Family Meeting

" Good. She should stay there." The Duke of Sealen whispered as Eden looked at the floor. Akeem stood next to Eden and was mostly looking around the room. The Duke rubbed his face as he looked up at his son. "Where is your mother?"

Eden shrugged his shoulders. "I have no clue. I came to your study right away."

The Duke of Sealen groaned while he rubbed his forehead."I don't know if her being out is a good thing or a bad thing."

Akeem hummed. "Probably a bad thing." The Duke and Eden looked at him. "No worries. One of my shadows is following her."

Eden's eyes narrowed at Akeem. His expression is stoic as ever. "One of your trusted ones, I hope."

Akeem nodded his head. "Of course. Elov Six and Four are the ones that I trust with Demi."

The Duke narrowed his eyes at Akeem. "Then who's watching my daughter now?"

Akeem blinked at him before smiling at the Old Duke. "Relax. That will be the Valtis Shadows that protect Daisy. Do you really think I'll leave my princess without protection? You should trust me more, Father-in-Law."

The Duke only groaned as he rubbed his head. " Please don't call me father-in-law. She didn't agree to marry you yet." Akeem let out a laugh as The Duke of Sealen rubbed his head. "Then again. It might as well be an arranged marriage due to Demi's results."

Akeem rubbed the back of his neck as Eden sighed. "So besides talking about Mother's plans then the topic is about Demi's and Daisy's magic results. What do you need to see me about?" Eden asked the Duke. His father looked at Eden with a deep frown before sighing.

"I'm going to be stepping down as Duke." The Duke of Sealen said while looking out the window. Eden blinked at his father as Akeem cocked his head.

"No offense, Father but I always figured that you'd rather die than to give up your seat." Eden said which made The Duke look at Eden blankly. "What? You can't just sit there and tell me that you don't have that air about you."

Akeem hummed. " Brother-in-law is right. You do have that air about you?"

The Duke narrowed his eyes at Akeem. "I don't need to hear that from an outsider like you."

"Am I really an outsider? I'm about to be part of this family very soon." Akeem said with a huge smile. The Duke rolled his eyes as Eden sighed.

Eden cleared his throat as he looked at his father. "Now, Father? What's with this sudden decision? It is very unlike you." Akeem looked like he wanted to say something but one glare from Eden shut him up. Eden looked back at his father who was looking out the window. "Father. Is there something I should know?"

"This house will soon fall to ruin if I remain the head of the family." The Duke said. Eden's eyes widened in surprise as Akeem frowned deeply. The duke sighed and took a seat on a nearby armchair. "With Daisy's magic levels and stats coming to light, I'm pretty sure many other things will come out too."

Eden blinked at his father before looking at Akeem. "You knew he was going to do this?"

" It was one of his many choices." Akeem said with a shrug. He looked at the older man. "After all, your mother has done some shady dealings in his name. His other option was to throw both her and your sister out."

Eden sighed. "But he didn't want to seem like a heartless man. Also, Mila is currently the crown princess, it'll make him look even worse." The Duke didn't say anything as Eden sighed heavily. "How long have you known?"

The Duke looked at Eden before looking outside again. It was starting to rain as he looked down at the garden. "Months before the announcement for crown prince and princess." Eden rubbed his forehead as Akeem watched the older man's back.

Eden walked over to his father. He glared at his father. "Father, what kind of shady deal did Mother make? Why in the hell you didn't say anything?"

"Many. I thought this would be prolonged for the longest time but I saw orders for light magic stones…" The Duke started out. Eden frowned deeply as Akeem rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Light stone? Why would…" Eden's eyes widened in realization before groaning. "It's for Mila."

Akeem looked at Eden and raised an eyebrow at him. "Mila? What does your other sister have to do with Light Stones?"

" Mother will do anything for Mila. Anything. She didn't care much for me because I was just her meal ticket. Abidemi wasn't her blood, just another child from a late wife. Mila, however, was her everything."

The Duke nodded his head. "She would often buy that child clothes, shoes, toys, and jewelry. I'm pretty sure Freya would give her the moon if she was able to."

"And she brought light stones for Mila because…"Akeem started out.

"Mila is supposed to be a powerful Light User." The Duke explained which made Eden and Akeem look at his back. Eden decided to take a seat as The Duke turned around. "Yet the child is anything but that."

"Father, when did this whole thing start?" Eden asked him. The Duke sighed.

"It's a very long story and we'll be here all night." The Duke said to Eden. Eden glared at his father as The Duke looked away. " All I know, is it was when Mila first met Prince Theodore and she suddenly wanted to become a crown princess. You were still living in the Sunflower Mansion."

