The Duke's Bed Warmer

Chapter 194: The Wedding Can Wait

The fire in the room had almost died. Austin and Alina lay close together on the bed, her head resting on his chest and his arm wrapped around her.

She could feel him thinking. His heart was racing. Instead of asking him directly, she waited.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, slowly moving his fingers over her shoulders.

"Since when do you need permission to ask me anything?" Alina smiled.

"Because it is important," he replied.

She lifted her head and looked at him. Austin sat up slightly and took both of her hands.

"Do you want to marry me?"

Alina’s breath hitched and she just stared at him. It took her a few seconds to come to the realize that her delay in answering was making him anxious.

"Why are you asking? I mean...didn’t we discuss it already?"

"But we never talked about what you actually want," he said. "We fought against Arcasedia, the king, and Crane because we had king’s deadline hanging over us. We didn’t have a choice. But now that everything is over, I need to know what you want. There’s no deadline or pressure on us anymore. Do you still want to marry me? Or do you need more time?"

Of all the things she expected Austin to say, she hadn’t expected this. For months, everything about them had been about survival. They had been moving so fast that neither of them had really stopped to think.

But Austin had. He had thought about whether Alina felt pressured or whether she was only agreeing because everyone expected her to.

"Austin..."

"I just need to know," he said. "Because if you need more time, I’ll wait. I don’t want you to marry me because everyone assumes it’s the next step."

Her eyes brimmed with tears. Sometimes she forgot how thoughtful he could be. But this was the Austin she loved. The man who would rather wait forever than force her into something she wasn’t ready for.

"You idiot," she whispered.

"What?"

A tear slipped down her cheek as she laughed.

"You really thought I might not want to marry you?"

"I just wanted to know what you want."

"Austin...I love you," she replied. "You are the person who was there for me even when we barely spoke to each other. You were in every room I walked into. And somewhere along the way, I stopped being able to imagine a room without you in it."

"Is that a yes?" he asked tightening his hands around hers.

"Yes!" she laughed with tears in her eyes. "A thousand times yes!"

Austin immediately pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. Then Alina slowly pulled back.

"But...there’s something I need first."

"What?"

"I won’t marry until Cecily can stand beside me," she said. "How can we celebrate while she’s still trapped in there?"

Austin looked at her with overwhelming gratitude. Cecily was his sister, his responsibility. He was the one who had made the promise to her. But he was grateful for having Alina in his life who considered her as her own sister.

"We will wait," he said. "For as long as it takes. And we’ll marry with Cecily standing right beside you."

The next morning, Austin was already in his study when Harrington arrived with the morning dispatches, catching up on the old reports.

"Harrington," Austin said without looking up. "You mentioned there is something important I need to see yesterday. What is it?"

"Give me a minute, Your Grace," Harrington left and returned minutes later carrying an old leather ledger.

"Open the marked page," Harrington said.

Austin opened the page and found records of the quarterly payments for fifteen years. The recipient name was listed as: M.Voss.

He froze. The same M.Voss he had been trying to find for years, and who was related to Alina’s father debt.

"How long do these payments go?" Austin asked.

"The earliest entry is from your father’s time, Your Grace. At that time you were still a child."

"And after he died?"

"That’s something I can’t understand," Harrington said. "The payments continued even after his death."

Austin thought for a moment.

"When I inherited the title, I didn’t manage accounts for years. It was Mr. Holloway who was the accountant then, right?"

Harrington nodded.

"Mr. Holloway ran Ravenmoor until you were old enough to take full control."

"I remember he managed my father’s estate and then mine before suddenly disappearing."

"Yes, Your Grace," Harrington replied. "When I found the ledger hidden behind the collapsed shelf in the archive, I found some other documents with it."

He hesitated.

"What documents?"

"Personal correspondence," he replied. "Between your father and an unknown person."

Harrington hesitantly put the letters on his desk. Austin opened the first one and his expression darkened. Inside were the details of the women with dates and payments being moved between the states.

"It reads like a logistics operation for placing women in households under various contracts," Harrington continued.

"How many women are we talking about?"

"Eleven women in over fifteen years. The women were moved across five estates including Ravenmoor."

"Ravenmoor?"

Austin opened the other letters and froze. The list had the names of all his bed warmers. After his father’s death someone else had taken over amd was writing letters.

My father was a part of this?? He knew M.Voss?

He read the letters again and one date from five years ago caught his attention.

"Leave the letters and the ledger," he ordered. "Don’t say anything to anyone."

"Understood."

After Harrington left, Austin pulled the old fire investigation files from his locked cabinet. He spread them across his desk beside the financial ledger and began cross checking.

At the same time, Alina entered the study. She saw him surrounded by the documents and peeked at them.

"Cecily’s fire investigation records? Did you find something?" She asked, curious.

Austin nodded.

"The payments," Austin replied. "There were three unusual payments made before the fire, and all those connect to M. Voss."

Alina froze. She knew the name. She had asked her father about him and he had told her to stay away from him.

"Is this the same M.Voss we know?" she asked.

"Yes," Austin replied. "The payments were made from the same accounts that fund M.Voss. One of them was triple the normal amount. But what’s surprising is the payments immediately stopped after the fire."

Alina’s eyes widened in shock.

"You think someone was paid to do it?"

"Yes," Austin replied. "That person must have been from inside this castle who knew the guard schedules and connected to this network."

"Do you have any name?" Alina asked.

"Holloway," Austin replied. "He managed the accounts and had access to everything. He was here the night of the fire. Then after a year he fled somewhere."

"Where is he now? We need to talk to him."

"I’ve already ordered Harrington to find out about his whereabouts. We’ll know soon."