Laurel’s heart burned with anger though Alice whined about not going with Adolph. She had never been so angry with Adolph as she was then. It was almost hatred boiling in her blood and mingling with her hatred for Basil. Rude, unreasonable, arrogant, high-handed: they were just alike. Like father, like son.Allice was full-on upset as she got Eden back to the inn they were staying in. The day had started horrible and only seemed to get worse. First her parents, then Adolph of all people. She worried her lip thinking of Eden’s injuries.“I’m so sorry for dragging you into this and getting you hurt.” “What do you mean?”“It's because of me that you got hurt. Do you need to go to the doctor?”Eden shook his head, “I’ll be fine.”“But—”“I just need to rest for a while, and I’ll be fine,” he grinned. “I told you I’m tougher than you’d think.”She chuckled a little bit as they neared the inn. “…So, he's the king?”“Have you never seen him?” He shook his head, “He was never around when
"How can you bully Tina?"Laurel's eyes widened and pointed at herself, “Are you talking to me?”Delia sneered, “Who else but you? You must resent Tina for throwing you out of the castle. Poor Tina has been so severely chastised, and yet you still treat her like this!”“I haven't bullied her,” Laurel said coldly. “She fell while carrying the barrel herself. You can ask Lynn what happened.”Delia looked at Lynn who nodded, “Yes, we were just passing by, and the maid fell by herself.”Delia was a little flustered but she didn’t give up, “Well, then, how can you watch Tina fall? She is older than you and in a higher position than you, you should help her—”Laurel rolled her eyes and turned away. There was no sense in talking to someone unreasonable. She didn't know why Delia hated her so much and kept picking on her, but she wasn’t interested in remaining around to be harassed. “Lynn, let's go. We're in a hurry.”Basil walked to help Tina off the ground.Delia’s face burned with a flush
*This has to be a mistake…*“But, Lynn—“Lynn smirked at her and bowed out of the room, closing the door behind her. She huffed at his hasty escape and turned to look around the room. She had once been the wife of a prince, and her office had not been this luxurious. It had been plainer than the office Adolph worked in. Maybe this was a part of the king’s office?Either way, she should leave and find somewhere else to work. She started to retreat, but her curiosity held her in place. Every gleam of gold trimming the windows and the desks twinkled and beckoned her to explore. The lush rug on the floor looked too expensive to walk across, yet she wanted to sink her feet into its fibers. In her past life, she had never been interested in the luxuries of life. Everything luxurious had a place and a reason for it in her life and helped her inhabit the position of luna. Now, she had no need for it, yet she was intrigued all the same. She crossed the room and felt how thick the rug was b
Laurel couldn’t breathe around her shock. Everything in her screamed that she would end up dead again if she agreed, but she held back her frantic response. “No,” she said calmly. Adolph’s eyes widened. “It is not appropriate, Your Majesty. What reason would I do that?”Adolph expected Laurel to refuse him, so he was prepared to convince her by any means necessary to agree. “But you've done a good job on dealing with the orphanage, the school, and the hospital...” She averted her gaze, seemingly uncomfortable. “I am asking you to at least preside over the castle. Lily just arrived. There are many things that are still unfamiliar to her. Please? Would you help her?”Lily stepped forward from the line of maids who had been serving their meal with a little smile. “It’s my request too, Miss Laurel. Although I have a lot of experience, I am not familiar with this castle, and it would be great if someone could help me.”Laurel hesitated. She could have refused Adolph once she got her min
As Laurel began to eat lunch on the lawn with Lily, Sara, Lynn, and Sam, around the time the last group of maids and servants working in the kitchen came to report to her. As they began the third course, Chasel approached the table with a bright grin. “So good to see you out enjoying the weather!”Lily jumped to her feet and hugged him tightly, “Chasel!”He laughed, “I hope you’re behaving and settling in well.”She pouted, “Don’t be mean to me.”Chasel grinned and bowed a bit to Laurel, “Miss Laurel, a pleasure to see you back in the castle.”Laurel nodded, “Hello, Chasel. What are you doing out here?”“Running a few errands for His Majesty,” Chasel pushed Lily back up to the table. “The king knew it was your first day of taking over the management of the castle, so he wanted to come and see you, but he couldn't leave because he is meeting with the nobles.”The maids and servants from the kitchen came across the lawn to report and Laurel nodded at them in acknowledgment though they
Laurel returned to her office with a deep sigh. The roses Adolph had given her the day before had wilted a bit. Her heart felt a bit wilted, worn down by time and realizations. She sighed and replaced the wilted roses with the new bouquet. How long would it take for these roses to wilt? “Ow!” She hissed and put her bleeding finger into her mouth before her blood could drip everywhere. She hadn’t realized the thorns hadn’t been removed from the roses. She rounded the table looking for bandages when the door burst open. She jumped, startled, and looked at the intruder to see Basil in the doorway, glaring at her and baring his teeth. He crossed the room quickly, raising his hands as if he was going to grab her neck. She stumbled back as he crossed the room. She’d never seen him so angry before. “How dare you!” He screeched. “How dare you use this room!”“What?” Laurel frowned. His words didn’t make any sense. She kind of expected him to be upset about Delia, but he was talking abou
Eden shrugged out of his coat as quickly as he could manage and wrapped it around Laurel before lifting her from the ground and hurrying back to his room at the inn. He didn’t know what had set her off and he wasn’t entirely sure that she could answer him. She wasn’t responding to anything he said, so he stopped asking. When he arrived at the inn, he went quickly up to his room and set her at the table in the center of the room. She seemed calmer, wrung out from sobbing as she sat with her head bowed, staring out into nothing. He poured a glass of water and sat it beside her as she sniffled and waited for her to come back to the world. “I'm sorry...” Laurel gasped. “I stained your clothes...”Eden frowned before looking down and chuckled. There was a bit of dirt on his clothes, but he wouldn’t call them stained.“You didn't do anything wrong.” Eden shook his head. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”Laurel worried her lip, averting her gaze as she pulled his jacket closer ar
“Those people aren’t worthy of the title!”Adolph sat on his throne, impatiently. The nobles had been bickering for the better part of the meeting about what should and shouldn’t be done, who did, and who didn’t deserve to be noblemen. Adolph had a list of brave soldiers, alive and dead, and alphas of packs who had contributed to the war efforts. All of them, he planned to make noblemen, but the ministers refused. They were nobles, and they did not want more people to share their honor and power.Gavin lifted his nose with the little superior sneer Adolph had seen far too often, “How could we allow those uncouth people to become nobles? Imagine all those hicks pouring into our city... What a mess!” “I need useful courtiers, Gavin,” Adolph gave him a pointed look. “If you and the rest of you were adequate, maybe I wouldn't need to look for others.”Gavin was speechless. The other ministers trembled and quaked with shock, looking to Gavin to say something in retort, but Adolph had end