"If you are done, go to your room. We have an important discussion here." The duchess sternly replied while checking for abnormalities at her face. While setting down the glass, and leaning against the table, she looked down at the white tablecloth with shadowed eyes. "Actually... I want to join the discussion." She straightened her position while pointing at the Count's direction.
"You said... The Banshees are causing trouble on the trading routes... But about a month ago, their estate and files were destroyed in a fire. Also, all of their assets had been ceased." She spoke while tapping on the glass with her fingers still wrapped around the stem. "And here is the thing... If the Banshees were really involved, and your participation into their matters were not intervening into the bad side, why are you anxious? You should be confident we were 'going' to side with you."
Why... Why does whoever this is... Why does whoever this is that just called the Duchess 'mom' suddenly pull a finger and go for the glass specifically. The Count seemed to be seeing the world in black and white, with only the 'boy's' glowing maroon eye seemed to have caught his attention the most. He fell into immediate silence as his ears rang, not getting the geist of whose voice it was the most closest to. He couldn't even catch the person's voice to begin with.
Then, he looked carefully at the colour of the person's hair, with the silvering parts standing out the most, and the darker roots, so dark that it would look coloured and seen 'trendy' on the streets for the kids in this generation.
"Well Prince Lewis... I see you have gotten your hair dyed. And I have got to say... You really do suit that hair colour. Is it a new trend going on these days?"
"Huh? Prince Lewis?" She asked with a slight look of disapproval then folding her arms and sharing a single glance with the duchess. "Then I guess I am like him. But no, there are no hair trends that copy my style these days. And even if there were, I won't have followed it to keep myself unique from the others."
"Oh looks like the young prince has a great sense of humor here." The Count tried to act normal, despite his shaking wrist and aching head. "Although... I would like to ask how the prince is feeling lately. I had once heard that there was an assassination attempt at the palace. I also heard the middle child was the one injured?" He spoke, thinking he won a que at this meeting.
"Uh no? In fact... How does someone wake up this early if they were 'assasinated'? Because I have spent a large amount of time researching of how assassins target individuals. And no assassin can be hired in that level of work as to actually get towards the palace and kill a member you know? Well I am starting to think you were smart, Count Lucius." She added with furrowed eyebrows and with confusion.
"Aah! No... They were a very talented and experienced assassin. I know it because I have heard that the hired had succeeded in doing so in so many different ways and still managed to get no blames and remained absolutely silent." He spoke with a confidence, with more growing pride, where he was supposed to be in full fear, which twisted her nerves upside down with the sheer determination of wanting to take down her bully.
"But how do you know that Count?" She spoke while dropping her hands to the side. The Duchess enjoyed the moment with her fingers leveling her head above the armrest of her chair. "And definetly, even if the assasin had a good line of skills at his disposal, I believe he never managed to reach over. And even if he did, he couldn't kill the middle brother, because he is still breathing up to date. I can confirm this at the most for you, Count." She spoke while lifting the glass with the red liquid close to her mouth again.
"That wouldn't be possible dear young prince." The man spoke while twirling his own drink at his place with his fingers, but still not moving it. If they drink it... They die... And I can definitely get to the Duchess, the easiest escape from this place!
"Because... I can swear on this poisoned drink and the rest of my life... Even if the assassin doesn't return, then he must have done his job well enough to get the guards scammering around to find him, knowing how the prince has changed his style, must have come back from death... Right?" He spoke while unconsciously taking a sip from his glass.
"Aren't you so really stupid?" Aefia grinned at the situation.
Just then, he realized what he had done and spat it back inside.
His eyes immediately picked up to face the two member of the Imperial family members. "Did I say such a hilarious thing? I must have lost my mind!" He spoke while tapping his glass with a cutlery to get the attention of a servant. Well that was a close save... I know from Stephany that the middle brother is the absolute dumb out of the rest. He shouldn't be able to take it into accord about how I just made a joke out of it. But if he attempts anything, he has already drank a bit of the poison too.
"Is that... Wisteria? Powdered wisteria?" Aefia spoke with a smile while downing the remaining of the drink with a gulp. Then slamming the glass down on the table and wiping her mouth. "Don't worry Count, you don't need to prove it. I will prove it." She spoke while pouring a small amount more of the red liquid and keeping it at her table without another interaction. "You were a little too stimulated, that you almost poisoned yourself too. Where you wanted to just play along and show you were just taking a simple part in the conversation, but revealed a little too much by accident." With a contagious smile, she folded her arms as her fingers started to tremble by a bit, as if traumatized.
The Duchess stared at the jug in front of her with absolute horror. "If you know it was poisoned, why did you just drink an entire glass and picked up another half glass?" Her hand fell from the side of her face as her widened eyes locked towards the completely alright girl in front of her. Did I get myself a stupid young girl who doesn't know what is good and bad? What do I do with her anymore?
