Chapter 72- Visit (2)

(JEMAS P.O.V)

“Useless!” Count Livens shouted as he threw hot tea onto the guard who stood in front of him. After we continued to attack Count Livens throughout the previous night. He became more irritable, and started to lash out at the guards for not catching a single intruder.

I stood by the door next to another guard who was a clan member in disguise as we watched Count Liven throw another tantrum.

“How dare someone send assassins after me!”he shouted as pushed the many documents off the desk onto the floor.

He became calm and took a seat in his chair. He pointed towards me and the other guard then pointed at the documents on the floor.

“Pick it up”, he said, in a demanding tone.

We nodded and walked over to the desk, we bent down and picked up the documents. I took a glance at one of the documents, which had a list of names and a location on the top of it.

Hmm, I'll have to sneak in to retrieve it later, I thought to myself.

“Come in”, Count Livens said after someone knocked on the door.

When it opened one of the butlers walked into the room.

“Sir, your guest has arrived”, the butler said.

Count Livens got up and walked over to the door. We followed behind him as we walked down to the first floor. We walked until we arrived in front of the waiting room.

The other clan member and I stood in front of the door, as Count Livens entered the room.

“Viscount James”, I heard him say before the door shut.

(NATHAN'S P.O.V)

Masiro placed the man back on his feet after telling us the name of the person who requested Sage's assassination. The man grabbed a piece of paper and started to write something on it. A few seconds later, he handed the paper to Masiro.

“Let's go”, Masiro said.

We turned around and walked out of the office. Without looking back, we exited out of the tavern and climbed back into Masiro's truck. He handed the paper to me, who was sitting in the backseat.

I looked at the paper and saw three different addresses, one belonging to Viscount James Collins.

“The other two belong to Taverns in the central region”, I said.

“So, where are we headed now dad?”Valian asked.

“I need to meet up with a squad member, in order to get someone to infiltrate Viscount James estate” he said.

“I'll do it”,Valian said.

Masiro nodded and started to pull off from the tavern.

I was thinking to myself for a moment before I decided to share my thoughts.

“Masiro, Valian, what's your thoughts on kidnapping Viscount James?”, I asked.

“Looks like we share the same thoughts”, Masiro said.

“I want to see how Prince Marshall reacts to his advisor being kidnapped. It'll be interesting”, I said.

“I have a different thought, instead of kidnapping Viscount James. How about we kidnap his family instead”, Valian suggested.

“Even better”, Masiro and I said at the same time.

“How far is his estate from here?”Valian asked.

“Given the address and location, I estimate it's about an hour away”, I replied.

“Let's head to the other taverns first, we can deal with visiting the Viscount estate later on tonight”, Masiro said.

(PRINCE MOISES P.O.V)

We were sitting in the dining room, discussing our plans for the rebellion. Since the conference about Prince Marshall's coronation is tomorrow.

“I received some information that Prince Marshall will try to marry his daughter off to one of the Princes in the Avaloria kingdom," my grandfather said.

“Interesting, it seems like he's trying to form peace treaties with multiple kingdoms. Is he that afraid of going to war with another kingdom?”, Prince Antonio said.

The maids and butlers entered the dining room and started to place the food onto the table.

“Prince Marshall and King Lincoln aren't fit for war, it would be his best option to form a peace treaty in order to avoid conflict. The young Duchess and I will attend the conference tomorrow, I'm sure since Prince Marshall is in a rush to take the throne. He will begin trying to make moves against the rebel groups soon.”, Grandfather said.

“We still need to find out who sent assassins after my daughter before the succession ceremony takes place since the debutante is next week. Giving her the rights to the military, has probably caused a commotion at the palace”, I said.

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I watched as Prince Antonio's facial expression changed after hearing what I said.

“Someone sent assassins after my future Queen?”, he said, with an upset expression.

I was impressed by his boldness to say that in front of me.

“I don't remember giving my approval of this marriage request”, I said, looking directly at him.

“Ah, what must I do to get your approval your highness?”, Prince Antonio asked.

“It's my daughter's choice who she will marry. I won't allow her to marry a weak man. Before you leave the castle we will have a little sparring match” I said.

Prince Antonio nodded and agreed to the sparring match.

I heard my grandfather chuckle, and I looked over at him.

The door opened and butler Jackson came walking into the dining room. He was pushing a cart and walked over to my grandfather. They whispered to each other, but I couldn't hear what they were saying

Butler Jackson looked over at me and slightly grinned. Seriously, are they really that amused at my attempts to keep Sage out of Prince Antonio's sight.

“Jackson, can you tell Natalie to come to the dining room”, I said.

“Yes, your highness”, he said.

(NATALIE'S P.O.V)

After Moises left the room to go to meet with the Crown Prince of Kalpana. Sage and I remained in the room, we lifted Rosemary's body up as we changed her into some fresh clothes after wiping her body down. Rosemary continued to groan as we moved her but she was still unconscious.

I looked over at the door after hearing it open and saw Yeshiva and Butler Jackson walk into the room. Butler Jackson was pushing a cart and gestured over to Sage.

“Young Duchess, I was told to bring you some lunch”, he said.

“Oh, thank you very much Jackson”, Sage said.

“After lunch, you'll continue your classes on the Winter lineage” he said.

Sage nodded her head.

Moises meant what he said about keeping her out of Prince Antonio's sight, I thought to myself as I chuckled a bit.

