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5.73% Treacherous hearts: Return of the Second Male Lead / Chapter 9: Chapter 9: The Cross family II

Kapitel 9: Chapter 9: The Cross family II

With all that has been said, we go back to the question: Why does the Cross family insist on having Charlton marry Annalys?

Clearly, if that union were to happen, it would close all possibilities for the Cross family to ever flip back towards the monarchists. It would take away their carefully constructed image of neutrality and drive them to the limelight. The king would never sit back and let them be, and how could he?

As said, their family and Charlton's hold at least 20% each of the total military power in their kingdom. If they were to be unified through marriage, it would directly place their military power almost equal to their monarch. Aside from that, the purpose of the union would always be up for question. If grand duke Charles were still alive, he would never allow it to happen.

Yet, despite this knowledge, they were more than willing. Again, the only reason they were contemplating to back down was because Geoffrey was too powerful and influential. Not only in the sense of the militia or connections, but he was also too popular with the masses. Even if they were to perform their coup d'état, and by some miracle they won, there's a huge possibility of them facing a civil war after.

However, if Charlton turns his back against their monarch despite their blood relations, not only will it even the level playing field, but it will also erase the possibility of a backlash (given what happened to his father).

Now, although it was not necessary for Charlton to marry Annalys for that to happen, it would be an insurance for their family. For in the end, they were not fighting this cause for whatever bullish belief the radical faction has. They were in it for their own aspirations.

Aside from all those reasons given above, Charlton was a man of his own. For all his titles, grand duke of Suffox and son of a war hero (albeit sentenced as a criminal later), his achievements were nothing to be scoffed at.

At a young age of 19, he has charmed the masses and earned himself the title golden boy. And unlike other titled nobles who solely relied on rent and taxes from their territories to line their pockets, he was able to amass wealth not only through his short career as a music producer, but also through his investments on the most lucrative companies which were still operating today. Which man could boast the same feat?

Thus, for their family to keep on wooing the man despite how many times he turned down the offer, it was completely acceptable.

Now, the issue was, how do they table the proposal again when Charlton already clearly rejected the third time?

If the basis were that he did not want to go against the royal family, then that was still viable. When grand duke Charles died, they knew he would seek justice. However, they underestimated Charlton's fortitude.

Although Marquis Klaus already informed them that Charlton's main suspects were his uncle and Geoffrey (yes, they wanted Charlton to lay the blame on him because he was the greater nuisance for their cause) making that the main reason why he wanted to return to the capital, they did not want to take chances.

If by chance Charlton was able to trace that the root of what happened to his father was in fact, of their radical faction's doing, then that would just be asking for more trouble. That was also one of the reasons why their family haven't taken their mask off yet.

But that's besides the point.

Right now, Charlton was on his way to finding his maternal family guilty, if not already, given that it's his uncle's stupidity that allowed his father's death to happen.

In any case, once he returns to the capital, they would only need to lead the way, feed him conjured evidence, and let him completely come to that conclusion on his own. With Geoffrey out of the picture, that was something they can easily accomplish.

However, even if this objective of theirs comes to fruition, it doesn't necessarily mean that Charlton would welcome Annalys as his grand duchess next.

The only answer to this predicament was that, aside from the condition where Charlton has completely turned his back against his maternal family being met, he needed to develop feelings for Annalys.

The Cross family did not think that Charlton has a natural preference against Annalys. He wouldn't have taken a long time to consider their second proposal if he did.

Annalys was beautiful, has the right pedigree, has a good reputation, could be charming when she wanted to be, and fancied herself in love with him. With everything that happened to Charlton, they assumed that he must be looking for a wife that has all her qualities.

So for him to turn down their offer, it must have been that he never had the opportunity to see Annalys in that light yet.

Thus, how do they make that possible? From the way they see it, the only way for that to happen is if they are able to create opportunities for Charlton and Annalys to spend time together. The next issue is how?

Thankfully, as if it was luck, opportunity came at the right timing.

Thus, when Charlton finally asked Christopher how his sister has been doing, he creased his eyebrows and frowned as if there's a huge, worrisome matter weighing on his mind.

"My sister has been fine. However, regarding her, my family and I have been in a predicament as of late. I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but since I'm already here, let me ask, would you mind lending us a hand?" He finally replied.

--

TBC


Kapitel 10: Chapter 10: Persuading Charlton IV

"You don't even have to ask Christopher. If it's within my capacity, then I would gladly offer my assistance. So, what's this predicament about, and how could I be of service?" Charlton asked. He doubted that there's no hidden agenda regarding what Christopher might be asking of him. However, he understood too well that friendships, such as theirs, needed a give and take relationship. Given that Christopher was the vice minister of justice, and his family was known to be politically neutral, he would be needing his help all too soon.

