270: Death of a Consort

Death of a Consort

"Young Miss, we have already received twelve invitations. Two are from the Royal Family and the rest are from the noble families of Wugari," Milith reported. It was already noon when Rosalind woke up, however, until now, Rosalind was still in bed. Her head was still pounding.

"What should we do?" Milith asked. "Miss Magda is not here. I heard they needed to clean up a lot of beasts as tonight there might be another horde of beasts coming. Should we send word to the Duke?"

"We should probably do that," Rosalind was not in the mood to talk to anyone. She knew this was because of what she did the other night. By now, the news of her healing people affected by the plague must have reached the ears of every noble family in the kingdom.

That was the reason for the invitations.

It was entertaining how these people never sent her an invite when they heard about her marriage to the Duke. However, now that they discovered that she was somewhat useful, they immediately sent an invitation, less than twenty-four hours after she managed to heal the four individuals.

Rosalind sneered.

People like this existed everywhere.

A part of her liked the current atmosphere of Wugari and she did not want to find any reason to dislike it. However, these types of people left a bad taste in her mouth.

She thought about Lucas.

What would he think about this?

"Ignore them," Lucas's voice suddenly echoed inside her room. She lifted her head and discovered him standing by the door with a relaxed yet refined posture. Dressed in a crisp, white button-down shirt and black slacks, Lucas looked as good as always.

'Did he even get enough sleep?' Rosalind could not help but ask inwardly. 'How could someone who did not have enough sleep look divine?'

Quickly, she realized that she was staring at him. She immediately avoided his gaze and looked down, her face hot.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"To check on my bride." Lucas smiled. "You may leave us, Milith."

"Yes, Your Grace," Milith smiled at Rosalind before she bowed to Lucas and then left the room.

"Last night—"

"You fell asleep in my arms."

"I apologize," Rosalind was quick to respond. She could barely recall falling asleep in the carriage. The next thing she knew, he was already carrying her towards her room. She knew it was happening, but she was too tired to even open her eyes. So, she just let him carry her like a princess. Then she heard him instruct Milith to change her clothes and make sure that she was comfortable.

"For drooling?"

Rosalind's jaw dropped, "Did I?"

He chuckled in response, "You did."

How could— Did that really happen? "Then I—"

"I was trying to make you laugh," he interrupted her. "I do not really care about the drool."

"Are you here to ruin my morning?"

"And here I thought my face was enough to complete your day."

"You are really something…" Rosalind removed the sheets that covered her knees and got out of bed.

"I am taking that as a compliment."

Rosalind rolled her eyes. Luckily, she had already washed her face as Milith brought her some water the moment she opened her eyes, or this man would have used that to irritate her too. She walked towards the table for her breakfast. That was when she noticed that there were two plates.

"I was not informed that you are going to eat with me," she said.

"I would have told you last night, if you were not sleeping so soundly in my arms."

She sensed the sarcasm in his voice but chose to ignore it. There is simply no winning against a man like him.

"So, you want me to ignore the invitations?"

"Why submit yourself to unnecessary things?" he asked.

"You are right," she said. She sat down and looked at him, "So did you come here just because you wanted to annoy me?"

"Oh no… I came here because we are going to the palace," he said as he sat opposite her.

"To see the King?"

"For a funeral," Lucas said.

"Whose funeral?"

"One of the consorts… died."

Rosalind flinched. She recalled the incident with the poison cake. "Who?" she asked.

"Why do you ask questions when you already know the answer?" He retorted with a smile on his face. "People in the North did not put you in their eyes because to them you are nothing but a merchant's daughter. That is understandable. However…" he took a sip of the tea, enjoying its warmth before he continued. "To actually try and kill my woman is a bit of a stretch, no?"

"You killed her?" she asked.

"I did not say that."

"You just implied that you killed her for trying to kill me."

"I said, she died." Lucas savored a bite of the soft and creamy egg. "You should probably start eating."

Rosalind said nothing, instead she took his advice and started eating her food. The only people who knew about the cake were Magda, Milith, and Miss Morone. One of them must have reported it to the Duke.

"Do you know why she did that?" She could not help but ask. How could someone try to hurt her without any rhyme or reason?

"Do you need a reason to kill someone?" he countered.

"Well—"

"Some people do not need a reason to hurt someone."

Rosalind nodded. Still, she could not help but wonder why the consort would suddenly do that.

"What about the King?"

"The King married those women because the Queen could not give birth."

"Do you know that the Queen is not infertile?'

"I had some suspicions."

"And?"

"I did nothing about it. That is none of my business."

Rosalind was speechless. However, he actually made sense. It was none of his business. "I was planning to help the Queen."

"And involve yourself in Royal politics?"

"I—" That was not a part of her plan.0

"Why?" he asked. He leaned back and dabbed a napkin on his lips. "If you want backing, I am here. Is there a need for you to involve yourself in other people's matters?"

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