Villainess Loves

Part 54

I pant, slightly out of breath. My physical stamina is nonexistent. A simple short jog is all it takes for my weak body to start dying. I lean against the cool wall, taking a short rest. Mary quickly appears next to me.

"You really should do some more physical activities, my lady. It's quite sad." Mary looks me over.

"Yeah, yeah. You know I don't like doing stuff." I huff, taking rapid breaths. Mary reaches into her pocket and hands me a glass bottle filled with water.

"Here, have some." She helps me open the bottle.

"Thanks." I take a gulp. The water is surprisingly cool. The refreshing feeling washes over my body, giving me a slight boost. I feel much better. But dang, my body sucks. What person gets tired over a short jog? I barely went a few feet! I'm not even wearing hard-to-walk shoes! I've got no excuse except for my crappy body!

"Are you alright, lady Annelise?" Henry comes up to us.

"Yeah, thanks for accompanying me." I nod. Mary takes the bottle from me and slips it back into her pocket. Hmm. She glances over at my curious face and reaches back into her pocket and pulls out...

"Cookies!" I exclaim, quickly grabbing the sweet treat from her outstretched hand. The buttery and flaky treat melts in my mouth. Sweet bliss.~

"You are amazing, Mary." I sigh happily, stuffing my face.

"You're a magician." Henry nods in amazement.

"Heh, I've been with you for so long. I've got everything you could possibly need!" Mary puffs out her chest, proudly. She pulls out a handkerchief and hands it to me. I take it and clean my hands.

"Thanks." I said.

"Of course." She smiles

"Go ahead and take a nap, my lady. I'll have some tea and snacks sent for you later to enjoy." Mary pushes me into my room.

"I'm going to go fetch a vase and water for these flowers. See you in a bit, okay?" Mary waves up the gardenias and starts to walk away.

"Okay!" I wave back.

"Alright, I shall head-" "Wait!" I drag Henry into my room, stopping him from finishing his sentence.

"What can I do for you, Lady Annelise?" He asks. I look left and right outside my room, then quickly close the door and lock it. He looks at me weirdly.

"What are you doing?-Mphf!" He starts, but I cover his mouth with my hand.

"Shush! I got something to ask you!" I whisper. I grab his arm and drag him to the couch. I push him to sit down and then I sit next to him. I take a short breath to calm myself down.

"Henry. Did you hear anything before I fell? Earlier in the secret garden." I ask. I don't know if Mary was close enough to hear, but Henry certainly was close enough-he caught me when I fell, and he was sharp enough to notice the secret door.

"What do you mean?" Henry looks confused.

"You know - just right before I fell. I heard voices talking about something!" I waved my arms to emphasize.

"Lady Annelise, you shouldn't involve yourself regardless if I heard something. It is dangerous." Henry tells me sternly, crossing his arms.

"So did you?" I scoot closer. Henry seems to be deciding whether to tell me.

"You gotta tell me! All I heard was that they would steal the prizes from the horse riding competition!" I grab his arms and shake them. He looks unwilling.

"I really shouldn't bring you in danger, Lady Annelise. I can take care of it myself." He says.

"You got to tell me what you heard Henry! All you're doing is confirming that you DID hear something!" I point out. 

He sighs and brushes off my grip. Reversing our position, he grabs my shoulders and stares at me intently.

"It's very important that you don't do anything recklessly, okay? All of us, me, Mary, your father, would be deeply saddened if something were to happen to you." Henry says seriously.

"Yeah, I know. Just tell me! I gotta know!" I nod vigorously. He sighs again.

"... You were right, my lady. Those voices were talking about attacking the royal family and taking back Princess Echina to Vendia." He starts, observing my reaction.

"Princess Echina back to Vendia? Are they against marriage? Actually, do they even know Princess Echina is engaged to Prince Caelum?" I am shocked. I mean, I knew Vendia was going to attack, but I thought they were kidnapping Prince Caelum to threaten Elden to return the land and resources they took from Vendia.

"I do not know the reason. But the voices did confirm they were going to attack after the competition and take Princess Echina back to Vendia. They are also considering stealing the prizes." Henry recollects.

"Hmmm, Prince Circe was there when I opened the door. But I didn't see anyone else. Do you think Prince Circe was one of the voices?" I wondered. I would have definitely recognized his stupid voice. But how was he there so coincidentally?

"I am not sure, but there were multiple people talking. Any one of them could have been Prince Circe or not." Henry shakes his head.

"So you couldn't identify any of the voices?" I ask. He stops to think. 

We know for sure that Vendia is going to attack, but who's orchestrating it? There's no way Princess Echina has any connections, she's enjoying Elden and is planning on marrying so she's not going back to Vendia for a while. Prince Circe would be the most likely suspect, but I know that annoying voice like the back of my hand. I haven't really met any of the other Vendia guests, I mean, they aren't royalty, just general attendants or aristocrats. We get plenty of aristocrats from all areas of the world touring Elden. That's normal.