“There's enough for you and Sir Yeshiva, and In case Princess Rosemary wakes up”, Jackson said.

I continued to chuckle to myself seeing how thorough Moises was going.

Yeshiva walked over and sat down on the couch, Him and Sage started to eat their food.

Butler Jackson walked over to me and whispered as he stood in front of me.

“Lady Natalie, Prince Moises has called for you.”, he said.

I nodded.

“I'll be back, let me know as soon as Rosemary wakes up Sage”, I said.

“Okay”, she said.

Butler Jackson and I left the room and walked down the hallway. We made our way down the stairs and walked until we reached the dining room. When I entered my eyes widened a bit when I saw the man with the short silver hair. He's the knight that I saw when I disguised myself as one of the maids at Count Livens' villa.

I walked over and Moises stood up and pulled out the seat next to him. When I sat next to him, I looked over at the guy again.

“Natalie, I would like to introduce you to Crown Prince Antonio”, Moises said as gestured towards the young man with the long silver hair and red eyes.

“Nice to meet you Prince Antonio”, I said, bowing my head.

“This is his advisor Grand Duke Benjamin Alastair”, Moises said, gesturing to the man with the short silver hair and blue eyes.

What?, why the hell was the Grand Duke at Count Livens villa? I thought to myself but didn't realize I said it out loud.

I saw Duke Benjamin's eyes had widened.

“What do you mean?”, Duke Winter said.

I looked over and saw that one of his eyebrows was lifted as he looked over at Duke Benjamin.

Duke Benjamin and Prince Antonio looked at each other before looking at me.

“I can explain why I was at Count Livens villa, but how did you recognize me?, I don't remember seeing you”, Duke Benjamin said.

“I was disguised as a maid to gather intel on Count Livens”, I said.

“I went there looking for someone, I pretended to be interested in his plans in order to search his villa for someone important”, Duke Benjamin said.

So I was right, they are looking for Serbia, I thought to myself.

I looked over at Duke Winter and he gestured to Butler Jackson. A second later, butler Jackson left the dining room.

“I received a report from my spy that Count Livens was hiring orphans as maids. I've been searching for my niece after receiving a letter from my older brother. The letter stated that "If anything was to happen to him, he wanted me to take care of his daughter”, Duke Benjamin said.

“Duke Benjamin, what you are about to hear might alarm you, or even cause a war to happen sooner than we planned.”, Duke Winter said.

Duke Benjamin looked over at Duke Winter with a confused expression.

“What do you mean, your grace?”, he asked.

Suddenly, the door opened and Serbia walked in. Butler Jackson helped Serbia walk over to the table and pulled the chair out for her. She took a seat next to me.

“Duke Benjamin, this is Serbia Alastair, your niece”, I said.

Duke Benjamin's eyes widened and I watched as he got a little emotional.

“I haven't seen my brother since the great war, suddenly got a letter a few months ago about him having a daughter”, Duke Benjamin said.

Serbia wiped the tear from one of her eyes.

“My mother told me, my father had lost some of his memories due to a head injury. My mother was the nurse who took care of him. The only thing he remembered was his name. He died 8 months ago in an attack on the western border.”, Serbia said.

Duke Benjamin and Prince Antonio eyes widened, “Oh my God,”they both said with saddened expressions. “My brother did we..” Duke Benjamin paused as he tried to process the news.

Duke Winter got up from his seat and walked over to Duke Benjamin.

“You didn't know, but you can atone for it by taking care of his daughter.”, he said as he comforted Duke Benjamin.

Prince Antonio looked back at Serbia after looking at Duke Benjamin.

“Looks like you're my cousin. How old are you? Prince Antonio asked. “I see you're expecting, you and your husband will come with us to the Kalpana kingdom” he added, as he smiled at Serbia.

Serbia put her head down and started playing with her hands.

“Duke Benjamin, remember when I said, what you are about to hear might cause a war earlier than expected.” Duke Winter said.

Duke Benjamin nodded.

I placed my hand on top of Serbia's hand. She looked up and I nodded my head.

Serbia nodded, and looked back at Duke Benjamin. Who looked back at her at the same time.

“I'm pregnant with Prince Marshall's son”, she said, “I met him when I was a maid at Count Livens estate”. Serbia said.

“What?”They both shouted, “How dare that son of a bitch try to marry my sister for the peace treaty. When he has a baby on the way” Prince Antonio shouted in anger.

“That's not all”, I said.

They both looked at me and I could see anger on their faces.

“She was locked up in the palace dungeon, just like I was. I helped her escape after helping one of our acquaintances break out of the dungeon”

“How dare that motherfucker” Duke Benjamin shouted, I could visualize the vein popping out the side of his head.

Duke Benjamin walked around the table and reached his hand out to Serbia.

“Come with us back to our kingdom, we will deal with this accordingly” he said.

Serbia looked over at me.

“You should go, we'll work on finding the other girls” I said.

She nodded.

“Looks like we will have to return to our kingdom, and report this to my father”, Prince Antonio said.

“Of course, we'll be waiting for your next visit”, Moises said.

The rest of us stood up from the table. We were all getting ready to leave the dining room. Moises and Prince Antonio walked over to the door while they were talking. I was walking behind them and, suddenly the door to the dining room came open.

I heard someone chuckle and look over at Duke Winter who looked at me and winked one of his eyes.

“Sage, Princess Sage” Moises and Prince Antonio said at the same time as Sage and Prince Antonio collided into each other after she entered the room.