The Duke's Masked Wife 2: The Prince's Outcast Bride
Chapter 227: The court (1)

Chapter 227: The court (1)

"You cannot keep spying on her anymore, Edgar. Penelope is a married woman now," said Tyrion.

From a room inside the estate, Edgar peered down at where Tyrion carried Penelope around. He was only watching with no intentions of disturbing the couple, but the king was hellbent on disturbing him.

"Until you stop sending your spies to watch Tyrion, then you cannot tell me about watching my daughter," Edgar said, turning away from the window to face Tyrion.

Inside the room, all the fathers had gathered, much to Edgar’s dismay. Tobias would not stop going on and on about how their children had married, so he had won.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

"Tyrion is still a prince, so there are dangers which follow his position. I cannot have any harm come to my son," Tobias explained.

Rafael was curious how Edgar knew of Tobias’s spies. "Do you have spies watching his spies?" He asked.

"Only to ensure they are keeping their eyes on the prince, not my daughter," Edgar replied.

Rafael chuckled. "You haven’t changed at all. First, it was Alessandra, and now it is your daughters. I am still surprised you married her off so fast and to the prince."

"I pretend it hasn’t happened," Edgar replied.

"Why?" Tobias asked, standing up from his chair. "Tyrion is a wonderful match for your daughter. He is a romantic, just like his father. He should follow my steps."

Edgar shared a look with Rafael. "You were a whore. You were lucky to have been the prince since Hazel wouldn’t have taken you as you were."

"Lies! I saw myself more as a romantic," Tobias defended himself. "Regardless of what you thought of me, I was the lucky one who ended up in a normal courtship. Do you disagree?" He faced Rafael.

"You married a woman who snuck into your home under a guise to gather your secrets," Tobias said, pointing at Rafael. "And you," Tobias pointed at Edgar. "You married a woman, so I would leave you be."

"I married Alessandra because she made an offer I couldn’t resist, and she amused me. I courted her in a manner you would call normal," said Edgar.

"You courted your wife after you married her. I had to make Hazel fall in love with me," Tobias said, thinking his task was harder.

"A woman considered our enemy fell in love with me and protected me from her father," Rafael said, joining Tobias’s little contest.

Tobias stared at Rafael and asked, "Why do you try to make everything a competition?"

"Oh, so it’s not a game now that you are losing?" Rafael asked.

Tobias looked away from Rafael. "Why is it like this? Have we lost our touch? When we gathered, we would have fun, but now look at us. One of us is asleep," he said, speaking of Reed.

"I am not asleep, I am merely resting my eyes," Reed spoke up.

"You are asleep. If you didn’t speak, I would have started to worry that you were dead. How are you like this, given who your mother is?" Tobias wondered.

Reed kept his eyes closed. "With all due respect, my mother spent more time taking care of you and your sister while our tutoring was left to someone else."

"Reed can also sleep no matter where he is. I’ve been trying to prove for years that it’s some mistake that we are twins," Caleb said, annoyed by the sight of Reed.

Tobias pinched the bridge of his nose. "We have someone who is sleep-talking, a man who doesn’t drink, one who doesn’t smoke, and I am the only one who wants to have fun. I don’t get many chances outside the palace, so the least you should do is be fun like the old days."

Caleb looked around the room. "You missed me."

"You are just there," Tobias replied.

Tobias felt close to losing his mind when he saw Edgar making himself comfortable to go to sleep. "Your wife and children are out of your sight, yet you are resting, Edgar."

Edgar didn’t respond since he didn’t need to worry about his family’s safety when they were on the estate.

Rafael and Caleb were the only ones left interested in what Tobias wanted to do.

Tobias sighed. "I would have more fun with my wife."

"I watched all of our wives run off in a hurry. With my wife leading them, they are going to drink and speak of us," Reed informed Tobias. "The king has the power to do as he wishes, but I would advise against disturbing our wives now."

Reed regretted not staying outside to keep an eye on Julie since it was too loud inside.

"Well, since we’re all going to be here, we should speak," Tobias suggested.

"You have not stopped talking since we came in here," Edgar said.

Edgar blamed himself for agreeing to follow Rafael.

"Do not act like you do not enjoy the sound of my voice, Edgar. We have much to speak about, like the court. By tomorrow night, the court will be reborn. The last of them will be removed tomorrow. I have saved men like Solomon for last since they will be killed," Tobias revealed.

"You mean you left the ones who could plot a way out for last? I hope you don’t regret it," Edgar said, seeing it as a mistake.

Unfortunately for Solomon and his little followers, Edgar was well prepared should there be any flaws in Tobias’s plans.

"No, I won’t regret it. I have ordered that no one from the court is to leave the palace unless I have said they can," Tobias said, confident in his steps.

"Solomon might be plotting, but he won’t succeed with his plans. He’s been trying to hold onto Teo, but that hasn’t worked for him. Many have turned their backs on him," said Tobias.

Now that the court was deemed useless in the eyes of many around the court, Solomon didn’t have the power to reach out to men around the town for favours, since there was nothing in return for these men.

Tobias expected the men who once were Solomon’s allies to attempt to kill him and others in the court so their secrets would die with Solomon. Some of the men Tobias held captive had already given away what they had done over the years.

A big clean-up of evil people was being carried out just in time for Teo.

"Soon, it will just be Mark and the others he trusts to help Teo. It would be wonderful if Elijah could-"

"No," Edgar denied on behalf of his son. "You’ve pulled me into solving cases around the town. It will stop at me. Elijah will not work in the palace."