Chapter 644 --644
The shadow guards gave a brief nod, silently grabbing the disguised artist by the arms and dragging him out through the hidden tunnels.
Left alone with Kael, Heena finally let her sociopathic mask slip just a fraction. She pulled out a heavily scarred, creaky wooden interrogation chair, sank into it, and aggressively rubbed her aching shoulders.
Kael watched her, his scarred face twisting with concern. "Um... is My Lady alright?"
Heena looked up at him, her dark eyes entirely flat. "What do you mean by ’alright’?"
Kael gulped heavily. "I mean... using a body double tonight. We quietly disposed of the former Young Master Kavien months ago when you kicked him out of the estate. What if someone in the civil court investigates and finds out that the real Kavien is already dead, and this person tonight was just a duplicate?"
Heena let out a dark, mocking scoff. "No one knows about his death. The civil court just assumes he crawled back into the slums to hide in shame. And secondly... didn’t those old foxes want to cause a massive scandal at my wedding? I simply gave them the exact scandal they were looking for, tailored flawlessly to humiliate them."
She leaned back in the creaky chair, a lethal, calculating fire igniting in her eyes.
"Anyway," Heena stated calmly. "Tomorrow morning, I am going to the Imperial Court."
Kael completely froze. His eyes widened in genuine panic. "Um... are you absolutely sure you want to do that, Madam?"
"Why not?" Heena asked, her voice carrying the terrifying certainty of a general marching into battle.
Kael nervously shifted his weight. "Um... shouldn’t we let the new Young Master know? The scholar just married into the house. If you go to the Imperial Court and drop this bomb..."
"Samuel does not need to know everything," Heena cut him off smoothly, adjusting the collar of her maid’s uniform. "It is going to be a surprise. He will be thrilled."
Kael desperately wanted to argue, but looking at Heena’s absolute, unshakeable confidence, he swallowed his words and simply lowered his head. ’Thrilled?’ Kael thought frantically in his own mind. ’Who the hell would be thrilled to wake up and find out their new wife legally adopted a thirty-year-old child?!’
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. The Morning After
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The next morning, the winter sun broke through the gray clouds, casting a bright, cold light over the Vanguard estate.
Inside the ruined bridal chamber, Samuel slowly opened his eyes.
His head felt strangely heavy, fuzzy with the remnants of the sleeping herbs Heena had laced his breathing with. He blinked a few times, his brilliant mind instantly kicking into high gear as he processed his surroundings.
He was lying on the velvet fainting couch. The massive hole was still in the roof.
He reached out his hand, expecting to feel the warm, soft skin of his fiercely brilliant wife.
The velvet cushion next to him was entirely cold and empty.
Samuel sat up sharply, the crimson silk blankets falling away from his chest. His golden eyes immediately locked onto the vanity table. The heavy gold phoenix crown was still there, but Heena’s white inner robes were gone.
"Wife?" Samuel called out, his deep voice slightly raspy from sleep.
There was no answer.
Just then, the broken mahogany doors of the bedroom were pushed aside. It wasn’t Heena. It was one of Samuel’s personal, elite shadow guards, looking absolutely terrified. The guard immediately dropped to one knee.
"Master," the shadow guard said, his voice trembling slightly.
"Where is my wife?" Samuel demanded, a dark, terrifying aura instantly flooding the room as he threw on his outer robe.
"The Madam left the estate before dawn, Master," the guard reported quickly, not daring to look up. "She... she went directly to the Imperial Court."
Samuel froze. The Imperial Court? On the morning after their wedding?!
"And..." the shadow guard hesitated, sweating profusely. "And the Imperial Edict just arrived from the palace, Master."
Samuel’s eyes narrowed dangerously. "What Edict?"
"The Madam officially activated the Five Imperial Pardons this morning," the guard stammered, pulling a yellow silk scroll from his sleeve. "She legally registered her new, official heir to the Vanguard household. The... the adoption went through."
Samuel completely stopped tying his robe. His genius, hyper-analytical brain rapidly processed the information. He knew she had negotiated the Five Pardons. He knew she needed an heir to secure them.
"Who did she adopt?" Samuel asked, his voice deadly quiet.
The shadow guard closed his eyes, bracing for impact. "She adopted the thirty-year-old scholar, Master. He is now legally registered as your eldest son."
Samuel stared at the guard. For ten full seconds, the capital’s most terrifying, brilliant mind completely and utterly blue-screened.
"She did what?" Samuel finally whispered.
Samuel felt like he had completely lost the ability to comprehend the human language.
Adoption? Yes, he had fully anticipated that Heena might adopt a child to secure the Vanguard lineage and activate her political traps. He had mentally prepared himself to help raise a one-month-old infant, or perhaps, at the absolute maximum, an eight-year-old war orphan.
But a thirty-year-old man?!
Samuel stared at his shadow guard, entirely convinced the man was hallucinating. Without even bothering to properly secure the belt of his outer robes, Samuel rushed out of the ruined bridal chamber. The guard scrambled after him, hastily reporting that the Madam had returned from the Imperial Court but was currently moving around the estate.
Samuel stormed through the winding corridors, heading straight for the main courtyard.
When he stepped into the main hall, the old Marquis and the Marchioness were already sitting in the highest seats of honor, casually sipping their morning tea as if the roof of the estate hadn’t caved in a few hours ago.
"Oh, good morning, Samuel," the grandmother greeted smoothly, setting her teacup down. "Come inside."
Samuel immediately suppressed his frantic, swirling confusion. He forcibly reeled in his dark aura, slipping flawlessly back into his elegant, polite scholar persona. He stepped forward, folding his hands together, and bowed deeply.
"I greet Grandpa and Grandma," Samuel said respectfully.
The old Marquis’s eye violently twitched. Hearing this terrifying, lethal political mastermind casually call him ’Grandpa’ sent a highly uncomfortable shiver down his veteran spine. This bastard really dares to say it, the grandfather thought. But as he looked at Samuel’s slightly disheveled hair and utterly bewildered expression, a rare wave of profound pity washed over the old general. Poor kid. He has absolutely no idea what kind of monster he married.
Samuel walked over and took a seat on one of the heavy mahogany chairs to the side. He scanned the room, his golden eyes searching for any sign of his wife.
"Is Wife not here?" Samuel asked, keeping his tone carefully neutral.
The grandfather paused, loudly clearing his throat and looking away. "Uh, she came back from the palace, but then she needed to rush off to handle another piece of work. So, she is not here right now."
Samuel nodded slowly, though his brilliant mind was already running a thousand calculations.
Before he could interrogate the old man further, the rapid sound of footsteps echoed from the stone corridor outside. A servant rushed into the hall, bowing deeply.
"Masters!" the servant announced loudly. "The youngest master has arrived to pay his morning respects!"