The Web of Knightspur-Chapter 177

The Grand Duke looked at Commander Colt with a confused gaze. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"You know something." It was not a question but a statement. Commander Colt could feel the burning gaze of the Grand Duke on himself as he swallowed hard.

Commander Colt nodded his head in a hurry. He knew that if he took any more time to answer the question then the situation might turn deadly and he wanted to avoid it at all costs. "Princess Eleanor had asked to find out if there is a link between the Crown Prince and Priest Erasmus. She wanted to know if they were ever in contact secretly."

"And?" The Grand Duke raised his eyebrows as he looked at Commander Colt to give him some answers.

"Well, initially I could not find anything, but then it made me think that the Crown Prince was really stuck on Princess Eleanor." Commander Colt said but he soon corrected his sentence as he saw the deadly gaze towards him. "What I mean is, the Crown Prince’s eyes moved towards the Princess from time to time. I think he was angry that the Princess had come here to the Beaumont mansion. He even blamed Priest Erasmus for not having competent people who could cure her of her poison."

Commander Colt blinked his eyes as he continued, "Rumors are going around that Priest Erasmus wanted to kill the chief healer as well because he could not find a cure. If my sources are correct, the chief healer was tortured terribly before he begged for mercy and said that he would come here and learn the cure at all costs. That is so he will be able to help Princess Eleanor in the Royal Palace, if she suffers from it again."

Duke Christopher was not happy with the answer and he narrowed his gaze. His tone was filled with resentment as he took a deep breath and looked at Commander Colt, "Anything else?"

"Yes," Commander Colt took a deep breath as he continued, "The point that I wanted to say is not this, but the fact that I found something interesting. Under normal circumstances, I would not have found out. But because Princess Eleanor had asked me to, I was able to dig and find out something interesting."

Commander Colt’s eyes narrowed as he remembered how he had managed to enter the temple and search for any document that had the Crown Prince’s name on it. Anything that was related to the royal family. It was a well known fact that Priest Erasmus kept all of his documents in the right tower but only a few of them knew that his secret and important documents were always kept in his bedroom behind the mirror.

Commander Colt knew that if it was not for his years of experience and understanding of Priest Erasmus, he would not have been able to know the place. But knowing what to search for and actually doing it were two completely different things.

Commander Colt had struggled to reach Priest Erasmus’s bedroom as it was strictly guarded. He even had cuts all over his body, as he crawled up the walls stealthily to make it up the tower. Even when he was looking around, there was a constant fear that someone would suddenly enter the room and discover him. After all, there were always guards assigned outside the room to keep Priest Erasmus safe.

Commander Colt swallowed as he took a piece of paper from his pocket before placing it on the table. He was lucky that there were two copies of the letter so that he could take one with him.

’Some habits never change,’ Commander Colt thought as he sighed. ’Priest Erasmus always makes two copies of every document in fear of losing one. I always thought that it was dumb but I am glad that this came in handy today.’

Commander Colt saw the Grand Duke taking the paper in hand. The atmosphere in the room dropped as an uncomfortable feeling started to make its way through. Commander Colt knew that the Grand Duke was not happy with what he was reading. He was not happy either when he had read it earlier on.

Commander Colt felt like he was eligible to be punished. After all, he was supposed to stay beside the Crown Prince and keep an eye out, and yet he failed to do his mission. First, he did not know that the Crown Prince had been in contact with the Kings of other kingdoms in secret to the point where he would exchange letters with them. On top of it, now he did not even know that the Crown Prince and Priest Erasmus had such a deep friendship.

"What is it?" Lady Gisella, who was silent for a long time, asked. Her eyes looked at Commander Colt who shook his head. He wanted to tell it out loud but he was afraid of putting it into words.

Commander Colt was silent for a long time, but soon seeing the Grand Duke’s expression deteriorating and the curious gaze of Lady Gisella, Commander Colt finally opened his mouth and said, "Crown Prince Richard had sent a marriage proposal to the previous King of Angevin Kingdom."

"Marriage proposal?" Lady Gisella’s eyes widened. "Wait, the previous king? Won’t it be Princess Eleanor’s father?"

Commander Colt nodded his head. His eyes looked at the Grand Duke whose fingers were about to crumple the paper in his hand.

"What did the previous King say?" Lady Gisella was curious but somehow, she knew the answer herself even before hearing it. If Princess Eleanor’s father would have agreed to the marriage, they would not have been in this condition.

Grand Duke Christopher laughed as his eyes darkened. He put the paper on the table with an annoyed face as he said, "Look at it and you will know."

Lady Gisella could feel the chills running down her spine. She knew that the Grand Duke was angry. She could feel it prominently. "This is?"

Lady Gisella took a deep breath before she took the papers in hand. From the condition and the coloration of the paper, Lady Gisella could tell that it was an old letter. Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she blinked her eyes and started reading through it.

The letter was a reply to a previous letter sent. Even though Lady Gisella did not know the content of the previous letter, she could still get the gist of most of the parts.

"I am grateful for this opportunity and as a King, I would be happy to let my daughter marry the future Emperor of the Roulux Empire. But as a father, I would be declining the marriage proposal. I know what power it holds, but I cannot go back on my words. I had pleaded under God that I will never force my children to marry without love. How could I when I have married for love? I hope the Crown Prince understands it and does not put me in a difficult situation as I cannot break the promise that I have made before God."

Lady Gisella read the last few sentences out as she looked at the Grand Duke whose face was filled with an unknown emotion. "No one knows about it." Lady Gisella said as she could feel the temperature dropping drastically.

"No one knew about it." Commander Colt swallowed hard as he tried to explain it to the Grand Duke. "If we had known, then the situation would have been different. I think the Crown Prince had planned it all. Something this big cannot be easily hidden from the Emperor or the nobles."

The Grand Duke got up as he walked down towards the window. He could see the sky turning dark as a cold smile played on his face. He was not happy with the situation he was in, but there was still something bothering him. He was getting angrier by the second.

"He had planned it all along." The Grand Duke said as he turned around. His eyes darkened as he continued, "We will move faster. He wants some information from Princess Eleanor and I will help him get it. In the meantime, Lady Gisella will do what the Crown Prince has tasked her to. Bring Princess Eleanor’s reputation to be at the peak of high society. I want her to be accepted by the crowd. As for Commander Colt, you hand over the letter to Princess Eleanor. I want you to find out if she knows anything about it or not."

Both Lady Gisella and Commander Colt nodded their heads in understanding. They knew that they were not in a position to question him as they both have failed in their mission.

"I want to move forward with the plan. We will come out on the day Priest Erasmus announces that the chosen one is Princess Eleanor. Make sure to prepare everything before the time comes." Duke Christopher’s eyes narrowed as he turned back again, looking up at the sky. "She needs power to get revenge, and I will make sure that I am the only one who could be her support system. I will be the one who will give her the power. And I will be the only one she marries!"