"Thank you, Charlton. That's a relief to hear." Christopher replied as he released the deep breath that he has been holding. Then he continued, "As you may know, my sister has just turned 22 this year, and we could no longer put off her marriage…"

"Wait wait, hold up. What's that gotta do with Charlton? don't tell me this is some elaborate scheme to have him marry your sister?" Hugo interjected. What? Although he was not that bright, he spent enough time with his mother and sisters to know that when words like that were spoken, you should know what comes next.

Christopher coughed. Hugo, this buffoon, most of the time, he couldn't even comprehend the issue even when the answer was being laid in front of him, but now when he needed to maintain that ineptitude of his, he actually hit the nail on the head.

Charlton looked at Hugo, his eyes widening as if telling him to shut his trap and apologize.

Hugo felt incredulous with Charlton giving him that look because he knew he was right. However, he has spent enough time with the guy and had a certain level of respect for him. He trusted that Charlton wouldn't fall for such a simple scheme that even he, despite his usual denseness, can see through.

Thus, Hugo awkwardly laughed before saying, "Sorry for that Christopher. I was just teasing you as usual. Hehe… please continue…"

Christopher cleared his throat. Well, truth was, if the situation was the other way around, he would also come to the same conclusion. Anyhow, that should be the least of his concerns. The issue he will present has some validity so that will clear everything up, hopefully.

"As I was saying, my sister has reached the age where, on average, a lady should have already been married so our family has finally decided to get her a match this season. Although it's not difficult considering that there's always a line of suitors vying for her hand, the growing interest, and though minimal, still unwelcomed interloping of the crown princess on my sister's marriage prospects has led us to a certain predicament. Currently, we already have indisputable reasons to believe that she wants to match my sister Annalys, to her brother Lord Leonard Maxwell."

Hugo snorted, then he guffawed. "What the hell? And I thought it was something vile. Really? Lord Leonard Maxwell as your predicament? My sister would be willing to die just for the opportunity. But man… are you for real? If lord Leonard, a marquis, the heir of one of the richest dukedom, the vice minister of finance, and the brother of our future, wait, the next certain queen of Windsor, is not even qualified as your sister's potential spouse, then who or what the heck is? I mean, I can't even imagine how high the bars of your expectations are. Lord Leonard, really? Perhaps if he looked ugly, or if he has some disability, or perhaps a number of mistresses I don't know of, then maybe I can understand your or maybe your sister's discontent, but no!!! He is single, able, has no track record of broken hearts behind him, and to top it off, even to me, and I'm a man, I can say with conviction just how attractive he is. I get that your sister is undeniably pretty and is one of the most eligible bachelorettes of her age, but I'm sorry to say, she's not all that. Hey, does she or maybe even you and your family have the delusions that she's some kind of a goddess incarnate or something?"

If the involvement of Serena did not catch the rapt attention of Charlton first, he would have, try as he might stop himself for politeness' sake, also have a good laugh with Hugo. But since he was more focused and curious on why Serena was trying to make that match, he did not. Instead, he contemplated on her possible motivations because although he has only been in a relationship with her for 3 years, he would like to assume that he knew her well.

Serena was selfish and self-centered, but he knew that she loved her family. Even when they were on the heights of passion in their sordid love affair and were talking about hypothetical situations where they accidentally get caught one day, she would still reason and find ways where her family could get out of their predicament unscathed.

Was it possible that Leonard fell in love with Annalys and was now trying to marry her? Very unlikely. He knew Leonard since they were seven and it would be out of his character to ask for Serena's help in matters such as marriage. So, the one behind this must be Serena.

Why was Serena getting involved, or maybe the words should be, trying to control her brother's lifelong event? Did she change? Or was it that he did not know her well enough? No. He does not think so. Perhaps this was the case because she was getting desperate. But why? Was there trouble in paradise? If that were the case, then it would only be advantageous for him and would make it easier for him to exact his revenge. However, based on the picture he just saw in the newspaper, it was improbable. Serena could not even fake it even if she tried. Then again, she did make a fool out of him, so maybe he could be wrong.

He shook his head. There he goes again letting her consume his thoughts. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before focusing his attention on Christopher.

Christopher who could only flush in embarrassment with Hugo's words (since there was truth to it) finally recovered seeing how Charlton did not laugh along and was even looking at him seriously, as if asking him to continue.

--

TBC


AUTORENGEDANKEN
champilyn champilyn

Update schedule: Tuesday to Saturday 12:05am (gmt+8).

Btw sorry if there are a lot of thoughts going on in the initial chapters, i need to emphasize why charlton was wanting to do what he wants to and for what reasons he must do it that way.

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