Dariel stormed seriously into the manor, on his way to his office he saw a maid dusting.
"Where is your lady?" he asked her, the poor maid jumped up in fright, turning around, she had not heard Dariel approaching.
"She... is... in... th..e kitchen..." she managed to say. It did not matter what time of day it was, Dariel was still terrifying regardless, all the workers in the house only prayed that they would not cross paths with him.
"Call her for me, tell her to meet me in my study." he said dourly.
"Y...es... my... lord." the maid quickly replied before rushing off.
Dariel continued to his office, he walked in, shut the door behind him and sat down in his armchair. He looked lost in deep thought to the point that he did not hear Ohara walk in.
"My love, what is the matter?" she asked snapping him out from his daze. She was quick to notice the dispirited look in his eyes, which was odd considering he left the house feeling very happy this morning.
"Ohara, sit down." he simply said, his tone soft as she listened to him.
"Alright, I am seated, what is the matter? Did something happen in court today?" she asked, she was certain that something truly did happen that caused his downcast expression.
Dariel sighed, he did not know if telling her what was on his mind was wise, however, the last thing he wanted to do was hide things from her.
"Ohara... he mentioned Andria."
A grave silence enveloped the room. Ohara was completely still, her eyes unmoving, she was stiff as if life had been sucked out of her.
"W—What... did—he say?" she asked her breathe shaky.
"He said that I... killed her, and I know where her body is." Dariel said carefully, the last thing he wanted was for Ohara to faint.
"Then he knows Dariel! He knows! I knew it was only a matter of time before the truth came out." Ohara declared tremblingly. She stood to her feet and paced around the room.
"No, no he does not know, I doubt he does, he just wanted to destabilize me. He wanted to elicit a reaction from me." Dariel insisted.
"It does not matter! He knows, and if he knows, you and I are both doomed!" Ohara cried.
"Ohara, my love, please calm down." he said as he stood up and tried to hold her but she pushed him away.
"I told you Dariel, I told you and my mother that day that we should have told the truth, but you both insisted, now look, more than twenty years later, this thing is coming back to haunt us." she cried shrilly.
"Ohara, I contemplated whether to inform you of this or not." he said. "But I decided to because you are my wife, and I need to tell you things like this so you are not caught unaware."
Ohara did not seem to be listening, she held herself tightly, looking terrorized.
"I promised you that day that no one would ever hurt you, and I am going to restate that promise." he said as he held her close and she did not resist him.
"I promise that you will never be hurt, not you, not Angelica." he said as she cried.
"But Dariel, you know the truth, what we did was wrong!" she cried.
"I know, but we had to do what we had to do, but you will never be to blame my love, never." Dariel coaxed.
"She was with child, she was almost at full term, and then she... she died..." Ohara cried.
"My love, please, let the past remain the past, as for Endrick, he will never find out, never." he said assuredly.
"What makes you so sure?" she asked.
"It has been over twenty years and they have not found her body, things will remain that way." he said definitely.
"Just remain calm my love, do you let this haunt you or disturb your peace." he said as he rubbed her back.
"Oh but it is already haunting me Dariel, my peace has been disturbed from the first day we did the unspeakable." she cried.
"Hush my love, it is alright, cry if you wish to cry." he said soothing her.
"Dariel, I have never forgiven myself for what we did." she cried.
"You do not have to, you did nothing wrong, neither of us did anything wrong." he said continuing to coax her.
He looked off into the distance, the last thing he wanted to do was cause her pain, and he would try his best to make sure that both she and Angelica would remain unharmed in all of this, even if it killed him.
...
"I have a feeling that you were aware of the accusation Lord Endrick brought against his brother." Phillip said turning to face Endron.
"Not at all sire, his accusation caught me by surprise." Endron replied.
"Something is troubling you, care to share?" he asked.
"I have a feeling that Viscount Dariel truly had a hand in Lady Andria's disappearance." Phillip brooded.
"You know, years ago when that matter came up, I shunned it, I thought that maybe the woman had just ran away, however, looking back now, it would not be sensible for a woman of her title, with child to just run away." Phillip said.
"I agree sire, it is rather strange, but it was confirmed that she was missing and dead when all attempts to find her whereabouts proved futile." Endron replied.
"Now that Lord Endrick revisited the matter and blamed Viscount Dariel, I am more certain now than ever that there is more than meets the eye."
"There are several secrets in their family." he added.
"Then would you like for me to uncover them?" Endron asked.
"What for? My mind is made up, I will settle this case once and for all tomorrow." Phillip said definitely.
"There is no need for you to waste your time investigating their wretched family, the truth will come out in the end, always." Endron nodded, agreeing with him.
"I just pity whichever family that decides to marry their sons into such a mess." Phillip tisked.
"Does that mean you do not support my wish for my son to marry Lord Endrick's daughter?" Endron asked, he knew Phillip well, and he rarely said things without an underlying meaning present.
"You are my closest friend and confidant Endron, frankly, I would prefer it if we stayed far away from that mess of a family." Phillip shook his head.
"Noted my king, I must continue my search for a suitable family then." Endron said resting his back on the carriage seat.
"If you are really concerned with Easton's future, why do you not consider my niece?" Phillip asked.
"Are you referring to Pippa?" Phillip nodded.
"No, Easton would never forgive me if I ended up choosing Pippa."
"But why? She is a lovely girl, and very beautiful for that matter, just like her aunt, she is well mannered and cultured, if anything she is the best choice." Phillip said.
"That may be so, but may I remind you Phillip that she is hopelessly in love with your son Ian. She will never love Easton if a marriage is arranged, and that is not the best way to start a relationship." Endron stated.
"That may be true, however, with Ian finally finding a wife, she will soon wake up from the illusion that Ian would ever come to love her in a different light."
"She is not only beautiful, but intelligent as well, once news of Ian's marriage spreads, she will realize that she has to move on with her life." Phillip smiled.
"I do not mean to offend you Phillip, but that girl is a spoilt brat, even though she is a fair choice of wife for my son, she is too pampered and used to getting her way, something tells me that she will not take the news of Ian's marriage lightly." Endron sounded more mocking than sincere.
However, Phillip did not seem to mind, he knew that he meant well, and most importantly he spoke nothing but the truth.
"I have to agree with you Endron, she can be rather stubborn when it comes to the things she wants." Phillip admitted.
"I believe that stems from the confidence she has in her doting uncle." Endron said causing Phillip to laugh.
"I see where you are going Endron, and I cannot lie that it is not true." he laughed.
"Why do you support her so much? You overlook all her wrongs, everyone knows that you do, including her."
"Oh you know the reason why my friend... it is the least I can do..."
"She bears an uncanny resemblance with her aunt, I believe that is why Ian adores her so much." Phillip sighed.
"That may be true, she might have her majesty's looks, but definitely not her cherished characters." Endron scoffed.
"Leave it be Endron, I accept that you do not want her to be Easton's wife, we can end things at that." Phillip said definitely.
"As you wish my king." Endron replied, his complete silence following.