Provoking a Graceful Bloom Novel

---- Chapter 149 "Fey! You will hold your tongue!" Frederick thundered with fury, his eyes blazing. Did she think they were alone at Hawthorne Estate? Here, in front of all the soldiers, she spoke with a coarseness that was both shocking and intolerable. This was not mere frankness. It was a vulgarity so crude it made one's skin crawl. "Why are you shouting at me?" Freya spun around, eyes blazing. " Do you think you are the only man Selena has lain with? You fool! She has long since given herself to countless others.

You're the only one who treats her as if she were a treasure!" "That is quite enough!" Brad's eyes, red-rimmed and furious, seemed to scorch the very air. "Freya Talmar, | will allow you to insult me, but you shall not so much as cast a slur upon Lady Campbell! She is pure and virtuous. How dare someone as vile as you attempt to sully her!" "What did you say?" Freya snapped, trembling with rage. A mere deputy general had dared call her vile! How dare he! "You wretch! You dare? | will strike you dead!" She swung her long sword with deadly intent.

Were it not for Frederick's strong grip, she would have lunged at Brad without ---- hesitation. However, Brad didn't flinch and simply looked at Frederick with unshakable resolve. "Your Highness, I'm uncultured and rough by nature, yet | wouldn't sully Lady Campbell's reputation for all the world. This woman is cunning and cruel. Left unchecked within our ranks, she will become a grave danger." He bowed his head a fraction, voice low and steady as he added, "I lack the strength to slay her myself and rid our comrades of this menace.

If | cannot do that, then | can only die to prove my resolve. | therefore beseech you to grant her death, so that the safety of our men may be secured." Frederick called out, "Deputy General Lloyd!" However, it was too late. Determined to die, Brad drew his sword from his waist, then swiftly severed the veins at his own throat. "Deputy General Lloyd!" "Deputy General!" "sir!" The man toppled from his horse, collapsing into his own pool of blood. William leapt from his horse and scooped him up, but it was already too late. Life had left the deputy general's body. ---- Brad was dead.

The soldiers in the rear were yet to comprehend what had occurred, but those nearby stared at Freya with eyes blazing with murderous fury. Every one of them radiated outrage so palpable it made the air tremble. Bold though Freya was, she felt a chill run through her. Even her courage faltered under their hate-filled glares. "H-he brought this upon himself! What does this have to do with me? I-I only meant to frighten him. Who knew he was so timid?" William ground his teeth, eyes bloodshot with rage.

"Freya!" Around them, hands instinctively moved to swords at their waists, eyes glinting with a lethal resolve. Frederick had been furious already, but the soldiers' lethal intent toward Freya forced him to master his own anger with rapid precision. He looked at her, just as she opened her mouth to speak again. "Silence!" Frederick roared. "Fred, I-" "Speak again, and | swear | will kill you!" he hissed through gritted teeth. ---- In truth, it was an empty threat. He could never bring himself to harm her. However, the troops' wrath was very real.

They truly desired to strike down the woman who had driven Brad to his death. Freya glared at Frederick. Fear had begun to prick at her, yet her defiance flared brighter. "You dare not advance because they said Selena is absent? Too cowardly to act without her? So, are all the rumors true, then? That every victory you've claimed was won for you by Selena?" she spat, her chest heaving with indignation. She couldn't accept it. Selena was a wretched woman who knew nothing and could only survive by clinging to men. How dare she be compared to Freya!