Unfortunately, I'm an Evil Villainess

Chapter 122 - Gears of Fate (I)

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"What is wrong with our son?"

King Henry winced at the icy voice of his wife. He really wished that she would stop barging into his office unannounced, but he certainly wasn't going to bring it up with her.

"What do you mean, my dear?"

Queen Josephine stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, with a natural regality that made the king shrink on his throne. The beauty of her auburn hair and green eyes had not faded with age since when they were wed, in fact, the years of power had only made her more magnificent, intimidating his love for her into obedience.

"He left a meeting early yesterday, and his servants said he seemed faint," the queen strode across the room to his desk, leaning over him. "This has never happened since... he was old enough to attend meetings of matter. Not that he was never sick, but that our physicians and priests, and his own strength, have always been able to carry him through."

King Henry gulped. "I don't know, my dear. He is-"

"Of course you wouldn't," Queen Josephine snapped. "You're too busy avoiding your responsibilities to spare a care in the world for your own children. Alas, it's too peculiar; there must be something. Are you sure you haven't let anyone into the castle, or made any enemies that you haven't told me about?"

"No," King Henry shook his head, desolate. "You know I tell you everything. Perhaps he is just distressed, with the upcoming demon subjugation and the almost assassination of Lady Valentina. He's strong, but he's still young."

"He's handled more than this before," Queen Josephine frowned. She sighed and sat across from him, and the king let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. They were on the same side now, against a common, unknown opponent. However, her next words made him stiffen again.

"I think it's been going on for a while now, and do you know what I've resorted to?" she leaned in. The motherly desperation in her eyes was a rare look on her. "I've summoned Lady Valentina's apprentice 'doctor' from Zeryn."

King Henry's blood ran cold as he mechanically reached out to grip his wife's hands. "You've done what?"

"I don't know what else to do," Queen Josephine confessed frantically. "We've had our best physicians and priests. Perhaps it is something only the technology of Zeryn would pick up, and I couldn't have a foreigner examine Oscar. We should've stood up to the temple and established formal relations with Zeryn to send our own students. The Avington girl was smart for that."

King Henry didn't know how to process this information, so he went along the only line he could think of as he awkwardly patted his teary wife on the head. "I thought you hated the Avington girl."

"Well, I never liked her, but half of that was a show for Oscar," she admitted. "I didn't want him getting too comfortable, and you have to be harsh with children to get the message across. Nevertheless, the rumours about him and the Bryant girl disgusted me to such an extent that I decided she's not really that awful in comparison."

King Henry swallowed. "You don't like the Bryant girl, then?"

"Goodness, no!" Queen Josephine rolled her eyes. "Even before the murder attempt, she's too weak. A king needs a queen with a strong will, so he will not have to shoulder everything alone, but Valentina is too willful. Indeed, it's difficult to find a balance, but it is likely easier for Oscar to manage a wife than to bear the weight of a kingdom by himself. Not to mention the Bryant girl's history!"

King Henry nodded emphatically, wishing more and more that his wife was king instead of him. In what he tried to justify as saving his son from a fate similar to his, had he condemned him to one even worse? He couldn't think about that.