Chapter 99 Double shuffle
Melissa woke up with hunger churning her stomach. She rolled out of her bed and angrily shut the window blinds. The morning sun was merciless and hot. For some reason the weather was clear today. It was so clear that strangers would never believe it was mostly always swampy here.
Today was the day she was going to meet the woman named Margaret and they were leaving the castle grounds. She needed to be quick with dressing up or she'd delay the others. She walked into the bathroom and took her bath and before she would even finish with that, Candice and Vanessa were already in the room with a tray of food and the cloth she would wear. She glanced at Richard's bedside and she noticed he didn't even sleep there today.
She'd fallen asleep faster the other day to even register if he came back, she didn't even eat before sleeping. She remembered she just wanted to lie for a bit. She chuckled to herself when she remembered this.
She greeted both ber maids cheerfully and she sat down to eat as they both rearranged her room. The food was just porridge but it was one of Melissa's favorites and her maids seemed to have noticed, there hadn't been a week where she hadn't eaten porridge once.
"What's up with you guys," Melissa spoke in between munches, they haven't really spoken for weeks now.
"Nothing much," Vanessa replied. "The palace has been boring for a while to be sincere, we've all just been doing our work. Everything's been calm lately if I'd say."
"For me too, the only fun I had was outside the palace," Candice said. "Oh, my lady, I forgot to inform you, Sir Richard allowed me to stay at his place, I'd met my friend for a while," she informed.
Melissa smiled. "You can say boyfriend you know," she giggled and Vanessa joined in. Candice on the other hand blushed.
Melissa wrapped up her food and her maids started to dress her up, though she couldn't help but feel something from what Vanessa said. "Everything's been calm lately," she whispered to herself. That sentence tugged at her.
Dreykov had once told her that everything needs balance. The closest moment to sorrow is the happiest moment. If things have been calm, does that mean, soon things would start getting really chaotic? She shook her head and decided to shelf the feeling off.
"You are set, my lady," Vanessa said as she braided the last of her hair.
The two had dolled her up that Melissa was afraid that their plan of being inconspicuous would fail immediately. She thanked the two and waved them goodbye as they left. She could hear them nagging at each other as they left her door. "Those two," she shook her head.
Melissa exhaled and took out her phone and decided to relax her head with a game before the others would come while going through their plans in her head. The plan was to use a decoy and meet the woman inconspicuously. Avalors and Beatrice had set up a meeting with her, not letting her know it was the Luna that wanted to see her. So the plan was to switch Melissa midway.
Melissa exhaled and at last the door swung open and Richard entered looking very fancy. Her eyes flashed to the bed immediately he entered, and she suddenly didn't feel like going out anymore. He was dressed in a complete black tuxedo, his hair had been clipped a bit and obviously gelled. He sported a wrist watch and the scent that originated from him was just out of the world.
"Your majesty," he said, his voice taking an official tone. "It is time," he said.
Melissa nodded and walked out majestically as two more guards met her on the way. She remembered Richard had been interviewing new personnels in a bid ro increase her security unit. She glanced at the new faces and they bowed, averting their face from her direct gaze. There were four of them. Three males and a she wolf. They escorted her down the hall as several workers stood to bow to her. Even the guards did.
Beatrice and the others had spread fake news beforehand that she was going on a royal hunt, so everyone was outside and awaiting her arrival. She smiled and waved at everyone, and they all bowed. At last she left the interior part of the castle and she walked through its courtyards. There were very few people in the courtyard and one of them was Avalor. He just stared at her from beside Alina, shooting her death glares. Melissa didn't really care, she just walked off without even regarding him once. She was way past him.
She entered the car after the entire ceremonial walk. That wasn't something about wolves, they barely discarded any of their traditions, no matter how archaic it is. That was still why their Luna's lives in castles and their system of government is still monarchy. They barely changed their ways except it was detrimental to their population.
Inside the car was Batrice and two people who she'd never met before. An old looking man and a young, mildly muscular man that appeared broody. She realized that these were doubles for Richard and Avalors. It wasn't until the moment that she realized, Richard'd vanished behind her.
Beatrice kickstarted the car and they zoomed off without Melissa saying a word. After a while they reached a point on the road and the car slowed down a bit and Richard, the real Richard appeared beside her and the next moment they were both in another car. Avalors was there with one of the guards that had walked her out of the castle.
Before Melissa could gasp, Richard touched someone that was dressed exactly like her, a doppelganger for her- and they disappeared immediately. Richard appeared later with Beatrice and Avalors put his feet on the throttle and they zoomed off in a different direction entirely and Melissa couldn't help but grin widely.