly right or wrong. Go home. If you''re sick, don''t just wander around like it''s nothing."


    He turned his back to them, raised his axe, and returned to chopping at the half- felled tree beside him.


    As Matthew opened his mouth again, Anthony held out a hand, signaling him to stop. He stepped forward.


    "Dn," he said, voice lower now, more calcted, "I don''t know what Sophie did to make you this angry. But whatever it was, she''s in trouble now. You may have cut ties emotionally, but you still protected her once. Are you really going to just stand by while she''s in danger?"


    Dn didn''t even flinch


    Anthony pressed on. "She''s caught the King''s eye. He''s nning to make her a royal consort. If she really enters the pce, do you think there''ll be any way for her and Eliza to reconcile after that?"


    That made Dn pause.


    It wasn''t Anthony''sst sentence that i


    froze him-it was what it implied.


    If Sophie became a royal consort... with her vindictive heart, would she really leave Eliza alone?


    Even if Prince Regent Nn stood by Eliza''s side now, how long would that protecti favoring Sophie... then what?


    protectionst? If the


    11:48 Fri, 18 Apr


    Dn''s stomach dropped. Even the slim chance of that scenario made his blood run cold.


    86%1


    He lowered the axe, turned to face Anthony, and asked, "Is what you said true? About the King wanting to make Sophie a


    "Of course it''s thie Matthew immediately cut in. He announced it himself at the royal banquet. He''s already kept her in the pce to learn proper etiquette-he''s just waiting for her training to be over before officially granting her a title.


    "Training in the pce?" Dn''s expression darkened.


    Anthony quickly kicked Matthew under the table, then smoothed over the


    exnation. "Yes. The King said it was love at first sight. He was clearly


    infatuated. So much so that he''s having the Empress Dowager personally oversee Sophie''s etiquette


    lessons.


    Dn''s heart sank further. So the King really does like her that much?


    If she truly became the sole favored consort in a pce with no other women... she''d be untouchable.


    This can''t happen, Dn thought, face grim. ''I can''t let her go through with it.''


    Keeping his concern tightly under wraps, he narrowed his eyes at the two. "So after all this buildup, what is it you


    u want from


    me


    Dn narrowed his eyes. "Why?"


    "Come on," he said, voice culcal


    "The King has taken an interest in Sophie. What does that have to do with my sister?"


    Anthony studied Dn''s face, voice low. "Maybe not much. But not nothing, either.


    He continued, slowly, "You probably don''t know this, but our father once mentioned that when the King was a boy, our mother took care of him for a time. That''s why he''s so protective of Eliza."


    Dn''s eyes flickered in surprise. That, he hadn''t known.


    "I suppose that would exin some things," he said. "Still, what does any of that


    have to do with Sophie bing a royal consort?"


    Anthony hesitated a beat... then delivered the line carefully.


    "Because Father suspects that the King''s original interest. wasn''t in Sophie at all. It was in Eliza."


    Matthew flinched hard, clearly caught off guard. And Dn''s expression shattered into disbelief.


    That''s impossible," he said. "Eliza''s a nun now. There''s no way the King would still... would even think of her that way"


    田