Penelope found her way to her mother’s side and hugged her.
"It has been a long day, hasn’t it? We’re lucky to be staying in the palace," Alessandra said whilst rubbing Penelope’s arm.
"How did you convince my father to stay in the palace? Was it hard to bribe him?" Penelope wondered.
"There was a bit of convincing, but he warmed up to it eventually. He’s in a good mood since we are to be leaving soon. Your father is deserving of a break. We all are, but more importantly, he is done with matters of the palace," said Alessandra.
Alessandra was thrilled that with Tobias’s reign ending, Edgar no longer needed to help with the court. The cases were becoming more and more dangerous, so she worried about Edgar returning home.
"He does deserve a break from the palace. Someone must warn Tobias not to bother him. It is strange not to think of Tobias as the king. It might take some time to remember that Teo is now the king," Penelope said, gazing at the two royals.
"You will get used to it soon. I fear we might be losing your sister quite soon, but we might get the chance to prepare for a wedding."
"I would not be so excited yet, mother. Lily might just carry the tradition of not having a big wedding and only want us to be present. There is a small chance she would want a wedding, so you could have the experience," Penelope said, thinking of how her mother didn’t have a wedding.
"It is not about me. All I want is for you all to be happy. Do you know where your brother is? He was near me a moment ago, but he slipped off somewhere," Alessandra said, searching for her son.
"Rue doesn’t seem to be present," Penelope pointed out. "Don’t panic, mother. You raised Elijah to be a sensible gentleman, so surely he wouldn’t do anything to disgrace our family name. Besides, they are about to be far away from each other. They would want a moment alone."
Penelope’s eyes widened. "Perhaps it is best we search for them."
"Indeed, it is," Alessandra agreed.
"Where are you two going?" Edgar’s voice stopped the pair in their tracks. "Elijah is returning with Rue."
"Where is he?" Alessandra inquired, looking around once more. "Oh."
Penelope followed her mother’s gaze and found both Elijah and Rue walking side by side. She managed to get a rare glimpse of Rue’s face being flustered. It was all Penelope needed to see to understand what occurred in private.
"Poor Elijah," Penelope sighed. "He’s always a fool. I worry about him being lonely in the estate when we all leave. Hopefully, he would be wise to go to the border to be with Rue."
"I’m sure he will be well. Elijah has always dreamed about having the estate to himself. I only worry about him managing it by himself," said Alessandra.
"We are not staying. He has the butler to help him, just as I did," Edgar said.
"You had Alfred at your side to keep you company. It is not the same. We will have to leave him be at some point, so he must learn to get used to us not being there. I must speak to him," Alessandra decided, walking off to see Elijah.
"Mother worries quite a bit, doesn’t she?" Penelope asked.
"Says the source of her worries," Edgar replied.
Penelope chuckled. "You are funny when you want to be, father. Has grandmother Priscilla written to you?"
"There was an incident at a gathering we attended together today. Cassidy was there, and another unfortunate guest. It was Tabitha’s doing that they were present, but still. Grandmother said she would speak to grandfather, but I know she doesn’t want to," said Penelope.
Penelope continued, "I truly believe that grandfather’s marriage doesn’t appear to be going well. At least not for Cassidy, and that is why she keeps standing before Priscilla. Still, it doesn’t make sense for Cassidy to keep seeking out grandmother."
Penelope was curious if Cassidy thought that Priscilla would ever want to listen to her and bond over the troubles they shared with Edmund.
"I have not decided on having dinner with him, and I might not get the chance to since I am leaving soon. Since grandmother didn’t tell you, she must be trying to settle it herself, but she doesn’t want to speak of grandfather to her husband," said Penelope.
Penelope stood closer to her father after noticing that Edmund had arrived.
It was no surprise that Edmund would be present since he was also close to the Castros.
"Would you like to go on a walk, father? It feels so long since we had a moment to ourselves," Penelope said, trying to pull her father away.
"I will walk with you when I return," Edgar said, letting go of Penelope’s hand.
They were already at a funeral, so her father might see it as the right occasion to deal with Edmund.
Penelope followed her father closely in case he would need help to calm down. Her father was wise not to harm Edmund in the palace, but that wisdom might be out the window after the news she shared.
"My son," Edmund cheerfully greeted Edgar. "What a shame we have to meet on a day . Who has upset you?" He asked, taking notice of Edgar’s scowl. "What have I done to you when this is the first time I haven’t seen you in a while?"
"I warned you, didn’t I? I told you to keep that woman from my mother and me, yet she always shows up before one of us," said Edgar.
Edgar had it in him to shoot Edmund now and open up the very grave Tabitha was in to toss him inside of it.
Edmund sighed. "My wife told me what happened. She didn’t know that your mother and daughter were going to be there. She thought the ladies were being kind to finally invite her. It wasn’t anything more than that."
"This isn’t the first time she or you has tried to place yourselves before my family. You picked her, therefore you should stay with her and be out of sight-"
"You are still my son!" Edmund exclaimed.
Edmund didn’t have any more children outside of Edgar.
"Yes, I wasn’t faithful to your mother, but it wasn’t like we were in love. Your mother has moved on, and despite all that she did to you, you hate me. I didn’t make your mother like that. Why can you forgive her, but not me?" Edmund wondered.
Priscilla had killed others, yet Edmund still found himself to be the monster of the family.
Why couldn’t he be forgiven? Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