On their side (1)

Since then, Odette has changed. Her marriage to Crown Prince Vallotton feels like hell. Coupled with the death of the king and the rise of her husband as the new king, Odette's feelings are getting crazier.

The demands that Odette treats the new King of Vallotton with love, the offspring that the whole kingdom has been longing for, and the news of the birth of Gardet's first child with Malvia... Everything makes Odette even more claustrophobic.

"No! I said get out now! Get out!"

"What do you mean told me to get out?! Do you have any idea where you are now?!"

"From the beginning, I never asked to be taken to the Palace. If you throw me out, just do it! I'll gladly come out!"

There is no affection in Odette's marriage. There was only bickering, arguing, and shouting. This is not the image of marriage that Odette had in mind.

She wanted a marriage like the one her brother had. A marriage that even death can't separate, where loyalty is still held firmly. A wedding with the gift of a sweet and brave boy. Calm and happy marriage.

She wanted a marriage like the one Gardet and Malvia had. Marriage based on sincere love. A marriage that brings together the two kindest and warmest people in the world. A marriage that, even though Odette has tried to disrupt it, still survives.

"Your Majesty?" Anatole called cautiously from the doorway. His hand holds a book. "Are you busy?"

Odette tried to smile, then called Anatole into her room. At that time, Anatole was already free to walk around the Palace. The new King and Queen had not yet been blessed with children, so a suggestion emerged to make Anatole their successor.

"No need to call me that formal," said Odette. "What you brought this time?"

"The storybook I got from the library." Anatole quickly opened the book. "There is a strange spell that can drop food from the sky. I've never seen Aunt Odette do it, so I doubt it's a real spell."

Odette chuckled – finally. "To the best of my knowledge, there is no spell like that. Witches aren't Gods who can create things," she told him.

"I often read story books with magic, spells, and curses. Does that mean it was all a lie?"

"Most of it is just the human imagination. As for the rest…"

the rest…

There's a lot of literature for kids that mentions magic and such. Odette herself read it quite often first. At that moment, among all the storybooks she had read, Odette remembered one fairy tale.

"Anatole, do you want to accompany Aunt to the library and find another storybook? Auntie knows a good book of magic stories."

Anatole smiled broadly and nodded happily. "Let's go there now! Auntie has to come out of the room every once in a while."

"Of course."

***

"Anatole never told me about it until finally Sir Elroy asked first. Anatole didn't even expect that the late Queen Odette got the idea from him," muttered Duke Valent.

Louie and Louisa exchanged glances. They really didn't know what else to say now. To them, this was all too unexpected. But other than that…

"It's not your fault, Duke Valent," Louie said. "Lift your head."

Duke Valent slowly looked at the twins in turn. His expression looks sad. "This is just my opinion, but maybe the late Queen burned all the magic books in Lamamont with some spell so that no one would know how to break her curse. She… probably still loves you both."

Louie would have almost made a sarcastic remark had he not seen how guilty Duke Valent felt because of all this. "Thank you for… for telling us, Uncle." He turned to Louisa, then took her hand. "Now… we both need time to digest all of this."

"Of course, Your Highness. If there is anything else you want to know, you can ask Anatole or me again," he said before leaving.

So it was left with Louie and Louisa in the drawing room.

The tea and snacks they were enjoying had not been touched at all. Everything must have been cold and unpleasant. Even so, they didn't have the energy to call the waiter and ask for a new one.

"I want to see how Mariette is doing," Louisa said after a long silence.

"Don't," Louie prevented her.

"Why? Mariette couldn't have killed us!"

"Louisa, our father just stabbed Mariette with his sword. How do you think Emmanuele and Linda feel now?"

"But-!" Louisa looked down then. "I… just want to know how things are. We have to know how things are after… after all this happened. We have to talk about this."

"I don't know, Lou. I don't think that's a good idea."

"Then who should we talk to? Do you want us to be quiet?"

"What is there to talk about again?!" Louie's tone rose, startling Louisa. "Everything is clear!"

It was clear what caused Mariette's coldness and illness. It was obvious why their father didn't like talking about their mother. Also…

It was obvious that their mother was making sacrifices for her own children.

"Sorry, Louisa," Louie said. "Look, I know you've been dying to see Mariette and make sure she's okay. But I can't let either of us die a silly death. You understand what I mean, right?"

Louisa nodded slowly.

Louie took a deep breath. He got up from his place and hugged his twin sister. Slowly, Louisa began to cry.

God, if this is a trial from you, why is it so hard? What have we done to make you punish us like this? thought Louie as he tried to calm Louisa down.

Now it could say that no one is really on their side. Mariette would have left after this, Count Lavaud would have been more careful, Duke Valent and Anatole would have kept their distance, and their father would have been deep in thought.

Well… except, perhaps, Elroy and Ferdinand.

Wasn't this the real reason Louie had summoned them to the Palace?