Page 58 of Maid For The Dark Elf

Istudy Alaric's face as Father explains the magnitude of what he's just inherited. The young man's violet eyes—so strikingly similar to his uncle's—reflect genuine shock, but nothing suggests deception. His hands shake slightly as he processes the revelation, and when he looks at Aurelia, I see only gratitude and determination, not the calculating ambition I'd expect from someone orchestrating their own rise to power.

"The immediate priority is establishing your legitimacy before rival houses can challenge your claim now that your uncle has been… on his mission for some time," Father continues, his commanding presence filling the great hall despite the late hour. "We have documentation proving your bloodline, but⁠—"

"Brother." Nerina's gentle touch on my arm interrupts the strategy session. "I need to talk to you."

I glance down at her, ready to dismiss whatever social concern has captured her attention, but something in her expression stops me. Her luminous violet eyes hold an urgency that has nothing to do with wedding etiquette or disappointed suitors.

I nod and follow her to a corner near the now-darkened champagne fountain, far enough from the family group that our conversation won't carry.

"You know how I hate these parties," she begins, her voice a low whisper.

That draws a genuine laugh from me. "Because of the endless line of suitors who can't string together an intelligent sentence while staring at you?"

A brief smile crosses her perfect features before her expression grows serious again. "This time it might have been a good thing to be surrounded by those incompetent, pompous vultures."

"And why is that, dear sister?" I can't hide my amusement at her disdain for Vhoig's eligible bachelors. "Did one of them finally manage a coherent compliment?"

"Two of them spent the entire evening trying to outdo each other for my attention," she explains, her tone growing more urgent. "You know how they get when they think they're competing—they say far more than they should to prove their importance."

I lean closer, recognizing the shift in her demeanor. Nerina might despise the attention her beauty attracts, but she's learned to use it strategically when necessary.

"One was that Ardyn cousin—Darion, I think his name was. The other was young Lord Malvern, the one who sent me that ridiculous marriage proposal before this investigation began."

Something clicks in my mind like a lock tumbler falling into place. "You got information, didn't you?"

She nods, her platinum hair catching the remaining candlelight as she glances back toward our family to ensure we're not being overheard.

My pulse quickens. After weeks of dead ends and carefully constructed misdirection, we might finally have direct testimony from the conspirators themselves.

"What exactly did they say?"

"The Ardyn boy, Darion, started by boasting about how his branch of the family has been 'preparing for greater responsibilities' for decades," Nerina explains, her voice dropping even lower. "He claimed his grandfather was saying their line is the true heir long before Aethan ever took power."

My jaw tightens. "What else?"

"Strategic marriages, financial alliances, even placing supporters in key positions within other houses. According to him, they've been building a network for over a century." She pauses, glancing back toward our family again. "But then Malvern tried to impress me by revealing something even more damaging."

"Which was?"

"That House Malvern has been secretly funding Darion's branch for the past thirty years, expecting favorable trade agreements once they controlled House Ardyn's seat." Her violet eyes meet mine, and I see the gravity of what she's discovered. "But here's the truly interesting part—Malvern let slip that they weren't the only people providing support."

The pieces begin falling into place with sickening clarity. "Multiple houses have been backing different Ardyn claimants."

"Exactly. And when Darion realized what Malvern had revealed, he got defensive and started bragging about how his family's claim was stronger because they had 'older agreements' and 'better connections to the Crown's inner circle.'" She shakes her head in disgust. "They were practically bidding against each other for my favor while admitting to decades of conspiracy."

I run a hand through my hair, my mind racing through the implications. "This changes everything."

"It gets worse," Nerina continues. "Darion mentioned something about 'clearing obstacles' that had prevented his branch from claiming their rightful place. The way he said it..." She shudders slightly. "It wasn't about political maneuvering, Caelric. It sounded like elimination."

The most likely scenario suddenly becomes the most obvious one. "Someone from within House Ardyn orchestrated Aethan's disappearance to seize control."

"And they've been planning it for generations," she confirms.

I feel the familiar weight of responsibility settling on my shoulders, but this time it's accompanied by something else—relief that we finally have a genuine lead after weeks of chasing shadows.

"The family is destroying itself from the inside," I murmur, already reassessing every suspect through this new lens. Every strange conversation Rosalie overheard, every financial irregularity we discovered, every political alliance that seemed oddly timed—all of it fits the pattern of competing branches positioning themselves for an internal coup.

My gaze drifts across the room toward where Rosalie stands quietly near the wall, and my chest tightens with that familiar ache. She's been invaluable to this investigation, yet I can barely look at her without remembering Father's ultimatum.