Kyle walked out of the study and closed the door behind him.
His head was still spinning from the information the crown prince had just given him.
He pondered on everything he had heard. He wondered if the original owner knew what he was and thought the book was in the crown prince's room. If he had not been caught he surely would have broken into the study next. But there's no way to be sure since he's not here to confirm it.
Kyle had walked for some time before he realized he didn't know where he was going. He decided to take an empty corridor. Exploring a bit wouldn't hurt, besides he still had to treat his wounds.
A normal person would have fainted from exhaustion a long time ago but Jayden was used to hiding his pains. Both physical and emotional. He had taken a few steps down the corridor when he saw a door on his left side. It turns this was some kind of wing or so. The door was closed halfway and Kyle heard voices coming from inside. He didn't mean to eavesdrop but he couldn't pass by without catching their attention and catching attention was the last thing he needed right now.
As Lyle stood pondering on what to do snippets of the conversation got to him
"…but it works." Said a young man's voice.
Kyle walked close enough to look in without being seen. He saw the young man holding a red bottle with a long neck. He quickly stepped back afraid of being seen by them.
"Yes. It's working for now but he's not the king without a reason. All the light mages magic have been passed a down the royal bloodline for a reason. The fact that it skipped him and went down to his son doesn't mean he is weak. The poison will only weaken him as much as he is right now. We have to act fast before he recovers."
"Don't worry father, I'm already working on that. The crown will soon fall into our hands we're it should be. Let's go back now least anyone notice our absence."
"I don't want you to get caught the man said."
"I won't." Said the younger man.
"If it makes you feel better I'll frame a maid or make something up. Let's go now father."
'Oh… the king. They… poisoned the king.'
It seemed like the people inside were coming out.
'Oh no.'
Kyle had nowhere to hide. He had only two options. He could either turn and run back the way he came or lie down and pretend to be dead. Option one it is then.
Kyle turned and fled for his life. He knew if the people inside saw him they could kill him too. He really had bad luck. He didn't know if the people inside saw him or heard his footsteps when he ran. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Wasn't this considered as treason?
He was still focused on the thought when he bumped into someone. He mumbled an apology wanting to walk around the person, when the other person spoke first.
"You."
Kyle looked up to see the purple haired girl glaring at him. She was carrying a basket of fresh linen when Kyle bumped into her and made them fall the floor.
"What are you doing here?"
Kyle he couldn't say he was looking for the maid quarters that would be too suspicious. He thought fast
"I was looking for you."
That got her attention.
"And why would you be looking for me in the guest wing?"
'Guest wing huh… so those people were guests of the palace.'
Which means his life was in even bigger danger than he thought. The purple haired girl was looking at him as of trying to confirm if he was up to something. A person just doesn't change character in a day.
"Uh… listen, what your name?"
She hesitated for a few seconds before replying
"Lyla."
'Fits her perfectly.'
"I was looking for you because I need to treat my wounds. The crown prince gave his permission."
Lyla gasped "You lying. How could you say something like that? The crown prince?"
"I know you knew the head maid was up to something. She left me her job and the prince came when I was cleaning and told me to get myself treated."
It wasn't entirely a lie. Lucy wasn't expecting the crown prince to come back today. If she had known she would have definitely cleaned the study herself.
"Oh so that's why she was flogged."
"Flogged?"
"Yeah. She was flogged today by the head guard himself. They say it was a direct order from the prince. Some also said it was treason or harassment? Something like that."
Kyle's head spun for the nth time today. Of course he knew what this meant. If she was really flogged for slacking off work then she would find every possible way to put the blame on him.
Especially for someone who considered herself high enough to be the crown princess. She would Kyle her arch nemesis for this disgrace. Kyle sighed and rubbed his temples as they throbbed.
Lyla looked at him with pity as if she knew what was going through his head. And did know. The knew just how vile Lucy could be and how vile she had been to him. Forcing him to rub that powder when she noticed how he started wanting attention from the prince. Although she had heard how beautiful he was from other maids she hadn't seen it until today. Lucy probably hadn't noticed the lack of powder cause his head was bent low when she closed theHe door behind him then. He also wasn't like the rumors they spread about him. She couldn't afford to lower her guard around him but at least she could help him with his injuries.
"C'mon let's go to the infirmary and get you treated."
Lyla still had to drop the linens she was holding in the guest wing for the other maids to change the sheet before night.
They walked back towards te guest wing of the castle. They were about to go in when two people walked out. A man and a boy.
As maids when they see a noble they were supposed to bow their heads in acknowledgment. Kyle didn't know that. He gave Lyla a puzzled look when she shifted to the side to allow them pass, bowing her head. She quickly pulled him beside her and bent his head down.
