Lillian stared at the Duchess.
"What do you mean your husband? What has he done?"
"I really am sorry Lady Lillian. I have said too much. I need to go."
She briskly walked away, leaving Lillian to stare after her. Her mind running a hundred miles an hour.
What exactly is going on here?
There definitely is more to this than just Margaret's desire to not have her own children.
Something really isn't right. So she decided to remain in the marketplace, digging a little deeper.
With a flick of her wrists, she turned invisible and began scouring the place. Listening to all the talks and gossips going around.
"Remember my sister's husband's nephew's girlfriend? Well-"
I'm going to be here a while.
-------------------------------
Lillian laid on the bed, pieces of paper and opened books scattered all around the room. The moment she got back from the market, the sun was still in the sky.
Roman met her at the door but she didn't have the time to even greet him. She had to get all the information she got from eavesdropping on the people, down on paper before she forgot anything.
Roman directed her to the library, instructing the servants not bother her. Lillian wrote as fast as she could, without taking a break. Her hands cramped several times but she still went on writing.
She knows how bad her memory is so she isn't taking any risk. It was fortunate that no one disturbed her, otherwise . . . Well, something would have happened. Not sure what, but something.
The moment Lillian finished writing, she took all the papers and the books on the history of the kingdoms as well as the kingdom's records and fled to her room.
There she's been holed up. Even as twilight dawned.
Lillian looked at everything around her, the number of papers, books and questions made her feel suffocated. She needed some air.
Jumping up from the bed, she walked to the balcony and stared at the garden. The Old Sage stood majestically, it's enormous branches stretched out into the sky.
What am I missing here?
She sighed, scratching her head, "I'm just an event manager. There is a reason why I took arts. I'm not smart enough for this." She glared at the Old Sage, "Come on here. Give me some advice or some help?"
As she said that, strange pull came from the Old Sage, gentle but urgent. Without knowing it, she felt herself float out of the balcony and land onto the branches of the tree.
Slowly she drifted off to sleep. A warm embrace covered her like a fluffy blanket and she felt safe there.
In the darkness of her mind, all she could hear are noises. Voices overlap each other, images became distorted before they could fully form and nothing made any sense.
She opened her eyes, shouting, "Will everyone just shut the fu*k up!? Oh, where am I?"
She is an entirely white room devoid of any furniture or even a window. There was nothing in sight.
"Did I die? I remember floating to the Old Sage. Did it eat me ?!"
She looked around her, running in one direction she came out the other side.
"I don't really think I'm dead yet. Should I cut myself again to find out?"
She summoned a knife again, staring at its glistening iron.
"No. I don't think I'm dead. I wouldn't be this calm if I was alive though."
She sat down, head in her hands. "This doesn't make sense. Nothing does!"
"What do you know about the Kingdom so far? Maybe I can be of some help."
A voice resounded throughout the room. She couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.
This could be a trick of an enemy kingdom to gain intel on this kingdom. Like I'm going to tell them anything.
"Do not worry. I do not care about taking over this kingdom."
"Then why do you want to help me?" Lillian scanned all around the room, touching the walls for a secret passage or anything else that may be hidden.
"As much as I don't care about that. If this kingdom collapses, the human world will not be the only one that suffers but many others as well."
"Others? So, you're telling there are other worlds in this world?"
"Something like that."
"Ugh . . . I feel dizzy."
"I apologise. This may be too much information for the time being. Why don't we try to figure out the most urgent one first? You have a lot of the facts already."
"But none of them add up. What the people talk about and what the records say don't add up."
"You should know how history is written and in whose perspective. You can't just trust a single source."
"Ugggghhhhhhhh . . . Why couldn't this have been about me trying to find a way to get to my love interest. I have more knowledge in that sphere."
"Everything happens for a reason."
"Well, whoever decided this sucks. Now I have to solve a kingdom's problems?"
"Relax. Clear your mind and lay out all the information you've gathered."
