The night of the opening of the doors, I didn't go home. There was a mistake that had occurred and I stayed to fix the problem. It wasn't a big problem, but seeing as I was already there after the children had gone to bed, I called for Prince Adrian.
We had spent the entire night going over the classes he will be teaching. He had shown me some texts he had come across from the North. They were published by a recent graduate within the past 10 years. He had some insightful research about his studies. Adrian showed me his text that highlighted important new information I hadn't seen before and discussed it at great length.
We amicably spent the night lazily going over his classes, talking of the new development set by this mage and slowly getting drunk of wine. Our conversations are intelligent and I can see that he truly studied Ancient Magic. Whenever I tried to stump him on some obscure story, he managed to finish it for me. Ancient Magic is truly just storytelling, and that is what I love most about it.
"All right," I chuckle, leaning back on the seat. I am leaning against one side of the armchair and my feet are propped over the other, tapping to the tune of some music I had enchanted to play. "The curse of the elven goblet. I'll give you a hint, it's carved with Chrysanthemums. What is it?"
"Hmm, I don't think I've heard of it." Adrian says after moments of silent before sipping his wine. He sits on the floor, head rolled back to the couch and his legs are spread out wide. He looks up at me with wide eyes.
"It's a sad story." I sigh and turn over to look at him. "There was an Elven prince. He wasn't guaranteed the throne because he was 5th in line. He didn't engage in politics but rather spent his life traveling the world, sailing the seas and breathing all the spices from the different cultures the world had to offer."
"Sounds heavenly."
I smile and nod. "Yes, he lived a great life. He has treasures from all over, but on one of his voyages he met a nymph and fell in love."
"Nymphs?" Adrian muses at the fact. Nymphs aren't real, at least not anymore. I smile and nod my head.
"Yes, she was a beautiful woodland tree nymph. She was a Sequoia tree, one of the strongest and resilient trees there were. Because of that, amongst the population, she was the strongest of her kind, but she gave up everything to be with him. The elf had to return home and asked her to join him."
"Aren't they bound to their trees?"
I nod my head. "Yes, so they dug up her tree and transferred her around. Before, he had told her stories of the world, and now he was giving it to her. The other nymphs were mad at the elf, but they let her go because she promised to return. And so, they traveled the world back to his kingdom where he introduced her to his family. The elves were not happy, especially since he was royal. They showed their dissent of their relationship, but seeing as the elven prince grew popular with foreign ministers, diplomats and merchants... they tried to let it go because they needed him."
"What happened?"
"One night, he was showing his treasures to his beloved nymph. He had not known that one of his beloved treasures, a goblet engraved with Chrysanthemums, was poisoned by one of his brothers. He let her drink from it. She slowly died. Her hair of brilliant red and green had turned brown. Her strong legs had grown weak and she couldn't live. Even when in her tree, the tree showed signs of poison. The doctors couldn't treat her because she wasn't like them and so she died an agonizing, painful death in the arms of her lover."
"That's it? That's the curse?"
"No," I shake my head. "He was angered and when he found out it was one of his brothers who had poisoned his beloved, he.... he was scary. You see, everyone treasured what he had discovered. Expensive jewelry, artifacts, works of art and much more... was envied by everyone at court. He spent an absurd amount of money buying more, but specifically elven items. They blamed his money loss on grief but he had a horrible plan. One night, he had killed himself, no one knew how. But, the people were quick to steal his items. As they took more, they had realized they were cursed. They say that he killed himself by cursing all the treasures he adored to get back at those who stole the treasure he loved the most. That is the story of curses told by the elves."
Adrian sits up and scrunches his nose. "No, they can't believe that. How do you know if it?"
"Prince Eion of the Elven Kingdom has told me that himself. Actually, he told me this story on a night much like this." I sigh and look up and smile at the memory.
"You're friends with him?"
"Yes, we often wrote letters. You see, I'm interested in Southern curses and they are a great nation with much mystery. He tells me it's not proven and like us, we do not know the exact details of who started the curses, but that is what they believe."
"Wow," he sighs and rests his head on his arm and turns his full body to me. "Where else have you gone?"
