Carissa left the academy with Zoey. Instead of riding her own horse, she had someone lead it while she sat in Zoey''s carriage. Carissa had two things to tell her.


    First, she said, "Isaac selected some goods that weren''t of the best quality and sold them. The money from the sales wasn''t converted to banknotes, and it''s all been stored in the cer at Glimmering Tower."


    "It''s what the Earl of Silverstone''s family owes him. He should feel free to spend it. I''ve put some aside as well, just in case," Zoey softly replied.


    "He won''t spend it. He doesn''t need the money," Carissa said.


    Then, she moved on to the second topic, exining, "As for Celeste, His Majesty has confirmed her identity. He knows she''s taken a woman from Lunvale as her godmother. As for the surname Spencer, it''s from a branch of the Spencer family in Ebonflow. They do business in Lunvale as well.


    "The person you found out she was conspiring with is likely from the Spencer family. It would be better if His Majesty moved against them. But if he doesn''t, your family could be entangled in a more dangerous and difficult situation."


    Carissa withheld key details, such as the investigation into the private army in Lunvale. These were things that couldn''t be revealed.


    She only offered this information to prepare Zoey. If Oliver changed his mind now, the Earl of Silverstone''s family could still find a way to avoid the worst oue. At most, they would lose their noble title, but that wouldn''t be the worst case. It all depended on whether Zoey could manage to change Oliver''s mind.


    After hearing this, Zoey just nodded silently without saying anything.


    With that, Carissa knew Zoey had done her best, but Oliver hadn''t listened to her. She patted Zoey''s hand but didn''t offer anyforting words. She got off the carriage halfway and rode back to her residence.


    Some things changed so gradually that people ended up epting them without even realizing it.


    For example, when Carissa used to ride through the streets in official attire, themon people would stare at her with all kinds of looks. But now, it seemed they''d gotten used to it, and some even greeted her with a smile. They had epted such an unconventional princess consort, but still hadn''t fully epted such an unconventional woman.


    The next evening, the matter of Jocelyn''s expulsion reached


    Malcolm''s ears. However, neither Vera nor@Jocelyn exined the full truth. They only said that several young women had argued about something and Carissa had stepped into settle it, resulting in Jocelyn being expelled.


    Malcolm was usually a careful person, but in recent years, he had be arrogant and overconfident in the Quinton family''s upbringing. He believed his rtives would never do anything out of line.


    And when Jocelyn tearfully exined that she had argued with the other youngdies to protect his reputation, it stirred a deep sense of shame and indignation within him, making him lose all sense of reason.


    His affair with a mistress, despite all his efforts to keep it quiet, always seemed to find its way into public gossip. It was a persistent thorn in his side that challenged his authority.


    He believed Carissa was deliberately targeting him, since she had personally handled the arrangements for Henry''s concubines and their children, which led Marjorie to discover his affair.


    Lately, Marjorie had been cold and distant. She still managed the household, but was clearly less involved than before.


    Because of these issues, he never doubted what Jocelyn and Vera said.


    But the mother-daughter pair never expected him to seek out Carissa to defend them, since he would usually ignore these matters in the past. This time, they miscalcted by making Malcolm believe that Carissa wasn''t targeting Jocelyn, but him.


    Malcolm might not care enough to defend the fourth branch of his family, but he would go to great lengths to defend his own honor.


    Thus, he made the second greatest


    mistake of his life-he sent one of his former students to lodge a formalint against Carissa, using her of bias and of using her position as the headmistress of Gracewood Women''s Academy to target the Quinton family


    Though Malcolm didn''t personally submit the petition, it was well known at court that the student was his.


    At first, the women''s academy


    hadn''t drawn much attention from the officials. Sending their daughters there was just a way to show


    respect to the queen


    since


    she had decreed its establishment. It was more about showing respect to her than anything else


    But now, one of Malcolm''s students had lodged a formalint against Carissa, and it involved Gracewood Women''s Academy. Oddly enough, people started seeing the academy in a new light.


    Salvadorpletely ignored it, acting as if he hadn''t heard. After a brief nce across the hall, he asked, "Is there anything else to report?"


    Hisplete disregard was a direct p in Malcolm''s face. The court fell silent for a moment before other officials began to step forward to report their own matters.