Re: Who needs a prince when you're a queen?

Chapter Thirty-Five: Offering a hand to the schemer

Just as how it was normal for noble families to have several estates to use as summer homes or winter manors, the Daimon household also had a mansion in the North.

It was already nightfall when we decided to head out to the Daimon's estate that day. The first snow of the year had not yet come and I leaned my head against the carriage's window to look outside and wondered whether it would snow tonight.

The journey was easily short but the context of the destination made it feel heavier on me. I closed my eyes for a moment and was about to drift off when I suddenly the coach hit a bump on the road.

The sudden thump startled me and I frantically opened my eyes and swung an arm around to try and hold on to the closest person next to me.

My hitched breathing slowly stabilized as I felt someone's kind hand envelope mine.

"Marcella," a voice called out.

I lashed my head around, desperate to see if someone was actually with me in the carriage and I felt relieved to see Jamie's purple eyes looking straight at me- concern unmistakably plastered on his face. He squeezed my hand tighter, as if reassuring me that he was actually there.

Cedric, who was sitting across us, was the first to speak. "What's wrong?" He leaned closer and inspected my current state. Occasionally, however, his eyes would discreetly dart to Jamie's hand holding mine.

I breathed heavily for a moment before gently shrugging of Jamie before answering. "The bump . . . startled me."

Jamie and Cedric looked at each other but neither one of them decided to pry more. There seemed to be an agreement of not continuing to further insist on asking until I was finally ready to tell. And while I really wanted to tell someone what I was bottling up inside, a part of me still wanted to keep it all to myself because I don't feel brave nor courageous enough to share. Was there trauma? Was there mental fatigue and emotional exhaustion from the kidnapping event?

Probably.

"Don't worry about me," I quickly said. My voice quivered a little but I really hoped none of them noticed. I looked outside the window again and pointed outside. "Look, we've arrived already."

I immediately got off from the carriage the soonest after the coachman opened it for me. I could not bear to be stuck in the pressure of letting my thoughts out any moment and so the only way to get out of that is to avoid it as much as I can.

Cedric and Jamie followed after me as we headed to the mansion. The head butler of the Daimon family opened the doors for us and led us to where Matthias' comatose state was being placed. We marched through the long corridors of the house- with every step getting heavier and heavier.

And while the Daimons' Northern estate was nothing short of spectacular, I was too preoccupied with my thoughts. It also did not help that the interior design of the house was set in a rather grim mood. Ivory statues lined the halls and the windows were all draped with dark velvet curtains. Albeit my past self and even until now appreciated the goth-esque aesthetic of the mansion, it made the frame of my current mind heftier.

The head butler knocked on the large ebony doors. There was a soft mumble from the inside and he finally had it opened for us.

"Your highness, my lord, and my lady," he bowed and gestured for us to step inside.

The last time I saw Matthias was when he was brought in by the royal physicians to seek treatment. It was a flurry that day and I sat frozen in the sand as they carried Matthias away from me- actively bleeding and the Luxies' light were fluctuating. His eyes were closed that day.