It was not only me who had gotten surprised by Belladonna's statement. The Duke, like me, let his mouth fall a little, in complete shock over her words. A natural reaction, when a father finds out his daughter is a kind of genius. The said genius was, however, calm, as if she had already guessed the High priestess thoughts.
I would have to talk with her about sharing important and life-changing actions.
"Are you sure?" asked the duke, disbelief sinking in.
"Of course."
That confirmation did nothing to smooth the wrinkles on his forehead as he thought of the implications it brought to his family. He watched his sister in silence for a long moment. Afraid they may continue their conversation in hushed tones, both me and Jenni approached the ventilation, securing our ears on the holes.
The silence went on until Belladonna's intense and steady voice began again.
"Do you remember when you were just a tiny little boy and I, a robust teenager?" The question caught us by surprise, and we took our ears from the ventilation in time to see the duke look at her, the cup in his hand. He waited for her and so did we, our hands linked. "Father, in his crescent wisdom, used to say that a powerful man can be born into power, but only blood can keep it. I always thought he meant family, as our motto so well illustrates. Yet, now I see he meant other things." for the first time, Belladona took her eyes from her brother, peering into the window on the side, her features sad. "By all means, he was a useless Mountnero, but he was right about this."
There was suffering in her voice, and I could see, briefly, a weakness in her face carved in all her porous. She turned back to her brother, who peered at her with a neutral expression while taking a sip of tea.
"We have much cleaning to do, brother." She said. "How is Lady Beatrice faring?" the mocking tone left us at the edge of our hiding place.
The duke made a point of leaving the cup on the table, a movement that obscured his clear blue eyes.
"Dead." a knot set in my stomach. "But her carcass I will keep, it will be more useful than her tongue." the nonchalant way he said those words made me shiver. I knew him capable of such deeds, it was written all over the book. The author highleted many times, how sadistic he could be, but... earing it made me scared. Those bloodthirty eyes and that dying lady were way too fresh on my memory.
A question came, unsettling and dangerous... What if he found out who I really was?
I sook comfort in Jenni's hand, though her steadiness and calm posture surprised me. It was enough to make me retreat from her grasp. There was a glance from her, questioning my movements, yet I was saved from explaining by Belladonna's voice.
"So she was useless at telling anything relevant. Expected if you were not aware of the Flôr di Aniz..." my stomach turned as I saw her talk, as if it was a frivolous topic instead of a bloody murder.
"Most of the time she talked nonsense. She pointed to some people, but those I knew already. Except..."
"Jennifer's Grandfather?" finished Belladonna's. Jenni's face paled and the duke's eyebrow furrowed, while I just looked lost at all this information. "Ferabiniche has loose lips. Though, I suppose everyone has loose lips when facing the holy punishment." the small laugh resounded in my already sick stomach... what a heck was a holy punishment? I bet nothing holy...
The grandfather they meant, I thought, could only mean the father of Jenni's mother, the Lord Borbello. Why would he do such things? Why would he conspire with such a crazed woman? And as I saw Jenni's shaky posture and her pale self, I wondered how none of these adults were normal. None. They were all srewed up and in big need of terapy.
"Anyway, let us not be too though on Lord Borbello. He is Jennifer's grandfather, after all. Family. Our dear Jennifer's family. A warning would do. I suppose, however, the time has come for his son to take over. I believe him to be a very sensible man." ended Belladonna with a pleasant tune.
"Yes. And he will. Tomorrow no less, I have a talk with the Emperor about it." asserted the duke.
"You are faster than me, brother. I should too, move quick."
"Indeed, you should. Ferabiniche did not work alone. I will have those from nobility... The Temple, however, is your responsibility." There was an icy strike in his voice as he set the cup away.
"Worry not. Those old men are already turning on each other. It is almost funny. Old fools... They once believed themselves bigger than me. I gave them the illusion of power, but it was a mistake to think it would bring me peace... The cleaning begins, tomorrow they will be dead, though they have yet to know that..." the lightness in her voice continued to rub off on me.
"Not just that... what about the Empress? She is your strongest supporter." He said with venomous intent.
His sister sighed and waited a beat.
"You know we cannot march into the palace with just the word of those old buggers. Besides, it was the help of prince Francis that prevented our dear children from falling into perpetual darkness. We cannot repay kindness with blood. Not in such a forward way at least."
The duke's eyes burned with a blackness that brought even the most brave man to his knees. "Of course... Not now. But the Empress, she is not that smart. One day she will make a mistake she cannot undo and on that day sister, I want you out of my way."
"When that day comes, I will be off on the opposite side, I can guarantee you that much." the sound of her voice was severe and the surrounding air gloomy. "But I must ask you to be softer with lord Joshua. I understand your anger. I too was angry at his involvement. However, we have to think he is just a child. A precious child of the Goddess."
"You protect him even after this?!" the duke raised his voice, and then, as if something finally processed on his head, he gave a wicked smile of disbelief. "Ah... I should have guessed... it was you! You whispered in the court about how great the union would have been. It was you who brought that trash into our household!"
"Don't say those things! He is to become the great Duke of the North." she yelled back, before taking a deep breath and return to her calmer state. "I did it because I believe him to be the best option for Lucreatia."
Ewww... no aunt. No, very, very, very far from there. Out of the mark by thousands.
The duke's devilish smile grew big as he took a paper out of his pocket jacket. It was very similar to the one Lady Beatrice wanted to me sign, though from our place I couldn't read what it said. But Beladonna sure could...
"I cannot believe this! You made him sign a candidacy removal?!" OH YES!!! Thank Goddess for overprotective crap of the Duke!! "Do you know how hard it was to give Lucreatia a chance for happiness? Or do you prefer her to be married to a nobody?! Now I have to.."
No, you have to do nothing, aunt! No more matchmaking! You are clearly horrible at it!!!
"Donna, I will keep this sealed away." Uh, what?! An uncertainty filled the room. " As you said, there is no one best suited for Lucreatia than a future Great Duke. So I will keep it, knowing full well that Lord Joshua will be afraid of pursing her after this incident. Only when he recovers from his shame, bound to happen as he is tenacious like a coackroach, will I use the paper. Until that time, however, he will be my shield to protect Lucreatia from pesky things..."
Ohhhhhh duke you are genius... Evil genius... Nice!
"Not from a prince though." She retorted, making the duke shake and break his cup with a fist, the loud sound a clear message. "It seems this is the most we can talk today... I will go see Lucreatia." Beladonna got up, her back to the duke.
"There is no need for such, my dear sister. I am sure you are busy with the robberies in the west and with your cleaning duties. Besides, I have called Emmanuel, and he is on his way." The duke took a handkerchief from his other pocket, soaking it with his blood that gushed out of his hand.
Beladonna turned to him, and I saw the face of disgust that filled her, her hands closed in fists. The intensity of her light, coming out as a warm sun into the room. "To think, you would prefer the help of that traitor than of your sister!" with her light came a voice that sounded like thunder, making us shake as if we were under a storm.
The duke seemed calm and unaffected, not even glancing back at her. "As far as I know, you had him in great esteem before. Until he didn't agree with you, that's it." Belladonna's hair flared up and moved with an unseen force. The warmth that she emanated made me and Jenni sweat. About to turn to leave, her eyes darted when she remembered something.
"Brother, you must take care of Lucreatia's bracelet." he looked at her. "It is broken, and we Mountnero don't use broken things. We break them." And then she stormed off, leaving winter in the room and an extremely pale duke.
Sooooo what do you think?!
I hope you enjoyed the showdown of the Mountnero siblings XD
And how much did you like the duke's way of using Joshua? I thougth it was very like him to do such thing XD