Chapter 6

Yvette was about to rush into the courtyard when several matronly servants suddenly blocked the entrance and shoved her hard. She stumbled backward and fell over.

"Who dares touch our young lady's place?" The old women were glaring menacingly.

Looking rather disheveled, Yvette turned toward Julia, but Julia hadn't budged. Her expression remained firm and cold.

Yvette gritted her teeth and steeled herself. She scrambled back onto her feet, grabbed a stone from the flower bed nearby, and hurled it at the servants.

"There is only one young lady in this household, and that is my mistress, Ms. Julia Sewell!"

Yvette shouted at the top of her lungs while the servants ducked away in alarm. Then she charged inside, kicking and smashing whatever she could.

A faint trace of approval flashed through Julia's eyes.

This wasn't her home. She had returned to a den of wolves—a place where she could be devoured at any given moment. If Yvette had to rely on her for everything and couldn't stand on her own, it would mean that she couldn't survive in this place, nor could she be Julia's ally.

Inside the main residence, Francine held Rebecca in her arms. The two women were crying their hearts out.

"Mother, if I hadn't pretended to faint just now, I might've had to leave you and Father for good today," Rebecca wept.

"My sweet child, you've suffered such a terrible injustice! Don't say anything more. Just lie down and rest," Francine urged her.

"But… Julia won't accept me. I don't want to trouble you and Father. Perhaps you should send me away."

"Never!" Francine grew agitated. "This is your home. Don't ever say such things again. You're breaking my heart!"

Rebecca collapsed into Francine's arms and began crying again.

Ezekiel stood nearby, his brows furrowed and his expression cold.

"I never thought Julia would become this insolent! She actually faked her own death at the frontier and returned home without telling us. She caught us completely off guard."

Rebecca's sobs gradually died out, and she said weakly, "That's right. Julia is still so young. She could've spent another ten years out there, earning even more achievements for the family."

Hearing this, Ezekiel slammed his hand onto the table. What a waste. His anger immediately doubled. Another decade of glory would mean that he might even get promoted to one of the three most elevated positions in the royal court!

The Duke of Winmere was merely a title of honor. If he wanted his name to go down in history, he'd have to become either the Grand Tutor or the Grand Preceptor.

But Julia had returned without even consulting him first!

Francine used a handkerchief to dab at her tears, saying, "She has already returned and made sure she can't be sent back there. We can't ship her back to the frontier anymore, so why not send her to my family in Jiltbury instead?"

"No." Ezekiel shook his head. "Princess Gillian now knows she is Jasper's twin sister. If we send her away now, it will only invite suspicion."

"Then what should we do?" Francine grew anxious. "I won't let Rebecca be sent away. She has stayed by our side for ten years, and she even treated your leg."

With his hands behind his back, Ezekiel paced back and forth across the hall.

Rebecca watched the couple's expressions. "Father, Mother… let Julia stay. I won't compete with her. I'll let her have everything."

Francine's eyes immediately reddened. She put her arms around Rebecca's shoulders and said, "That would be too unfair to you."

"As long as you two aren't troubled, a little grievance means nothing to me. All I want is for our family to be happy together."

The mother and daughter embraced and wept again.

"That's enough!" Ezekiel snapped. "Stop crying. It's not a big deal that she's back. As long as she is obedient and keeps herself in check, she won't be able to cause any trouble for us."

He looked at Francine. "Arrange for someone to keep an eye on her."

Francine was about to nod when Albert Neely, the family's steward, came to the door and shouted, "Sir, madam, something terrible has happened! Ms. Julia has ordered people to smash Ms. Rebecca's place!"

"What?" Ezekiel shot to his feet.

Rebecca grabbed his sleeve. "Father, please don't be angry with Julia. I'll give the place back to her."

Ezekiel shook her hand away in fury. "She just returned, and already she's throwing her weight around. If I don't teach her a lesson now, she will soon be walking all over me, too!"

With that, he ordered Albert to fetch the rod he used to discipline the family and stormed out.

