The Duke's Bed Warmer

Chapter 199: A Long Conspiracy

A week later, the letters suddenly stopped. Lord Ashby continued his routine normally. He looked more relaxed now.

"It’s been five days since the last letter," Maren said during one of their meetings.

"Does he know?" Austin asked, skeptical.

"Not necessarily," Maren replied. "Networks can go silent for many reasons. Like a contact becomes nervous, a route becomes risky. It doesn’t mean Ashby knows we’re watching him."

"But it means someone got cautious," Alina said.

She looked at the pile of copied letters and payment records on the desk.

"What if he found another way to send messages?" she asked.

"You mean a second route?" Maren asked.

"Can we search his chambers?" Austin asked.

Maren shook her head.

"He’ll know," Maren said. "We have no other option other than to wait for him to make his move."

Next day, Maren called Alina to her office for a private meeting without Austin.

"Did you find something?" Alina asked.

"No," Maren shook her head. "I called you here to discuss a plan."

"Plan? Without Austin?"

Maren nodded.

"Austin will never agree. That’s why I called you alone."

"What is the plan?" Alina asked, curious.

"According to my analysis, Lord Ashby is comfortable because he thinks you’re not searching for Voss anymore."

"You want me to talk to him about Voss again?" Alina asked.

"Yes," Maren replied. "If you talk to him, he will open his channel again."

Alina hated the idea. The thought of sitting across from Ashby, knowing what he had done to her and Cecily, made her stomach twist. But if they wanted to catch him, they had no other option.

Next day Alina went to the library. Lord Ashby looked at her from his book and smiled.

"Alina. It’s been a while."

Alina smiled and sat in her usual chair, pretending to read a book. After several minutes, she spoke casually,

"Lord Ashby, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"You had a good relationship with Austin’s father, right?"

Ashby looked at her, surprise and amusement flickering on his face.

"We did," he replied. "But why are you asking?"

"It’s just Austin barely talks about him and I want to know more about him before our marriage," Alina replied. "So...what was he like?"

"He was an ambitious man who cared a lot about the Moore legacy."

"The legacy?" Alina repeated.

"Yes! Sometimes he had to make difficult decisions but according to him those decisions were necessary for the coming generations."

Alina pretended to think for a few minutes before speaking again.

"Did he ever talk about Cecily?" she asked.

Ashby’s eyes widened slightly.

"Why would he?" Ashby smiled. "She was only a child."

"I was just curious. Austin hardly talks about her as well."

"Perhaps he still feels guilty of not protecting her from the fire."

Alina nodded and he returned to his book.

From the library, she headed straight towards Maren’s office. But immediately stopped when she spotted Lord Ashby at the east wing corridor.

He stood at the entrance to the long passage that led to Cecily’s door. He stayed there for a few seconds, then turned and walked away.

Oh no!! What is he doing here? Is he suspicious??

Alina immediately turned and ran to Austin’s study.

"Lord Ashby...he went to the east wing corridor," she said. "He stood at the entrance and stared at the door."

Austin’s expression hardened immediately.

"Harrington!" he shouted.

Harrington immediately came running inside.

"What is it, Your Grace?"

"Double the guard on the east wing right now," he ordered.

"Austin, if we change the..."

"I don’t care if he notices," Austin said coldly. "I can’t take anymore risks."

The next morning, a letter arrived from Emeric through Maren’s private channel. Austin read it while Alina stood beside him.

Guess what I found during my research. I actually stumbled upon the old documents which had the details of the women being bought and sold in the kingdom. It also had the details of Ravenmoor.

I have been tracing the payments for the eleven women placed in Ravenmoor. And found out their placements weren’t random. Each one was connected to the next in someway or the other.

But what surprised me most was Alina’s placement had cost ten times more than any other woman.

"Ten times?" Alina said, surprised.

"It should be because of your Arcasedian connection," Austin replied.

"But why? What does the network gain from putting an Arcasedian heir in your bed?"

They had no answer.

"We need to find the network head," Alina said. "Ashby is only a puppet following his instructions. Until we find him, we won’t know the truth."

"But the channel is dead," Maren replied.

"Then let’s give Ashby a reason to use the channel again," Austin said.

"How?" Maren asked.

"By using Cecily, this time."

Three days later, a rumor spread across the castle that the duke had reopened the fire investigation. Someone whispered new evidence has been found while some whispered investigators from the capital were coming in to examine the financial records from five years ago.

Then next day, servants began whispering that the duke had found a payment linked to the fire and he had a suspect.

The rumour reached Ashby and he reacted as expected. Late night, he went to the old archive room and stayed there for almost an hour. When he came out, he was carrying a small thing in his coat pocket.

The next morning, a new rider appeared at the south gate. Maren’s people followed him and found that the rider was heading towards Arcasedia.

"Ashby sent a message towards Arcasedia," Maren informed.

Both of them froze.

"Valdren?" Austin said.

"But isn’t he arrested?" Alina asked.

"He might have men still working for him," Maren said. "And honestly, it makes sense."

The more they looked at everything they had uncovered, the more the pieces seemed to fit together. They knew Valdren hated Alina and he never wanted her to know about her heritage.

So keeping her ignorant of her heritage would have been worth any cost. And a girl sold into debt could never claim her crown.