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(3rd Person POV)
Aston opened the door of his room roughly and slammed it shut.
*Bang*
He dropped himself on the chair and both of his arms were crossed in front of his chest.
Edmund opened the door gently and peeked inside. He could see Aston all hot and bothered.
Aston had a conflicting expression as if he was going through an internal turmoil. He was looking at the ceiling of the room with furrowed brows.
Edmund stepped inside without making any noise and stood in front of Aston quietly.
After a few minutes passed, Edmund asked apprehensively, " Are you fine, your highness?"
Aston replied weakly, "Yes, Edmund."
Which was the first time in almost a decade, Edmund heard Aston say it in such a deflated tone.
"If you are bothered or annoyed by what Miss Sierra said, then I can ask the Tenebres Squad to take care of her."
"No, that's not required at all. Didn't you say she is mentally ill?"
"Y-Yes, but she disrespected your highness even if it was unintentional. I thought you were gonna kill her on the spot. But didn't do so because Miss Roxana was present there."
Aston turned towards Edmund and asked in a tone as if he was mocking himself, "Do I seem like a person who kills everyone he meets?"
"N-No, of course not, your highness. You are a very magnanimous person.", said Edmund nervously.
A short chuckle escaped Aston's mouth as he said, "No need to say fake qualities of me. Being a very strong murderer is my most notable quality. I just can't help it, y'know?"
While Aston was speaking that last line, Edmund could see a sliver of sorrow and regret in his eyes. It also seemed as if he was terrified of something.
If someone had asked Edmund before this incident whether Aston could ever be terrified or scared in his life, then Edmund would have laughed at the stupid question.
Since Edmund started serving Aston, there has not been a single time when Aston didn't have his overwhelming confidence and belief in his abilities.
Even while that 10-year-old child sparred with Edmund, he wasn't scared at all.
Gradually, Edmund had come to believe that his lord didn't have any weaknesses.
But seeing how shaken Aston was currently, told him that it wasn't that Aston didn't have any weakness, it was just that he hid his weakness well.
Seeing his highness like that hurt Edmund's heart. Edmund had seen over his highness for many years since he was a child, and somewhere in his heart, he respected as well as looked at Aston as his grandson.
He had built up the fighting basics and helped him in his fighting techniques.
Aston just shook his head as if dismissing a thought from his mind and said, "Edmund, I would require some time alone. Till then, my order is that I should have all the information on Ashil Agriche. Not even a single thing should be missing. I want to know the reason why she mistook me for her dead son."
"Of course, your highness. You will have that as soon as possible."
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The next morning,
Roxana woke up unusually early that day. Since her childhood, she had the habit of getting enough sleep because if she wanted to survive in this ferocious house, then she needed to get ample rest.
But not that day. She was in a pinch.
Whatever happens, when she meets Aston again, she doesn't know what will happen.
Aston might have not done anything on the spot because he may have gotten overwhelmed but from her analysis of his personality, he wasn't forgiving and understanding.
Even though, he may know that her mother is mentally ill.
Why would he care about that? He has killed several innocent people out of boredom and other purposes. Why will he care about a mentally retarded person of a noble family who has been already threatened? He has no reason to do that.
When she meets him tomorrow, the whole thing can go either way. Either he kills her and her mother or he kills her mother and then plans to kill the house later.
There was no in-between. She couldn't see any way around it. Aston doesn't need to have a reason most of the time he kills but now he does have a reason.
She couldn't even take help from Lant or inform him at all. If he gets even an inkling of what happened, then he would just kill Sierra and offer her death as forgiveness to Aston to appease him.
She knew that Lant would do that in a second, without any hesitation.
She woke up pale and sweaty all of a sudden as she had a nightmare of Aston Phoenix controlling her as she was forced to torture her mother.
She had the thought that her destiny might not be much different from that scenario.
She tried to think about several ways how to interact with him but there was no way that she could see that could bring her out of this horrible situation.
Thinking so much might have affected her mind.
Because she had been feeling bouts of nausea and dizziness.
She was standing behind the crown prince's door and was contemplating till now to do what.
*Sigh*
However, she made up her mind to not think properly about the consequences. She had currently put her butterflies near the room to call them at a moment's notice.
She won't go down without a fight, but that would be her last choice if everything fails miserably.
.
.
.
Roxana entered the room and one thing that struck her was that Edmund wasn't present in the room which increased the beating of her heart by a notch.
She put down the crown prince's breakfast and greeted him, "Greetings to the future son of the empire."
There wasn't any reply from him, as he seemed engrossed in his book.
Whenever something like that happened, she usually left after there wasn't any request.
But today was a different day.
Roxana said diplomatically, "Your Highness, I just wanted to ask for forgiveness on my mother's part. She is not mentally sane, that's why she mistook you for another person."
Aston looked up from his book and said, "Oh, I didn't see you there, Miss Roxana. Good Morning to you and what were you saying just now?"
"I said that I would like to ask for forgiveness on my mother's behalf as she is ment-"
Aston interrupted her in between, "No, that's not needed. I understand the circumstances. I just hope that she gets better soon. You don't have to apologise on her behalf as well, it wasn't a mistake made by anyone."
Aston smiled like a gracious king having mercy on his subject.
"I thank you for your graciousness on us."
"You don't have to thank me like that. It's basic human courtesy."
Human Courtesy...
Roxana knew Aston had gone far beyond basic human courtesy. It was hypocritical of him to even say that he was following basic human courtesy.
Aston folded the book and kept it beside him.
He looked at Roxana and asked her, "So, how are you feeling, Miss Roxana? I hope you don't get too tired of being the guide of our group. "
She replied hurriedly, "No, of course not. I enjoy guiding your group and interacting with other different p-"
She stopped in between as her eyes widened for a bit and she clutched her head.
Aston called out in a worried manner, "Are you okay? Do you need to drink water?"
Roxana smiled at him and dismissed any worry, "Thank you but I am fine. I am just feeling slightly dizzy. I can still converse properly."
"Ok, but make sure to return to your room if you feel like it."
And the conversation continued. Then it spiralled into a war of words between both of them.
Roxana started asking questions regarding the military might of the Phoenix Family subtly and Aston was asking about the inner struggles of the Agriche Family.
"Ah, Miss Roxana, you haven't told me yet about your dear sister Griselda Agriche. I have heard of her prowess in strategic planning, she was the valedictorian of her year, wasn't she? How is she doing currently?"
"She is doing well, your highn-"
However, Roxana was interrupted by blood.
Yes, her blood.
Due to the high dose of the poison, she took yesterday, she had been feeling dizzy and unable to concentrate properly. This was expected.
She vomited out some blood which fell on her dress. She touched the blood on her lips with her fingers and saw them.
Aston looked at her without saying anything, there was not even a sliver of surprise on his face.
Aston could sense blood and knew that she was going to have lots of problems due to the poison in the blood. Though he expected her to not faint so soon, it must have been a very effective poison.
Roxana stood up from her chair and said weakly, "This h-happens to me r-regularly. Please d-don't mind me. I should return to my r-room."
As soon as she walked a few steps, she lost consciousness and dropped to the floor.
A defenceless beautiful maiden was in the room with a handsome devil.
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(End of the Chapter)
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