The sun had risen, but its light had not replaced the darkness completely. Since last night's incident, the entire castle's inhabitants had not been able to sleep well. They were afraid that if they fell asleep, they would be killed, so they chose to stay up until morning.
Odette staggered to walk while holding her head, which was still bandaged and in pain. She was looking for Anwen. Although last night her condition was weak, she heard and saw everything. Right now, Anwen must be very sad.
"Miss Odette, what are you doing? If you need anything, let us know." Two maids approached Odette. They held Odette's body.
Odette recognized the two maids. They were Anwen's maids.
"Where's Anwen?" she asked them.
"We don't know. This morning the princess left the castle on her horse," explained one of them, then the others replied, "When she feels sad, the princess will vent her sadness by riding her horse. Last night, for the first time I saw her cry."
"So …" Odette knew that Anwen was very sad right now. She hoped that the girl would always be okay.
Anwen's two maids escorted Odette back to her room to rest. As she walked down the corridor, Odette noticed that the castle remained as it had always been. The guards and servants continued their routine. Odette didn't hear any of them talking about last night's events.
After reaching her room, Odette asked the two maids about Rion. Before answering, they both looked at each other.
"What is it?" Odette asked when she saw the doubt on the faces of the two maids.
After a few seconds of looking thoughtful, they told Odette not to bring up last night's events.
"News of the king being possessed by an evil spirit must never leave the castle."
"What? Possessed by an evil spirit?" Odette furrowed her brows in disbelief.
The first servant was seen holding her friend's arm, because she had told Odette about the king being possessed by an evil spirit. Even though she already knew that, it was forbidden to discuss it.
Tthe second servant was silent for a moment, contemplating what she just said, then suddenly laughed while scratching her head. "Ahaha, I'm sure Miss Odette won't say this to anyone, am I right, Miss Odette?"
The other servant sat next to Odette and began to tell stories in whispers, while her friend could only sigh tiredly at her behavior, who was unable to control herself to share any known gossip with others.
The first servant only hoped that her friend's gossiping habit would not subject her to cutting her tongue or any other severe punishments.The gossiping servant began to tell Odette that since the queen's death, the king had often been possessed by an evil spirit. People said that it was a curse from the queen.
"Before the execution, the queen was fasting and she continued to pray in the cell. The queen must have prayed for the king to suffer and feel what she felt."
Odette was surprised to hear the servant's words.
"The queen's prayers were answered. The king lived in misery and the he committed crimes unconsciously. The evil spirit must want people to hate the king like the people used to hate the queen because of a crime she didn't commit."
Odette was silent for five seconds. "Did you or the people hear the queen curse the king?"
She felt that the servant's story was far-fetched. The servant shook her head.
"It's just gossip that comes from the palace, but many people believe that the gossip is true," she admitted it.
"What do you think, Miss Odette?" asked her colleague. She seemed curious about what Odette was thinking.
"I can't believe it," answered Odette confidently, because she had a different opinion.
"Why is that?" asked the second servant.
"Because there's no evidence."
"I agree with you, Miss Odette." The other servant seemed to have a more open mind than her friend.
"I don't know what the truth is, but I don't think the queen would do that, because she loved the king very much and she was also a wise woman. She must understand the situation at that time. The king did not sentence the queen to death based on anger alone, but based on evidence. The evidence showed that the queen had an affair and conspired to overthrow the king," explained the second servant.
She served Queen Rose in Panthera Palace, but after Queen Rose died, she and all of Queen Rose's servants were transferred to Green Castle. The king ordered them to take care of the queen's grave and the roses around the queen's grave and all the remains of the queen.
Green Castle was actually a museum of the queen's heritage.
"Ahh. That's right." The second servant sighed tiredly, then expressed her concern for Knight Trish.
"Knight Trish?" Odette furrowed her brows, feeling confused that the servant suddenly brought up Knight Trish.
"She likes Knight Trish," The first servant leaned over and whispered in Odette's ear.
"Oh Knight Trish, he really is a true knight. He's hurt but he always tells the king that he's fine." The second servant looked up at the ceiling and spoke in a dramatic tone.
***
In a dark and very closed room, Rion was doing strenuous physical training. Push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups. He did it continuously and didn't care that his body was already very tired.
He was upset and frustrated, when he learned that Lucifer had taken over his body again, and that he injured Odette, Trish, and nearly killed Anwen.
His body was already drenched in sweat, it made his body look shiny in the dark.While doing push-ups, the sweat on his face dripped on the floor. He remembered Anwen.
"I'm sorry, Anwen," he whispered. His tears were combined with sweat and fell onto the floor.
Meanwhile, on the path flanked by grass and trees, Anwen was racing with Dan very fast through the cold morning air.
* * *
An atmosphere of mourning pervaded the palace. People gathered for Queen Isabella's funeral. The emperor looked so devastated to see his beloved wife buried and everyone who was there looked on with concern.
As soon as the funeral ceremony was over, Emperor Dario immediately entered the palace. With a broken heart, he walked towards Queen Isabella's room. There, he mourned and reminisced every time he spent with the queen and also …
He walked over to one of the walls. On the wall, there hung the oldest painting of Rose.
"Are you seeing your mother now? She left me to meet you." He removed the painting from the wall to take a closer look but he was a little surprised when he fumbled with the painting, the paper slipped from the frame and revealed another painting underneath.
Out of curiosity, he removed Rose's painting from the frame and his eyes opened wide when he saw that the painting under Rose's painting was a painting of a woman with brown hair and blue eyes.