The King's Rejected Lady

Feigning Innocence Is My Cup Of Tea

Lady M smirked. "A lady after her own heart, I like that. Follow me."

Lady M guided the three of them towards a secret passage that led to a comfy-sized room that looked like Lady M's office. The latter sat comfortably, and Tori followed suit. Lily and Rowan stood at the back of Tori, completely on guard.

"Leave us for a moment," Tori ordered the two, which they reluctantly followed.

When Tori was left alone with Lady M, the latter finally spoke, "So tell me, what is a noble lady doing here?"

Tori took off her hood and sat comfortably. "Now, that isn't the information we must be talking about. How about we start our conversation with the location of the Elysian Crown?"

Lady M abruptly stood up from her seat due to shock from what she heard. Tori couldn't blame her. After all, the Elysian Crown was why the original novel got the title 'Thorny Crown.'

Thorny Crown was the title of the novel series, which later became a popular Netflix Series. The story was about the first prince and the second prince, both heirs to the throne. Originally, to decide the rightful heir to the throne, like all the previous kings, went through, the heir apparent had to use all their resources to locate the Elysian Crown.

Whoever finds it first will become the Crown Prince.

But the wench Sabina, the female lead of the series, and the noble faction didn't want to risk since the second prince displayed quite the intelligence, so they destroyed the Elysian Crown and sabotaged his death.

Though the sabotaging part wasn't confirmed by the author, the second prince allegedly died during the great plague in the Season 2 of the series. Come to think of it, it did not highlight the death of the second prince in the Netflix Series. That was so shady.

In the original story, the Elysian Crown was never seen again. The story got the title 'Thorny Crown' as it represented the female lead and male lead's thorny path before reaching happily ever after. Although Tori didn't know what's the ending since they got burned together with the author.

Suppose I can secure the Elysian Crown before it falls to the Rozenreff Dukedom and Castaña Dukedom, both loyalists to the noble faction. In that case, the second prince can take part without worrying about dying.

'The hunt to the Elysian Crown' was an official occasion wherein there was only one rule. If either heir apparent died during the duration of the hunting, the other one should give up the claim to the throne. Thus this rule eliminated the possibility of assassination for the second prince. After all, the noble faction could not afford to be destroyed. If any princes died, the two Dukedoms would claim the right to join the hunt for the Elysian Crown.

Either way, any result is not a loss for me. But I prefer the amber-eyed prince to be the future king.

"Do you know how heavy that claim is, my lady? And even if you know the location of the crown, how will it benefit me?"

It was Tori's turned to smirk, "Whoever has the crown's location got the right to decide who will become king. Isn't it Lady M's wish to support the aristocratic faction? And let me correct you. This information won't benefit you but the entire people you wished to protect."

Yes. Lady M, short for Lady Merilla of House Larat, was a loyalist to the aristocratic faction.

Lady M's face turned serious. Only a handful knew who she was. And she couldn't believe that she heard these words from a young lady of the House Rozenreff, who was known to be a loyalist of the noble faction who openly supported the first prince.