"Relax mom... It's worth taking the risks if the enemy takes the bait." She spoke while watching the Count shake with fear. "Now, Sir Lucius... Shall we continue with the 'assasination' part? You were saying that they were definetly successful with what they did. But then why... Does his body flow down the river at the end of the city of Smod? Did he accidentally intervene with the wrong family?" She smiled sinister with eyes that showed she was completely fine. But internally, she could already feel the coppery taste of her blood.
"It is impossible for him to die!"
"Then how am I standing? Prove your logic."
"Because I was the one who hired him and I was the one who sent him! I was the one who told him to assassinate the middle child so I can get into the center of the family! I knew it because I had him do more during his past trainings! I trained him as my personal assistant!" He shouted while abruptly standing up and rattling the entire table with his fists. "I was the one who sent him! I was!" He looked down with deep breathes.
With the silence shaking the air above them, both the Duchess and the adopted daughter shared a single glance and a smile. "Thank you... For that." Aefia spoke while placing her hand inside her pocket, and while trying to swallow back her blood that she had to stop from coughing up by holding her breathe and just compressing her lungs for a short while. Darn! That is a strong dosage! I need to hurry before I run out of time in a short moment! What do I have? I just need to be there for five full minutes! Just five!
"Thank you for what?" The Count spoke with his eyes narrowed due to anger. The duchess stood up with an abrupt motion while grabbing onto the girl's body with her hands wrapped around her shoulders, as if she were just pulling an affectionate mother move, but it was just to keep her from falling backwards in case she did. "For confessing count. Thank you telling the truth. I will make sure to meet you at court in three months time. In the meantime, I will have to entrust you to the prison cells before the castle. We appreciate your time." She added at the end while carressing the girl's chin with her other hand.
"Well also thanks to my dear child... I have finally found the truth." She spoke while pulling her hands back and snapping at the guards to chain the count up. "You don't have evidence to prove I did it!" He shouted while trying to restrain from the guard's grasps. "By three months time you will lose your son's head!" Using the back of his feet, he tried to kick free from the guard, but the metal armor rang with a loud clang instead.
"Do you have anything else to say?" She spoke while pulling out her phone and unlocking it to show her screen. "I had it all recorded. Technology truly is a splendid thing. It's your words against yourself... count Lucius." She spoke while pulling out the camera feature and pointing the back cover at his face. "Now... I should show this to your daughter if she were to come around anytime sooner, looking for you... But I will make sure to send her a letter over to inform them about your sweet hospitality from the palace. You know... Not all people are privelaged enough to enter through the gates."
With a smirk, he walked away with the guards towards the underground prisons in the far castle. "This should keep the merchants from suffering a little bit more." With the last words hanging in the air, she shook off the duchess's hand from her shoulders, and grabbed the glass before walked away with quick steps, not letting the woman ask any questions or speak a single word to her. With a quick stop at the nurse's office, she returned to her room without a delay.
"Hey! Do me a favor... Turn this into powder, enough that I don't die while trying to gain resistance against." She spoke while placing the glass at the table and stepping out then taking off in a run. Puppet! Just what do you do these days?! What are you doing right now you dumb wolf! She spoke into her mind while using her sleeve's elbow to cough up blood as she pushed the limits and climbing the steps with blurry visions and sweat rolling down her forehead.
"Are you sure... Because your beloved short hair will just dissappear along with it." The small wolf popped up at one corner of her vision with a misheivious smile and snapping it's little fingers. With an angered tone, she smacked the red, glowing creature with her palm and fixated a stern expression at its direction. "Oh yeah! Like I am literally about to die!" She spoke softly but loud enough to make it sound like scolding it.
"Ow!" Puppet shouted holding the side of its face and flying at the same speed as her as to catch up and not lose track in this twisted halls of the palace. "Well then you will have to feed me a lot of your magic energy when you successfully recover. The last time was too taxing for the few seconds I managed to twist over the mechanism to a functioning state." He folded its arms before dissapearing, leaving only a burning sensation at the back of her throat and tears rolling down her eyes due to the pain.
Should I have just gone to the nurse's office to see if they have an antidote for this? I don't think I can manage if this thing doesn't take away its effects within the next minute. I swear it's just dissolving my digestive system at this point! She thought to herself while climbing the last fleet of stairs and finally finding it a relief she wasn't too far away from her room, which was still five large rooms away from the place she was standing.
While heaving heavy breathes, she started feeling the sensation of her nerves going up in flames and her strong wave of magic energy returning for a swift moment as she immediately pulled out the last remnants of the healing magic she had stolen and crushed the core completely. It was guaranteed that this will return her own organs, no matter how bad or how much the damage was, it would restore her body completely, while only leaving her tired at the end of the process.
"Well thanks..." She spoke while stopping to check the state of her hair. Her hair had returned to its half-arm length size, with its longer silvering ends. "Rubberband... I think I forgot a rubberband." She spoke to herself while letting out a sigh and walking towards her room while her fingers pulled the hood back over her head, although it was already visible with the daylight seeping through the glass windows.
While twisting the knob, she was met with the most diabolical scenery she had ever seen, counting from the time she had stepped onto the thresholds of this place