The Duke's Masked Wife 2: The Prince's Outcast Bride-Chapter 70: Plotting for a husband (1)

"He has done what?!" Amelia yelled, standing up from her chair. "Tell me that he is speaking lies, mother. How could the prince be married to Penelope of all ladies? Has he not heard what is said?"

Amelia waited for her mother or father to say it was only an awful joke. The man she was preparing to marry could not be with the woman she hated most.

"Tell me that it is a lie!" Amelia yelled.

Ronan slapped Amelia’s face to silence her. "Don’t raise your voice to me. I am just as upset about this news as you are. I placed so much money on you to be with the crown prince, only to gain nothing."

Ronan didn’t need all the noise in his ear, especially from his failure of a daughter. He had instructed Amelia well on what needed to be done to get the prince’s attention, but she allowed Penelope to get ahead of her.

Amelia touched her aching cheek where her father had slapped her. Wasn’t she suffering enough?

Jade Prescott, Amelia’s mother, stood up to soothe her daughter. "Ronan, you must be careful with her face. Amelia still needs to find a husband. We must blame the prince for running off with Penelope. Why did he run off?"

Ronan sat back down. "I do not know, and the court has few answers. That was our one chance."

"No, it was not," Jade said, going to her husband’s side.

Jade rubbed Ronan’s shoulders to calm him. "Would the king truly allow for his crown prince to run off?"

"He has. The court has written that the prince is married. She has lost her chance," Ronan said, glancing at his pathetic daughter. "I should have accepted the best offer for her from the start and not wasted my time."

Jade stepped to the right to block Amelia from Ronan’s gaze. "There is still a second prince who will take the throne if what the court says is true. The court has given you a chance to be ahead of other families. We must set our sights on Teo Castro. That is who Amelia will marry."

Amelia frowned. She had paid little attention to Tyrion’s brother. After all, Tyrion was the one all the eligible women were after, so she had her heart set on him.

"The town is not yet aware that the crown prince might change. Many of the men in court favour you, husband. They would gladly accept Amelia as their queen. As long as you remain close to the court, you shall be father of the queen," Jade said, lowering herself to be at his eye level. "Imagine it. The Prescotts are tied to royalty."

Ronan still liked the sound of it. Somewhere in his bloodline, there should be royals.

Ronan looked at Amelia, still standing in a pitiful stance. "You must speak to your daughter. The moment she fails to get the second prince’s attention, I will marry her off to a man of my picking."

"It would only be fair since we cannot wait long for her beauty to start fading," Jade agreed with her husband. "This is Amelia’s last chance, but this time, I shall be more involved. Under my watch, she will be less likely to fail us."

Ronan still didn’t have much faith in Amelia, but he was certain he could count on his wife. "I’ll give you a little bit more time. I’ll send some letters to see if I can make arrangements for her to meet with the second prince. It should have been me celebrating."

"You mustn’t be so disappointed, dear. See it this way. Duke Collins’ daughter has not become queen. Tyrion is no longer the crown prince," Jade said, thrilled they had not lost. "The duke and duchess will be quite silent on this matter."

"You’re right," Ronan smiled. "The court will turn its back on Tyrion. They’ve never cared for him anyway. All this time, there was so much talk about his daughter getting the attention of the crown prince, only for Tyrion to abandon the throne."

Ronan started to laugh as he stood up. "I must start to make some arrangements. Deal with her," he pointed at Amelia. He proceeded to leave to send word to men who could help him.

Jade smiled until her husband was out of sight.

"He slapped me," Amelia said, staring at her mother in shock.

Jade wasn’t surprised Amelia was slapped. She would have done the same to keep Amelia quiet. "I have always told you that you must know when to bite your tongue. Your father was in a terrible mood, and you decided to bother him with your emotions. You deserved it."

Jade had given Amelia a good guide to dealing with men, but Amelia still lacked in many ways. It was starting to be disappointing.

"Your father holds the responsibility of marrying you off. You should not anger him. You must start making better choices for your future and do what it takes to get the second prince’s attention," said Jade.

Jade continued to say, "I will not step in to help you next time."

"There will be no next time. I will be queen," Amelia said, determined to succeed. "It is good that the crown prince is no longer Tyrion. He was always so smitten with Penelope. He’s a fool. All my efforts to ruin her were for nothing."

"Were they?" Jade questioned, seeing a good opportunity. "Does it not feel like a good time to blame her for what has become of the crown prince? I cannot recall a day when a royal left the palace. He has sought-after her and now he loses everything."

Jade sat down on the chair that Ronan got up from. "I always wondered how her mother, with little to no reputation, managed to find herself beside a duke. A duke whom ladies like myself failed to marry."

It never made sense in the past, and it certainly didn’t make sense now.

"There must be some truth to the curse spoken of in the past. It was written off as a rumour started by the duchess’ sister, but I think it is something more. You might have lost Tyrion to her, but you can ruin her," Jade suggested.

Jade didn’t like the thought of any of her children losing. It reflected poorly on her.

Amelia smiled, plotting how she would use this to further her tales about a curse. "You are wonderful, mother. Before she can boast about being with Tyrion, I shall make it so she cannot show her face. I will gather the ladies to inform them."

It would only take one sit-down to spark more gossip. freeωebnovēl.c૦m