THIRD PERSON POV:
It's the middle of the night, and a terrible fever awakes Blake. He manages to reach out for Veronica, who is fast asleep beside him.
"Babe, please wake up," he calls, and Veronica, being a light sleeper, instantly jolts from the heat of his palm on her skin.
"Oh, my days! You're burning up," she cries in worry as she feels his body temperature. How could this be? She wonders because he seemed perfectly fine before they went to bed, and it couldn't be the food, could it? No, because Lila would not be that careless, and besides, they both had the same meal.
"I can barely move," Blake says.
"Don't worry, darling. It's just a silly fever; I'll get the healer, and he'll make it go away," Veronica comforts him, stroking his hair. Just as she said, she sends a servant out into the dark, and in a matter of minutes, the pack healer is there.
"What's wrong with him? It's just a little fever, isn't it?" Veronica asks once the healer is done examining Blake. The urgency in her voice is because of the look on the healer's face, which is not promising.
The healer clears his throat and wipes off a bead of sweat on his forehead. Could he be nervous?
"It… it seems he's come down with a great ailment, one that has not been heard of, and I don't have a clue what it might be," he explains.
"What?" Veronica asks in shock, fear written all over her face and evident in her voice. "What does this mean? You will help your king, won't you?" she asks the healer, whose mind is full of many thoughts about his alpha's health and safety. He cannot be known as the healer who folded his hands and watched the alpha succumb to this great ailment.
"I… he will be fine. I'll do everything to make sure the king gets better," he says, but those are just empty words to Veronica.
"How? You don't know what is wrong with him, so how will you help him?" she questions, trying to keep her tone as low as possible so as not to alarm Blake.
"If the queen permits, I have a suggestion," Mindy announces, and they both turn to her.
"How dare you come into your king's room unannounced?" Veronica asks. She has a soft spot for Lila, but that does not suddenly make her more special than others.
"I'm so sorry, but I overheard the servants say the king is ill, and I couldn't help but eavesdrop," Mindy says, though what she means to say to Veronica is, "Fuck you, I can do whatever the fuck I please and whenever."
"Let the girl speak!" Blake commands from his sickbed. His health is what matters most now, not servants trespassing.
"I know a healer who lives in Efla. She healed my mother when she was very ill," Mindy says, hoping they all buy the idea.
"Efla, you say? I've heard about that village." Veronica raises a brow. The mention of "Efla" sparks Veronica's interest. She has heard interesting stories about that country-village, whatever it is, because she didn't know, but it is a great tourist center she has been dying to go to. Blake's busy schedule never gave her a chance. It's funny to her that Blake has to be stripped of all responsibilities in order for them to finally visit.
"Then we will waste no further time; someone will send for the driver," Blake says, and they all bow before him before leaving.
Veronica rushes to her room and begins to pack all of her best clothing; bikinis are a must. Her excitement almost causes her to forget the reason for the journey.
Mindy has hidden in the hall right outside Blake's room, and once she is sure that Veronica is out of sight, she slips back into the room. Thankfully, Blake has his eyes closed in a nap as she breaks the love spell and leaves as stealthily as she came in. All of this is under her big scheme.
Once Veronica has packed her gigantic boxes and arranged for their departure, she goes into Blake's room to pack his things as well.
"Now where do I start? I've never been good with other people's stuff," she says aloud as she strolls into his huge closet. She considers getting the maid to do it.
Blake is distracted from his attempt to sleep through his pain by Veronica's loudness. "Who is that?" Blake asks, but Veronica must not have heard him.
"I'm thinking of a bunch of striped long sleeves. What do you think?" Veronica asks as she walks out of the closet and dumps a pile of clothes onto the bed. But Blake's thoughts have nothing to do with striped long sleeves.
"What the fuck is happening?" a very confused Blake asks, staring from the pile of clothes at Veronica. It seems as though he's just waking up from a deep slumber.
Veronica notices his frown but brushes it off as nothing.
"What do you mean by that? Babe, I have to pack your things. We don't know how long we're going to be in Efla," Veronica explains, and this throws Blake off even further.
"Did you just call me babe?… most importantly, why are you in our room? Does Kiara know that you're in here?" Blake asks as he tries to sit up, but he is too weak.
"Where is Kiara? What is wrong with me?" He searches his mind for the answers, but it is almost a blank space; he can't explain the emptiness he feels suddenly.
Veronica visibly trembles and thinks of a way out of her mess because she is in great trouble. All of her plans have been destroyed in minutes, and she has no idea how this can be. Blake is apparently no longer under her spell, and if she didn't break the spell herself, there is only one way that this could have happened… Mindy. Veronica can't fathom the possibility of Mindy being in her home, but there is no other explanation.
"That little rat," Veronica cusses under her breath.
"What did you say?" Blake asks. She fakes a smile and clears her throat.
"I said don't try to move, please; you'll only hurt yourself, my king."
"I'm asking for the queen; where is she?" Blake snaps. She recoils from those words because they feel like a slap in her face.
She is Luna, not Kiara; she has built a life for herself here, and Mindy cannot just take that from her.
"She… she stepped out and asked me to pack your things for the trip. I'll be right back," she lies and hurries out of the room to find Mindy before Blake can ask more questions.
Veronica is entertaining a million thoughts at once, such as how Mindy could come in without being noticed and how she has kept herself hidden. She knows for a fact that Mindy is not a fool, so there is no way she could be walking around undisguised unless…
"Unless she isn't herself," she says to herself. Veronica knows that Mindy can disguise herself as someone else; after all, she is a powerful witch, and god knows all the diabolic spells she holds in her hands.
She knows a fair number of workers, so she searches every room and corner while she keeps her eyes open for anyone who looks like they don't belong. In the process of her solo search party, she comes across one maid, Ursula, talking to two guards about a missing person, if she heard right.
"What was that?" she stops to ask, and they all bow.
"My queen, Isabella, is… I can't find her anywhere," Ursula says.
"Isabella," Veronica repeats her name as if it would get her any closer to cracking the code.
"You say she's missing; are you sure of this?" Veronica asks.
"I've looked everywhere, I'm sure… the last time I saw her was with Lila, and I've asked Lila; she doesn't have a clue where-"
"Stop. Did you say she was with Lila?" a curious Veronica asks, and Ursula nods.
"Find Isabella," Veronica says and heads straight for the kitchen. It seems as though a light bulb has lit up in her head.
Isabella was missing and was last seen with Lila. Lila was also with her right before the spell on Blake was broken, and now that she was thinking more clearly, Lila has indeed been acting strange the entire day. She was the one who served them in the afternoon. Veronica didn't think much of it then, but Lila is the head chef, and she is never the one to serve the meals until yesterday. Did Lila poison Blake? This means that she is working for Mindy?
Veronica is mad. She can feel her blood boiling in her veins at the thought of what she is going to do to Lila because she isn't going down alone. She doesn't believe that Lila would do this. Of course, Mindy isn't here; she got Lila to do her dirty work. It must be whatever she served Blake that broke the spell.
"Lila, how did she get you to work for her?" Veronica roars, barging into the kitchen.
"My queen," Mindy immediately bows.
"Answer me, traitor!" Veronica grabs Mindy by the throat and pushes her against the wall, but instead of feeling sorry or begging, Mindy bursts into laughter, which only aggravates Veronica.
"How dare you-" Veronica begins, but Mindy cuts her off.
"You should see how crazy you look right now," Mindy says, staring straight at her, and Veronica's eyes widen in shock.
"M…Mindy?"