The steward's seal passed into his hands.
He straightened his spine and swept an arm toward the carved beams and painted pillars I had built for the estate:
"Rosewood and gilded dragons! This kind of gaudy excess is exactly why the estate has gone to ruin! Tear it all down within three days!
"Replace every piece with jade panels, carved with cranes, to reflect the dignity befitting a princess's household!"
I swallowed hard.
Swapping everything for jade would cost ten times what the rosewood and gold had.
The house steward winced:
"Sir, we don't have enough silver for that."
"How can the Crown Princess's Estate not have enough!"
Elmer Dickerson's brows drew together like a blade.
"Sir, the treasury has always been managed by the prince consort. Everything was under his control."
"Ha."
Elmer's expression shifted to one of grim understanding:
"The entire estate's wealth was in the hands of someone as base as Andrew? Andrew, you've treated the princess like she doesn't exist!"
"Guards."
Rosalind's voice was ice:
"Hand over the prince consort's treasury keys to Mr. Dickerson Sr."
I stared at her.
I had thought this was a passing whim. I hadn't imagined she truly intended to give my brother everything I had built.
The gold and silver I had earned for this estate over the past year filled the treasury floor to ceiling.
The moment the doors swung open, the blinding glare of gold forced Elmer back two steps.
Something flickered in his eyes.
He smothered it quickly, replacing it with disgust:
"So this is the source of the rot! This is what turned the princess's estate into a house of vulgar excess!"
He spun around and threw himself to his knees before Rosalind:
"Andrew hoarded all of this for his own indulgence, with no regard for the princess's reputation or dignity! What kind of man does that?"
He was trembling with righteous fury.
That ethereal face of his, all sharp angles and cool detachment.
Like some exiled immortal descended from the heavens.
Rosalind couldn't look away.
"From this day forward, everything in this estate falls under your authority."
Rosalind helped Elmer to his feet with her own hands.
"The money, the staff, the land, and every business venture. All of it goes to Elmer."
Everything I had built.
One sentence from the Crown Princess, and it all belonged to Elmer Dickerson.
I dropped to my knees.
"Your Highness, I request a divorce."
Rosalind stiffened.