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GARDEN OF POISON
Green at the sight (Chapter 90)
Anastasia, who stood before the Blackthorn rose, narrowly avoided getting her hand pricked by its thorn thanks to a momentary loss of balance, causing her to shift to the side. She quickly stepped away from the plant, turning to look at who had spoken before offering them a deep bow, folding her hands together in the process.
The Mother Queen clenched her jaw in disappointment. To think they were so close to unravelling the truth. Maybe she should have accompanied the young woman herself so that she could push her to see her being pricked by the thorn firsthand.
Princess Emily didn't know how they were going to explain what they were in the middle of doing. But the question was asked of her and not her grandmother, considering her grandmother's silver tongue.
"What is going on here, Emily?" King Maxwell demanded, making his way towards where his two family members stood.
The princess looked nervous before lying, "I am helping Grandmother in finding a new antidote for Lady Evin. We, we thought of using the courtesan to ensure the new one works and won't cause any lasting side-effects."
Anastasia's face was angled towards the ground, and she frowned, because what the Mother Queen had said before and what the princess was saying now didn't match. Though it seemed like both of them wanted to see her being pricked by the Blackthorn rose.
"That seems very unlike you to voluntarily offer a former maid of yours to be subjected to the prick of a poisonous plant," King Maxwell remarked, and his eyes shifted to look at their grandmother. He said, "And moreover, this seems more in line with our grandmother's doing. What exactly are you up to, Mother Queen?" he questioned his grandmother, who maintained a stoic expression, as if she had no hand in anything that was happening.
"Me?" the Mother Queen asked, her eyebrows arching slightly. She said, "I am trying to find a cure so that I can see my great-grandchildren quickly. A cure so Lady Evin will wake up, and you can wed her."
Anastasia could feel the slight tension forming in the air, and she heard King Maxwell order,
"Henceforth, you are forbidden from any further experiments, and the research will be undertaken by the physicians from now on."
The Mother Queen stared at her grandson and asked, "Don't you think that is a bit of a stretch? I am the one who knows the ingredients. In case you have forgotten, I am the one who made the antidote for the snake bite that you received."
"Consider it as the reason why I am not punishing you right now," King Maxwell stated in a clipped tone. He looked displeased as his blue eyes glared at the older woman, and he said, "You should know better than anyone in here that you aren't allowed to harm the courtesans or the concubines of the palace. Evin is already unconscious, and it appears you want to subject everyone else to the same fate."
When the guards arrived at the corridor, King Maxwell ordered, "I need guards protecting this place at all times, and no one is allowed to step foot in here without my knowledge." He looked at his first sister and then his grandmother before adding, "If I find anyone trespassing here, I will arrest and confine them to the dungeon. Am I clear?"
"Yes, King Maxwell," Princess Emily offered a bow in acknowledgement of his order, while the Mother Queen mumbled something before nodding her head.
"You, come with me," King Maxwell ordered Anastasia to follow him.
The Mother Queen and Princess Emily followed them out of the forbidden side of the palace, and when they stepped out of there, their footsteps paused, watching the king and the courtesan disappear at the end of the corridor.
"This is harder than I thought it would be," the Mother Queen said in exasperation. "Just a few more seconds, and we would have known for sure!"
"Is it really necessary for Anna to be pricked by the Blackthorn rose? Why not bypass the test and proceed with writing the royal request to the Elders?" Princess Emily asked her grandmother, who was glaring in the direction the king had departed. "What if someone else orders Anna to sleep with them?"
The Mother Queen frowned at Emily's words, and she turned to look at her, saying, "Go get me that parchment with my seal on it."
At the same time, Anastasia trailed behind the guards, who followed King Maxwell, moving along a corridor different from the one she had entered to reach the restricted side of the palace. She wondered why or what the king wanted to speak to her about.
Was it about Mr. Langston's disappearance? Did they find his dead body? Anastasia questioned herself.
Previously when she was serving Princess Emily, she got to hear about important news from the royal family members or the maids gossiping in the kitchen. But now that she has been placed in the Paradise Tower, important news has no longer reached her. The courtesans were preoccupied with dressing themselves up, focused only on looking pretty in order to catch the eye of wealthy individuals of high status.
When King Maxwell came to stand in front of a pair of double doors, the guards opened them, allowing him to enter.
Anastasia remained outside the room before she was ordered by the king, "Step inside." Nervous, she walked into the room and saw Maxwell sitting on the couch. He dismissed the guards and servants, saying, "The rest of you can leave us alone."
Once the doors of the room closed, King Maxwell ordered her, "Sit next to me, Anna."
Anastasia felt her palms sweat at the thought that he knew her name. Trying to evade him, she said, "I wouldn't dare sit next to the king, Your Highness."
