"He... He was there that night. In the stable that night. He was there, drinking ... my wine" Domi looked unfocused.
Ignis quickly took her by hand and pulled her in the rain. On the way to her chamber, she asked a maid to deliver a message to the merchant guild, about her inability to meet them today.
Once they were inside, she closed the door behind and faced Domi.
"Do you now remember what happened that night?" Ignis asked her, breathless.
Domi nodded "Whatever that Knight said was true. Though he did try to ask me some general questions indirectly like why did we come here? what was our actual goal and what not, there was no specific worrisome question. Thankfully, I was only talking about you the whole time and was not actually listening to him".
Ignis let out a sigh of relief. They cannot give him a reason to cancel the contract before the marriage. No matter how much she stays ahead of him, he and his people are making it difficult by catching up to her at lightning speed.
This anxiety is shortening my life. We need to get married within three months.
"But My Lady, the actual problem is the man we just saw" Ignis shot her head up to meet Domi's eyes. She was visibly anxious.
"I might have leaked a little information about you. And... and we might have to face negotiation again" Domi looked down, guilt and pain evident on her face.
No, not in three, we need to get married within a month.
*****
Adrian was sitting at his desk facing Aldo. He was tapping the desk with his finger impatiently. He could see Aldo getting irritated with the sound, but still, continued to do so.
Albert knocked at the door and entered the room.
"Your Majesty, the Princess and her attendant went straight back to their chamber. They have cancelled their plan to go out tonight."
Adrian nodded "Ask Alan to keep an eye on them". Albert replied with a simple 'yes' and left the room.
"So..." Adrian now turned towards Aldo. "What's your excuse now? Lady Domini saw you in the estate almost a week back. Why have you not reported your arrival to me? And why did you ask Albert to stop the ladies from going out?"
"My King, do you know where the ladies were heading to for their meeting?" Adrian nodded.
"They were going to the merchant guild to know more about the fire pearls" Adrian replied, he gave a nonchalant shrug.
"And that doesn't bother you?"
"She is going to be your Queen in a few months. She is bound to know about it somehow. Why bother hiding it?"
Aldo shook his head. "She is not our Queen yet. Rest assured, I will keep investigating her till the very last moment"
Frustrated, Adrian rubbed his face "Please don't do what you were not asked to do, Aldo. We already have plenty of tasks pending to be done urgently"
"Adrian" Aldo only called him by his first name when he meant serious business. He wants his King to take him seriously. "I can only pledge my loyalty to the new Queen, when I am assured that she means no harm to the Kingdom"
Aldo is one smart person among the King's close associates and quite loyal to the Kingdom as well. He is a war strategist and, in general, known to be a practical thinker. There has to be a reason for him to behave this earnest.
"Aldo, that night when you returned, did you hear something from Lady Domini?"
"Yes" Aldo nodded remembering the night. "When I reached the Palace, it was quite late, so me and the Knights decided to meet you the next day. I went straight to the cellar, there I found a drunk lady going through the new batch of wine. I confronted her, to which, she got defensive and told me that she works for the Princess of Fyre Land. I asked her to return the wine to its original place to which she said this, word to word - 'If I ask the Princess, she will buy the most premium quality wine for the entire Aqua Land and that will only be a drop out of her vast wealth'. Can you imagine the wealth she must be talking about?"
"I wanted to find more about the Princess's wealth so I offered the wine and asked her to join me for dinner. But, the more drunk she got, she only kept talking gibberish about the Princess. It was infuriating" Aldo shook his head.
"But, whatever wealth the Princess possesses, it is kept in a secret vault and the vault is as big as this Palace. This is what the attendant told me before passing out in the stable."
Adrian leaned back on his chair and smiled "So you mean to say My Princess is rich?".
"Are you listening to me? This is a serious matter. The moment I found out about this, I immediately left to find out more. I went through all the recent transactions of the Princess, that I could get a hold on. But, unfortunately, every transaction goes through a net of various transactions that it is difficult to find the accurate start and end point. There are too many parties involved. Can you believe how much time she has taken to weave such a complex web? You can easily deduce that she has been doing this for a very long time. I need to find all her allies, her source of wealth. I am pretty sure her intention is not simply taking revenge on her father. I will need more time to investigate. And so My King, please postpone this alliance as much as possible."
"What are you going to do with the information?" After giving it a thought, Adrian asked.
"Sorry?" Aldo looked like Adrian was asking a very stupid question. "We could ask for more dowry from the Princess. We should think about bringing profit to the Kingdom through this alliance. This will also silence the nobles who are against the alliance."
"And what if this wealth was earned through an immoral way. Wouldn't this make the Land of Aqua accomplices in the Princess's crime? Do you want that for your land?" Aldo kept silent.
"What Princess wishes to do with her wealth is her decision, we do not have any say in it." Adrian looked straight into his friend's eyes, clearly signaling him to forget about this topic.
"But once she is your wife, all her wealth will be legally yours. We need to check how she earned her fortune and - " Aldo ignored the sign.
Adrian felt himself losing his control. He clenched his jaw and the eyebrows furrowed. His chilly voice raised slowly.
"Aldo, we are needlessly stretching the issue. I already know that avenging her mother is not the only plan, there is more that she wants. Besides, the contract is now signed by both of us. It will be in effect the day we get married. Anything outside the contract, will be discussed before taking any action. So, I plead to you, drop the topic. Do you have any idea that your words are somehow demeaning me? Are you and the Kingdom not satisfied with what I am giving to you? Have you forgotten that the Princess has pledged to offer the entire Astras Empire to me? Is that less for you? Do you think her fortune has more value than the Empire?"
Aldo muttered "I - I didn't mean to enrage you. I crossed the line, I apologize, My King"
Adrian took a deep breath "I am hungry. Let's end this here." He started to get up from his chair.
Aldo let out a small bitter laugh and asked "Have you already fallen for her? The Princess"