Divorcing the Duke to Buy the World

Chapter 85: No Messing Around With My Wife’s Property

Evelina blinked, her mind still numb from the system’s internal sirens and her own lost mind.

She looked up at his fierce, handsome face.

He was breathing heavily, his jaw trembling with rage, but his grip on her arms was surprisingly gentle.

"Sweetheart," Ace said, his dark eyes searching her face. His voice dropped to a rumble, "I am here. No one will ever touch your property again. I will kill anyone who tries."

Evelina stared at his worried face which had streaks of soot running down his cheekbones.

He kept whispering something, uttering comforting words.

How it will be fine... How they will fix it and something...

In fact, the current situation had merely tipped Evelina over... She barely had any chance to get emotional since her rebirth.

And now, it looked like her jar of emotions had tumbled off and exploded completely.

For a moment, she was shaken back to her senses.

"The warehouses," Evelina whispered, "The southern network stock... it’s completely gone."

"I don’t care about the fabric," Ace said fiercely, pulling her closer against his chest, completely ignoring the ash ruining his uniform, "Let it burn. I can buy you ten more networks. I only care that you are safe."

Before Evelina could process his words, a loud commotion broke out at the edge of the perimeter.

"Your Grace!" a senior knight shouted, rushing toward them and saluting quickly, "A large troop of the Imperial Guard has just arrived at the docks. They are led by the Minister of Revenue, and they are demanding entry by the Crown Prince’s direct orders!"

Evelina’s eyes sharpened instantly. The gloom that had bogged her down slowly dissipated as she regained a hint of focus.

Elian was moving even faster than she thought.

They burnt her stock and now they wanted to catch her in the ruins to humiliate her publicly and make her beg for mercy.

Ace’s eyes narrowed into slits.

"Tell them to leave," Ace said calmly to the knight, "The Alvarez cavalry answers to the Emperor, not the Crown Prince. If they try to cross my perimeter, treat them as enemy combatants."

"Wait..." Evelina said, placing a hand on his armored forearm.

Her mind was already analyzing the situation as she spoke.

If Ace fought the Imperial Guard here, Elian would use it as an excuse to charge the Alvarez house with treason.

"We can’t slide into his trap," Evelina calmed down the more she spoke, "Elian wants a scandal to ruin our standing. If you slaughter the guards inside the Capital limits, he wins the legal high ground."

Ace looked down at her, his grip tightening on his sword hilt. "He targeted you in my absence. I am not going to stand by and pay politics with that scoundrel here."

Ace did not look he would be convinced, no matter what one said.

He was determined to drag the crown prince down, by hook or by crook.

"We don’t need to fight them with swords..." Evelina said suddenly, "The Minister of Revenue is here. That means the treasury department is personally involved in an illegal arson incident."

She wiped a smudge of ash from her cheek, her green eyes flashing with a ruthless glint. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"Let them come in," Evelina commanded smoothly, stepping out from Ace’s protective shadow. "The Crown Prince thinks he has choked my supply line, but he forgot one major rule of trade. When you destroy half the supply in the market, the remaining half becomes priceless. Let’s go welcome the minister."

The heavy iron shields of the Alvarez cavalry parted just enough to let a small carriage through.

It bore the golden crest of the Ministry of Revenue, looking entirely out of place against the wrecked backdrop.

The carriage door opened, and Minister of Revenue stepped out. The man looked like he had grown fat on bribes and soft paperwork as he carefully adjusted his velvet robes to keep them from touching the damp ground.

Behind him, fifty imperial guards stood in strict formation. Their polished armor reflected the dull glow of the remaining fire.

"Duchess Evelina," The minister of revenue called out, his voice carrying that oiled arrogance of the palace.

He didn’t even look at the fire once as he spoke.

"What a terrible tragedy," the minister said with an insincere sigh, "The crown has just received word of a massive unauthorized fire in the industrial region. But we were expecting it to be a false alarm... Alas, it looks like it is not."

He took a scroll from his sleeve, breaking the blue wax seal with a deliberate flick of his finger.

"By order of His Highness, Prince Elian, the Ministry of Revenue is seizing this site immediately," the man read calmly.

He paused, as if giving them a moment to breathe before he continued, "Under the emergency luxury tax decree passed this morning, all unregistered linen storage facilities are subject to imperial investigation. To ensure no foul play or tax evasion has occurred, the Imperial Guard will now confiscate the property and whatever remains of the inventory."

It was a... BLATANT. LEGAL. ROBBERY.

Evelina narrowed her eyes.

Elian wasn’t even hiding his fangs anymore. He wanted her ruined, and then he wanted to lock up the land so she couldn’t even rebuild what she had lost.

Before the imperial guards could take a single step forward, a broad figure blocked the light.

Ace moved so fast the wind whistled.

The tip of his massive broadsword was pressed directly against the imperial commander’s throat before the man could even draw his weapon.

The sharp steel bit just deep enough into the commander’s collar to draw a thin line of red.

"Ace," Evelina stiffened at the sight of it.

But Ace didn’t move an inch.

His dark eyes were fixed on the trembling minister with nothing but ruthlessness flashing in them. freёwebnovel.com

"Tell the Prince," Ace said, his voice dropping into a tone that made the each member of the imperial troop shift uneasily, "If his men take one step onto my wife’s property, it will be treated as an act of war against the North."

...

A/N: Darlings, it’s our first month together with this book, I am setting three milestone goals for the entire month of June. The more tickets we stack, the more Chapters you unlock!

80 Golden Tickets: +2 Chapters

150 GTs: +4 Chapters

250+ GTs: +7 Chapters