"You are no longer a maid, but a courtesan. One who, with effort and ambition, could one day become the king's companion," King Maxwell stated before instructing, "Sit."
As it was the king's orders, Anastasia didn't dare to refuse, reluctantly taking a seat on the corner of the couch. Her hands rested on her lap, and she drew her feet slightly back as she sat in silence. She could sense the king staring at her, and she finally heard him question her,
"What did the Mother Queen want from you?"
So it wasn't about Mr. Langston, Anastasia thought, feeling like she could breathe again.
"It would do you good to speak the truth rather than lie to the king," King Maxwell added, his gaze still fixed upon her. "After all, you are already aware of the kind of punishments that are handed out in this kingdom."
Anastasia answered, "I was told to care for the Blackthorn rose. Because of my new position, I have the honour of looking after something precious that belongs to the royal family."
"And is that all?" King Maxwell sought confirmation from her, his blue eyes narrowing in question, and Anastasia nodded.
"It is the truth, Your Highness," Anastasia turned and bowed to him. When she raised her head along with her eyes, she noticed the king observing her shrewdly.
"Do not interact or engage in conversation with them," King Maxwell ordered her, catching Anastasia off guard with his words. "There is no antidote or cure for the poison of the Blackthorn rose, and it will kill you," he warned her. "I will personally speak to Minerva and my mother so that they keep the courtesans and concubines away from it."
Anastasia wished the king didn't order her to stay away from Princess Emily, as she liked talking to the princess. Wanting to defend the princess, she opened her mouth to speak, but King Maxwell beat her to it by asking her,
"Were you the one I saw last week in the corridor? What were you doing there?"
"Snuffing out the candles…" Anastasia replied, remembering the night she had spent in the darkness with Dante.
"That is all?" King Maxwell questioned her, as he had seen the mark on her neck and was curious as to which man had left it on her.
But Anastasia would never reveal the truth, and she nodded, wishing to leave the room and return to the Paradise Tower or to look for Theresa to ease her mind.
"I heard that you went to attend to Mr. Langston. I wanted to see him, but it appears he was fortunate," King Maxwell chuckled as he continuously watched the woman who bore a striking resemblance to his lover. It took the king less than a second to swiftly move to sit beside her, scrutinising her. Her body stiffened like a statue when Maxwell's hand shot up to hold her chin so he could examine her closely.
"It feels like I have met you before. Or someone like you."
Anastasia's eyes subtly widened upon hearing his words, wondering if King Maxwell had made the connection between Tasia Flores and herself. Fear gripped her, causing her to tremble. The memory of her last secret being exposed and the subsequent punishment of her receiving lashes on her back still haunted her, and she didn't want to go through it again.
King Maxwell stared into the courtesan's brown eyes, noticing that her features were similar to Marianne's. The same nose, lips, and eyes peered back at him, evoking a flood of memories of the woman he had lost. But no matter how similar they looked, this woman wasn't her. He hadn't forgotten the fleeting moments he had shared with her, and those memories stirred anger within him.
He was angry at his own actions and how things had turned out to be, where he had ascended the throne at the cost of Marianne's life. Now he could do everything and anything he wanted, and he couldn't help but wish he had possessed the same power when she was still alive.
For the briefest moment, Anastasia caught a glimpse of sorrow reflected in the king's blue eyes. But then she felt the king's grip on her jaw tightening while he was lost in thought, causing her to wince.
Someone knocked on the door, and it was the Vizier, who stood at the entrance of the room, saying,
"Your Highness, I have brought the reports with me as you requested."
"Come in," the king ordered, finally releasing his hold on the woman's jaw. The Vizier stepped inside the room, but he wasn't alone, as he was accompanied by Prince Dante.
To an onlooker who witnessed the scene, it seemed as if King Maxwell had just shared a kiss with the courtesan, judging by the way her neck arched upwards and her lips were parted as he gazed at her. When Dante's eyes fell upon them, the look in his eyes darkened.
Anastasia tried to create distance between her and the king by leaning backwards, and at the same time, she noticed Dante in the room, who was glaring daggers at the king. She said,
"I—I should return to the Paradise Tower. If you will let me take my leave from here, Your Highness."
"Don't forget what I told you," King Maxwell said to her, watching her keenly.
Anastasia offered him a bow, and before leaving the room, she offered bows to the Vizier and the first prince, whose face now displayed an aloof expression. Once she entered the empty corridor, she tried to hasten her footsteps into a sprint, but before she could escape from there, Dante caught hold of her hand as it swung back and spun her into his arms. Startled, she asked him,
"What are you doing? Someone will see us!"
Dante pulled her into one of the closest empty rooms before he pushed her against the wall and demanded, his eyes flaring,
"Did he kiss you?" Unlike Maxwell, who had held her jaw in a tight grip, Dante's finger brushed upwards along her neck and then tipped her chin so that he could look at her.