Before I can answer his question, the door knocks and by the sound of it, it sounds urgent. I wave my hand and the door opens to reveal Kramer. He raises his brow when he sees the Prince, but ignores him and runs to me.
"Master, there's an emergency. You need to come quickly." He breathes. My drunk mind sobers up and I nod, standing up and reaching for my robe I took off.
"Alright, take me there. Prince Adrian, it was a pleasant night. Please rest and prepare for the first day of term." I bow to Adrian who is still seated on my floor. I look to Kramer and he says we need to go to the room of curses.
I nod and snap my fingers, transporting the both of us to the room. When I get there, I see that there are more guards than usual. "Kramer, what happened?"
The guards step to the side and reveal a man clenched in a ball with blood pooling around him. I see the doors are open and I freeze. Fucking Elric did it, he stole a cursed item, but he injured one of my men.
"You," I point to the nearest soldier. "Take him to the Medbay. Now, tell me what happened and if anything was taken."
A mage steps forward and I recognize him as one of my men. He has a sheet of papers with him and he looks up at me. He tells me it was a single cursed item, a gold mirror that showed you all the riches you could have and it guarantees that it will come true. Now, it sounds like a great curse, however, all the gold that comes from your hand. Everything you touch turns to gold. One cannot eat, one cannot drink, one cannot wear comfortable clothes, one cannot live a normal life.
The fun part about this is that the mirror itself is a holy artifact that we hold because of the curse. That mean, I need to alert the Church and get my brother's help to find this cursed item. Between the two of us, he can legally search for item and find it in Duke Dolan's possession.
"Alright, I'll notify the Grand Sorcerer and Master Loid. No one else will no what has occurred." I say, staring down the guards.
"Master," Kramer steps forward. "It's customary that-"
"Tonight is the first night that the children are here. Parents have just left their children in one of the safest places in this country. No child was injured and hopefully the guard lives. I do not want anyone to be scared, they should be happy to start their term. Only those who need to know will know, let's not bring unnecessary worry."
Kramer nods and I ask for him to settle everything, make sure that nothing else has been stolen and to check on the man in the medbay. He nods and I teleport to Milo's office.
I see he's sleeping on his couch, a book on his chest and the candle is almost dead, creeping towards the bottom. I slowly walk to him, making sure that I don't make much sound.
I take off the book and this movement wakes him up. He gives me a dazed, confused look. I sit back, watching him rise to a seating position and yawning widely.
"Giselle, what is the pleasure?" He scratches his chin.
"There was a break in. A item from the cursed room has been stolen, coincidentally it's a holy relic so we have to reach out to the Church. I've told my people not to spread the news since we want the children to feel secure and safe even though only one guard was injured who is currently in the medbay."
"Sounds like you have a handle on this." He sighs, leaning against the couch and crossing his arms like a child who has just woken up.
I wave my hand, noise- cancelling the room so that no one can hear us. "I think my brother is starting to put all the pieces together." I catch him up on the plan with Duke Stiling. This must mean that my brother is about to expose him of his treacherous ways, but they need a backup man before he can do that. Naturally, the next in line would be Duke Dolan, but we are getting rid of him through a curse. Since he is a Duke, only I can see him and he has to wait until I am done treating Sir Pine.
Milo laughs, clapping his hands together with joy. "Oh my sweet Giselle," he wipes his tear and gives me a grin. "I'm liking this side of you. You're slowly taking back control. I can't wait to see his face when you kill him."
My mouth turns into a smile, his evil grin infectious at the thought of Ivan's death. "Milo," I sigh and sit next to him. "I want to stand in front of him and hear his neck snap. When that happens, I know all will be right."
-/-/-/-/-/-
My day continued as normal as it usually is. Today I focused on my ducal duties, meeting with all the heads of this mansion. The butler assisted me in speaking with the Head Chef, going over the new season ingredients we will have access to and I spoke of the recipes I would like for my birthday in two weeks. We go over the food and the desserts that will be served. I tasted everything, asking for a few things to be changed.
I spoke to the Constable, hearing that a horse was pregnant and we will have another one soon. I smile, happy to hear that our animals are treated well and that there will be more. I ask if the foal will be sent to the Temple or not. He doesn't know, so I tell a maid to run a letter for my brother.
