[Music Recommendation: The Royal Affair ~ Ruth Barrett]
Adelaide tucked Jasmine into bed, then waited for her sister to fall asleep before she left the room, closing the door quietly. Instead of going to her own room, she stepped outside the palace, then she left the gate and continued walking. She raised the hood that was on her dress, using it to cover her face.
After walking for a few minutes, she stopped and sighed. "Did anyone see you?" she asked the figure that was walking behind her.
Nicholas stepped out of the shadow, his face also covered with a hood. "Nobody did. I didn’t even tell my personal servant where I was going."
Adelaide nodded. "We have to be careful right now, especially after what happened last night. I know my brother very well, and he has eyes on me or mother."
The Prime Minister sighed. "What are we going to do? What if-" his words got stuck in his throat when Adelaide glared at him.
"You did the right thing by killing him, trust me. And ’what ifs’ are only for cowards. Someone needed to take the fall, and Caspar was the only person. I already told you, he knew about your involvement in the plan to blackmail Princess Oriana. No matter what, I’m still of royal blood. I won’t be punished severely, but you..." Adelaide’s voice trailed off, looking at the prime minister in front of her who was now her new puppet.
Nicholas touched his neck. "I know, but I didn’t want to kill him. I just-" the prime minister touched his neck, his hands trembling as if he remembered what happened in the dungeon the previous night.
"Nobody wanted to kill him either, but we had to, especially since your position as the prime minister was at stake," Adelaide tried to comfort the man, while a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
Last night, when she found out that her plan was about to be ruined because Adric caught on really quick, she had been on her way to stop Caspar, but the idiot thought it was better to push himself on another girl, and he was caught. Adelaide knew Caspar and how weak he was. Just a little threat and he would spill everything. She decided to discard him and make him take the fall for everything.
That was how she got Nicholas involved. With Caspar gone, she was going to need a new person on her team. And the prime minister was just the perfect person. He had power in the royal court and was also strong enough to kill a man with just one cut of his knife. Making arrangements for a letter and sending Nicholas to the dungeon was just very easy for her. Thinking about it now brought a small smile to her lips.
"I’m worried about Jasmine. She would be so heartbroken. I don’t know... I’m scared," Nicholas rubbed his palms together. This was his first time killing someone without reason, but he had to because he didn’t want Oriana to see him as a bad person.
Adelaide rubbed her forehead tiredly. She was tired of the men around her being weaklings. "Trust me, Jasmine will recover. They didn’t even love each other that much."
Nicholas nodded. "What do we do now? Our plans didn’t work. Adric is king now, and Oriana has helped him with the army. It’s all over."
"It’s never over until it is, so for now, stay low. Brother Adric will be hunting for the killer, and his suspect will be everyone. I need you to stay low and support him with everything he needs so he doesn’t suspect you, and I will do the same. I’m sure an opportunity will present itself to us soon, and when it does, we are going to bite and never let go," Adelaide’s eyes glistened with malevolence.
. . .
Back at the palace, Princess Sophie finally opened her eyes. There was a wet towel on her forehead. After the previous night’s drinking, she came down with a fever and headache. Yet she couldn’t remember what happened; everything concerning last night was a blur in her memory.
Bessie entered the room with a bowl filled with warm soup. "Princess, are you awake?" the maid set down the bowl, going to help Sophie sit up.
"Thank you, Bessie. Do you know what happened? I mean, last night during the party?" The princess asked. She touched her forehead and groaned; another headache was rising.
Bessie looked down at her feet, as if she was trying to hide something. When she raised her face up, she sighed. "I don’t think I can tell you this." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
"Tell me what? Did I do something stupid? Is Oriana fine?" Sophie asked worriedly, because she knew that Oriana drank the same drink as her.
Bessie sat on her heels very close to the bed. She reached out and held Sophie’s hand. "Now I know the truth. When I was serving your sister, I thought you were the bad person because she always looks so pitiful. But now I know that she was only playing the victim card. She tricked me; she tricked everyone with her pitiful act, and now you fell for it, Princess Sophie," the maid sighed, shaking her head sadly.
"What are you talking about?" Sophie moved her hand away, looking at the maid to be sure she was okay.
Bessie stood up and wiped off an imaginary tear from her eyes. "Last night, when you got drunk, she left you there. I begged everyone to help me take you to your room, but your sister, your only sister, asked them not to. She said that the only relationship she had with you was your mother, the Queen, but now it’s over and..." her voice trailed off.
"And?" Sophie asked.
Bessie’s lips tugged, but she didn’t smile. She continued, "And now she controls an army, and you are nothing but a nuisance. Today, everyone was celebrating her when the army arrived, but nobody remembered you. Poor Princess Sophie, you used to shine so bright, the most beautiful, but now... it’s all gone. I didn’t know this was what Princess Oriana meant when she said she would steal the crown from you."
"She said that?" Maya pursed her lips. She had thought that her relationship with Oriana was now going to get smooth, but she had guessed wrong. "And now my beauty has faded? I no longer shine..." Sophie muttered to herself. She had really wanted to be happy for Oriana, but if this was how she felt, then she needed to act and show her that she would remain the most beautiful, and nobody would ever steal her shine.
"If that’s how my sister wants to play it, then I will join her." She pulled the wet towel off her face.
Bessie sighed. "I should heat the soup up for you, it’s now cold. Always remember, Princess Sophie, I am on your side." The maid turned, with her back facing Sophie, she grinned before leaving the room.
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