"No, he didn't," Anastasia replied, slightly flustered as Dante's midnight eyes pierced into her eyes, wanting to see her naked emotions.
They had spent the night together on the same bed, close enough to hear each other breathing. Anastasia blamed the hour of the night that had her lower her guard with him. She looked away from his probing eyes and said,
"I should return to the tower before Madame Minerva questions where I've been." When she moved her head to the side, the motion unhooked his finger from under her chin, and she was about to take a step towards the door when Dante placed his hand on the wall to block her way. "Please…" she begged.
"After you answer my questions," Dante responded calmly, but the look in his eyes was anything but that. "Did he touch you?"
Anastasia hadn't done anything wrong, yet the way Dante looked at her and questioned her with brooding eyes made her feel as if she had. With a slight amount of dread, she replied,
"Not the way you think he did—"
"Where?" Dante's eyes narrowed, and as calm as his voice sounded, Anastasia could tell he was controlling the storm within. "Why did he invite you to join him?" It had been long since Maxwell had spent time with any courtesan or concubine. Did he incorrectly calculate his brother's lack of interest in her?
"You are making me feel as if I am a criminal," Anastasia mumbled, seeing him step forward to get her to speak, rather than test his patience.
"If you don't answer, I hope you don't mind me searching for answers myself," Dante said seriously, all traces of last night's gentleness replaced by impatience. The mark he had made on her neck had disappeared, and he also noticed how she carefully dodged addressing him by his name.
"My jaw," her reply was quick, so they wouldn't spend an extra second together, waiting to be caught by someone. Anastasia then felt Dante caress her jaw with his fingertips. She said, "I was with Princess Emily and the Mother Queen. He was only curious to know if they were up to no good."
"Is that why your jaw has colour, and not because you are embarrassed about something that was done to you?" Dante's eyes narrowed as he gazed at her skin. When he saw her nod, he leaned closer to her, and she closed her eyes. But all he did was touch her forehead with his and let out a sigh, saying, "You are driving me crazy."
Anastasia felt the warmth radiating from Dante's skin, and she asked, "But I didn't do anything."
Dante closed his eyes and took a deep breath to control his thoughts. He had duties and responsibilities to attend to, yet he was here with her, demanding answers with his imagination out of control after seeing Maxwell in her breathing space.
When did he become so irrational? Dante questioned himself.
Anastasia didn't move from where she stood until Dante finally took a step away from her, and she watched him run his hand through his hair as if experiencing internal turmoil. When it finally dawned on her slow mind what was happening, she asked doubtfully, "Are you jealous?"
"What if I am?" Dante asked her back without denying it, and Anastasia blushed at his response.
Anastasia was baffled by his response, not expecting anyone to feel that way when it came to her, and her heart skipped a beat. She fixed her expression to match his serious one and again explained, "There's nothing to feel jealous about... Nothing happened between me and the king. We just talked and nothing more than that."
Dante dropped the hand that he had placed on the wall earlier. He gave her the space she needed and asked,
"What aroused Maxwell's suspicion to the extent that he wanted to interrogate you in private?"
"That, he saw me standing next to the Blackthorn plant," Anastasia answered, noticing a frown appear on his forehead.
"Don't you know that you aren't supposed to go near it?" Dante questioned her.
"I do. The Mother Queen said—"
"She told you to touch it?" Dante honestly couldn't believe that his grandmother was up to no good, and he said, "Looks like I need to have a talk with her. Go back to the Paradise Tower." Saying those words, he opened the door and left the room.
Anastasia peeked out of the room, watching Dante disappear down the corridor before she stepped out and walked towards one of the corridors where Theresa was working, as she missed the older woman.
In the meantime, Dante looked for his grandmother so he could talk to her about what he just heard. After walking through the corridors, he found her outside the palace, talking to a servant and looking suspicious.
Dante watched his grandmother hand a letter to the servant, who bowed and mounted a horse before trotting out of there. He went over to her and questioned,
"Mother Queen?"
"Oh my! You scared this old woman," the Mother Queen said in surprise and noticed him glare at her. "You look upset."
"What were you thinking by planning to have a courtesan be pricked by the Blackthorn rose when you know what it can do?" Dante demanded, and the Mother Queen stared at her grandson with fascination.
"Ah, looks like word spreads fast in the palace," though the old woman wondered from which source Dante had heard about it. "I was trying to verify something. She's fine though."
Another servant, who had just entered the palace gates on his horse, quickly galloped towards the palace's entrance before halting the horse and dismounting it. He quickly ran to where they stood and offered a deep bow as he wheezed.
"Mother Queen! Prince Dante!" The servant greeted them in haste, his face pale, before he nervously said, "I have brought news from the old palace. It is about Lady Lucretia… She has passed away."
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