My Charlotte Hates Me

Chapter 100: Your Son

I dismantled Queen Gaelle's Aviary and clipped their wings to be raised within their cages for the rest of their lives. Normally, they would have been put to death, but I saw it as such a cruel punishment for the birds and negotiated with only having their wings clipped. These birds were not meant for long-distance flights and would not survive well in the wild anyway, so this was their safest option.

After preliminary investigations on Queen Gaelle, I was finally allowed access to Queen Gaelle's office and places she often frequented in the Castle. Through my findings of places she often visited, I found that there was a garden catered to poisonous plants.

The Royal Family heirs often ingest small amounts of poison in their system to help them build immunity to various poisons. This is not well known to the public because of the issue with Fairy Blood. If the current Royal Family were true heirs, their blood would have protected them from typical poisons and illnesses, which makes me wonder how the Duchess was poisoned.

Could her blood's power have weaned after mixing her blood with common blood for too many generations, or was this a poison that could affect them despite the protection that the Fairy Blood already gave them?

Even so, I would have to look at information on a few hundred different plant species...

However, my schedule became so tight that even my meal times were being tightly scheduled to the minute in preparation for the Foundation Day banquet. My engagement with His Majesty King Arundel will also be announced that day, so until then, I will continue passing out on my bed at the end of every day...

I wonder how Arielle was able to endure all of this during her training as a bride...

A few days before the Foundation Day, I had some free time to myself but met with commotion involving the Prince and his letters.

"Please allow me to take care of this," I told one of the Guards standing outside of the Prince's room.

"Good afternoon again, Your Highness," I said.

"Lady Castile, what are you doing here?" Prince Erik asked.

"Shall we have tea together?" I asked.

His Highness quickly calmed down at my suggestion. His typical etiquette of having to escort a young lady if asked to have shown through as soon as I suggested having tea together, or maybe it was because I was once a close friend of Arielle's?

"Forgive me for the scene I made earlier," Prince Erik said after sipping some tea to calm himself down. "It is not my intention to continually show you these less-than-ideal sides of me, Lady Castile."

"...You must have had your reasons, Your Highness," I said as I picked up my teacup.

"I have written several letters intending to send them to Arielle but was refused at the gate," Prince Erik explained.

"...Please forgive them for doing their job. There was recently a leak, so an investigation is being held as of right now. I am sure that it will not be long until you have clearance, Your Highness," I said energetically.

"...Forgive me if I scared you earlier. It is just that I am so desperate to see Arielle...It is like I have woken up from a long nightmare. My body has not felt like mine in such a long time. I would never willingly hurt Arielle. However, I am currently being confined to this room with only an hour outside of my room. It is my understanding that I am under house arrest for my actions during the time I was not myself...I have finally recovered most of my memories from that time and am filled with anger towards the Baron's daughter and mostly at myself! I was the one...who hurt Arielle the most. I cannot undo the damage I have already done, but at the very least, I want to apologize to her," Prince Erik said sincerely.