My Unchosen Ex Chases Reborn Me (Soren and Fiona) novel Chapter 96

Chapter 96 Bonds Of Concern

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Florence suddenly leaned closer, voice lowered like the hush before a curtain falls. “Tell me— do you think Serena tripped her on purpose today?”

Fiona, not being directly involved, dared not speculate. Even if she nurtured a suspicion, prudence urged her to swallow it, so she simply replied that she truly had no idea.

Florence straightened, lips tightening. “Then we’ll wait and see how Roxanne chooses to respond.”

As it turned out, Roxanne entertained no wish to pursue the matter, and the incident slipped quietly into yesterday.

Yet news of her injury inside the Imperial Palace traveled faster than sparrows. Within hours, young ladies from every noble house had arranged sympathetic visits.

Mindful of courtesy, Fiona brought Lilith along for a call on the Thankerton family.

They arrived to find Penelope already seated in the drawing room, with Soren standing dutifully at her side. Overwhelmed by the gathering, Roxanne offered only a fleeting smile. “Fiona, Lilith, do sit for a while and have some tea.”

Also present were Dorothy and Mindy.

Soren never once allowed his gaze to drift toward Fiona; in Roxanne’s presence, he performed the part of a polite stranger.

Fiona lifted her cup, letting the jasmine steam veil her expression. So this was the turning point, she mused. In her previous life, Serena had been married off to some distant province soon after this injury. Perhaps the Zonfrillo Estate and the Thankerton house had joined forces to see her punished.

Mindful of the strict lines dividing young men and women, Soren excused himself before long. As he crossed the threshold, however, his eyes lingered on Fiona for the briefest heartbeat–no warmth, no frost–then he was gone.

Penelope clasped Roxanne’s hand as though it were her own child’s. “Apply that ointment. every single day,” she instructed. “If the jar empties, send someone to my household–I will make sure you have more.”

Roxanne’s eyes

The

shimmered red with gratitude. “Your Highness, I never meant to trouble you…”

presence of

guests, however, choked the rest of her confession before it reached open air.

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10:32 Sat, Oct 11

Chapter 96 Bonds Of Concern

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“Nonsense, silly girl,” Penelope murmured, voice thick with tenderness. “Heal that ankle first. Your mother and I will shoulder all other worries for you.”

Even after Fiona and Lilith had taken their leave, Penelope remained, hovering by Roxanne’s couch with steadfast patience.

During the carriage ride home, Lilith’s envy slipped out in a sigh. “Her Highness truly dotes on Roxanne,” she said, eyes dreamy. “She is distant with everyone else, yet so warm toward her.”

Fiona ruffled Lilith’s hair. “One day, someone will cherish you just as dearly.”

Lilith shook her head, seriousness eclipsing her youthful face. “I’d rather someone cherish you that way, Fiona. Aunt Meryl raised you like porcelain in her palm; only a man who does the same is worthy of you.”

Fiona laughed, teasing. “Oh? Then tell me–who among the young gentlemen meets your exacting standards?”

Lilith sat in the west veranda, fingers idly tracing the rim of her teacup, when Xavier’s name drifted back to her thoughts. She had once dismissed his modest lineage, thinking he wasn’t good enough for Fiona, yet Junbert’s commission now gilded his prospects with royal favor.

Across the courtyard, Fiona found herself picturing Xavier on the harsh slopes of Mount Chillmont, musket smoke in his eyes, winter dust whitening his cloak. I wonder whether he is eating well, or even sleeping at all.

No sooner had Fiona’s mind turned to him than a rider arrived, delivering Zachary’s reply from Junbert–within those folded pages, Xavier’s name appeared again.

Zachary had been in that distant frontier barely half a month. Many in court whispered His Majesty had exiled him, so the local garrison treated him coldly, yet Xavier chose that same fortnight to call on him first.

Neither servile nor aloof, Xavier stood openly at Zachary’s door, seeming unconcerned with gossip, and courteously brought crates of staples and medicaments he had purchased himself.

Their conversation, Zachary wrote, flowed with an ease that felt like kinship rather than

courtesy.

Had they met oftener, Zachary joked, he would have sworn they were old comrades–some meetings, it seems, are forged to feel inevitable.

So his letter brimmed with praise: a man’s character, he concluded, is revealed most starkly when duty presses close.

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Chapter 96 Bonds Of Concern

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