Second Arc (His Art of War) - 81. His Duty and Her Duty
Rose and Flare walked down the corridor to the parlour room. But a few meters before they got there, Angel came out of the room.
Rose's steps stopped, while Angel immediately noticed her presence. They stared at each other as they sank into their own thoughts and feelings. Rose's mind sank in Angel's change, how Angel could have magic power even though he was a Reinheart and also her doubts about his identity as Asteria royal family. Meanwhile, Angel's mind sank in all of Rose's attitude towards Artheur in the hall as well as what he saw through his 'evil eye'.
"Are you not going to greet me?" said Angel, breaking the silence between them.
Hearing his words, Rose bowed. "Your Majesty."
"Do you want to meet your friend?" he guessed.
Rose lifted her head and looked at him. Although her gaze was not as fierce as when they met in the hall, Angel could see her anger accompanied by a trace of worry clearly in her eyes.
"Yes. I hope you can allow me to talk to her for a moment," said Rose.
A short breath escaped his mouth as a smirk appeared on his lips. "Are you worried about her?" he said sarcastically. It was really funny, Ivetta tried to take her down but Rose looked so worried about her. He even believed if he tried to execute Ivetta in front of her eyes, maybe Rose would hate him for the rest of her life.
"I just want to make sure she's fine, Your Majesty. She is just a weak noble lady who has lost her father since childhood. I hope you don't make things more difficult for her." Ivetta was her only precious friend where she could spill her heart out without any judgment, of course, she really treasured her.
Angel stepped closer to Rose and stopped right in front of her. "If I were you, I would be careful of everyone around me," he warned.
"Thank you for your warning, Your Majesty. I'll be more careful next time." She thought Angel was warning her about the spies. While Angel realized that Rose drew the wrong conclusion of his warning.
The sound of the door being opened came from behind Angel, he knew Ivetta was going to come out of the room. Angel used the opportunity to provoke her again. He brought his face close to Rose's ear, making it look like they were kissing from Ivetta's standpoint. "I'm not talking about servants but it's about those who are close to you," he whispered.
Rose didn't budge. "I know who my friends are and who are my enemies, Your Majesty," she replied in a cold voice.
"Really?" A short chuckle came out of his mouth. "Then you should know a royal family like us shouldn't completely trust anyone except ourselves," he warned her again. He had experienced being betrayed by his own family and hoped Rose didn't experience the same pain as him. He even knew Ilex was trying to destroy him again so he planned to use Ivetta to make Ilex confess all of his crime.
While Ivetta could only stand behind them and stare at them in envy. Great anger and jealousy overtook her heart. Angel didn't even hesitate to show his desire to approach Rose in public, while she? Even Ilex hasn't contacted her since Asteria's downfall. Ilex had thrown her away!
"Of course I wouldn't trust anyone else completely, but I had even more distrust of a person who disappeared for five years and reappeared only to destroy another kingdom without any warning." Even though she knew clearly that Euphorion's attack on Zephyrus was because her uncle gave Asteria her family poison but it was all because Asteria tricked him. If Angel had sent his delegation to talk about this first, this war would not have happened.
"Your family poison killed my people and destroyed my city. If you were me, would you still think of that?" he said in a cold voice.
Rose was speechless. She did not deny that she might do the same thing as Angel. But still ... For her, this war had taken what she had protected with her life.
"Ehem ..." Ivetta cleared her throat as she couldn't stand anymore.
Angel pulled his face away, his eyes fixed on her. "We'll talk about this later." He took a glance at Ivetta and noticed Ivetta's annoyance clearly visible on her face. Then he shifted his gaze to Flare who was standing behind Rose. Angel implied that Ivetta was a dangerous person, so he ordered her to keep a good eye on Rose. Without saying anything, Flare gave him a slight nod as a sign that she understood what to do. "I'll excuse myself," he continued.
Rose bowed without saying anything and Angel walked past her.
She raised her head and Ivetta walked over to her. But before she could get close to Rose, Flare blocked her. "Please keep your distance, my lady." Her eyes fixed on Ivetta.
Ivetta stopped her steps and looked at Rose with a pleading look, asking her to speak privately. But Rose answered her by shaking her head side to side slightly, indicating that she also could not do anything about this.
Seeing Rose's answer, Ivetta took a step back to move away. She was planning to make Rose hate Angel even more but it seems she could only say important things to her.
"Ivetta, I'm glad you are fine," said Rose. She looked relieved.
Ivetta forced a smile even though her anger had actually reached the tip of her head. "Thank you for your attention. I'm also glad you're fine."
"The castle's condition is unstable but it is too late for you to return to Slyhelm Town. I hope you can stay at the city inn for today." Even though Rose hoped Ivetta could stay in the castle for the night, but she did not want to involve Ivetta in this mess.
"I understand."
"One more thing. You have to take care of yourself. Right now, King Angelus, has ordered his troops to take care of the rebels but you still have to be careful," Rose warned her.
Ivetta startled, her eyes widened in surprise. She did not expect Angel to find out that her rebel troops were still hiding in this castle and city. Her palms started to break out sweats of tremendous anxiety. 'Angelus Raizel ... Does he actually know everything?' But in the end, she concluded that Angel didn't know about her yet because if he had known it, Angel should have sentenced her to death by now.
Meanwhile Rose noticed traces of anxiety on Ivetta's face. 'Has something happened?' But of course, even though she was curious about this, but she couldn't ask Ivetta about it because Flare was there. That's why Rose could only conclude that Angel had done something or threatened Ivetta.
Ivetta returned her expression to normal. "Thank you for your warning. I hope you can take care of yourself. I'll take my leave." She bowed and Rose replied with a slight nod. Then she turned and left. 'I have to come up with a new plan immediately. I can only hope that Duke Bartlet isn't caught just yet,' Ivetta thought.
While Rose could only stare at Ivetta. 'Angelus Raizel ... Why do you have to destroy everything that I have? Why do you have to hurt the people I love? 'Angel took her kingdom, nearly killing her only family and her future fiancé, Artheur. He was even trying to hurt Ivetta.
Even though she understood the reason behind what he did, she could not forgive him. If Angel, as king, had a duty to protect his kingdom, so did she. She clenched her hands in determination. 'No ... I can't give up now ... I have to make him pay for it.'