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Chapter Sixty Seven

Author: Joystickz
last update publish date: 2026-08-04 22:09:21

I summoned Derrick to the small council room before the sun had fully cleared the eastern wall, before the palace had woken enough to notice one more meeting added to a day already crowded with them.

He arrived composed, as he always did, his robes settled, his hands folded loosely in front of him like a man who had nothing at all to hide.

"You summoned me, my King."

"Sit."

He sat. I remained standing because I wanted the height, the vantage, and the small advantage of looking down at him while
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  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Seventy-two

    ElmaThe dizziness came without warning, three days after the healer finally allowed me back on my feet, arriving in the middle of counting bandages in the infirmary storeroom, the shelves tilting gently sideways before righting themselves again.I gripped the edge of the shelf until the room settled, breathing carefully through the nausea rolling low in my stomach."Lady Elma?"One of the younger healers had appeared in the doorway, concern already written plainly across her face."I'm fine," I said. "Only tired.""You've looked pale all morning.""I haven't been sleeping well."That much, at least, was true. Between the lingering ache in my ribs and the memory of hooded figures pressing close in the dark, sleep had become something I fought for rather than something that simply arrived.I finished counting the bandages, though my hands trembled slightly through the task, and made my way toward the small kitchen the infirmary staff used for their own meals, hoping food might settle w

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Seventy-one

    XanderMarcus arrived before I had finished my breakfast, a folded report already in his hand, his expression carrying the particular tightness he wore whenever he suspected the news he carried would please me and trouble me in equal measure."My King. We have something on last night's attack.""Tell me.""A witness came forward this morning. A stable hand who claims he saw Lord Victor near the old storage buildings shortly before the hour Elma was taken."I set down my cup slowly. "Victor.""The same lord who proposed isolating her before the council weeks ago."I thought back to that meeting, to the way Victor had spoken of Elma as though she were livestock to be managed rather than a woman deserving of basic decency, the same coldness in his voice that so many of the elders carried and rarely bothered to disguise."What else?""A torn piece of his personal seal was found near the path leading toward the servants' gate. And one of the guards on duty last night reported smelling a pa

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Seventy

    CamilaThe news of Ivy's disappearance reached me before I'd even finished dressing, delivered in a hurried whisper by one of my remaining maids, her hands trembling as she relayed it."She's gone, my Lady. Vanished sometime in the night. The guards are already asking questions."I kept my face perfectly still, the way I had trained myself to do for centuries, though inside something sharp and cold had begun climbing up through my chest."Questions about what?""About her, my Lady. And about who recommended her for the position."Of course they were. Of course that fool girl had left something behind, some scrap of carelessness that would eventually lead them straight back to my door if I didn't move quickly enough to redirect it elsewhere first.I dismissed the maid and sat alone for exactly as long as it took to steady my breathing.Derrick arrived within the hour, summoned through the passage only he and I knew still existed beneath the old records wing."You've heard," I said."I'

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Sixty-nine

    I woke to sunlight cutting thin lines across the infirmary ceiling, and for one merciful moment I forgot everything that had happened, the hands, the boots, the cold press of the blade against my throat.Then my ribs reminded me, sharp and immediate, and I remembered all of it at once."You're awake."Xander sat in the chair beside the bed, exactly where I had last seen him, though something in the set of his shoulders told me he hadn't slept, hadn't moved much at all through the night."How long have you been sitting there?""Long enough."I tried to sit up and regretted it instantly, the pain flaring hot along my side, my breath catching before I could stop it."Don't," he said, already reaching to steady me. "The healer said you need to stay still for at least another day.""I have patients.""Elma.""The northern settlement sent word about a lingering cough among three of the children. I told the healer I'd look at it myself this morning.""You will not."I stared at him, waiting

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Sixty Eight

    XanderMarcus found me in the corridor outside the infirmary, where I had been standing for the better part of an hour without moving, watching the closed door behind which Elma slept, her ribs bound, her lip stitched, her hands finally still."My King.""Tell me you have something.""I traced the basket." He kept his voice low, glancing once toward the infirmary door before continuing. "Elma's herb basket. The one carrying the second letter.""Who had access to it?""A maid named Ivy. She's been in Elma's service for the past three weeks, assigned by the head steward after Elma's original attendant fell ill." He paused. "She was recommended for the position by Lady Camilla personally."Something cold settled low in my chest. "Where is she now?""That's the problem, my King. She's gone.""Gone how?""Her quarters were emptied sometime last night. No note, no explanation. A guard on the eastern watch says he saw a cloaked figure leaving through the servants' gate a few hours before daw

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Sixty Seven

    I summoned Derrick to the small council room before the sun had fully cleared the eastern wall, before the palace had woken enough to notice one more meeting added to a day already crowded with them.He arrived composed, as he always did, his robes settled, his hands folded loosely in front of him like a man who had nothing at all to hide."You summoned me, my King.""Sit."He sat. I remained standing because I wanted the height, the vantage, and the small advantage of looking down at him while he spoke."Someone attacked Elma last night," I said. "In the gardens, near the old storage buildings. She was beaten and threatened. Then she was left to walk back here alone in the dark, bleeding, terrified that if she told me the truth, everyone who protects her would be killed for it."Derrick's face did the thing it always did when bad news arrived, the careful stillness, the practiced concern arranging itself across his features a half second too late to be believed by anyone paying close

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Four

    Elma"Treason!""Stone her!""Tear her apart!"My head throbbed with a blinding pain. I blinked, my vision swimming as the blurry shapes around me sharpened into terrifying focus. I was lying on the floor of a steel cage."What... what am I doing here?" "Please.""She's finally awake," a deep, c

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Three

    ElmaThe rough bark of the boundary tree scraped against my bare back as the two guards violently hurled me onto the wet, muddy ground."Stay on that side of the line, Elma," the taller one spat, tossing my torn shoes into the dirt beside my head. "If you cross back onto Silver Moon territory, we w

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Two

    Elma“Wait, Liam, what are you”The door slammed shut, cutting off my words.A mistake.Panic and a sickening wave of betrayal forced me into motion. I scrambled off the bed, my hands shaking so violently I could barely pull the torn fabric of my dress over my curves. I didn't bother with my shoes.

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter One

    ElmaThe drums were vibrating right through the soles of my shoes.The Moon Festival was always beautiful, but tonight felt different. It was supposed to be a celebration. Tonight, the entire pack gathered to watch Liam take his rightful place as Alpha. For the first time in years, the harvest was

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