Ansel glanced over at Cobsworth. His mind overcome with stress. He gritted his teeth pushing his worry to the back of his mind, faking a soft smile.
"I have plans for the two of them, but tonight we honor Milady and her faithful Lady in Waiting," Ansel announced.
Ansel held Gabrielle tightly, watching her warming smile. He stared at her, his worries eating away at his mind.
'I can not keep failing you… I have to protect you at all costs…'
"You are too kind," Gabrielle hummed, breaking his thoughts.
She kissed him on the cheek and pressed her ear against his chest.
'I will always protect you… I love you Gabrielle,' He thought, kissing her gently on the top of her head.
A few hours later…
Ansel sat at his desk, various documents scattered across his table. He carefully read through them, scanning them each, one by one.
Knock, knock, knock, eeeeeeeeeer
The King's Office door opened. Sir Harrison entered the room alongside Sir Darce, and Cobsworth and shut the door behind themselves.
Cobsworth bowed as Darce and Harrison kneeled before Ansel, daring not to look up.
"You wanted to see us," Sir Darce spoke.
"Yes," Ansel responded, standing to his feet, "I've been going over all the documentation on all my servants who attended the ball and the previous guards that were weaned out, found to be traitors. All of them have been found to have some sort of underlying previous connection to a Duchess by the name of Celila. It seems that every connection that Hattie has in this castle comes from people who are in some way connection to this Celila. I want to know who she is and where her kingdom is. I want everyone found out to have connection with her thoroughly questioned and thrown into the dungeon on the West Side of the castle away from Hattie and Nylah. Make sure they have no contact with the outside world. Most importantly I need this to be discreet. Whoever this Celila is she it seems she has it out for my kingdom, for Milady and I want to know why. We can not risk Hattie or Nylah finding out but it seem they have a deep rooted connection to this Celila and until we know she's not a threat we need them alive. We need to see who they talk to and who they are connected to in this castle and since they want to live here so bad they will be stripped of their titles and made to be lowly castle servants. As they work in the castle I want eyes constantly and discreetly on them. I want to know who they interact with, I want to know everything about them and I want a deep, thorough dive on Hattie and Nylah as well as on anyone they hold a conversation with. Now to keep this low key I want this to take over the course of a couple of months. We can't let anyone catch on until we're ready. I also want The Bridom Assassins watching Hattie and Nylah's every move. I also want constant eyes on Milady. Keep your distance as well. I don't want Milady to feel like a prisoner but we must keep her safe as this has been the 3rd set up."
"The Bridom Assassins, your Majesty? They haven't been used in over 40 years," Sir Darce stated.
"Yes," Ansel insisted, "This is a serious matter, we can't afford to let anything else happen. I want this whole entire castle stripped through. I want to know how long this betrayal has been happening. I want to know everything. We need to protect the Kingdom, we need to protect Milady at all costs…"
"Yes Your Majesty," Sir Darce, Sir Harrison, and Cobsworth responded in agreement.
"No one is going to frame Milady ever again," Ansel stated, determined.