Slandering

"About your sister…," Katherine Richmond started the conversation once the drama of the Whittemore husband and wife was over.

At some point, they had realized there were guests in the same room and then they scolded Cecilia Whittemore for not having enough common sense to take the guests away.

Katherine realized what a dysfunctional family she had stepped into and this drama could be really useful to her and her family in the near future. The ducal families were not on the best terms to begin with and there was a rivalry among them to send their daughters to be the crown princess.

Anyway, she had been calmly sipping tea for she could not eat snacks. She had to watch her weight too. She was already on her third cup of the tea.

"What about her?" Cecilia snapped back in an annoyed tone. The one thing she really hated was to talk about her suddenly multi-talented younger sister who was taking the limelight away from herself.

"She is not really Emmeline Whittemore, is she? Is she some substitute or something, perhaps with the same face? She seems too different from the stories I have heard about her," Katherine said as she pondered what had happened.

It was impossible for someone to suddenly change this much after just one accident. Could it be that the original Emmeline died and someone else took her place? But someone had to find the duplicate her first. Did that not mean someone within the family was conspiring against Whittemores?

If she could find this insider, that would be for the best. And if this person controlled the fake Emmeline Whittemore, then she could later bring that cunning fox to her family and let her work for them.

Katherine was feeling too proud of herself. This was a perfect plan, something that would get approval from her dad too. She was going to win more resources for herself from her family then!

"Are you accusing us of bringing in a fake Emmeline Whittemore and deceive the royal family, lady Richmond?" Cecilia barked. This wench, did she think she could embroil the Whittemores with her ridiculous speculations just like that?

Emmeline could go down, but not her. She had a bright future ahead. Oh, Cecilia so wanted to throw this girl in front of her out of the castle. She clenched her fists in rage. Why was everyone so hell bent on making her angry all the time?

"I-I did not mean it like that," Katherine fumbled. She did not realize that her words would be taken like this. It was traitorous to even think about tricking the royal family. Her eyes shifted left and right for she suddenly had no idea how to handle this situation. Had she dug her own grave?

Cecilia smirked. This girl was four years too young than her to play the game of politics. She crossed her arms and spoke in a serious tone, "I will tell you a secret Lady Richmond. One should keep their mouth shut if they don't know better," she sipped the tea herself, now feeling much confident. She had this Richmond chick under her thumb now.

"I know my family must look like a bunch of clowns put together right now, but that girl you are looking down upon, she has very good chances to become the crown princess. I would suggest you put in more efforts if you want that title rather than trying to speculate on things that can never be true," she continued.

"L-Lady Whittemore, are you not slandering me right now? I was just thinking out loud," Katherine put her cup on the table in front of her with force, clinking the porcelain crockery hard. The servants came running towards them and found that the cup had developed cracks in it.

"Yes, and your thinking out loud could have just destroyed my family had there been any royal servants here. Anyway, if you were looking for scoops, I think you had enough findings for a day. Let's head to the east wing and see what others are doing. You would want to keep an eye on the crown prince for yourself, would you not?" Cecilia finally found the way to get rid of this girl who had been left to her to entertain.

Katherine immediately got up. She was also not enjoying Cecilia's company at all. It was also a good opportunity to see why the crown prince was suddenly so interested in that kid.

----------

"Elder sister!" Chris came out of nowhere suddenly when they entered Emmeline's makeshift living room. All sweaty from his training, he hugged his sister. In a week, his body had started seeing growth. He was not the scrawny little guy anymore.

Kim Su Won had been too busy these days to keep a watch on the little guy. Suddenly, he did not seem like the cute little kid whose cheeks she liked to squish. The baby fat was suddenly going away and his jaw had started to become chiseled.

Kim Su Won looked at him proudly, "Look at you Chris, you have transformed in just one week," she held him by his shoulders and measured him up and down.

Chris felt shy with such scrutiny but he was enjoying such attention. He had to work even harder in order to be able to protect his one and only sister.

"You kid, get away from your sister. Did you even realize how dirty you are at the moment? See, you ruined her dress," Ivan put a finger on Chris's forehead and pushed him back. The pastel colored dress of Emmeline was indeed soiled.

"I-I am so sorry sister," Chris's eyes teared up as he stepped forward to dust her clothes for her but was stopped by Ivan.

"Who is this kid?" Prince Aaron asked as he titled his head. He had not heard about any other kids in the family and actually always wondered why the other concubines were not producing any kids for all these years. He had come to the conclusion that Audrey was mixing some drug in their food to make them infertile.

And now this kid popped out of nowhere? Why was the presence of this kid not reported to him? He glared at Timothy for his incompetence.

Timothy lowered his gaze and head in apology. He had no idea how his spies did not get information on this kid. From the looks of it, he seemed to be as neglected as Emmeline Whittemore.

"This is Christopher Whittemore, your highness! Our younger brother," Kim Su Won introduced the kid and bowed his head forcefully in front of the crown prince.

"Younger brother?!" Aaron acted as if he had no idea. He had already deduced everything once he saw the difference in the hair color and the kid calling Emmeline his sister.

"Ah! Yes. He is our younger brother," Kim Su Won scratched her chin in embarrassment. How was she to explain it if the crown prince asked for details?

"Oh well! Young man, are you practicing for knighthood? I see your uniform looks like the training clothes," Aaron stooped to Chris's level and looked him in his eyes.

"Your highness, I am preparing to work for the country and my sister. I hope you will provide your encouragement as the best swordsman in the kingdom," Chris knelt down on one knee, as was the custom of Krislabet, perfectly executing his etiquettes.

"Amazing! You look rather quite young, Christopher Whittemore. I am impressed with your mannerism. I hope you will do your best to protect your sister in the future," Aaron replied, patting the shoulders of the young knight in training.

Chris's eyes sparkled instantly on having been touched and praised by his idol. But why did the prince not mention the kingdom? Had his duty already been decided?

"Your highness, let's have a seat. Anna, prepare the snacks and games!" Kim Su Won ordered her maid. Anna nodded and scurried off to get them things.

"Games?" Ivan and Alex looked perplexed. Why would they need games here? If his highness had graced them with his presence, should they not be discussing politics or something now?

"Yes, I have developed a few 'board games' to pass my time. I was wondering if you all would play with me and give me your opinion," she replied, grinning cheekily.