"Ok. Wait. Who am I talking to? There's no name mentioned in the conversations so far."
" . . . So what have you gathered?"
" . . . Fine, be like that. I'll call you Person A. According to the people, the king is a selfish douchebag who doesn't care a bit about them but according to the records, the king has been decreeing laws for the people and their well being.
"It seems that there are many places of the kingdom that still have yet to be repaired since a flood hit not too long ago. Other parts of the kingdom have been in famine for years and yet I can't find anything about it in the records and believe me, I've looked.
"The good thing about this kingdom is that it really likes recording everything that happens, even the birth of every child in the Kingdom is recorded no matter their status.
"So a lot of things don't make sense. The King said that he's been looking after them unconditionally, so does he really have no idea about all these things happening in his own kingdom?
"Also, the people have a very false view of the king. Apparently, some of them have no idea of what he even looks like. Did he never go out to meet them? What's up with this kingdom!?! They're pissing me off so much. Every one of them.
"What do you think, Person A?"
"You now know what questions you want to ask right?"
"More or less, yes but. . . What the hell does this have to do with the Duchess? And what's that with her husband? Ahhhhhhh! They're all driving me insane."
"Lillian. Calm down. You have magic, why not use it to get a clue. After all, the magic all around you has been here much longer than the kingdom has."
"I can do that ????!!!!"
"Yes."
"Why didn't anyone tell me then? Though, it does feel like I'm cheating a little bit."
"Do you think you are smart enough to solve this on your own?"
"I always like very intellectual debates and arguments and you, Person A, have provided a very fair point. So, how do I do this?"
"Just ask, but remember, they are always very vague. They will not show anything more than a hint."
"Oh. Well, this is worrying. But I don't really have another option."
"You look very calm though."
"The only expressions I know how to express are excitement, happiness, anger and spotting attractive people. That's it. The rest are involuntary. So forgive me if I don't look as I feel."
"Apology accepted. Now you need to close your eyes and empty your mind of everything except the request you wish to make."
"Alright." Lillian sat cross-legged on the floor, taking in deep breaths and releasing them. Thinking only of a clue to form for all the questions she has.
An image formed in her mind, the moment it became clear something knocked her to the ground.
"Ouch! Why does magic have to be so damn forceful?!"
"Did you get the clue?"
"Something like that. All I saw was an image of a gorgeous man. Unfortunately, he's not my type, but he's still beautiful none-the-less.
"Tan skin, purple eyes that match his long purple hair. I swear, the only reason I'm here is to ogle at beautiful people and I am living for it. If only that other thing I need to do isn't there."
She narrowed her eyes then went into thinking mode again. "But what does that man have to do with everything? ... Great. I asked for hints and I get more questions. So wh-?"
"-ian."
"Do you hear that?"
"-lian?"
"Where is that coming from?"
All the room around her started crumbling to pieces, falling all around her.
"Lillian!"
Lillian gasped, opening her eyes to see Rosa and Jasmine standing in front of her, troubled.
"Oh, hey guys. Haven't seen any of you in a long time. How have you been?"
They looked at each other and back at her, nervousness radiating off of them.
"Lillian. Don't panic alright?" Rose slowly walked to her.
"What happened? What's going on?"
"Nothing. It's nothing. Branches covered in blood aren't sticking out of you." Jasmine blurted out.
"What?!"
"Nothing!"
Lillian looked to her side and saw a branch sticking out of her stomach and arm, another one poked out of her thigh. Her dress was torn in several places, stained again with blood.
Unsure of what to do, she started laughing.
"Lillian?" Rose dragged her name out, as if hesitant to call to her.
"Damn! I just have the best luck don't I?"
"Don't worry. We'll get you out!" Jasmine summoned her threads, wrapping them around Lillian. "Ready, Rose?"
Rose stood just in front of her, arms open wide. "Ready."
With a quick pull, Lillian flew out of the branches, right into Rose's open arms. She caught her and held her firmly.
