The Web of Knightspur-Chapter 176

The sun was about to go down as the moon shone softly in one corner of the sky.

Lady Gisella looked down at the floor as she swallowed hard. She knew that she was here for a reason but she was not ready to face the man just yet. She herself had not made peace with the information she had received, and now thinking about the possibility of it being true was something Lady Gisella felt hard to accept.

Lady Gisella took a deep breath as she looked up at the man who was standing with his back to her in front of the window. His eyes were fixed looking down and Lady Gisella could almost guess what he was looking at.

Soon there was a knock on the door. Lady Gisella was confused. Who could it be? Her eyes narrowed as she looked back but she did not move at all.

Lady Gisella knew that they were in the highest direction on the west. A place only a few people knew off. The man who stood facing the window looked back as he said in a low voice.

"Enter." As soon as the words were spoken, the door was opened and Commander Colt came inside. Lady Gisella was silent but both of them nodded their heads at the other.

"My Lord." Commander Colt bowed as he looked at the man who had walked towards a couch. Duke Christopher sat down as he indicated for the both of them to join him. Lady Gisella and Commander Colt looked at one another but they soon nodded their heads and made their way to sit in front of the Grand Duke.

"All the Princesses have left. Although there were no major mishaps, I could clearly feel the resentment from them." Commander Colt reported, "They do not like Princess Eleanor."

"I thought so too." The Grand Duke smiled as he nodded his head. This was not considered as news to him as he had already predicted this to happen. Things were not going smoothly as of now and there were many occasions where he knew what the problem was, yet there was no way he could act on it.

’I know who the problem is.’ Duke Christopher said as he shook his head. ’It is the Crown Prince.’

The Grand Duke sighed as he closed his eyes, ’It’s a pity I cannot kill the man directly.’ 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Duke Christopher opened his eyes as he looked at Lady Gisella. His gaze narrowed as he asked the much awaited question, "What did you find out?"

Lady Gisella knew that it was her time to answer. She took a deep breath as she decided to just say the words as they came to her mind. She had no time to rephrase the sentence. The effects of her words were going to be the same either way she says it.

"The Crown Prince is confident as if he had already known the result." Lady Gisella looked at the Grand Duke as she continued, "I do not know the details, but he wants the nobles to accept the Princess as soon as possible. Or at least, the Crown Prince wants to uplift her position in the society before she is declared the future Crown Princess."

The Grand Duke’s eyes narrowed but he did not reply. He stared straight at Lady Gisella making her feel uncomfortable.

Lady Gisella bit her lips as she continued, "If my guess is correct and my assumption is right, the Crown Prince must have gotten the prophecy much earlier to when it was being told to us all. It feels like he is getting ready to make a strong foundation for his future."

"And why would Lady Gisella think so?" Duke Christopher raised his eyebrows as he leaned forward and asked. His eyes were narrowed but his aura was captivating. Lady Gisella could feel the chills running down her spine as she tried to maintain her cool.

"I did not do this prior but I just realized something that might be of great help to the Lord." Lady Gisella’s tone turned soft as she said in a hurry, "There was a reason why the Crown Prince had specially asked me to escort the Princess of the Angevin Kingdom here. I did not pay attention to it back then, but now when I think about it, I realized that the Crown Prince had been aware of the prophecy, even way back then. I can vaguely remember him saying something regarding that before he departed."

Lady Gisella’s eyes were filled with hope and excitement as if she had found the real reason why she was sent as a chaperone to fetch a Princess despite her status and standing in society. "My Lord, The Crown Prince had said, ’Bring the eldest Princess here with the utmost care.’ Yes, this was what he had reminded me."

Commander Colt looked at Lady Gisella whose eyes were sparkling. He could not understand what had made her so excited. Was it not a general term to use? What was so special about it was that when he looked at the Grand Duke, Commander Colt realized that he was the only one who could not understand the situation well. Because the Grand Duke himself was also reacting to what Lady Gisella said.

The Grand Duke was still in shock as his body stiffened. "Did he actually say those words?"

Lady Gisella nodded her head in a hurry, in fear that her one wrong move would make the Grand Duke irritated, "Yes, as I said, I was not sure of what it meant then. But now that I am trying to put the pieces together, I now understand what deep meaning it possessed. If the Crown Prince knew that prophecy from then, it ..."

"Made sense that he asked for the eldest Princess." Duke Christopher completed Lady Gisella’s sentence as he saw her nodding her head. Soon he was deep in thought. All the things that he had thought made sense earlier, were useless now. He did not know what to expect anymore.

"I don’t understand," Commander Colt asked. He did not know the circumstances and he had started feeling left out as if he was an abandoned puppy who needed extreme care.

"It has been a long time since the current King has taken over the throne." Lady Gisella explained as she looked at Commander Colt, "And he has only one daughter."

Commander Colt did not understand what Lady Gisella was getting at until she continued, "Did anyone know that the former Princess retained the title after her family’s death and was still considered the first Princess?"

Commander Colt shook his head. On the continent, once a new ruler takes over, he is treated as the sole royalty and all the other descendants or remaining family members of the previous ruler were disregarded. Even if they retained the title, they cannot use it officially.

"So you mean that the Crown Prince knew that the Angevin Kingdom’s King will be sending Princess Eleanor?"

"He had planned it all along?" A sharp deep voice made Lady Gisella and Commander Colt shiver in their seats. "He sent you there with a purpose. He did not want any harm to come to Princess Eleanor, but his plan backfired. She still ended up being poisoned."

Lady Gisella looked at Commander Colt who had sweat beading on his forehead. He knew that the Grand Duke was not a forgiving man, but at this moment, he could feel that the Lord was really about to kill someone. And that someone might be the current Crown Prince.

"Lord," Commander Colt looked at Duke Christopher with fear in his gaze, "He is still the Crown Prince."

Duke Christopher took a deep breath as he tried hard to control his burning emotions. He knew that Lady Gisella had brought some important information to him. After all, none of them knew that the Angevin Kingdom’s people had permitted Princess Eleanor to retain her title. She was the eldest Princess. It was only known to them when they had entered the Angevin Kingdom and had been granted an audience with the King. It was only then that his niece had been called into the King’s study room.

"Lady Gisella truly did a good job." The Grand Duke commended once he had regained control over his emotions. The thought that the Crown Prince had always wanted Princess Eleanor to be his Crown Princess brought a sour taste to his mouth. His hands had long curled into a fist as he tried to maintain his calm. "All I want to know is, what was the Crown Prince thinking? Why would he want Princess Eleanor in reality? Getting information through her in order to destroy me and House Beaumont is one thing but ...."

The Grand Duke did not finish his sentence, but his thoughts were clear. "He always wanted her. But why? Did he really receive a prophecy that no one else knew about? Then why bother calling all the Princesses from the other Kingdoms with a condition of never allowing them to go back?"

Lady Gisella listened to The Grand Duke’s words but she shook her head. She herself did not know and her mind was filled with questions too. If one knows the prophecy then why waste time? Why not go directly and bring the Princess to the Royal Palace? Why go through so much hassle?

Lady Gisella was deep in thought as she tried to find a way to help the Grand Duke when she heard a voice from her side, "I may know the answer to that question."