Her Graceful War Song by Summer's Blaze

Chapter 1075

The next day, Carissa woke as if nothing had happened. She took up her riding crop and headed out the door, her demeanor calm and unbothered. Meanwhile, Barrett was nursing severe injuries and had taken a leave of absence.

After learning the full story, Salvador was livid.

"If he'd truly been loyal, he wouldn't have treated Carissa that way in the first place! And now, injuring himself over a criminal? Neglecting his duties? Disregarding the reputation of his family? He's neither loyal nor devoted. What use is he? A disgrace through and through."

Derek observed the situation and knew exactly why the king had been reluctant to abandon Barrett despite repeated offenses. One reason was out of respect for the late General Matthias Warren. Another was to use him to control the Mystic Army. Lastly, it was difficult to remove him right away without affecting the generals at Victory Pass.

But with the Westhaven forces retreating, Derek suspected the king's patience was running thin.

As expected, when court convened that day, the officials gathered outside with grievances. Derek had waited deliberately for the Oversight Minister, Irvin, and casually mentioned that Salvador had grown angry over Barrett's latest misconduct.

Ever the righteous man, Irvin pressed for details. Derek refrained from saying much, but Irvin was resourceful and had no trouble uncovering the truth. Within half a day, news reached him-Barrett had been distraught over Aurora's punishment by the Westhaven forces and had deliberately injured himself.

It was a disgrace Irvin couldn't tolerate. At the Oversight Department, he wasted no time railing against Barrett.

"How shameful!" Irvin bellowed. "As a son, he dishonors his family. As an official, he neglects his duties and squanders His Majesty's trust. If he's so intent on dying for that criminal, why doesn't he just do it and be done with it? At least he'd stop embarrassing the court!" Once he finished speaking, he immediately sat at his desk and started writing a formal complaint to Salvador.

how Barrett's behavior might embolden the Westhaven forces, joined in. For three days, reports

value in Barrett, but the fact that he had slammed into a

continuous complaints, Barrett's precarious position finally crumbled. Salvador issued an edict to remove him from his post and ordered him to reflect on his

role, and Galen, in turn, took over Kevin's previous post. Though Galen remained subordinate

in stunned silence in a side hall. Minutes passed, then hours, yet she didn't

several times, as though she wanted to speak, but no words

her to her core. It left her heartbroken, though not for the reasons

she had known in her life, Barrett was the one she respected the least. But there had been a time, long ago, when she had genuinely been drawn to

seeing him willing to harm himself so drastically for Aurora, she understood one thing with chilling clarity-this man was beyond saving.

one, she divorced, there was little chance she would marry again. Even if she did, she wouldn't be able to find a good match. As she had once said about Serena what was left

She was the third daughter of the Earl of

to a man who'd lost his position, a man who was nothing more than a pile of useless mud? The thought was

Barrett's room. She

when Barrett heard he'd been dismissed from his post, he didn't look angry or upset. Instead, he sighed as though a weight had been

to leave," he said calmly, "then leave. Take

a choked sob. "You're

gaze, his voice steady and detached. "You've suffered enough