His Family

'I am doing fine here. Everything will be alright soon. I hope you are taking care of your health….'

Esme glanced at the letter for one last time and she folded it before placing it in the envelope with a seal on top of it

''How long are you going to stare at it?" Liz, who was standing beside her bed chided before snatching the letter from her hand.

Esme glanced at her, ''Thank you,'' While she was still sleeping, the woman knocked on her door to tell her that she was writing to her family and whether she had to send something to anyone. 

It has been a long time she wanted to write a letter to her Aunt to let her know of her wellbeing so that she would not worry much. She wanted to tell her about everything that was happening here but she did not know whose hands the letter would pass through and if it was safe to mention anything which is why she kept her words precise.

''What will I do with your thank you? If you want, you can give me something precious,'' Liz rolled her eyes. 

Esme stood up from the bed as she smoothened her nightdress, ''Precious? Like what?''

''Like a beautiful pearl necklace or an exquisite gem.''

Esme pursed her lips. 

''What?" Liz glanced at her questioningly. 

Esme shook her head. 

''But you have yet to tell me how did you seduce the Prince that he rejected all those Princesses just for you.''

Esme, who was squatting near the lawn behind her room, paused for a moment. 

''Don't tell if you don't want to. You don't have to be so scary,'' Liz wondered why was this woman like this. She never laughed, rarely talked, and only opened her mouth when she was asked something as if the words coming out of her mouth were precious and she was saving them. For some reason, she just felt so distant as if she did not belong here. 

Esme glanced at the barrel of water, not paying much attention to Liz anymore. 'I must have hallucinated it yesterday,' She thought, looking at the plain water for a few moments before washing her face. 

She had been overthinking a lot and she was exhausted so it must have led her to see that blood instead of water. She convinced herself.

There was a knock on the door and Liz opened it while Esme stood up. 

They were greeted by the sight of two guards standing at the door. 

''Lady Esmeray?"

The guard glanced at her, recognizing her at once since it was supposed to be her assigned room while Liz was known by most of the servants of her equal status because she served Duchess Flora, Aleister's Aunt as much as Esme knew. 

She nodded, wondering what got them here to look for her. 

''His Majesty, His Grace and Her Grace has summoned you.''

The King, the Duke, and the Duchess? Her eyebrows rose slightly. ''Why?"

''Be there in the garden soon,'' The guard did not reply to her question as he turned around and left followed by the other.

Esme narrowed her eyes. As far as she could think, they would have asked for her because of their Prince. There was nothing else she could think of other than that.

"You…" Liz glanced at her worriedly, ''You will be alright. Don't worry. The King and the Duchess are very kind people. They won't do anything to you.''

''What about Duke? How is he related to the Prince and what kind of person is he?" Esme glanced at her questioningly as the woman did not mention anything about him. Initially, she wanted to stay away from the royal family so she never asked anything about them. But now that she had to go there, it will not be good to be unprepared. 

''Duke Maverick is the King's younger brother and he is just like him, very kind and gentle. They are all good people,'' Liz smiled at her. 

Kind people? She knew better than to believe it after witnessing her Uncle's kindness in the past. Esme frowned. Initially, she was thinking that Duchess Flora was the King's sister but it turned out she is his sister-in-law. She wondered….what could be done to let them know that she was not Aleister's lover without offending them?

After Liz told her yesterday that it was the guards who were the cause of the rumors, there was a pinch of guilt in her heart for the way she talked to him believing that he was the one responsible for everything. But…at this moment, she had the urge to go to him for help before his family gets her beheaded to save their reputation.

Esme closed her eyes, shooing away her wayward thoughts. Asking him for help? So that he can taunt her later. 

She could almost imagine his sarcastic face when he will say, 'But you asked me to stay away from you, Princess.'

Esme opened her eyes, horrified at the thought of it. She would rather face it by herself than going to him. 

Liz took a few steps back looking at the strange expressions on her face. Why did she look so scary?

…

In the Royal Gardens.

''Your Majesty, here have some tea,'' Duchess Flora poured some tea into the man's cup as she said so. 

The King, Alexander shook his head, disapproval apparent in his eyes, ''Sister-in-law, how many times have I told you to not do that?" The man shook his head. 

Duchess Flora paused, ''It's improper to not address you as such, Brother.''

''I prefer that only,'' He laughed before averting his gaze to his brother who was sitting beside his wife, deep in contemplation, "What are you thinking about?"

Duke Maverick tilted his head, ''I could not help but wonder which lady caught my nephew's attention,'' He could not be there in the court for his health and the curiosity was now at its peak for it was very rare to see Aleister paying attention to women. 

Duchess Flora giggled at her husband's trail of thought, ''It is for the best that she caught his attention. We all don't have to arrange banquets every year in attempts of finding a suitable wife for him and the princesses don't have to die miserably,'' She sighed towards the end.