Chapter 489

• I had Violet discreetly assign someone to keep tabs on Samuel for a few days. Despite everything, he was still that once-renowned scholar the kind who’d once been the favorite of the family’s matriarch and carried ambitions as lofty as ever.
• In the past week, Samuel had been dragging around his articles, trying to get them in front of the right people the kind who could actually bring about change. He went to the National Academy, hoping someone there would hear him out, maybe even escalate his findings to the king. But no one gave him the time of day anymore.
• He was convinced it was jealousy that they envied his talent. But the truth was far harsher. At every turn, Samuel faced cold shoulders. He even tried the Academy of Wisdom, but the reception was the same: deliberate avoidance.