POV: Eleanor
"And now, about your divorce petition..."
They had all risen during the Flamebearer revelation.
Eleanor moved from the window back to her desk with deliberate control.
The study had grown stuffy after three hours covering systematic bloodline suppression, ward sabotage, assassination trails, and cosmic stakes. Eleanor's tea had gone cold long ago.
She settled into her chair. Gestured toward the seats before her desk.
"Sit. All of you."
The command was clear and direct.
Seraphina and Caelan sat, returning to the chairs they'd occupied throughout most of the presentation.
Eleanor pulled the divorce evidence forward, separating it from the conspiracy documentation that covered most of her desk.
"The evidence regarding your marriage is quite clear. Alaric Vessant entered a formal engagement with Lady Evelyne Malenthra three years before your marriage contract was signed. This engagement included detailed financial arrangements and mutual obligations that were never dissolved."
She tapped the parchment.
"Additionally, there exists a formal compensation agreement. Lady Malenthra received significant monthly payments, property rights, household staff, and clothing allowances in exchange for stepping aside. The document grants her the right to maintain private counsel with Lord Vessant."
Thalion leaned forward, reading over her shoulder. Duke Vorenthal shifted. Eleanor caught the movement.
"Your marriage was forced under false pretenses. You were led to believe Lord Vessant was available when he was already contractually bound to another woman. Furthermore, imperial law regarding concubinage is explicit. A husband may maintain mistresses provided his main wife gives formal consent. No such consent was requested or granted in your case."
Eleanor caught the flash of vindication in Seraphina's eyes.
"Additionally, there is systematic asset theft. Properties documented in your dowry were transferred to Lord Vessant's management through legal technicalities that exploited inheritance law. Assets valued at millions were presented to you as modest agricultural holdings while their true worth was hidden."
She paused.
"Finally, Duke D'Lorien's death occurred eight years ago when you were fourteen. The case was closed as a border skirmish casualty. Two years ago, new evidence emerged that prompted the investigation to be reopened. The trail points toward House Vessant. His death cleared the way for House Vessant to eventually arrange your marriage and gain control of D'Lorien assets."
Eleanor straightened.
"Based on documented evidence of forced marriage under false pretenses, systematic financial fraud, maintaining an unapproved mistress in violation of concubinage law, and assassination conspiracy traced to House Vessant, I grant provisional separation effective immediately."
"Lord Vessant must maintain physical distance from you. House Vessant is formally under investigation. Your marriage is legally suspended, pending full divorce proceedings which will conclude in seven days. Imperial guards will enforce the separation order. If Lord Vessant attempts to approach you, he will be arrested for violating Crown directive."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Eleanor's expression softened fractionally. "Alaric will learn of this decision within hours. Retaliation is a certainty."
"However, there is a complication regarding your financial situation. By freezing House Vessant's assets, we've also frozen your legal access to joint accounts. You currently have no immediate means of support."
"I can place you under imperial protection with appropriate subsidy. Imperial apartments, staff, living allowances until the divorce is finalized."
"No."
Eleanor's eyebrow rose. "No?"
"I appreciate the offer, Your Majesty. I prefer not to be under direct imperial oversight. I have other resources."
Eleanor studied her carefully. Imperial protection meant imperial surveillance. The young woman understood that accepting Crown support meant accepting Crown control over her movements, her decisions, her activities during the separation period. She was refusing the cage even when offered with genuine concern.
Thalion had been standing near the window throughout this exchange, silent and watchful. Now he turned toward Duke Vorenthal, who remained by the door with military bearing unchanged.
"Duke Vorenthal, will you support Duchess Vessant financially during this period?"
Caelan's answer came without hesitation. "I will if she asks. She does not need me to. She can support herself."
Eleanor's interest sharpened immediately. "Can she now?"
She looked back at Seraphina. "You've just been cut off from millions in assets. Explain."
Thalion shifted forward with suspicious interest.
Seraphina pulled out additional parchments that included financial records, business documentation, and legal contracts.
"Your Majesty, I've been preparing for this. I maintain an independent merchant identity. Phinia Ashara. Eastern Maritime Ventures."
Eleanor leaned forward. "How independent?"
"I established the identity three years ago, which predated my marriage. The mining expansion happened recently after I discovered evidence of the conspiracy."
She met Eleanor's gaze. "Current value: approximately two million gold pieces."
The revelation silenced the room.
Eleanor processed the implications rapidly. The Phinia identity predated the marriage by over a year, which meant it couldn't have been created as an escape strategy from a union that didn't exist yet. The massive wealth accumulation, however, was recent. Strategic preparation once the conspiracy became clear.
"The Skyglass mines," Thalion said. "Marcus Branthorne's sudden success. The mysterious merchant partner everyone speculated about." His gaze fixed on Seraphina. "You're Phinia Ashara."
"I am."
"You've been operating under a false identity for how long?"
"The charitable work predated my marriage by over a year. I created Phinia to support causes my family believed in without drawing political attention. Half-blood mage scholarships, sanctuary funding, work that high nobility would have blocked if they knew D'Lorien was involved. The mining expansion came recently, after discovering the fraud."
