My Wonderful Second Life

Chapter 63- Trapping a fox with sweets

Fresh air I did not know I needed overpowered me when I reached the open pathway that would take us away from the Throne room's bleak building. I closed my eyes and moved my head back, letting the sun wash away the darkness of the place, though it would never erase what had happened inside those walls.

The taste of ashes filled my mouth at the thought of that girl, on display for all to see. I opened my eyes.

"Where are you going, Lulu?" asked Jenni, falling behind me as I walked, my goal settled in my feet.

However, a few steps more, I was greeted by a pair of scarlet eyes. Worried and sad. He had heard about what happened or he had seen Francis.

I stopped in front of him but said nothing. Behind, near a shade of a tree, was Wolff too far off for me to see his face. But not far enough to blur in his ears and his tail.

"I couldn't tell you, Lulu." said Cedric, his face stricken as if I had punched him. "I promised Francis I would keep it secret."

I heard the steps of the girls close by, their silence showing they were watching without the intention of interfering.

A sigh escaped my lips, while my fingers rubbed my temples. "Cedric, I would have known either way..." it was more a vent to the wind than anything else. To the injustice of everything.

His blood on the floor was still haunting my mind.

Cedric's voice came like a dispirited whisper. "But he is my friend..."

Yes, he was. And I knew, understood it even, the reason why Francis would not want this to be talked around by his friends. Or anyone. It was not because of how his father looked or how it would affect the empire if it got out. It could be, but at the root, it was more personal.

To Francis was a feeling of shame.

Because this was not the first time he was beaten with the royal sceptre, leaving a trail of blood. And more enraging to me was knowing it would not be the last.

I tried to move past Cedric, but Jenni's voice caused me to stop. "You should not go see prince Francis."

I faced her, feigning ignorance.

Jenni's brows lifted in disbelief, although it was Eloise who spoke. "I believe your sister is right, Lulu. Is best to wait for the dust to settle."

I glanced at Fanny and Amelia. They said nothing, although one was clearly saddened, and the other waited for what I would choose to do.

Maybe they were right, maybe I should give it some time, but I loathed that idea. I took a step back, and my arm was caught by Cedric's long fingers. "Lulu, wait. I want as much as you to march into his office and scream at the winds against this injustice, but I know him. He needs time."

I glanced at his hand and then at his eyes, splashed with the same sorrow as before, the same feeling of ineptitude I shared, and relented. Because I knew he was right.

I needed to wait.

And I did.

One day.

Another.

Another and another.

I tried. But I could no longer wait.

And I devised a plan. One that involved choco balls, a maid, a prince and an aide (and a spider because she heard me talking about the plan out loud in my room).

I made a massive batch of choco balls, some to offer to the workers restoring the south wing of the government building, the rest for tea with a foxy prince. We had gone that day to organize again all the documents we had stored in our houses and prepare the next steps. It was a slow process, mainly because I and the girls had now returned to our etiquette classes and all other arrangements we ladies in society had to be a part of.