Chapter Text
When he had first set out to execute his plan of annulling his engagement and convicting Clarissa of her crimes earlier this night, Wilhelm Dale the Third, could have never predicted that things would have turned out this way.
“What?!”
A crisis has come.
‘A palimony agreement!?’
Wilhelm was stunned, he had never heard of such an agreement like this coming into existence. Yet, what was more shocking to him was the fact that the Crown had been involved.
“My father?”
“That’s right.”
Rebecca smiled, cheerfully as she gestured once more the crucial document in her hand.
“This right here is an official agreement,”
She guided the Crown Prince’s attention more specifically to a section of the document, where the Royal family’s distinguished star emblem was clearly stamped in fine red wax for all to see. It was undeniable proof of his father’s involvement.
“And if you can’t read, their names are right here on the top in fine print, you damn prick.”
He refused to believe it.
‘No, it can’t be.’
“It must be a fake.”
That was the only logical explanation for it, there was no other way.
For the longest time, his father had never even once discussed with him about his engagement to Clarissa in the slightest, nor even concerned himself with matters aside from those that were key to the Kingdom’s affairs.
“My father would never; how dare you create a forgery like this! It is a crime against the Crown. I ought to have you thrown into prison, and your family stripped of their title for this.”
Within the crowd of observing nobles, one spectating Jonathan Vanderwood silently clutched his chest in anguish as he felt a part of his soul disintegrate.
The poor young man always knew that his elder sister’s outlandish behaviour would get her in big trouble someday, but with the threat of the fall of their family name before them, the Vanderwood heir could only pray that Rebecca had something planned to refute the Crown Prince’s claims.
And indeed, she did.
‘I thought you might say that.’
“Oh, so you believe it is a fake, do you?”
Wilhelm crossed his arms across his chest defiantly, he was certain.
“It must be.”
“So then, there is no absolute way that an official document like this was approved by the Holy Temple, yes? So, this signature and stamp of approval by the Archbishop must be a forgery then?”
If one was to look closely, you could almost see a fox-like tail poking out from behind her, swishing at her every word.
“Well, of course.”
“So, you wouldn’t mind then if I asked the Archbishop himself if he signed and gave his approval to this document?”
“Ye – wait, what?”
But Rebecca was already on the move, disappearing from his sight within seconds.
From the crowd of attendees, a single elderly man took that as his cue to leave.
It was not often that an elder man such as himself would take time off to attend grand events like these, but when you receive a personal invitation from the King, himself, it would have been much too rude to decline the invite. However, from the way the night’s events have gone so far, he could not help but suspect that his sudden invitation might not have been out of common courtesy after all, or even from the King at hand.
‘Time to quietly leave.’
Or at least he had tried to, until he came face to face with an overly familiar blond-haired young lady. One that he had prayed so hard to avoid.
As her grand smile widened, he felt his soul age ever so slightly. He knew that smile, nothing good ever came out of it for him.
“Good evening, Archbishop, what a lovely night it is! Would you be so kind but to take a close look at this document for me? Tell me, does it look familiar to you?”
“Well, yes. It does.”
“So, it is fair to say that you were very much aware about this Palimony agreement between the Archibald family and the King, and even officially acted as the witness to its creation, as signified by your stamp of approval and signature.”
As all eyes in the Grand ballroom focused on the pair, the grey bearded man could not help but sigh.
“That would be correct.”
“Excellent! Thank you for your testimony, good sir.”
As Rebecca walked away, the Archbishop let out a grateful sigh of relief, pleased to know that her focus has turned back to Wilhelm. For a moment, the older man contemplated whether he should enact his plan to finally escape, yet from the way Rebecca had smiled oh so sweetly at him, he feared for what was to come to him if he did try.
It was evidently clear to him that his role in whatever this was, was far from over.
“And now that we know that this document is very much legitimate, much to a certain individual’s contestation, shall we now go to the additional sub-clauses of the agreement?”
“Additional sub-clauses of agreement?”
With a flick of her wrist, the document in Rebecca’s hand unfolded to reveal a much longer length that it was originally suggested to be.
“Why yes, in addition to the main clause of this agreement, where the party that chooses to dissolve the Royal engagement must pay the other as a form of reparation, there are additional supplementary side factors that we must address in order to figure out how much you must pay Lady Clarissa as a whole.”
“That is absurd!”
“It’s what the King has agreed to, is it not, Your Majesty?”
Rebecca turned her attention to the back of the room, where the King sat in silence. His face an expressionless picture, giving nothing away.
From beside him, the Queen sent worried glances to her husband but he did not say a word to her either. It was clear that she too had been left in the dark in regards to this palimony agreement.
“Father, surely you did not agree to such an illogical contract?”
Silence.
Even to his own son, he did not speak a word or answer.
“And yet, his signature and the stamp of the official Crown is ever present on this document.”
Rebecca mused; she couldn’t say that she was very surprised by His Majesty’s silence. After all, he probably never expected the agreement to ever be enacted with the planned wedding coming up so soon.
As he stared at his father, Wilhelm could no deny the young lady’s statement as his hands clenched into tight balled fists. How did the night turn out like this? It was not what he had wanted to happen.
Furious at the turn of events, the young Crown Prince turned his anger elsewhere – to a very familiar thorn at his side.
“You,”
His eyes narrowed furiously at Clarissa, the person that should have been at the receiving end of tonight’s condemnation. The wicked woman who should have been in tears by now, or in shackles at least.