Francine gently supported Rebecca, saying, "It's fine. Don't try to intervene in this matter. She humiliated you before Princess Gillian. Your father should teach her a lesson."

"Mother, I don't blame Julia for that. I'm only afraid Father will hurt her. If word reaches Princess Gillian…"

"You have always been so considerate." Francine sighed. "I'll go take a look."

Julia had Yvette clear out almost everything inside the courtyard. Only a simple table, a few chairs, and a bed frame remained.

When the raging Ezekiel entered with the rod in hand, he saw Julia sitting calmly in a chair, sipping tea.

"You insolent girl! How dare you—"

Before he could finish, Julia suddenly slammed the teacup down and sneered. "Father, Mother, how foolish you both have been."

The force behind her words made Ezekiel and Francine freeze.

Yvette closed the door behind them and stood guard outside.

"If you wanted to adopt a daughter, why didn't you inform me beforehand?" Julia slowly questioned.

"This is a trivial matter. You were fighting on the front lines. How could we distract you from your job with something like this?" Ezekiel answered.

Julia shook her head. "But because I didn't know about her, I told Princess Gillian on my way back that I'm your only daughter. So when she saw Rebecca just now, I had no idea how I was supposed to explain the situation."

After hearing that, Ezekiel calmed down, his anger mostly subsiding.

"But even so, you shouldn't have destroyed your sister's place! You even caused trouble the moment you came home. What happened to your sense of propriety?" Francine rebuked Julia.

Julia's clear gaze shot toward her. "You're saying I shouldn't have thrown her things out? Do you mean I should've waited until Princess Gillian found out that you two not only raised another daughter, but that you let her stay here with you and usurp my position as the eldest young lady of the family?

"If the royal family decides to investigate this matter, who do you think stands to suffer the most?"

Ezekiel's expression stiffened.

"You are making this sound far worse than it is. It would never come to that!" Francine insisted.

Julia smirked. "Are you so sure about that, Mother? Just now, those servants repeatedly said this residence belonged to their young lady, Rebecca. How many years have you been raising her as your only daughter, that the servants throughout this entire manor now acknowledge no one but her as the young lady of the household?"

Francine couldn't speak. She had no answer. After a moment, she forced out a flimsy explanation.

"She knows medicine. She treated your father's leg. Naturally, the servants came to acknowledge her."

Then she quickly changed the subject.

"Since you already knew Rebecca's identity, you shouldn't have made things difficult for her before Princess Gillian."

Julia's expression turned icy. "Did I force her to dress up so lavishly?"

Francine couldn't form a retort to that either.

"Why did you suddenly fake your death and return to the capital? Why didn't you discuss such a serious matter with us first?" Ezekiel asked the questions he cared about most.

"There was no time. I had no choice but to return."

"Why?"

"If I hadn't done what I did, the King would've given me a princess' hand in marriage." Though her tone was calm and cool, her words fell like a thunderclap.

Ezekiel and Francine both turned pale.

Julia wasn't lying about this. She'd heard the rumors from Paul, who'd filled her in after returning from his routine court update in Ashbourne.

The war was over, and the Apex General's reputation had grown too great. Even the ordinary citizens revered him.

When dealing with such exceptional and crucial talent, to avoid letting the royal family's prestige be overtaken, kings would usually choose between two options—either get rid of them, or make them one of their own.

Clearly, Arthur was unwilling to sacrifice a talent like the Apex General, so he came up with the idea of marrying him to one of his daughters.

Besides, after ten years of hardship at the frontier, with the war finally settled, Julia no longer sought fame or status. So she chose to fake her death and return home.

She had left her family at 14 years old and spent the last 10 years longing desperately for the warmth of familial love. But the fate she suffered in her previous life had been a rude awakening that completely cleared her head.

Ezekiel's lips parted a few times, yet he could not say a word. Eventually, he declared, "You did the right thing. That decision had to be made quickly."

Julia glanced at the rod in his hand. Her brows lifted slightly.

"Father, you came here holding the rod you usually use to discipline the family. Could it be that you intended to use it on me?"