The Dragon King's Substitute Bride (Morgan and Tsuneo) novel Chapter 96

CH96

Ari

I groaned and slowly lifted my head. My head spun. So many days in darkness had made my sense dull, but I heard his voice.

“Had a good time in the dungeon thief?”

I snarled, lifting my head. “You-”

I broke off, stunned at the sight of the man standing over me, wearing Tsuneo’s face, but there

was nothing in his expression that I could recognize as Tsuneo.

I went still. There was a darkness behind his dark opal eyes that had never been there before. The air felt cold. My heart raced.

Then, he turned. “If everyone is

Then, I looked around.

here, let’s begin.”

The hall was packed, filled with the Elders, servants, and a few guards. I saw most of the court there as well. It seemed that everyone but that human was here. Was she dead? That would be my

luck.

“What the hell is going on? 1-

“Quiet,” Tsuneo said, his voice low and cold. It felt like a hand had wrapped around my throat and squeezed. I could barely breathe.

“Father,” he said, turning to the king. “Where would you like to begin?”

He blinked, looking between him and me. “I’m curious to know your sense of justice and proceedings, Tsuneo… I will allow you to run it as you see fit.”

A cruel, vicious smile came over his face. “Thank you, Father.”

He gestured to the group of servant. “We’ll start with the most disturbing of crimes: your treatment of the staff. Never has it been allowed, condoned, or right to treat those who care for the members of the royal family in such a fashion. You, who have benefitted only from the benevolence of the royal family have stepped on the very benevolence to which you owe your life, or did you forget that you are the daughter of a traitor and should have been killed?”

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CH96

My blood ran cold. The king went still, his eyes widened. I cringed. I hadn’t known that Tsuneo knew. I hadn’t even thought he would ever bring it up. The murmurs that filled the room made me

sick.

“It seems that you were more than content to follow in your father’s stead.”

I tried to speak but the sounds wouldn’t come out.

He turned to them. “We’ll go in order as you are lined up

here.”

I didn’t recognize most of them, but I noted that Anya was at the very end of the very long line.

“Prince Tsuneo, is it really necessary to have every single one of them-

“Every member of the kingdom is just as important as every other,” Tsuneo said, glaring at the man over his shoulder, his eyes gleaming with a dark light. “If you seek to make a mockery of that belief, I’ll have you bound, investigated, and tried within the week.” He narrowed his eyes. “Close you mouth and listen.”

The Elder sat back, pale and clearly shaken. Tsuneo was furious, but I didn’t understand why het would do this. Who cared about these peasants?

The first servant came up to stand beside Tsuneo, her eyes down cast.

“First, I want you to go to the box and find that which Ari stole from you.”

I could speak, or yell, I could barely move, but she went to the boxes that had been brought and pulled out a necklace and bracelet set that I often liked to wear.

She launched into this sob story about how I’d taken it from her, and how it had been a family heirloom, but who cared. She was a servants, she shouldn’t have such nice things anyway. She was

y servant. Everything she owned belonged to me. I could take what I wanted.