Chapter 46

Salvador was quite surprised to hear that Kyle had sent the letter. He immediately ordered Derek to give it to him.

As he read, he recognized the handwriting—it did appear to be Kyle's. Having received a calligraphy piece from Kyle when he was crown prince, he was familiar with his script.

The letter mostly detailed Kyle's travels, but the last part was different:

[After climbing the Rocky Mountains, I saw thousands of Westhaven soldiers, all dressed in Sandorian uniforms. They were carrying provisions. Sandoria's third prince personally welcomed them into the territory.

This puzzles me greatly. Is Westhaven allying with Sandoria? But why would they bring nearly 300,000 soldiers into Sandoria? I trailed them quietly and found that they were heading towards the Southern Frontier battlefield.

I fear they might be planning to attack our troops on the Southern Frontier. This is a serious matter. Please consider reporting this to the King]

Carissa kept her head down, feeling uneasy. She worried the King might notice something was amiss.

After reading, Salvador asked Derek to bring Kyle's calligraphy for comparison. The handwriting was indeed similar.

However, Salvador, with his deep love for calligraphy and thorough understanding of scripts, noticed that while the handwriting resembled Kyle's, it also bore signs of deliberate imitation.

Moreover, it was impossible for Kyle to have actually written this letter in Sandoria. Sandoria did not use this type of paper; it was produced in Starhaven. Since Sandoria's invasion of the Southern Frontier, the two countries had ceased trade, making this paper unavailable to Sandoria.

Upon closer inspection of the ink's scent, he confirmed it was a product from the Lotus Library in the capital. Though the aroma wasn't extraordinary, he had frequently purchased Lotus Library inks as crown prince and could easily identify it.

Therefore, the letter was a forgery.

Carissa could tell from the King's expression that he had seen through the deception. He was wise and capable, and held Kyle in high regard, so he must have closely studied Kyle's calligraphy.

She hadn't had time to devise a better plan; deploying the reinforcements couldn't be delayed even a day.

Salvador turned to her with a severe expression.

"Do you realize that this forged letter could cost you your head? There's a limit to this nonsense! You asked for the divorce yourself, and now you're unhappy? What do you really want? You're a disciple of the Pathfinders Guild. Aren't you afraid of bringing shame to your guild by acting this way? Do you want to disgrace your guild with your actions?"

The King's interrogation left Carissa no choice but to confess.

+15 BONUS

"Your Majesty, I admit the letter is fake. You may punish me as you see fit, but the information in the letter is true. I swear on my life!"

"Nonsense!"

Salvador slammed his desk, his expression both stern and disappointed.

"Now that you're the only one left in the Duke of Northwatch's family, should I take your life and leave the Duke's lineage extinct?

Do you not understand my intentions? I broke tradition to allow your future husband to inherit the title, ensuring you a life of honor and wealth! This was earned by your father and brother's sacrifices. How can you squander it like this? Forging this letter to send more troops—do you want Barrett and Aurora back on the Southern Frontier battlefield? The battlefield is dangerous—do you wish for them to die there?

Carissa, how did you become like this? Must you make yourself so detestable?"

The scolding, laced with humiliation, made Carissa's cheeks flush and her ears burn. "Your Majesty, I did forge the letter, and the information wasn't from my eldest senior. It was sent to me by my second senior via carrier pigeon. I claimed it was from my eldest senior because I feared you wouldn't believe my second senior…"

"Enough!" The King's face grew colder. "This is absurd! Your second senior is just a woman. Even if she knows martial arts, how could she understand military matters or infiltrate Sandoria to learn about Westhaven's forces?"

Carissa knew he would think this way. Ultimately, no method seemed to work.

"Your Majesty…"

The King cut her off, shouting, "Guards, escort Lady Sinclair back to her residence! Post guards to watch her around the clock. She is not to leave her home until the end of the year."

With that, he stood and left, his robe sweeping behind him. Carissa tried to follow, but the royal guards immediately stopped her.

The passage has been cleaned up for grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. Paragraphing has been improved for readability. The bracketed section was integrated more smoothly into the narrative. Some word choices were refined for better flow and clarity.