"So you created the merchant identity before your marriage," Eleanor observed. "Not as an escape plan from Lord Vessant."
"Correct. I expanded those operations into commercial ventures only after discovering evidence that my marriage was engineered through fraud and my life was in danger."
Thalion's expression hardened. "Three years of systematic deception. Building an entire merchant persona. Maintaining elaborate lies while presenting yourself as a dutiful duchess. You've proven you're skilled at long-term deception. Expert at maintaining false identities. Capable of playing multiple roles simultaneously for years. Exactly the pattern the archives warned about."
Eleanor raised one hand. "Or she's proven she's a survivor who planned her escape from a dangerous situation once that danger became clear."
"With respect, Mother, how do we know the difference? She presents evidence of conspiracy while concealing her own conspiracy. She asks us to trust her evidence while proving she's an expert at long-term lies."
"You want to know the difference?" Seraphina's voice remained controlled. "I wasn't stealing anyone's inheritance. I was building a mining operation. They engineered a forced marriage to steal my family's properties. They married me to a man already promised to another woman. They maintained an unapproved mistress in violation of concubinage law using compensation funded by my stolen wealth."
She stood, facing Thalion. "I secured financial independence so I could survive. They orchestrated theft through fraudulent marriage."
"You're asking us to trust evidence compiled by someone who's proven expert at maintaining false identities. How do we verify anything you've presented?"
"Thalion. Your concerns are noted. We'll proceed with independent verification. Refusing to investigate credible evidence because the source was clever enough to survive is not justice."
Thalion paused. "I acknowledge she had valid reasons for survival strategies. I'm not convinced she's trustworthy. I'll maintain professional distance and investigate independently."
"What prompted you to infiltrate the Vessant archives in the first place?"
"Wouldn't you be curious, Your Majesty, if you were forbidden from accessing your own household's archives?"
"You were denied access?"
"Explicitly. Multiple times. I requested access to understand estate management, view historical records, review my marriage contract. The steward claimed such documents were sensitive estate matters requiring Lord Vessant's authorization. Male family heads only."
She paused. "When a duchess can't access her own household's historical records, that suggests the family has something to hide."
"So you broke in because you were denied legitimate access?"
"I investigated because the denial itself was suspicious. Noble families don't restrict archive access from their own duchesses unless those archives contain evidence they don't want discovered."
"A valid observation."
"Any intelligent woman would wonder what her husband's family was hiding. I simply had the skills to find out."
"Your Majesty, if your husband's family forbade you from seeing documents about your own inheritance, wouldn't you wonder why?"
Eleanor allowed herself a slight smile. "I would indeed. Though most new brides would accept their husband's authority."
"Most new brides haven't been trained in ward-breaking and tactical intelligence by a duke who believed daughters should be as capable as sons. My father taught me that restrictions without justification usually hide abuse."
"Duke D'Lorien raised you well."
"He raised me to survive. To question. To verify rather than trust. If he hadn't, I'd be dead already. Like my mother. Like my grandmother. Like every Celestine woman who trusted the people who claimed to protect them."
Eleanor stood, moving to the window. "I accept the Phinia Ashara identity as a legitimate survival strategy. You may maintain financial independence through those resources. However, the secret is now known within this room. If anyone else discovers the connection, the risks multiply significantly."
"I understand the risks, Your Majesty."
"One final matter. The marriage contract specified you would retain the D'Lorien name and duchy title, as you are the last of your house. That provision allowed the marriage despite your noble standing."
She met Seraphina's gaze.
"You entered this marriage as Duchess D'Lorien. That was the contractual provision that made the alliance legally possible. With provisional separation granted, you are Duchess D'Lorien once more. The Vessant connection is severed in all except final legal paperwork, which will be processed within the week."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"The Vessant name was never truly yours. This separation restores what should never have been taken. When the investigation concludes and formal divorce is granted in seven days, the restoration will be permanent."
She glanced at Thalion.
"Crown Prince, your concerns are noted regarding Duchess D'Lorien's strategic capabilities. We'll proceed with the broader conspiracy investigation as previously assigned, with you maintaining appropriate oversight."
Thalion nodded stiffly.
"You're dismissed for now, Duchess D'Lorien. Return tomorrow morning for document signing. We'll coordinate logistics regarding the trial proceedings. For tonight, rest."
Seraphina bowed and moved toward the door. Duke Vorenthal followed after a brief farewell. The door closed.
Thalion spoke immediately.
"Mother, everything she's shown us fits the exact pattern the archives warned about. How is this not concerning?"
"Because sometimes the people we're taught to fear are simply the people we're taught to control."
Thalion started to respond. Eleanor continued.
"Sometimes the most dangerous deception is the one we tell ourselves. That questioning power makes someone a threat rather than making power accountable."
Thalion had no immediate response.
"She survived four generations of systematic elimination by being smarter than the people trying to kill her. Strategic intelligence, not manipulation. If we're wise, we'll ensure she has reason to use that intelligence for us rather than against us."
Thalion turned toward the window without responding. Tomorrow would bring coordination meetings, document signings, and political fallout management, but tonight the critical decisions had already been made.
Eleanor turned back to her desk. Seven days until the divorce finalized. Seven days before retaliation would probably come.