"So you mean to tell me that Mila doesn't have powerful light magic?" Eden asked his father.

The Duke frowned. "I don't think the child even has light magic at all."

Akeem closed his eyes. "Isn't it hard to sense Light and Dark magic? You usually don't know it unless you go to a temple. It's not like the other elements where people sense a small bit of it."

"There are other characteristics that powerful light users have but Mila didn't show." The Duke said with a deep frown. He closed his eyes. Akeem blinked from The Duke's expression as Eden shook his head. "You won't notice it unless you live with one."

It was quiet for a long while as Akeem cleared his throat. "So the light stones?"

"It's to hide the fact that Mila can't use magic at all." The Duke explained.

Akeem arched an eyebrow. "Does that wife of yours know that's not how things work? Has she ever gotten Mila's magic tested at the temple?"

The Duke sighed. "The records said that she did but the temple Freya had Mila tested in had burned to the ground and everyone was killed."

"Great. That kind of Shady dealings." Akeem said while sighing. Akeem looked at the Duke with narrowed eyes and a deep frown. "How in the seven hells did this whole thing get past you? Weren't you paying attention, Duke of Sealen?"

"I didn't think that this would go this far." The Duke said to the two. "I also didn't think that Daisy's powers would be revealed. Nor did I think that Mila or Theodore would be crown prince and princess for too long."

"And you think just stepping down will just fix things?" Eden asked his father. "Father, you have turned a blind eye to Mother's antics. It will take more than just you stepping down to keep this household from ruin."

The Duke sighed as he looked away from Eden. "Which is why I'm divorcing her as well?"

Eden groaned. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as Akeem hummed. "Still doesn't change the fact that we'll lose everything because of this. Because you could've stopped Mother from doing anything she wanted for Mila. You could've put a stop to it."

"I'm aware of that, Eden."The Duke said. His tone was low and emotionless.

"If you weren't so uptight with your damned image…" Eden groaned and rubbed the back of his head. The Duke sighed as he looked away for his son.

"I had other ways of fixing it." The Duke said.

Akeem looked at The Duke with an arched eyebrow. "And how were you planning to fix things?"

"Well, I could help him for one." a monotone voice spoke out. Eden and Akeem turned their heads to see that the Duchess of Blacklake had entered the room. The Duke of Sealen took a seat, almost sinking into his chair. The Duchess looked at Eden and Akeem. "Your Highness and Lord Eden, it's nice to see you again."

"Duchess Blake." he muttered as Blake walked into the study.

The Duke glared at the Duchess with a dark frown. "I'm not giving Abidemi to you she's…"

"Relax, Wyatt. I don't want your lovely daughter." Blake said. Wyatt glared at her.

"Then why make the deal." Wyatt asked. Blake smirked.

"I merely want to see that woman squirm." Blake said with a small shrug. "Of course, there's a small part of me that wants Abidemi as my daughter but she'll be wasted on someone like Logan."

Akeem blinked at Blake. "You're really hard on your son."

Blake huffed. "Unlike Wyatt's wife, I'm perfectly aware of my older child's obvious shortcomings. Abidemi is too good for Logan. In fact, any lady will be too good for my son."

Akeem blinked and muttered. "Harsh woman."

" But what she said isn't untrue." Eden said quietly as he looked at Blake. She was watching him with dark eyes and a small smirk. "Logan is the weakest link of the Blacklake household despite being the oldest and being a legitimate heir."

"Legitimate heir?" Akeem asked Eden.

"Asher, my second son, was illegitimate but he's much more capable than Logan." Blake said automatically. She had warmth in her eyes. "I took him in when he was just a toddler. He is such an ambitious child and very bright as well. I told River as much but he's still holding out for Logan."

Wyatt sighed as he glared at Blake. "Blake. State your business. How can you help save this house from falling into possible ruin?"

Blake before letting out a long sigh. "Impatient, aren't you Wyatt? I swear you've gotten less bearable since Nini died." Wyatt glared at her which made Blake sigh. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned her."

"State, your business." Wyatt said darkly. Blake sighed.

" I know a way to save The House of Sealen, well most of it." Blake said to Wyatt.

Wyatt glared at Blake. "Most of it?"

Blake sighed. "Well, you still have to step down as head of the household. You still have to divorce Freya. The decisions Eden will make will help. All these are great steps but this next step guarantees that the Sealen Household will survive and grow stronger for years to come."

Wyatt narrowed his eyes at Blake. "What is it?"

Blake smirked. "You'll have to tell the king about Freya's crimes."