The Royal Deal

Chapter 159

It was bright in the morning when Amethyst work up. Unlike other night where Alexcent would sleep with his arms tightly wrapped around her, she had slept well yesterday. It seemed Alexcent thought she would run away in the middle of the night and would hold her close to reassure himself.

She wished he could forget about it, but it seemed like that wouldn’t be happening any time soon. Nonetheless today, she woke up with a calm feeling and felt like she would be able to paint better.

Lunia and Roman were not by Amethyst’s side today, they had to attend to their respective duties in the mansion. Pon led Amethyst to the studio that Alexcent had instructed him to prepare for her.

“This way, madam,” said Pon, showing her the way.

Amethyst gasped as she steeped into the studio. “My goodness!” she exclaimed, “This looks like an art museum.”

“It was prepared in a hurry,” said Pon, “It is rather lacking. I will fill the remaining space by evening today.”

“No, no,” said Amethyst, “This is more than enough. Thank you, Pon.”

“You should be thanking His Excellency,” said Pon, “It was his idea.”

“That’s true,” said Amethyst, gratefully, “But you are the one who did all the work. I am sure Alec just gave the orders. So, thank you, Pon, for all your hard work. It is truly beautiful.”

“Ah…,” said Pon, at a loss for words, “You are welcome, My Lady.” Pon was touched by her appreciation for his efforts. He excused himself and let Amethyst look around the studio.

Amethyst was rather embarrassed of her own work amidst these beautiful paintings, but they inspired her to add more colors in her own work. Her paintings soon improved. Well, there are so many abstract pieces in the world. Perhaps mine can be counted as one.

Lunia was right. Painting and drawing did help soothe and calm her nerves. She hummed as she prepared a palette and set up the canvas. Just then, she heard snippets of conversation through the wall. It was probably the maids talking. Amethyst could now hear more of the conversation from the other side of the wall.

“Don’t you think his lord seems much brighter these days?” said one of the maids.

“Yes!” said another, “I have only seen him glaring and frowning. But these days, he actually smiles.”

“That’s all thanks to the lady,” said yet another, “I used to be terrified if I even saw him passing by. But now, it doesn’t feel as intimidating.”

“That’s true,” said the maid, “But now seeing him smile makes my heart beat faster… what should I do?!”

“Look at her, there she goes again.”

“You should understand a bit,” said another maid, “He is the country’s best-looking man.”

Amethyst couldn’t help but smile as she heard their talk through the wall.

“But to be honest, I never imagined the lord would marry her.”

“Neither did I. I always thought he would marry Lady Roelter. Compared to her Madam is…”

“There you go again! If we ever get caught talking like that by Mr. Pon, we get into trouble.”

“Pfft! It’s not like we’re creating a rumor or anything. We’re just talking amongst ourselves! You used to say that Lady Roelter and His Excellency looked like a match made in heaven.”

“That was eons ago….!”

Lady Roelter? This was the first time Amethyst was hearing the name. She got curious. She put her easel down and walked to the wall and placed her ear against it to hear better.

“I mean just between us, remember how passionate the both of them were?”

“That’s true… before that incident, Lady Roelter came to the mansion every day, right?”

“Yes, seeing the two of them together was like looking at a beautiful painting…”

Incident? Visit every day? Amethyst frowned. She pressed her ear harder to the wall.

“Incident? What incident?”

“Ah, I suppose you don’t know since you joined only recently. It must have been the engagement announcement between Lady Roelter’s brother, Duchess Roden and Emperor Belice, right?”

“Yes. I’m sure the Empress didn’t know about their relationship… but what can they do since she announced her marriage with Duke Roden. They had to break up.”

“I heard that the lord rejected the lady the next day of the royal wedding.”

“Really?”

“Yes. After that incident, the lady was sick for a couple of days! There was an uproar in the Roden family. That was what their maid told me, anyway.”

“But… didn’t the duke like Count Glacia?”

“Oh my, how naïve! For the royals, taking multiple lovers isn’t a problem for them. And please, how can you compare a member of a well-established royal family to a Count from the countryside?!”

“Well… that’s true. Lady Roelter is famously known across the country for her beauty.”

Lady Roelter prettier than Count Glacia? Amethyst thought. She must have been a vision. Duke of Rhodes, the Great Priest. The head of the aristocracy. The only Ladyin such a family…

“But isn’t Lady Roelter studying overseas right now?”

“They say it’s studying but isn’t it really more of a trip for her to get over her broken heart?”

“And the duke got married while Lady Roelter decided to wed abroad at the same time. I wonder what would happen when Lady Roelter hears about this?”

“What do you mean? Are you saying there will be some love triangle going on? Don’t get ahead of yourself!”

“Well, I am just curious. I am not saying that will be the case. But it happened in the previous mansion I worked in…”

“Hey! Move your hands too! Hurry up and get this done. Mr. Pon these days is very cranky. He will chase us out you know.”

“Speaking of Mr. Pon, he really is amazing. Not long ago….”

The topic of conversation changed to Pon and Amethyst quietly walked back to her chair and picked up her brush. But she couldn’t focus on what was in front of her. She sighed and placed the brush on the table and bit her nails, anxiously.