Lillian grabbed onto her as she started to feel the pain running through the body as the blood spilt out, her body shook.
"Hey. It's ok. I got you. I got you."
"Lillian. Are you okay?" Jasmine ran to them, with all her skirt layers.
Rose laid her on the ground, propping her up with her legs.
"Well, I have several holes in my body because of the tree's branches where the blood vessels may or may not be damaged, oh! And my dress may be ruined. But other than that, don't worry. I'm good."
"That's a relief. What were you doing there anyway?"
"I don't know. The last thing I knew, I was looking for clues on this kingdom and I started to float out of the room. There was a white room . . . What time is it, Jasmine?!"
"It's almost midnight."
"How long have I been here?! I lost an entire day. I'm sorry. I have to get going."
She got to her legs, pain shooting up but she ignored it, limping towards the castle. She grasped at her side, the wound hurt with every move she made.
"Lillian!" Rose called out.
"I'm sorry! I really need to get there."
"You won't make it there like that!"
"I can heal my own wounds don't worry!"
"No! You idiot! Just teleport!"
Lillian stopped walking and gave Rosa and Jasmine a sheepish smile. "Oops."
Rose rolled her eyes while Jasmine only gave her an understanding smile.
"Thank you for finding me! I'll repay you! I promise."
With a flick of her wrists, bright colourful lights surrounded her, covering her entirely before she disappeared.
----------------------------------
"Where could she be? Do you know anything, Margaret?"
Roman paced back and forth, while Margaret sat in the couch, hands in her head. They are in the study.
"No, your highness. Last I saw her was in the marketplace. I shouldn't have left her alone." She rubbed her temples, panic in her voice.
"No. I met her in the castle but she shut herself in her room the moment she came back. She was only noticed to be missing when Marietta went to call her for dinner."
"Do you think she was taken? She did say that people were after her for her magic." Margaret trembled, the thought making her feel nauseous.
"Hey. It is alright, we will find her. Alright?" Roman smiled at her but how much did he actually believe what he said.
Her room was horrendously messy but there was something so purposeful in that untidy abomination.
Most of the books she took were on the records and history of his kingdom as well as the neighbouring kingdoms and she wrote on an entirely different language, one he had never seen or heard of before.
He feared that she may have found something that shouldn't have been uncovered.
The door creaked opened, drawing their attention to the man that stood there.
"My, I came here to visit my childhood friend and I see the castle in panic? What is the meaning of this?"
"Geno! It's a pleasure to see you!"
Roman walked up to him, embracing.
"Your Highness. You look incredibly well." He smiled.
"So do you. I apologise for the chaos in the palace. We are just looking for a guest. Mayb-"
Just as he was talking, the room shook as a portal opened and a bloodied hand shoot out, gripping the sides of the portal.
Guards came in, surrounding them, their swords drawn and aimed at whatever is coming out the portal. Magic came off the tip of their swords, ready to attack.
"Your Highness." Lillian pulled herself out of the portal, landing on the floor with a loud sound, in her blood-soaked dress. "Never going to use a portal again." She gasped, laughing.
Roman ran past the guards to her. Crouching to the ground he looked at her and asked, "What happened? Call a medic!"
"Aww~ were you worried about me?" Lillian's words were slurred, she looked so exhausted, she couldn't even lift her fingers.
"Lady Lillian! What happened?" Margaret stood beside Roman, hands on her mouth.
"Don't worry. I'm fine." She pushed herself to her feet. "See?"
Blood spilt out her mouth. "Oh. That may be a problem." She looked at all the blood on her dress, signing. "I just got this cleaned."
"Hey. You look familiar."
She pointed to the man Roman called Geno. That purple hair and eyes looked so familiar but she couldn't remember it.
The room spun around her, swaying her in her already unsteady stance.
Roman stood, hands hovering at her side, every time she swayed. "Are you sure you are alright?"
Lillian shook her head. "I think I'm gonna need someone to catch me."
Lillian's vision darkened before she even reached the ground. Lost consciousness.