"What did you say?" Lennox stared at the maid while wiping the sweat from his face.
"Most of the maids had gone to serve her majesty because she was found sleeping on her office chair with an ashen face and shivering body.
So, I request his crown prince to show understanding and come later, the lady needs some rest." Lennox stared at the maid with confusion, he remembered she was fine just last night.
Should he go and call Luci and then go and see the lady!
"Alright, I just wanted to talk about my classes. Please pass my message. I will wait for the lady to call.`` The maid bowed her head as a sign of respect when he nodded and left.
"Did you hear, the lady was found overworking. Her body was shivering with cold yet she was wearing such a thin cloth.
She was bound to get sick but there was no one to care about her. I wonder how many times it has happened in the past.`` Two maids holding hot water were walking towards the room while talking to themselves.
They both stopped abruptly when she noticed Lennox standing on the other side of the passage.
''Your highness, the crown prince. May the light of the goddess fall on you always." they both greeted him in unison but his mind was still on their words.
He had always looked at her majesty as an iron clad woman that could not be hurt even with the stabbing of the sword.
So, he was shocked to know that she was living such a miserable life where she work all day and no one was there to care for her.,
The maids were there but they could not stop her from over working or skipping her meals since they did not have power over her.
The image of the strong woman who was standing tall and looking at the world coldly with disdain in her eyes was broken suddenly in front of his eyes and another image of a soft hearted mother who waited for her kids till late and then had to do overwork and got sick replaced it.
"Who would have thought that she is just like me?" he whispered as he walked away from there when the maids exchanged glances confused but shrugged their shoulders and ran towards the room afraid that water would turn cold.
"No! It would not do! She is a grown up woman, she should be a bit more aware about her health and how much she could work." he did not know, the idea of her getting sick irritated him when he usually did not care about others matters.
He remembered his father got injured once in the war but when he went to meet his father, he felt nothing.
So, these new strange feelings irritated him. He stared at her door again where the maids had disappeared to and clenched his hands.
He walked straight to the room of Luci where he was reading a book leisurely eating the grapes from the table.
When the door opened, Luci turned to stare who has come when a smile bloomed on his face.
"Brother! I thought that you would be busy with your training and then lessons. So, I did not come to disturb you.
Who would have thought that you would come to meet me personally." with a wide smile on his face, he ran towards Len and hugged him. His tiny arms were wrapped around his waist and he looked contended but his smile was gone when he stared at the worried face of his brother.
"What happened brother, why are you looking worried and why are you not attending your classes?" he asked in a suspicious tone while his mind started to think of all the possible reasons.
Could it be because of his mother? Had she tried another trick?
"That.. Her highness asked the staff to cut my classes in half. Now I only have eight classes a day." see, he knew it! His eyes narrowed when he realized that his mother was trying to slow his progress to get more time for his coronation.
If she had known that he was going to get attacked, she would not have gone to such lengths to stop him from being the next emperor. But he was never going to let that happen.
Only Lennox would be the next emperor!
"But when I went to talk to her majesty, her maids told me that she was sick.
I wanted to go and see her but they told me that she needed rest. So….!" Luci, who was still thinking on how to start Len's classes again, blinked and raised his head.
His mother had made an excuse that she was sick so that she did not need to meet him and give him a reason. She must be enjoying her bath or her breakfast in her room.
He had seen her last night. She was just fine! Did Len think his mother was made up of paper that got sick so easily or he was developing a soft corner for her since she had recently shown care to him?
No! That would not do! If Len started to trust his mother then she would easily manipulate him and convince him to do her biddings and he would be heartbroken when he would realize that she did not love him in reality.
And… he would hate his mother. Though he resented her, he did not bring himself to hate her and what if.. He shook his head!
For the welfare of both of them, he would show the reality to his brother now!
"What did you say, mother is sick?" he covered his mouth with his hands as if he was so shocked, "brother, if that is the case, then we should go and see her. She might need the warmth of family for getting recovered." he spoke in a soft voice when Len nodded with more determination.
'See! Mother.. Two can play the same game!'