I meet with the Head Maid and I addressed her worries over some of the older staff members who should retire. I nodded, telling her to dismiss them, give them their severance packages and this week I will interview some candidates before my birthday. She smiles, happy to give the older ones some relief. We talk a bit of the castle and the changes that were made in the beginning of the summer.
The butler met with us two. We talk about my birthday as they will be the ones mainly in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly. I ask for the tailor this week to get the final measurements and tailoring. We run over the guest list, making sure that the seating arrangement is perfect.
Halfway through the conversation, a knock on my door interrupts the three of us. I tell the person to come in and I'm shocked to see my brother entering my office. He looks around and smiles when he sees me. He tells me that he heard what I was doing. He says he wants to take a more hands- on approach in the Duchy and wants to join us. I smile, tapping the spot on the couch next to me.
Once the preparations for the final meetings and tastings for my event is finished, we turn to the duchy. We talk about the end of the summer. I implemented some new changes for the summer and we review the outcomes. We had the workers come in earlier so they can leave earlier to enjoy summer days and avoid the heat. They seem to have enjoyed that. We also go over the problems that occur, gossip and fights that have broken out between staff. I come up with solutions to the problems and hope it is done.
Since it is the end of summer and autumn quickly approaches, we speak of the preparations for winter. The head maid leaves the butler and I to talk of the schematics. The butler gives us a sheet of paper and goes over the projected harvest and the amount we can afford to sell. I go over the food our duchy sells, our main suppliers and I show Elric the past reports.
He seems surprised and asks questions. The butler is eager to explain. I watch them both and smile. In the past, Elric never cared to learn about the Duchy. Yes he was the head, but he wanted to be the Captain, not the Duke. He didn't care for politics, he wanted to be on the warfront. I didn't agree with him so I took care of his job. But, I'm glad to see he's stepping up and if he stays here... he won't get hurt.
We go over the duties of the household as we prepare for winter. I tell Elric of our ties to some merchant groups who gives up good prices on wood, wool, and food during the winter when the prices skyrocket. We tell him of the items we sell during the winter that are more expensive and gives us a heavier pocket. We then go over the complications that normally arise and we try to avoid.
He's quite interested and I'm happy to see this new change.
By the time dinner came, I was exhausted and quickly ate. A knock on my door revealed to me that I had a guest. I look nod, taking this as an opportunity to get out of my office. When I walk to the greeting room, I see Francis standing by the window.
I grin, walking quickly to see him. He hears my footsteps and turns to greet me with a smile. I wrap my arms around him, grinning up at him when I see him. "Francis!" I laugh. "I have much to tell you!"
"And I you," He chuckles, patting my head. "Let's walk."
I lead him to the gardens and we walk before the sun can set. I eagerly tell him of the plans my brother and I had made to get rid of two Dukes. He smiles, happy to hear my plan of weakening Ivan's influence is working. I tell him of the man my brother wants instated and he nods, saying he's heard he's a good man.
He then tells me of the news I asked him to get of Lady Warren. He says that she is unhappy with her fiancé. Even though they show face in public at balls and expeditions, he is often seen at whore houses, gambling houses and betting houses. He has often asked her for loans which she gives him because they're engaged. I asked more on this, knowing she isn't the type to just give out money like this.
Francis has expressed the idea that there are signs of abuse, emotional, financial and physical. His spy noted that after asking for money, he raised his hand and she cowered under it and relented. He also wrote of how callous his verbal assaults were, to the point his ears bled from the cruelty.
"Hmm..." I say, tapping my lips as I look at the flowers in front of us. "It seems like she wants to get out of that relationship before it's too late."
"Yeah, he deserves to be put down like a dog." Francis looks at me with a dubious grin.
"You say he likes to gamble, how about illegal gambling?" I ask, hoping he gets what I'm trying to say. "It would be a shame if it were the same gambling ring my brother is trying to get all those who participate in legal trouble."
"What a shame it will be," Francis muses. "Shall we head inside?"
I nod, letting him lead the way inside. We switch conversation to the opera I will be attending this night. He tells me he has tickets tonight and hopes to see me. I smile, saying how wonderful it would be to meet with him in public and not in our respective offices all the time.