CHAPTER 430: SUSPICIOUS

The very next day upon rising from slumber, the room was once more empty of all living souls other than hers.

Silas seemed to have left somewhen while she dreamt of... Nothing in particular.

That day of all days, Arabella thought it was odd for her mind to subject her to no torture during her sleep.

No nightmares, no waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat...

Not that she was complaining, but it was noteworthy. Only a month prior to their events, Arabella’s eyes would have remained peeled open all night long no matter how heavy they felt and yet... There was that development in such a short amount of time.

Nevertheless, Arabella leaped to her feet and got ready to greet the maids that would come and make her presentable for that cursed day.

Not only were there no news about Allegra, but they had to suffer the arrival and stay of that insufferable, royal dolt coming their way.

It was Estrid and Cassandra that were sent to help her get into that cumbersome dress she wished nothing but to put back into her closet and forget it ever existed.

"Good morning, my Lady," Cassandra’s smile was radiant enough, but something clearly weighed it down.

Estrid, buttoned up as per her usual, stood straight then curtsied before Arabella.

"And to you as well, girls. Thank you for coming this early in the morning. I hope to be done with this quickly so that I get the time to... Find some comfort in this thing," she eyed the puffy gown not so fondly.

"It is our duty, my Lady," Estrid bowed slightly.

To which Arabella practically flinched, "I will truly never get used to this, will I?"

"Your breakfast should be ready around about the same time we finish here. Where would you like to take it?"

Arabella looked around for a moment, "Well, since Silas is absent this morning then I’d rather take my breakfast in the gardens for some much-needed air before... You know what takes place," she cleared her throat.

The maids returned looks just as odd as hers but, Arabella assumed it was due to her mentioning the prince of Lustris.

There were no surprises there since it was hard to find any human living in Umbraria that thought highly of the Lustrisian royals.

"Right, of course, my Lady," Estrid spoke quickly.

"By the way, have you seen Silas at all this morning?"

While waiting for the answer, one could hear a pin drop in that room.

"What is it?" Arabella looked between the two of them, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, my Lady," Estrid’s voice, usually so steady, came with some hesitancy as her eyes could not seem to decide what to land on.

Cassandra wasn’t doing much better than the blonde. Frozen in her stance she was, even her chest forgot to rise and fall following a natural rhythm.

It was happening again... Much like the other day, everyone started acting all weird the instant she enquired about her husband.

"Why are you acting all weird? Did something about Allegra arise while I was asleep?" there were stars in her eyes at those words.

"No," Estrid simply shook her head, "Nothing of the sort,"

"Is anyone going to come clean? Or should I investigate this matter myself?" her hands flew to her hips.

"What matter, my Lady?" Estrid bowed slightly.

"Oh, don’t you my Lady me, Estrid!" she clicked her tongue against her palate once, "You should all know that none of you can act or lie to save your lives,"

"What?... What do you mean?" Cassandra needed to pause between every syllable to stop her voice from cracking.

In response, Arabella shut her eyes, hung her head low and pushed the longest of sighs, "Fine! Keep your secrets then. At least tell me, did the fairies arrive?"

It wasn’t her capitulating by any means, but in front of their persistence to keep silent, the young woman knew she had to go about unraveling their secret through different means.

The fairies were that mean.

The last time they’d met, none of them seemed to have a clue and were as surprised as her in front of Ada’s suspicious behavior.

Whatever it was, it sure had nothing to do with Allegra’s disappearance. At least, that was the impression she got from the simple and confident answer Estrid had provided when asked about updates on Allegra.

Getting in that darned dress was every bit as inconvenient as Arabella thought it would be. It made up for a full night without nightmares by cursing her with daymares and prayers for the day to end as quickly as possible so that she’d be free from that restricting corset.

Although, if there was one undeniable fact about the gown, it was that it made her look like a true queen.

As per their usual, the blend of green and gold did not let her down. The bright emerald garnished tiara upon her head served as the perfect finishing touch to complete the look.

By the end of it, Cassandra stood in awe as Arabella gaped at her reflection in the mirror.

"Oh, you are just the most beautiful!" she chirped.

"You’d be just as beautiful in such garments too, Cassandra," Arabella smiled warmly at the maid through the mirror.

Without any further ado, Arabella exited the room to find her breakfast out in the gardens as she wished to take it.

Looking at the dressed table, full with barely any free space on its surface, the young woman uttered internal blessings and gratitudes, however, wondered how much of that amazing food her stomach would accept before threatening to expel the lot should she pressure it to take more after a certain threshold. Well, considering their soon to arrive guest’s presence wasn’t the most comforting... That threshold promised to be quite low.

Ada was nowhere to be seen on her path and so, she assumed her friend must have been in one of the lounge rooms teaching her new herbology students.

By far, not the easiest to press, but the closest to her not to take her pestering to heart or fear her if Arabella got too pushy with questions.