Flower

Chapter - 25

(RAYA'S POV)

The realisation leaves me stunned as the events of that day flash before my eyes. Looking through the drawer to find the family seal, finding a seal that felt odd. The engravings on that seemingly ordinary and old seal…it was of a crow.

The Crown Prince seemed quite distressed while looking at those letters. It must be something serious. Could the Lord be involved in anything harmful?

As I am pondering over the seal, another incident pops up in my head. That day at the old office, why did he seem so agitated? His behaviour suggests he's hiding something. If the Crown Prince identifies him as the criminal, that might cause the House of Atticus to fall.

I cannot let that happen, for Eryx's sake. I've vowed to protect him and his future at all cost. There are many lives at stake here. My memory could also be deceiving me.

I made up my mind to investigate the seal before jumping into any conclusions. But the problem is, how can I get to that seal without the Lord finding out?

Lord Caius often visits the lands during harvest season. I talk to a guard and learn that he's going to visit the Riverside lands tomorrow.

I inform Viktor to ask the accountant to come around in the morning. I hope everything will play out as I'm thinking.

I was engrossed in the work all day and felt worried when Dana came in looking worried. “Is everything fine?” I ask, acknowledging the worry on her face.

“My Lady, Young master Eryx broke into a fever. I apologise for interrupting your work, but we're unable to make him stop crying,” hearing her words, I stand up in an instant.

“When did he fall ill?” I ask her, feeling the panic settling in about his health.

“It's been a few hours,” she mumbles, fiddling with her thumbs.

“What took you so long to reach out to me?” I quietly rush out of the study, making my way towards my chamber.

“We didn't want to disturb your work,” she says meekly, sensing my fury.

“There's no work more important than my son's health,” I say sternly as I near my chamber. I can hear his pained cries from here. Rushing inside, I pick him up, cradling him in my arms. His face has turned red from crying.

His fever is quite high. “Call the physician. He's burning up,” I rest his head on my chest, patting him gently.

I instruct Dana to bring a soft cloth and cool water. I dampen the cloth and place it on his head. He seems to calm down after repeating this for some time. I've seen my mother do this when my younger brother caught a fever.

The physician comes and checks up on Eryx. After inspecting, he looks up at me and smiles reassuringly, “My Lady, no need to be so anxious. Young master is mildly ill. The weather is changing, it's common for children to catch a fever or cold during this time.”

“How long will he be sick?” I look down at Eryx's sick form, feeling worried about his well being.

“Young Master will be completely fine in a few days. Please give him this concoction twice a day,” he says as he hands me some vials.

The Physician leaves after explaining the rest to Dana. I pick up Eryx to feed him the concoction. He grimaces and tries to push out everything. After struggling for a while, I finally succeeded in feeding it to him. I fed him some milk afterwards to get rid of any lingering bitterness.

I put him down in his crib once he falls asleep, rocking it gently as I think about what I should do. I don't wish to leave Eryx's side tonight, but I might not find another chance like this. I steel my resolve and ask Dana to look after him till I return.

I head to the Lord's chamber and knock on the door, “Who is it?” His voice rumbles from the other side. “It's me, Raya,” I say in a nervous tone, trying to keep my nerves.

“Come in,” I slowly enter. He's sitting by the window, sipping wine. He looks up at me as I approach him, “Wife, what brings you here tonight? I heard Eryx is ill. Is something the matter with him?” He asks in his usual stoic manner, but a hint of worry could be felt in his words.

“The Physician checked him and gave medications. Eryx is doing better now. I've actually come for a different reason,” he raises a brow, “What might be the reason?”

“I need the keys to the vault to store some jewellery,” I request, masking the nervousness I'm feeling. “Couldn't you do it some other time? I'll be visiting the riverside tomorrow, I won't be able to assist you,” he replies with furrowed brows.

“My Lord, harvest is of course the most important task right now. I wouldn't dare to distract you. I can do it myself if you'd just lend me the keys. I'll return it tomorrow after depositing the jewellery,” I try to reason with him with an air of confidence, trying my best to not let him suspect anything.

“Fine, you're the Lady of the Household after all. I can entrust you with the keys for a day,” he gets up and heads for a drawer, taking out a keychain. He approaches me and wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me in, “Take good care of these. Do not disappoint me,” he bends down and kisses me, I refrain from futile resistance.

He pulls away and hands me the keychain. I respectfully bow, “I wish you a good night my Lord,” I turn around and leave his chamber. I look through the keychain and find the key to the drawer holding that seal. I'm glad I remembered seeing the vault keys along with it last time.

As I returned to my chamber, all I could think about was how much risk I'm taking by investigating my own husband. My grip tightens on the keychain.

I'll go to any extent to ensure my child's safety and comfortable life…

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Thank you all for being so patient with me and my story. I'm really sorry for the late update.

I'm from Bangladesh and we're currently going through a major change in the Government and rebuilding the country. I was kind of distracted by it all.

But I hope you guys will enjoy this!!!