Chapter 19 I Prefer Gold To People, By The Way
“Did you hear everything that happened in the room?”- Lucien.
“Yes. I was literally standing in the corner waiting for her to finish. What about you?”- Amir.
“I stood at the door,”- Lucien
“So you heard the… madness that she exhibited here?”- Amir.
“… yes,”- Lucien.
Both men had not liked each other previously— well, Lucien did not like Amir for reasons clearly known to everyone with eyes, but together, they had watched the guild debtors walk out looking shrunken, like Maeve had sucked out every drop of blood from their body, and now, standing in front of her in her office bowed their head, they nodded as they shared one collective thought; ‘She is not human,’
Maeve, on the other hand, had her face buried in a pile of gold. It wasn’t all of the gold that she had acquired from the auction, yes, but this was beautiful. This was a new start of a magical world where everything would finally be perfect.
NACE thought otherwise, \[DO YOU BELIEVE THIS IS HOW A PROTAGONISTS ACTS? YOU COULD GET A PENALTY\]
Maeve hugged the box of gold coins tighter, shutting her eyes. She liked the feel of coins on her skin. They were cold, sharp— almost as if it was a cold, daring husband that found it hard to move on to a new person after years of heartbreak. But that was fine, because Maeve had very little love to give… and she’ll be giving it all to the money.
“My lady,” Lucien was the first to risk his life. “Now that you’ve… settled some of this, can we go back to the previous situation? The one in which you got poisoned?”
Poisoned. Ah. That. “No, thank you,”
Amir was next. “My brothers and I held a prayer vigil to our goddess in fear that something… you have been asleep for five days, my Lady,”
Five…
Maeve’s eyes shot open as she sat erect, “FIVE?! Wait. WAIT! If it has been five days since I fell unconscious, it means that rumours involving me would have died down. Which means… which means the market value of my brand would have… LUCIEN! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?”
“Please, your blood pressure,” Lucien bowed slightly. “And they were more pressing matters. Like the poisoning. We called in many physicians but none of them could—”
He stopped. Maeve couldn’t see his face, but somehow, she could already imagine how he looked. Torn. Hurt. Confused.
So Amir finished his statement. “No one could wake you.”
Maeve stared at them both as NACE floated right above their heads, \[LUCIEN’S APPROVAL RATING +9. AMIR +2\]
Approval ratings… she had barely been seeing them recently.
But that wasn’t what mattered now. It seemed… it seemed they cared about this person, Isabella, that is. Amir probably because he had made a contract with her and Lucien… Lucien probably because this was his best friend. She understood their worry, their panic, but deep down, she didn’t exactly have the right emotions to respond properly.
But wait, “What do you mean nothing worked?”
Lucien looked up. “No medicine. Nothing. Amir tried herbal remedies, that too. The whole… the whole had been mourning this entire time, and the Duke… he had been the one to find you and demanded that we keep it a secret. He said he would look into it,”
“And?” Maeve asked. “Has he returned with anything?”
Amir responded, his arms folded, “No.”
She sighed, rising from her chair. “That settles it—”
“No, it settles nothing,” Shock flashed through Maeve’s body as she realized it was Lucien who spoke and he was currently speaking to her. His eyes widened, panic filling them before he bowed his face down to the ground, “I wasn’t… allowed to be in there with you but it was fine because I thought you could— you’re so brave and smart now and I know… I know there is not much I can do or be for you, but at the very least, if you ever truly cared for me even if it’s just a little bit… you’ll take this more seriously,”
Ah. Maeve had almost forgotten.
He was still in love with Isabella.
He had hidden his true emotions so perfectly for the few weeks they had been together. It made sense that Isabella couldn’t have noticed it then, probably because he knew how to behave with her.
She didn’t know when the smile came to her face. “It is nice to see someone that isn’t trying to milk something out of me, so thank you. I want you to know that your feelings are warranted, and I appreciate them. Truly,”
Lucien stared at her, realizing only then at that moment… she sounded just like she would before. That gentle smile, her kind eyes. He felt his heart thrum, beating so hard he was sure it would soon abandon his chest.
And Amir…
Amir had his eyes slightly narrowing. Mostly because he knew she wasn’t lying, that she meant what she had just said. Maeve never truly lied no matter what, but… why was she directing it to only him? He had… worried too. Prayed. He had—
No. No. Focus. That’s what he had to do.
He needed to focus. He was on a time limit.
… but after she had rested.
The door to her room opened— and in the blink of an eye, Maeve was shoving the small box of coins to the floor, flashing a wide smile on her face as she completely ignored the loud sounds of coins clattering as she said, “Welcome—”
Her smile died as the guards who had walked in didn’t seem to come from her estate but instead, directly from the Palace. Ah, wait. The smile was not dying because of them but because of the stray coin that was rolling towards their direction.
Maeve looked like she was about to jump from where she was to catch it but Amir, ever perceptive, placed his foot over it before it could go any further. He watched her let out a small breath though it didn’t seem like the happy smile returned as she focused on the guards now.
And that was because at that moment, she wondered if this was punishment for all the things she had done, namely calling the woman’s toy hers, or perhaps the auction?
But that was not what they said.
Instead, the head of the knights took out a scroll and started reading aloud, “Her Royal Highness, Eldoria E Esperanza and ruler of Aeltherra, requests the presence of Isabella Montague, daughter of Guinevere and Leander Montague in the case involving her and the heir to the Banister and Vierdan line in which she harmed mentally and psychologically to Valeria, the Capital’s Estate,”