CSMOF 84

Chapter 84

Giselle unfolded the letter brought by the new lady-in-waiting, Debby.

It was clear that Lurvih had hurriedly written it the previous night.

Although she couldn’t know how long Jerome would be held at the cathedral in his absence, the letter warned that it would be difficult for him to escape for the time being and that the queen might do something unpredictable if she couldn’t contact Jerome.

It mentioned that the queen was familiar with poisons and might even have sorcerers nearby.

In the meantime, she had to locate the sorcerers and undo the barrier set on the king.

Giselle didn’t fully trust Debby, newly appointed by Lucas, so she arranged things to keep her alone as much as possible.

She gave her unexpected tasks so that she would stay away from her.

But the problem was that Debby did her job too well—she always ended up returning to Giselle’s room quickly.

Whenever Giselle asked if the work was finished, Debby brought back almost perfect results.

So this time, she sent Debby to pick as many yellow roses as possible from the garden and deliver them to Lady Erika, Adrian’s younger sister, leaving Giselle alone in her room.

Finally free from interruptions, Giselle shook the Seven-Gold Talisman and observed what the queen was plotting.

• “Why is the bishop on some business trip?”

• “I don’t know. All the clergy say the same thing.”

• “She didn’t even send me a letter?”

• “No!”

The magical viewing showed the queen anxiously waiting for contact from Bishop Jerome.

Next, she saw her father, the king.

• “…….”

‘Why can’t I sense any movement or hear a conversation? Lurvih said that if a sorcerer loses their power or moves away, the magic cast on my father would naturally disappear…’

Worried, Giselle jumped up from her seat.

She rushed out of the room toward the king’s chamber.

‘What if something’s happened?’

“Huff! Huff!”

She ran up more than thirty steps in one go, turned the corridor, and collided with someone coming from the opposite direction.

“Ah!”

As she screamed and almost fell, the man she bumped into caught her arm.

“Why are you running like that?”

Adjusting her body so she wouldn’t fall backward, she looked up.

Lucas was kneeling in front of her, clicking his tongue in disapproval.

“Tsk! You have no sense of caution at all!”

Behind him, Adrian was watching her with a concerned expression.

“Oh, my brother… Duke Adrian!”

“Hey, what are you doing at Father’s room?”

Lucas helped her up, and Giselle dusted off her dress and caught her breath.

“I came to see Father. I’ve been worried because I haven’t seen him lately.”

“Father? Nothing’s wrong with him.”

Lucas looked back suspiciously as if he had just come from the king’s room.

Giselle peeked at the king’s chamber past Lucas and asked him,

“Really? A few days ago, he kept saying he wasn’t working at all…”

“Exactly. That was strange. Suddenly he summoned the ministers and called all the officials together… and then, just when I thought his work was done today, he called me to his room and gave me more tasks, even scolding me for not urging you during that time.”

Hearing this, Giselle relaxed.

“Ah! …That’s a relief.”

“Hmm? Were you really that worried about Father?”

“Y-yes.”

Lucas then pointed to a stack of documents held by a servant and said,

“The king has already investigated the person who spread the rumor about you and ordered them to be punished and imprisoned.”

“Gasp! Imprisoned?”

Hearing the word “imprisoned,” Giselle thought of Lurvih and froze with a worried expression.

‘That can’t happen. He was just tricked by Jerome… If he confesses, it would be terrible…’

Ignoring her worries, Lucas clenched his fist resolutely.

“Yes, it should have been dealt with sooner. I don’t know why it wasn’t. Anyway, we’ll search the cathedral thoroughly to catch that person.”

Giselle stood beside him and took his arm.

“Brother, it might not even be a member of the clergy. It could be someone from the inside…”

“An insider? Who could that be?”

Lucas and Adrian watched her in surprise, and Giselle shook her head.

“Anyway, rumors are hard to trace. So we shouldn’t catch the wrong person, and making a settled matter bigger won’t help…”

Before she even finished, Lucas nodded and patted her head.

“Alright, I understand. You must have had a hard time, but I’m glad you’re unharmed.”

He then turned to Adrian, who was standing behind, and said with satisfaction,

“See, Duke Adrian! My sister is really kind, isn’t she?”

“That’s true.”

Giselle avoided Adrian’s gaze, feeling her collarbone tingle.

“Then I’ll go see Father now.”

“Good!”

Giselle sent Adrian away, who had almost quarreled with Theodore a few days ago, and would have asked him what his business was, but Lucas was nearby, so she only greeted and passed by.

She strode into the king’s chamber as the door opened.

King Casis, sitting in a large chair, staring blankly out the window, sensed her presence and turned toward her.

“Oh! Giselle, finally I get to see you!”

Giselle was surprised to see the king looking frailer than before.

“I was just thinking about you. I was thinking of going to your room.”

“You were? I guess I lost out again because of your impatience.”

“Hmm?”

After making a joking smile, the king laughed with her but soon fell silent.

Giselle sat beside him and asked,

“What were you thinking about?”

“My health hasn’t been good lately, and since I forgot about you, I heard you were almost married off to Duke Essenbach.”

Giselle looked up at him, astonished.

“Don’t you remember that?”

The king sighed and stroked his chin.

“I remember… but how should I explain…? I guess I wasn’t feeling well. I was probably pushing and yelling too much. Of course, there are a few things I vaguely don’t recall. But now that I look back, I regret why I acted that way.”

The king had scolded her, insisting she marry Duke Essenbach for the sake of the kingdom.

She had been quite hurt by that. But since he doesn’t remember, perhaps the spell was worse than she thought?

Yet now that he was regretting it, her heart quickly relaxed.

‘Father didn’t do it on purpose.’

She knelt before his legs, leaning her body on his knees.

“Father, please never forget me again.”

The king silently stroked her hair.

“……”

“So… are you feeling alright now?”

The king nodded and smiled at her.

“Of course! Cecil takes good care of me.”

Could the queen really be giving him something harmful? Benjamin is there, so she wouldn’t harm Father, right?

Giselle asked cautiously, suspicion on her face.

“Your… stepmother, what is she giving you?”

“Just some medicines and perhaps beneficial fragrances.”

Medicine? There’s a royal physician—why would the queen personally give him medicine?

What does “fragrance” mean?

Giselle blinked, then looked at the king.

“When you take it, does it affect your health?”

“That’s…”

The king furrowed his brows and didn’t answer.

Sensing it was suspicious but not wanting to upset her father now that their relationship had been restored, Giselle kept silent.

She took a small pouch out from her clothes.

While the king’s gaze was on the window, she secretly placed it in his robe pocket and said,

“Father, you must live long and healthy. Don’t take the medicines from Stepmother—always take the physician’s medicine directly. Promise me!”

“I will.”

Giselle blinked. She expected him to ask why she didn’t trust the stepmother or to get angry. But he agreed too easily.

Whether her father knew something or not, he smiled at her and gently patted her hand.

With a bright smile, he asked,

“When Adrian returns from the war, you’ll marry him, right?”