Fated Hearts: Reborn to be His Duchess

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Misplaced Backbone

Barek glanced at the table, where only a few dishes and several jugs of wine had been served.

His face darkened.

He turned toward the door and shouted,

"What’s taking so long with the food? Is everyone in this tavern asleep?"

A servant hurried over and bowed apologetically.

"My apologies, Young Master. We’re rather short-handed today."

"Short-handed?"

Barek frowned.

"We’re the only guests in the entire tavern!"

The servant forced an awkward smile.

"There is... another party dining on the ground floor."

"The ground floor?"

Barek immediately thought of Elysia.

"How can they compare with His Highness the Crown Prince?"

The servant hesitated before answering carefully,

"But... it’s the Duke..."

"We know who it is."

Barek cut him off impatiently, assuming he was referring to the Duchess.

"Send everyone upstairs immediately."

"Everyone?"

The servant blinked.

"Of course everyone!"

Barek snorted.

"In the entire kingdom, who holds a higher status than the Crown Prince? Every servant in this tavern should be attending to His Highness. As for whoever’s downstairs..."

He let out a contemptuous laugh.

"They really think they’re somebody."

The servant stared at him in bewilderment.

Everyone in Aveanlor knew that although the Crown Prince was the heir apparent, Duke Cassiel Drakemont held unmatched prestige in the Emperor’s heart.

Had something changed within the imperial court that he didn’t know about?

Vaelen, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up.

"If they have any complaints, they can come upstairs and tell me themselves."

Hearing that, the servant became even more confused.

Either His Majesty had granted the Crown Prince unprecedented authority...

Or His Highness had finally decided to challenge the Duke’s authority.

Whichever it was, it had nothing to do with a lowly servant like him.

He lowered his head respectfully.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I’ll relay your message."

After the servant left, Barek sneered.

"She married a Duke and now thinks she’s above everyone else. It’s not as though she became the Crown Princess."

Vaelen’s lips curved almost imperceptibly.

If Elysia came upstairs and saw him dining with Deborah...

She would surely regret marrying his uncle.

The thought filled him with an inexplicable sense of anticipation.

Downstairs, the servant faithfully repeated everything to the manager, who was personally attending to Cassiel and Elysia.

Seeing the servant’s troubled expression, the manager quickly led him outside.

"What happened?"

The servant lowered his voice and repeated every word.

"They said no one holds a higher status than the Crown Prince and ordered us to stop serving the guests downstairs. They said everyone should attend only to His Highness."

The manager was dumbfounded.

"Didn’t you tell them the Duke is downstairs?"

"I did!"

The servant looked aggrieved.

"I wouldn’t dare hide something like that."

The manager frowned deeply.

He was completely at a loss.

Just then, Cassiel’s calm voice drifted out from the private room.

"There’s no need to whisper outside."

"Come in."

His hearing had always been exceptionally sharp.

The manager exchanged a helpless glance with the servant before leading him back inside.

Cassiel rested one arm casually on the wheelchair.

His expression remained relaxed.

"Repeat exactly what was said upstairs. I’d like to hear it myself."

The servant instinctively looked toward the manager.

Receiving a reluctant nod, he took a deep breath and recounted the entire conversation without omitting a single word.

He paid particular attention to Vaelen’s final remark.

"’If they have any complaints, they can come upstairs and tell me themselves.’"

As soon as he finished speaking, both he and the manager unconsciously held their breath.

When powerful figures clashed...

It was always the common people who suffered.

Cassiel lightly stroked his chin.

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

"Well... It seems he’s finally grown a backbone."

His voice was low and pleasant, almost amused.

Yet to the manager and servant, those gentle words sounded far more frightening than open anger.

Elysia also found the situation rather surprising.

In both her previous life and this one, Vaelen had always feared Cassiel.

Whenever they met, he was as timid as a mouse before a cat.

How had he suddenly found the courage to challenge him today?

Then the answer came to her.

Deborah.

Before the woman he loved, any man would want to preserve his dignity.

With Deborah watching, Vaelen naturally couldn’t afford to appear weak before his uncle.

The manager wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Your Grace... What are your instructions?"

Cassiel replied calmly,

"When the Crown Prince gives an order, who would dare disobey? Go. Attend to him."

The manager blinked in confusion.

"Then... what about you, Your Grace?"

Cassiel looked up leisurely.

"I shall go attend to him as well."

The manager stood frozen.

For a moment, he wasn’t sure whether he had heard correctly.

Elysia tilted her head, a smile tugging at her lips.

"My lord, if we’re going to ’attend’ His Highness... May I come along as well?"

Truthfully...

She was looking forward to the spectacle.

Watching Vaelen and the Corvis siblings embarrass themselves promised to be far more entertaining than lunch.

Cassiel nodded.

"Of course."

The group soon made their way upstairs.

Since the staircase was too narrow for the wheelchair, two guards carefully lifted Cassiel and carried him to the second floor.

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