Chapter 76 Fox's Betrayal
Cressida looked at Echo, who immediately lowered her head: "I'll go heat water for Mr. Hamilton's bath."
Echo tactfully left, and the door closed.
Cressida said: "Father, at tomorrow's morning court session, His Majesty will definitely ask about what happened today, and he'll probably mention that Michael and I accidentally caught two thieves, and want to reward you for it."
Patrick frowned: "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that when His Majesty offers a reward, you must refuse it."
"Why?"
"This isn't something to take credit for. His Majesty was furious that thieves appeared at the Flower Festival and injured people. He not only punished Prince Marshall, but Prince Yosef was also implicated."
Patrick hesitated, thinking it over.
Worried he wouldn't understand, Cressida spoke more bluntly:
"If you take credit at this time, both Prince Marshall's and Prince Yosef's factions will resent you. The Hamilton family is just newly noble—we can't handle that kind of trouble. It's better to refuse the reward and keep ourselves safe."
"Aren't you overthinking this?" Patrick felt she was being unreasonable. "If His Majesty wants to reward us, how would they dare object?"
Cressida took a deep breath.
Patrick had all the traits of a military officer—short-sighted, eager for glory, vain, and competitive.
The only things he lacked were patience and careful thinking.
She had to continue: "Remember Richard, who went on the southern tour with Prince Marshall? He got caught up in a corruption case. After Richard came back and received his reward, he was killed. Rumor has it that most of the people investigated belonged to Prince Yosef's faction. So why, when Prince Marshall and Prince Yosef are fighting, did one of their supporters die?"
Patrick froze, then muttered to himself: "Because when two kings fight, the soldiers die first!"
Cressida nodded: "Exactly. If you don't want to get dragged into this, you must refuse the reward at tomorrow's morning court."
When she left Patrick's room, it was almost eleven at night.
Cressida was exhausted. Emma had already prepared a bath for her.
When Cressida sank into the warm tub, she finally felt comfortable.
She let out a long breath.
Her advice to Patrick not to seek credit also came from a bit of selfishness.
She didn't want Miguel to think that Odette's faction had helped them and they were using the opportunity to gain benefits.
Cressida wanted nothing to do with opportunities connected to other factions, to show her loyalty to Miguel.
Cressida instructed Emma: "For the next three days, I'm staying in. No matter who comes, tell them I'm sick and recovering."
"Yes." Emma made a note of it.
The next day at noon, Patrick returned to the estate and headed straight for Cressida's courtyard.
"Cressida! Cressida, you were absolutely right!" he shouted from outside, but Emma stopped him.
Emma bowed: "Mr. Hamilton, Ms. Hamilton isn't feeling well. She just took medicine and fell asleep."
Patrick's excited expression barely faded as he asked: "What's wrong with her now?"
Emma pressed her lips together slightly: "After yesterday's chaos, and spending half the day at the government office, Ms. Hamilton must have gotten sick from exhaustion."
Patrick nodded in understanding.
"Alright then, when she wakes up, tell her she was right. This morning His Majesty wanted to give a reward, but I declined. After court, His Majesty actually invited me for tea and praised me for raising my children well."
Doyle said Patrick had raised all his children well, and even gave Patrick some of his favorite tea as a reward.
Patrick finally understood—Doyle had punished his own sons Marshall and Yosef, and then rewarded Patrick, an outsider, over this incident. Wouldn't that tell everyone that Marshall and Yosef were useless?
Good thing Patrick hadn't been greedy for credit.
Emma watched Patrick walk away with big strides, full of energy, and couldn't help but snort.
Without Cressida, this family would fall apart sooner or later!
Emma was about to enter the courtyard when someone called her.
"Emma!" It was Jack.
Jack was Della's brother. He now worked in the front yard managing purchases—a well-paid position that Cressida had given him.
Emma put on an appropriate smile: "Ms. Hamilton is resting and not seeing anyone."
Jack said: "I'm not here for Ms. Hamilton. I'm... I'm here for you, Emma. Can we talk privately?"
Emma looked at him suspiciously and only moved a couple steps to the side, under the white wall with flower shadows.
"What is it? Say it."
"I heard from Della that you won't, won't be with me. Is there something about me that's not good enough for you? Emma, I don't mean anything bad—I promise I'll treat you well."
Hearing Jack's words, Emma immediately frowned: "Jack, I thought having Della tell you would be clear enough, but I have to say it again—I won't be with you. I don't like you!"
Jack was shocked: "Why? Then why did you ask Della to give me those sweets you made?"
Emma sighed: "I was just being friendly with Della. I gave them to her to eat, and sent some to you too while I was at it."
"Don't come looking for me about this anymore. I could never be with you, and I don't want to leave Ms. Hamilton to get married. Go now. If Ms. Hamilton finds out you came here about this, she'll definitely be angry."
Emma turned to leave.
But Jack chased after her and shoved jewelry into her hand.
"Emma! Think about it more. Who else would care for you like this? Take this—I'll buy you even nicer things."
Emma couldn't break free and threw the jewelry away: "What are you doing? If you keep this up, I'll call someone."
With that, she turned and hurried away.
Jack looked down and saw the jewelry's core had shattered into pieces.
He immediately looked lost, picked up the pieces, and walked away dejected.
After Emma returned to the room, she saw Cressida resting.
Last night Cressida had gone to Prince Palace on her own to explain things to Miguel, and came back very late.
Emma added some incense to the brazier in Cressida's room and didn't think much about what had just happened.
That night.
Jack called some of the Hamilton family servants he was friendly with to drink.
When he was drunk, he couldn't help looking at the broken jewelry and beating his chest in grief.
Fox, who managed the stables, saw him like this and asked: "Jack, what's wrong? If you have troubles, tell us!"
Jack waved his hand: "You can't help with this. The person I like doesn't like me back."
Fox clicked his tongue: "You're the purchasing manager now—so many people envy your job. And your sister Della is the head manager in the kitchen who has the final say. Who would dare not like you? Do they not want to work here anymore?"
Others joined in: "Tell us who it is, and we'll give her trouble!"
Jack glared: "Stop fooling around! You dare mess with her? She's... she's one of Ms. Hamilton's people."
He was drunk and slurring his words.
Fox pressed: "Who? Ms. Hamilton has lots of maids, and not many pretty ones. They're not good enough for you."
"Don't talk about Emma like that!" With Fox's prodding, Jack spilled everything, cursing drunkenly: "She's the best. I... I just like her, but she looks down on me. Too bad I'm just a servant my whole life. Why am I just a servant!"
Jack slapped himself hard twice.
Fox's eyes shifted.
Two quiet days passed.
As Clio was feeding Michael medicine, Nanny came in.
"Mrs. Clio Hamilton, Fox from the stables wants to see you."
"No," Clio said irritably. "What's his status that he can request to see me?"
Nanny paused and whispered a few words in Clio's ear.
Clio immediately put down the medicine bowl: "Really?"
Nanny nodded: "If Ms. Cressida Hamilton has taken control of the household, it would explain your prolonged illness."
"That bitch Cressida has such deep schemes—who would have thought? And that damned servant Della dares to harm me," Clio slammed the table. "Bring Fox in."