If the night had gone the way he had initially planned it, Clarissa would already be gone – exiled and banished from the Kingdom, and he would be happy, celebrating the start of his new life with Lisa, the love of his life.
But no, the events of the night had strayed too far from what he had originally hoped it to be.
‘This is all your fault; it wasn’t supposed to be this way.’
“How shameless of you to have even come up with an agreement like this!”
“Now, now, Your Highness, no need to become so disgustingly brutish.”
Stepping into his line of sight, Rebecca waddled a disapproving finger as she obstructed his view of Clarissa, standing between the two.
‘She’s not your opponent tonight, I am.’
“After all, as I have repeatedly said before, Lady Clarissa was not the one who ordered the creation of this contract, your father was. And it was very much with the intention of protecting you.”
‘Too bad he had too much faith that his son wouldn’t pull an UNO reverse card on him but jokes on him.’
“Now, for the additional sub-clauses,”
She did not even give him a chance to speak, immediately reading out the term for all ears in the ballroom to hear.
“Sub-clause one: ‘If the person is proven of cheating, or have acquired another lover, they must compensate an additional sum of payment to recompense the other party for causing emotional trauma by infidelity and breaking the engagement. If the case is both, in which the guilty party is found to be cheating with a new lover, the fee would be doubled.’”
Wilhelm gulped nervously as he felt Rebecca’s sharp gaze on him, it was clear to him what her verdict on this sub-clause would be.
“Now, seeing as how quickly the Crown Prince has already deemed Lady Lisa Silverstone as his new fiancée, it is evidently clear not only to me, but to everyone in this room that you have been rather unfaithful to Lady Clarissa.”
“I – “
“Did you, or did you not just declare Lady Lisa Silverstone to be your new fiancée?”
Like a rat imprisoned in a maze, it felt as though he was trapped against an impenetrable wall. One that he could not escape without giving the truth. Wilhelm gulped as the young man had no choice but to give her the answer she wanted.
“Yes. I did.”
Rebecca nodded, satisfied with his answer.
“Good. Then unless you have suddenly just magically met her this very night, your infidelity is clear as day, and you are very much guilty of breaking sub-clause one.”
Turning her attention on to the next agenda, Rebecca smiled.
“Sub-clause two: ‘The other party must agree to the engagement annulment before public knowledge, or else the breaking party must pay compensation for causing shock and public embarrassment from the sudden annulment.’”
“Well, I – “
“Considering that Lady Clarissa only just learnt of the engagement annulment at the same time as every wonderful person in this room due to your very public announcement, I regret to inform you, Your Majesty, that you have also broken this sub-clause.”
‘That’s a lie! You don’t look remorseful in the slightest!’
And Rebecca wasn’t, as the young lady proceeded to continue reading out the following sub-clause.
“Sub-clause three: ‘The other party and their family must be informed of the annulment at least a week in advance or face paying compensation for completely disrespecting the other party.’”
Needless to say, the verdict was also evidently clear from the earlier events of the night.
“Definitely broken. As you call all see from the King and Queen’s shocked expressions, it is clear that the Crown Prince had not even informed his own dear parents of his ambitious to annul his engagement because if he had, then I’m quite certain that our glorious King and Queen would have been courteous enough to inform Duke Archibald and his family (which they had not) of an annulment.”
Wilhelm looked to his parents as he bowed his head in shame; he had not intended to embarrass or disgrace them in any sort of manner.
“Father, mother, I – “
“We will discuss this matter later.”
Wilhelm flinched from the cold glare his father sent him, the only response he had gotten from his father all night. It was clear that he would be harshly reprimanded for his actions later in private.
“Indeed, we still have one final sub-clause to go through, and I do believe that it is a matter that needs to be addressed.”
‘My, she never changes.’
From behind her fan, Clarissa could not help but sigh as she watched Rebecca read out the final statement of the palimony agreement.
“Sub-clause four: ‘If one party slanders the other party following the annulment, through means of declaring false accusations and lies, then they must pay the other party a compensation for disrespecting and damaging the other’s public image and reputation.’”
It was a relevant clause indeed.
“I do believe the accusations that you had presented against Lady Clarissa prior to this was rather slanderous, if I must say so myself.”
“Now, just one minute!”
Now, he acknowledged that he had been rather guilty of obliviously breaking the past three sub-clauses and accepted it, but there was no way that he would accept that he was in the wrong for condemning Clarissa.
“They were not accusations and lies in the slightest, they were the truth.”
Wilhelm stood his ground, determined to ensure that he would at least get justice for his new bride-to-be. He would not let Clarissa go unpunished for her cruel deeds.
Rebecca was amused, but undeterred by Wilhelm’s refusal. She expected it after all.
Tucking her arms behind her back, the young lady calmly smiled as she began to circle him.
“Oh, now is that what you truly believe?”
Her eyes flickered to the quiet young lady behind Wilhelm, one who had suddenly become very silent recently despite her outburst earlier in the night.
On the other hand, Wilhelm simply stared at Rebecca in disbelief from her response.
‘Is she deaf?’
“Of course! You and everybody else present in this very room heard the witness testimonies that were presented.”
Rebecca nodded, seeming to accept his response but it didn’t mean that she didn’t question it.
“But there is a very big difference between hearing and seeing, Your Highness. Then again, it is very true that there was also a large amount of substantial evidence against Lady Clarissa.”
“Indeed, there was.”
Wilhelm agreed, confidently as he crossed his arm in satisfaction that she finally understood his point.
“So then, why don’t we see for ourselves what actually happened?”