Chapter 217 - Saying Goodbye Again
Chapter 217 - Saying Goodbye Again
After her duties for the day were over, Adeline returned back to her quarter feeling content with what she had accomplished today. Edwin was kept under house arrest and a lot of his illegal properties were brought back to the King's Court. He had collected so many gold coins that it took two carriages just to bring those coins to the Court.
With that much money, Edwin would have been able to buy out a few Generals. There were in total 8 Generals under the King's command. And each General commanded a hundred thousand soldiers. If he had even bought 2 Generals with that black money, then he would have been able to lead a coup and could have taken over the throne a long time ago.
Adeline was surprised that he had stayed quiet even with that much money that he had leeched from the villagers. But she was thankful that he did nothing of that sort.
It had been only a few minutes that she had returned back to her quarter. And Hawisa came to her private chamber and informed her, "Adeline, Prince Nigel is here to meet you."
"Oh, send him in then. You don't have to ask me to let him in," Adeline said while getting up and going to her newly refurbished meeting room.
Adeline welcomed Nigel with a hug and went and sat on her extravagant chair. And Nigel sat down in front of her.
Adeline laughed and initiated the conversation, "This new chair needs some getting used to. It feels so weird to sit on this."
Nigel also laughed and said, "Yeah, the chair is really big, almost as big as the throne. But since you are going to be the Queen in the future, you should get used to it."
"Yeah, I guess I should." Adeline shyly smiled at Nigel.
Nigel darted his eyes around the room as if he was going to say something but then he ended up asking, "So, I heard that Edwin is under house arrest. And that you were the one to gather all the proofs against him."
Adeline puckered her lips and agreed, "Yes. I found out about his wrongdoings when I had gone to the village before the test. I wanted to do something back then but I could not. And now that I have some authority, I wanted to punish him for terrorizing the villagers in the past."
Nigel nodded his head and asked, "Then what about Lillian? When are you going to take some actions against her?"
Adeline's facial expression turned gloom after hearing that name that she hated from her core. "Right now, the only proof of her crimes that I have is the memory that Theodore showed me. Using that, I have listed out her crimes, the witnesses of different crimes, and the list of victims. I will soon start collecting the statements from the witnesses and victims."
She heaved a sigh and said in a sad tone, "But I don't think I should rush things with her. She is one dangerous witch. I don't want her to go on a murder spree when I try to punish her. She is too unpredictable. So, I will collect the pieces of evidence and file them for now."
She looked at Nigel and he looked lost in his own thoughts. So she asked, "Brother, is something wrong?"
Nigel looked at Adeline with very sad eyes. And he advised her, "Yes, she has already murdered many people. So, don't take her lightly. Always be on your guard. Now that you have become the future Queen, she might target you even more."
Nigel leaned towards her and looked her in the eyes. And he asked in a voice full of pain, "Just promise me that you will be safe."
Adeline felt as though her brother was trying to say something more to her, as though there was some deeper meaning in that last sentence. He was looking really nervous and helpless for some reason.
So she asked Nigel, already guessing why he was here for, "Is there anything that you wanted to tell me? I don't think you just came here to talk about Edwin and Lillian."
Nigel gave an apologetic look to Adeline and said in a low voice, "Adeline, I… I will be returning-"
Before Nigel could finish his sentence, Adeline swiftly got up from her chair and turned away. She covered her mouth with her palm and was trying her best not to break down.
Her eyes were already glistening with tears and she felt a lump in her throat. She gulped and began taking deep breaths in through her mouth. But that was of no help to control her tears from rolling down her cheeks.
Nigel was also trying his best not to cry. He walked up to her and tried to calm her down, "Adeline, I will keep writing to you."
But that just made it even worse for Adeline. She was silently shedding her tears until now but when she heard Nigel's voice, she started to wail. For him to say that he would write to her, Adeline understood that he was going to stay in Aberdeen for a very long time.
Nigel was in no better condition. He also began to cry along with his sister. He held Adeline in his arms and the two of them were crying like they were still toddlers.
Adeline asked with a quivering voice, "Nigel, how long until you return back again? You know I cannot do this Queen thing alone. I need you by my side like you always have been."
She looked into Nigel's eyes with her red and moist eyes and pleaded, "Please don't leave me alone when I need you the most. I need my brother. Please…" And she began to cry even more uncontrollably.
Nigel pressed her head on his chest. He couldn't even bring himself to say a word. He could not bear to see his sister crying like that. But he had no other choice.
After a while, Nigel calmed down a little and said softly while sniffling, "I am sorry that I am leaving you like this. I didn't want to, but I have to."
Adeline pulled away from the hug and tugged Nigel's sleeve as if she was not going to let him leave. And she asked with a little bit of anger on her face, "I don't understand… Why? Why do you have to go back? Isn't your training over already?"
Nigel made her sit down and then explained everything to her. And he promised her, "I promise that I will try to conquer my anger soon. And when I will be sure that I will no longer lose my temper, no matter what I face, then I will come back. I will come back as a stronger and better werewolf so that no one can hurt my little sister and this Kingdom."
Then he smiled and tried to make Adeline laugh, "I will come back with Rhea, and maybe a few cute nieces and nephews for you to play with."
That made Adeline smile, though her eyes were still full of tears and were puffy. "I would love to play with them." Adeline hugged her brother again and said, "Make sure you write letters to me each month. And come to visit me once in a while if it is possible. And send the sketches of my cute nieces and nephews as soon as they are born."
Nigel smiled and agreed. "Sure.. I will stay in touch with you."