Of course this behavior didn't escape the man and the boy coming out. The man spoke first
"I see the maids of this castle no longer know their position."
Lyla's eyes widened. She knew Kyle didn't do it on purpose because he looked genuinely confused with his head still bowed low. Perhaps the rumors were wrong and he was just a dumb kid.
"I apologize for my friend here, duke Fernando l. He hit his head and can't think properly again. I wasn't going to take him to the infirmary after dropping these sheets."
Kyle had lifted his head to look at the man when he spoke. With the look of horror in his eyes he realized it was same voice of the man in the conversation he overheard. So he was a duke. He quickly dropped his head again after he noticed the duke looking at him with narrowed eyes.
"I can see that he's clearly lost the ability to think, looking at me in eyes." He spoke with a cold voice looking at them like they were cockroaches that needed to be squashed.
With that he left the hallway. His son, who inherited the looks of his father with brown hair a icy blue eyes, made eye contact with Kyle before trailing after his father.
Kyle watched them go thinking about heir relationship to the king before a slap on his back brought him back to reality.
"You really do attract trouble everywhere."
"I'll get back at you for saying I have no brain."
"Well, do you?"
Kyle gave her the bombastic side eye. He asked
"Who are those people?"
"You don't know the duke of Malariee, Duke Fernando and his son Lucian? Where have you been in this kingdom? A hole?"
"Oh ha ha, very funny I could laugh till I die."
Lyla rolled her eyes and asked
"Who in this kingdom doesn't know the king's cousin? He is good faced and kind to the nobles and other dukes and only shows hi true colors with the servants."
She continued as they walked
"Before the current king became king there was a big fight between both families. The queen and the duchess were killed. Everybody knows the story. Rumors are going round the palace that he should somehow have a hand in the king's current condition."
'If only they knew thought Kyle.'
Lyla handed the basket of sheets to another maid for changing sheets. They walked back towards the infirmary. He assumed cause he didn't know where.
"So what happened to the king?"
She hushed him
"Shut up you."
But someone who talks too much like her couldn't resist the gossip.
"Lower your voice. They said King Malfor suddenly fell sick without reason. The crown prince has gone far and wide in search for the best healers. But they've come up with nothing so far. Some say he's on the verge of dying. Others say he won't make two moons."
Kyle listened as she opened a door that he supposed led to the infirmary.
"But personally I think the king will come it alive. He's not king for no reason after all. He's no light mage but he might be stronger than one. Come here."
Lyla led him into a white sterile corridor. It looked like something straight out from a hospital from him previous life. White doors with numbers, rows of hospital beds. The only thing missing was technology.
They came to door and Lyla signaled for him to be quiet. The door was half open and when he came to pass by he immediately saw why. Inside this room was Lucy lying on her front while a lady cleaned the whip wounds on her back. She was weeping loudly.
'Yeah.. that looks painful. Anyways moving on.'
Kyle tip toed pass the door following Lyla to a door at the end of the corridor. She opened the door and Kyle saw it led to a medicine room. In the room stood rows of cabinets filled with medicine and other stuffs he wasn't sure about. Lyla gestured to a seat at the far end for him to sit.
As he passed by a cabinet he saw the same red bottle had seen in the duke's son, Lucian, hands. He paused in front of the small bottle with long neck. Studying it.
Lyla noticed and came up to him
"What's wrong? Why are you looking at the bottle like that? Have you really lost your brain?"
"Thought you said I didn't have one. Where is this bottle from?"
"As a matter of fact it's from north east. It's a simple medicine for fever if taken alone."
"Alone?" Kyle asked.
"Yeah. It can be quite deadly if mixed with any other thing and a strong magic power."
"So it can be mixed with magic?"
"Yes. Why are asking? Do want to die?"
Kyle gave her a look. But his mind was spinning too fast to respond to her. The bottle he had seen was dark inside and this one was transparent. One was definitely mixed.
Lyla stared at him "What's gotten you all serious?"
"Do you know the original color of the medicine? When it's not mixed?"
"No." She answered.
"By any chance is Malariee in the north east?"
"Yes. But why all these questions?"
Kyle's heart was racing now.
"By any chance is the healer who is currently treating the king also from Malariee?"
"Yes he's the best there is in the kingdom. I swear if don't tell me why you are asking all these questions right now, imma smack your injured head.
First you ask about poison and where it's from and…." She trailed off.
Her eyes widened "you are not thinking what I think you are thinking. That's would be treason he could be killed for it, he wouldn't do something like that."
But Kyle already had an idea forming in his head.
"Listen, I have a plan. Can I trust you?"