Chapter 10 - The Last Petition
Duke Marcus sounded reasonable.
That made him dangerous.
He praised Isabella’s courage.
Then suggested a “temporary guardianship council” for Prince Julian.
Led by him.
“Have you ever fed Julian?” Isabella asked.
Marcus blinked.
“What?”
“Stayed awake when he had a fever?”
“That is not the issue.”
“You called this guardianship.”
Marcus shifted.
“The prince belongs to the kingdom.”
Isabella’s face hardened.
“He is a child.”
Adrian stayed silent.
A year earlier, he would have interrupted.
Now he let Isabella speak.
“I will not let men who do not know what makes my son laugh use my surgical scar as a path to his nursery.”
The room changed.
Financial records later showed Marcus had received money from Helena’s former political network.
No proof Helena ordered him.
No need to invent one.
The problem was larger than one woman.
The regency clause itself invited abuse.
Adrian proposed abolishing it.
Isabella proposed something better.
Rewrite it.
Any future incapacity ruling would require independent physicians, legal review, and proof of genuine mental inability.
Weight, pregnancy, scars, or physical recovery could never be enough.
The council approved.
For the first time, Isabella’s suffering changed the rules.
That evening she stood on a balcony listening to musicians rehearse for the winter ball.
Adrian joined her.
“You don’t have to attend.”
“I know.”
“You never have to dance again.”
She looked at him.
That was what she needed.
Not:
Prove them wrong.
Not:
You look beautiful now.
You never have to.
Music rose from the courtyard.
Isabella listened.
Then said:
“I think I want to.”
Adrian smiled carefully.
“With me?”
She considered him.
“No.”
His face fell.
Then she laughed.
“Not at first.”
It was the first time she had teased him in more than a year.
May you like
He laughed too.
And neither of them mistook one laugh for forgiveness.
