Chapter 84
***
“What on earth is the meaning of this, Camilla!”
Queen Mayer shouted furiously, hurling the newspaper in her hand across the room.
The headline screamed in red: “Shocking Confession from Derek Grenville — The Person Who Ordered the Kidnapping Was Princess Camilla!”
Even though the paper lay crumpled on the floor, the red letters still burned in everyone’s eyes.
Scandal: The Mastermind Behind Elisa Leslie’s Kidnapping Is Princess Camilla?
Disgrace to the Royal Family! Princess Camilla Conspired with the Kidnappers!
Every newspaper in the capital was plastered with similar, sensational headlines.
The reports had first appeared in a Ronfei paper, detailing the entire incident.
Four years ago, when the lover everyone believed dead suddenly returned, Elisa Leslie broke off her engagement with Derek Grenville.
Unable to accept it, Derek had kidnapped her and tried to force a marriage registration—but in the nick of time, her lover appeared and rescued her.
When it was revealed that this lover was none other than Ethan Estevan, the hero who had saved the Allied Nations, and that the two even had a child together, the public was stunned.
If the story had ended there, it would have been dismissed as a sordid love triangle.
But things escalated when Derek Grenville confessed that he had done it all under Princess Camilla’s orders.
Rumors also spread that Camilla was behind the earlier scandal questioning Ethan Estevan’s noble status, and the outrage toward her grew uncontrollably.
People denounced her for tarnishing not only the royal family’s honor but also the reputation of the entire Kingdom of Petra. They demanded that she be stripped of her title, calling her unfit to be a princess.
“Did you really do this? Did you order Derrk Grenville to kidnap Elisa Leslie?”
“N-no! I didn’t!”
Camilla, sitting on the floor and sobbing, shook her head violently.
“It wasn’t my idea! He was the one—Derek Grenville suggested it first! I only… I only wrote a few letters and gave him money, that’s all!”
“Enough!”
At the Queen’s roar, Camilla flinched and bit her lip, though her eyes still brimmed with indignation.
“Ha…”
Queen Mayer pressed a hand to her forehead, sighing deeply.
She had known her daughter was immature—but not to this extent.
“Calm yourself, Mother.”
Prince Alex, who had been watching from the side of the drawing room, gently led the Queen to the sofa.
“Why did you follow that man’s lead?” he asked sharply, looking down at his sister with a mix of irritation and exhaustion.
“I doubt it was simple spite against Elisa Leslie. Was it because of Ethan Estevan?”
At that name, Camilla’s pupils trembled violently. The reaction was answer enough.
Alex frowned.
“So it really was because of him? Why? Don’t tell me you thought that if Elisa disappeared, you could have him for yourself?”
Camilla didn’t answer—but her silence was a confession.
Alex let out a hollow laugh and ran a hand through his hair.
“Camilla, you’ve lost your mind. To cause such a scandal over a man, right before your royal marriage? You’ve gone completely insane.”
“…He’s not just a man. He’s the one I love.”
Fire burned in Camilla’s eyes as she glared up at her brother.
“What’s wrong with fighting for the person I love? He loves me too!”
“Ethan Estevan loves you?” Alex scoffed. “That’s absurd.”
“You’re the one talking nonsense! And this royal marriage—it’s not for me, it’s for you!”
Camilla shot to her feet, her voice breaking with rage.
“You’re trying to marry me off to Prince Raus so the Raus Kingdom will support you in the future succession struggle! You don’t care about me at all!”
Alex’s expression hardened.
“You’re right. And so what? Becoming Princess Raus is far better than being some nobleman’s wife. If you play your cards right, you could even become queen. Isn’t that good for you too?”
“That’s what you think! I never wanted this!”
“Then what do you want? Oh, don’t tell me—you want to marry that lowborn Baron Estevan?”
“Don’t speak ill of Ethan! He’s better than you in every way!”
Slap!
The sharp sound echoed through the room.
Alex’s palm stung. He hadn’t meant to hit her that hard—but the sight of his sister defying him, defending a man who used to be a slave, had pushed him past his limit.
Camilla, shocked that anyone had dared strike her for the first time in her life, fell to the floor, frozen.
Alex stared at his hand, equally shaken.
Silence settled over the drawing room.
It was Queen Mayer who broke it. She called for a maid and ordered, “Take Princess Camilla to her chambers. She is not to leave, nor meet anyone, until I say so.”
The maids carefully lifted the dazed princess to her feet. Camilla didn’t resist—she allowed herself to be led away, still numb from the slap.
Once she was gone, silence returned.
Alex stared down at his hand again, then slowly clenched it into a fist.
He turned toward the Queen and bowed his head.
“I’m sorry, Mother. No matter how angry I was, I shouldn’t have raised my hand.”
“It’s all right,” the Queen murmured, patting his shoulder. “You had every reason to.”
She sighed, her tone growing heavy.
“But this is a serious problem. If the Raus Kingdom learns of Camilla’s actions, they’ll call off the royal marriage.”
“Then we’ll have to prove she’s innocent,” Alex said firmly.
In truth, he intended to pin all the blame on Derek Grenville and clear Camilla’s name completely. After all, it had all begun because that cunning man had manipulated his naïve sister.
“I’ll go speak to Derek Grenville myself.”
“You? Wouldn’t it be better to send lawyers?”
“Of course I’ll send them too. But I want to see the man with my own eyes. He’s been pulling Camilla’s strings all this time without anyone noticing—that alone makes him dangerous.”
He paused, then added, “After that, I plan to meet Elisa Leslie and Ethan Estevan as well.”
At the mention of Ethan, Queen Mayer grimaced.
“Like master, like dog. I can’t stand any of them…”
Alex gave a faint smirk. “Birds of a feather, Mother. But at least Elisa Leslie was born a noblewoman. She should be reasonable enough to talk to.”
If he wanted to shift all the guilt onto Derek Grenville, Elisa’s testimony as the victim would be crucial.
The fact that she was Ethan Estevan’s woman bothered him—but at least she wasn’t of common blood like Ethan or Howard. He was confident they could reach an understanding.
***
Though the kidnapping had occurred in Ronfei, the case had been transferred to the capital’s security bureau since it involved members of the royal family.
Investigators urged Elisa to be admitted to the Royal General Hospital in the capital.
But Elisa refused—she had developed a fear of confined spaces after the kidnapping and couldn’t bear to travel by train.
Noah was also in a fragile psychological state, so the authorities couldn’t force them to move.
Instead, they visited her local hospital constantly. Reporters, and even lawyers representing Princess Camilla, flooded the corridors day after day.
Despite all the attention, Elisa only met them once. Most of the time, communication went through the lawyer Prince Howard had hired for her. Occasionally, Ethan acted as her and Noah’s representative.
But Camilla’s defense team wasn’t satisfied. They demanded a direct statement from the victim.
“Is this what you call justice?”
The man who exploded in anger wasn’t Ethan, nor the lawyer—but Count Leslie himself.
Having rushed to Ronfei the moment he heard of Elisa’s abduction, he now guarded her hospital room like a fortress.
“If anything happens to my daughter because of your endless questioning, will you take responsibility?”
No one dared answer.
Then a nurse entered quietly.
“My lady, a boy named Andrew Grenville has come to see you.”
Elisa’s eyes widened in surprise.
She had expected someone from the Grenville family to appear eventually—but not Andrew Grenville.
Was this some pathetic attempt to earn sympathy by sending a child? Knowing the Grenvilles, she doubted that.
Then what’s their game?
Though she wasn’t happy about meeting him, she knew it was a conversation she couldn’t avoid forever.
And so, after a brief pause, Elisa nodded.
“Let him in.”
