Chapter 179

Nyx’s POV

“What is she talking about?” Madelyn eyed me suspiciously; the dried lines of tears were so visible that I could see that she was obviously struggling with keeping her emotions in check. Being the person she is, she wouldn’t want to show her meltdown in front of anyone, especially not Lady Loveth, who had just proven to be a traitor.

My eyes darted to her, she shrugged, and she averted her gaze.

“Can we talk about this later?”I placed a hand gently on her shoulder, and she brushed my hand away.

“Let’s talk about it, now.” She wiped away the tears and folded her arms across her chest with a defiant look on her face.

“You had a conversation about my baby, without my knowledge, and you’re expecting me to be all cool with that?”

“Not here, Maddie,” I lowered my voice, trying to calm her down.

“No, right here,” she snapped, veins bulging out on her forehead, “Apparently, it’s no secret to anyone else here, yeah, apart from me,” she tilted her head sideways, and it made me wonder, just why was she flaring up? She wasn’t even an emotional person.

She was cracking under the strain of the day’s event; that much was obvious. The switch from preparing for one of the most important days in your son’s life, to your son missing, and…

With Aria and the girls' appearance. It had been a lot, I could only imagine the train of thoughts running through her mind.

I couldn’t really blame her, though.

So I stared directly into her eyes, and met tears glistering in them. The lady I loved, trying to look strong, even when it was crystal clear she was breaking down.

“Don’t do this, Madelyn,” I whispered and shook my head gently.

She glared hard at me without saying a word, and I pulled her into a tight hug. She resisted at first, but with time, she finally caved in and hugged me back slowly.

“You’re tired, I’ll tell you everything later, I promise, but for now, you need to rest,” I muttered as I placed a kiss on her hair. She wrapped her arms around my neck tightly and nuzzled her face in my neck.

I glared one last time at Lady Loveth before sweeping Madelyn off her feet. “She’s not allowed to have any visitors,” I spoke calmly to the guards at the gate.

“Come on,” I groaned slightly, as I carried Madelyn off the bed and into the shower. I had left her there to mix her bath.

The whole time, she was just staring at me blankly, without uttering a word. Her silence was so uncomfortable, she didn’t even smile, almost like she had just shut down, and it scared the hell out of me.

I had never seen this side of her before.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” I asked almost inaudibly, as we reemerged from the bathroom.

“Maddie…”

“What do you want me to say, Nyx?” she cut me off weakly.

“Are you okay?” I sat beside her and took her hand in mine.

“Do you think I’m okay?” She paused and inhaled deeply, “What happened, Nyx?”

I sighed and lowered my gaze, “It happened just after I returned to the kingdom. The elders were against Elio being the true heir after they found out he wasn’t my blood, but I was able to convince them otherwise, or so I thought.”

“Lady Loveth wasn’t working alone,” she straightened her back.

“I don’t think it’s safe to leave Elio in the nursery any longer until Lady Loveth names her accomplice. Nothing is stopping them from carrying out their plan later today.” I inhaled deeply and searched her face. “Let’s bring his cot in here,” I added softly, and she gave me a single nod.

“Usurla??”

“She’s under house arrest for the meantime, Kent is still AWOL, nothing has been heard from him so far, I have every reason to believe she orchestrated everything.”

She turned away from me and walked towards the dressing table.  After which, she walked out of the room, and I followed closely behind, unsure if I could trust her to act on her own, with the state she was in.

“Take the cot to our room,” she ordered the guards at the door of the nursery, before walking into the nursery fully, to meet Zimora, hugging Elio tightly to herself. She looked miserable. I couldn’t really blame her; she had grown an emotional attachment to the kid over time.

“Let me have him,” she took him away from her gently, “I’d be taking care of him from today, so you’re relieved of your duties for now.”

“Your majesty,” she gasped and fell on her knees, almost immediately.

“Zi,”  Madelyn reached out for her, “It isn’t your fault, you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, it’s just a security measure we need to implement, for all we know, anyone out there could be plotting against us.”

‘Nevertheless, you’ll resume your primary duties as my right-hand, until such a time when it is safe for my baby to return to the nursery,”

“Your Majesty, I still owe you an apology.”

“What for?” Madelyn raised her brows at her.

“Elio was my primary charge, and I was supposed to look after me, but it was in my care, under my watch, he went missing, anything could have happened to him, and for that, I’m sorry.”

She was right after all, Lady Loveth had Elio safely in her arms, and could have executed her plans immediately, with no hindrance whatsoever, so…

What stopped her?

Why did she bring him back? What changed her mind?

“I’ll be back,” I muttered almost inaudibly, before storming out of the nursery.

“Your Majesty,” The guards at the dungeon bowed, and I gave them a single nod, before stepping in.

“Nyx,” Lady Loveth feigned a smile as soon as her eyes met mine.

“Why did you do it?” My eyes darkened as my voice dropped to a deadly calm.

“I told Madelyn…”

“Why did you bring him back?”  I cut her off almost immediately; a tinge of impatience lingered in my tone.