The servant who opened the door was knocked down by Gerome's shove. He was helped to his feet by another servant who happened to be near the entrance. They left quickly. The master was not in a good mood today.
"She...! How dare that ignorant woman! She's just a descendant of a witch who can't use magic!" Gerome shouted angrily. He punched the air several times with all his might, annoyed by all this.
"Someone must have influenced him! You know how much she loves you, right?" Effie spoke to her son, who was overcome with anger. She had to control herself and think very calmly. She couldn't be rash and just do things. After all, she needed Eleonora. She needed her reputation. "Are you keeping an eye on Duke Windsor?"
Gerome controlled himself immediately. He had to think now. Anger would only cloud all his abilities and that was not good. He remembered the report of the spy stationed at Windsor Castle. "Yes, he has absolutely no contact with Eleonora anymore. Looks like he kept his word."
Effie frowned and thought hard. If Eleonora, her son's fiancée, really had no contact with the Duke of Windsor, how could this girl make such an extreme decision? There was no way that Eleonora, who had fallen in love with her handsome son, could think clearly on her own.
"Someone else must have helped her! We have to investigate carefully, Gerome!" Effie pointed out.
Gerome took a deep breath and nodded his head. Now there were more important things to do first. Eleonora had demanded the return of all the items they had taken from the girl's treasure room.
"She wants everything that's already been given back!" Again Gerome felt very angry.
Eleonora was usually very obedient to him. But after waking from her coma, the girl suddenly changed. It was as if someone had whispered to her what had happened during Eleonora's coma.
"We have to bring her back if we don't want to be cursed by the witch. Gosh... how can she not be perfectly controlled like that?" Effie said cluelessly.
They had sent many spies in the form of servants and administrators to Eleonora's residence. Supposedly, the girl wouldn't notice because all the spies were so skilled in their work. That was how they got information from the king and queen's court.
"Didn't any of the usual servants greet us earlier, Mother?" Ebe, who had been silent, finally spoke.
Effie glared at her in displeasure. "Don't call me mother!" she shouted angrily. "But we haven't seen any of the servants we had stationed there. Are they all gone for some reason?"
The three of them thought hard. If that many servants had all gone on vacation at once, there would have been chaos in the Lucsor residence. However, there was almost no chaos inside. That was the strangest thing.
"Prince... there is a guest for you!" The servant who had opened the door earlier, who had been pushed down, said shyly to Gerome.
He turned quickly and poked his head into the living room. "Who?"
"He didn't give his name, Prince, but he said he was from Lucsor House!" The servant informed.
Gerome's smile immediately widened. He was so happy to be able to get something out of his guest. "It seems that our confusion will soon be cleared up, Mother. Let's go meet our man from Lucsor!"
Effie's face brightened as much as her son's. She immediately puffed out her chest and followed her son, who had gone ahead. Ebe was the last to leave.
A young man stood in the living room. He noticed every ornament in the room. From expensive urns, vases, paintings, and candlesticks. When he heard footsteps, he turned quickly and bowed respectfully.
"Greetings to Prince Gerome, I am Will, one of the servants you have assigned to Lucsor Castle!" The man, Will, introduced himself very nicely.
"Will, I will give you any item you want if you give me valuable information about Lady Eleonora. Did something happen to make her change like that?"
Will tilted his head. "She just changed all of a sudden, Prince, we were surprised by it ourselves. The lady has suddenly become very brave. For the first time, she swore at servants she didn't like. Then we were all fired from Lucsor Castle."
"WHAT?" Effie cried out in shock.
She threw herself backward in pain. Then, this time, she massaged her temples.
"You got fired?" Gerome sounded incredulous.
Will nodded slowly. "We were surprised too, Prince. We were summoned by the butler last night and then dismissed. We protested but were asked to see Lady Eleonora, who refused to see us herself. So we had no opportunity to protest."
Ebe jumped up from her seat a bit like a child. "Wasn't it the butler who tipped off Lady Eleonora, Gerome? You know the butler was suspicious of us! She even called me a whore!" Ebe's eyes were glazed over, it looked like she was going to cry at any moment.
Gerome thought for a moment and shook his head quickly. "I don't think that's possible. Look - all this time Sebastian could have done it, but he didn't and only watched. What would Sebastian gain by doing it now?"
"Well, Sebastian wouldn't want to hurt Eleonora. The old man loves his beloved so much!" Effie confirmed. "There must be someone else we don't know who is influencing Eleonora!"
Feeling that their thoughts were the same, Gerome nodded in agreement. Ebe, feeling unsupported, looked away in annoyance.
"Eleonora probably did this because she's angry that I defended her that day!" Gerome finally decided.
Effie was silent again. "That's right, Eleonora loves you very much. That's why she can't think clearly when it comes to you. And why did you have to visit her that day? Everything got messed up!" Effie scolded Ebe.
Ebe's eyes filled with tears again. She looked to Gerome for help but received a clear refusal. She stood up and stamped her feet before leaving.
"What part of this woman do you like?" Effie did not understand her son's tastes.
***
A large bouquet had been arriving at the Lucsor residence for two days. There was no shortage of flowers to pick in their garden. The large bouquets were received and placed in the hall. But after Lady Eleonora's landlady had inspected the wreath, it was rudely thrown out.
"I don't want that damned thing in the manor!" she said angrily.
On the first day, the workers at the mansion were shocked to hear the mistress's cursing. But on the second day of the wreath's appearance, they understood why it had happened. The lady had been hurt by the beloved prince, they said.
"The gossip is blowing in a direction I don't like!" Eleonora was not happy when Bell cheerfully recounted what she had heard from the servants who had returned after Sebastian's dismissal.
"You can't make people stop talking, mistress. At least you're no longer rumored to be a foolish lady who sacrifices everything for love!" Aisya stopped pouring tea and turned to put the teapot back on the stove.
"Well, the second one sounds even worse!" replied Eleonora. She reached for the cup, smelled the aroma of the tea, and took a small sip. "And what about the plan to retrieve my things from Miss Ebe's house?"
After Eleonora had carefully read the report Sebastian had brought, most of her belongings were at Lady Ebe Damanda's residence. She couldn't understand how a girl could be so greedy for things that didn't belong to her.
"The butler is gathering enough workers to move all this. Besides, your old servants haven't all arrived at the lady's residence yet!" Aisya informed.
She was eager to see Lady Ebe's tear-stained face. However, it seemed that she would have to wait long enough to confirm this.
"Lady, aren't you going to start writing to Duke Windsor again?"