Provoking a Graceful Bloom Novel

---- Chapter 218 Preposterous! Utterly presumptuous! Under Colin's stern glare, Chloe at last broke down, bawling as she explained, "I didn't kill the wild boar. | saw it lying there, struggling. No one came to claim it, so | rode up and shot its leg so my people could fetch it." "At the time, my aunt and | were chatting not far off. We were only a step too late to pick it up. We were speaking nearby, you could hardly have missed us! And yet, you dared to claim the advantage for yourself!" Selena retorted, her teasing smile vanishing. Her gaze turned cold and unforgiving, fixed on Chloe.

"Tell me, then. By what presumption did you think you could steal from the Duke of Blackmoor's household? Did you believe we had no one to defend our name?" Chloe could only weep, her voice failing her. Colin kept his head bowed and said nothing. Selena had not been mistaken. Until this morning, one might have thought there was no one of skill in the Duke of Blackmoor's family. But after today, who would dare think so again? ---- The duke's household was filled with masters and talented individuals. Who would claim it lacked capable hands?

And who could guarantee that their team could bag so much prey in less than a quarter of an hour? It was beyond imagination! Selena narrowed her eyes. Her voice was low, yet each word cut cleanly through the hush that fell over the field. "In the past, my family didn't join the competition because we chose not to. It was not that we couldn't. From this day forward, whoever dares to wrong the Duke of Blackmoor's household shall learn that we won't let such slights pass.

Even if it costs us everything, we shall never let them go unpunished." She waved her hand, icily concluding, "Let us be gone." And just like that, they departed in a whirlwind of motion. Those left behind to watch the spectacle had come merely for amusement, yet by the end, each found themselves strangely tense, their hearts tightly wound. After today, who would dare claim that the Duke of Blackmoor's household was empty of talent? Surely, that was the real reason behind Selena's brazen show of arrogance. That day marked the first round of the Autumn Hunt.

---- Ten teams had qualified, including the teams of Nathaniel, Frederick, and Elias. Theodore's and Zachary's contingents were also among them. Oliver's team also made it, though that was hardly surprising. The team led by Edward drew particular attention. The eighth prince had long presented a modest, even humble front in public. In the presence of princes and nobles, he had always carried himself with restraint, conscious of his mother's humble origins.

But recently, word had spread that he often visited Serenity Palace to see Adelaide, frequently accompanying her own son in lessons of letters and martial arts training, as if he were the boy's true brother. Rumor had it that Adelaide intended to raise Edward in her residence. Whether this was true remained uncertain, as no edict from Wilfred had been issued yet. Still, whispers rarely sprang from nothing. It seemed that the eighth prince might one day rise to lead Adelaide's faction, and the ministers were beginning to regard him with newfound attention.

That evening, Edward came and knocked on the wooden door of the Duke of Blackmoor's team's camp. ---- "Lonly wish to thank Lady Campbell, nothing more," he said. Accompanied by Sebastian, Edward paused before the wooden curtain of Selena's tent. Sebastian called out, "Lena, the eighth prince is here to see you." Inside, Selena didn't make a sound. "Lena?" Sebastian furrowed his brow, a flicker of unease crossing his mind. "Lena, are you there?"