“Mother!” Elinor said, “Please come back with us! It’s not too late,” She pleaded, “I can find a antidote for you!”Elinor felt her tears well up in her eyes AAs she staggwered forward to her mother but Louis put a restraining hand on her shoulder making her wince and stopped her.“It’s too late,” He said and her mother caughed up blood.Wiping it with a handkerchief. She looked down at it and smiled.“This is more effective than I anticipated,” Her mother said as she smowly fell down to the bed.“Mother! No!” Elinor struggled agains Louis escaping his grip when Azeph removed his hand from her.“Let her go,” Azeph said with a cold tone and Louis sighed.Elinor rushed toward her mother kneeling beside her on the bed.Her mother smiled at her stroking her cheek gently.“You stubborn child. Go, live your life. I cannot let your father bear the punishment alone, a true lady would never abandon her husband in a moment like that. As his wife I bear part of the responsibility for his actions
“Did you call for me, father?” Azeph asked as he entered his father’s study to find him smoking his pipe as he looked down at the fireplace.His father looked up at him and smiled.“How is your arm?” He asked motioning to his rm which was still in a sling.“Very well, father,” He answered as he stepped inside closing the door behind him.After returning from the capital, Azeph’s arm became worse because of how he overworked it carrying Elinor and using his sword. As if the medicine that Elinor had given him had worn off, he had fallen ill with a fever the very moment he got back to his family manor and the doctor had to stitch his arm up and put it in a sling.“Your mother was so worried when you were bedridden from the fever. But I guess that’s to be expected from someone who went on such a dangerous adventure with an injured arm,” His father said with a teasing tone and Azeph chuckled.“I guess I did overdo it. Elinor had ordered me not to accompany everyone but I couldn’t just let
“You may know why I summoned you here today,” The king said as he sat in front of Azeph sipping his tea,“Is it because of her highness?” Azeph asked and the king smiled.“That too. But the official reason is for the still ongoing investigation,” The king answered and Azeph smiled. “I see,” Azeph answered, “If I may ask. How is she doing?”“Not very good,” The king shook his head hopelessly, “I’m afraid that she had things bottled up so tightly within her that it is impossible to reach out to her,”Azeph knew what the king meant. He knew about Elinor’s tendency to lock things in her heart and try to pretend as if she was okay while she was being slowly destroyed from the inside.“What she went through is no easy feat, your majesty,” Azeph said, “Having to save the kingdom at the price of losing your family is a cruel fate that we only hear of in tragic plays,”The kind of play where the hero always ends up with a twisted fate causing him to lose his life or his mind.“Her highness di
Azeph looked at Elinor wondering what to do. He wanted to reach out to her so badly. To touch her and pull her into his arms. Feel her warmth press his lips against her soft her, her skin…What in the world was he thinking in broad daylight?!He awkwardly watched as Elinor remained silent for a while and he remained rooted on the spot wondering what to do. There were way too many eyes for him to do anything.He wanted to comfort her and ask her why she was making such a gloomy face. What made her so sad upon seeing him? But there was no way that he couldHe looked at Stella who was watching Elinor with her usual neutral expression and wondered if she could arrange for them to be alone for a moment.“Your arm… How is it?” Elinor asked snapping him out of his thoughts.She walked toward him her hands lifting the exquisite dress she was wearing before her. She really looked like a princess. Beautiful, ethereal, unreachable…“All fine thanks to your help,” He said, “I just overdid it a li
A few hours earlier…“Are you sure you want to do this?” Elinor’s uncle asked her for the tenth time that day alone and she looked at him with a soft smile.“I am sure,” She said confidently, “I owe him this much closure. We both do,” “Normally I should be the one asking him this,” He said with a sigh.“I know that you do not want to face him, and I don’t think that he will be willing to talk to you. This is the best option, besides I need to ask him one more thing besides this,” She said.“Alright, but I will be sending Loyd with you, Just in case,” He said and she nodded,“He won’t hurt me but it’s okay,” She said softly and he nodded.Elinor stood up and left her uncle’s office.“Elinor… Are you sure that this is what you want?” He asked, “I know that I am forcing you to do something hard, you can’t stop being a ruler even if you are tired of it,”“I don’t know, uncle…” She said softly, “I will have to think about it more.” “Alright,” The king said with determination and Elinor e
Elinor looked at Azeph hesitating for a moment. Somehow, now that she knew the truth, it felt like it wouldn’t matter to him. Although she had been so hung up on it all this time wondering how she would face him.She still remembered her conversation with Stella a few days after she woke up. She kept bringing in Azeph’s letters. But Elinor couldn’t bring herself to read them. Not with how much guilt she was feeling over her father.“Aren’t you making a big deal out of this?” Stella had asked.“My father was the one who caused his sister’s death…” Elinor had argued back“You don’t know for sure, Besides he had been sending letters since he went back doesn’t that mean that he would want to see you and hear back from you? If he cared about what your father did he wouldn’t be doing this, besides, he is not the type to hold you responsible for it.”“Of course he’s not, Azeph is a man with a big heart, there’s no way he would blame me for it, but my family was responsible for this, and just
A few days after Azeph’s visit to the royal castle. The duchess’ funeral was held. Although they were barely able to recover her body, the king had insisted on holding a proper farewell for her. Either because of guilt or simply because he had considered her family. But either way, the funeral was a grand affair. A lot of people came to give Elinor’s mother their last farewell.And the strange thing about it all is that, well, they all spoke of how wonderful of a person Elinor’s mother had been.As she stood before the casket watching it get lowered to the ground, Elinor didn’t cry. She couldn’t no matter how much she tried.She heard some sniffling from the side and watched as her aunt, Louis’ mother covered her mouth with a handkerchief and leaned against her husband crying, If only Elinor could be this honest about her feelings.There was a light tap on her shoulder as her uncle looked down at her with a sympathetic look nodding and Elinor nodded back.Reaching out with the white r
“Where did Elin go?” Azeph asked as he looked around the room not finding her.Everyone was either drunk or asleep and Louis was busy helping Stella get to her room.“I saw her going out through the balcony,” Louis said as he carried Stella in his arms and made his way out of the room.Azeph made his way out through the balcony looking for Elinor. She was drunk too. A bit too drunk. She had been drinking enough for two men as it was and that’s saying a lot. Who knew that his alcohol tolerance was this good? She didn’t even look like she was drunk even after going through one bottle by herself. She must be one of those people who are functional drinkers. He would cave in long before she went through half of what she drank today. She was truly amazing.As he made his way around the huge balcony, he glimpsed her standing in front of a figure. The man before her was crouching before her on top of the railing looking like a cat easily shifting on the high edges not even worried that they