He roared out in pain, as his chest kept trying to skip out of his chest. "Is it my injuries of war..? I thought... they had... healed... u–" His vision went blurry and he collapsed down on the ground.
The last thing he saw were his guards rushing towards him in a frenzy, calling out loudly. But the only thing he heard were ringing sounds and nothing more.
Then it blacked out, and he became unconscious right there on the cold floor, under the embrace of the moonlight.
~~~
Adison's mansion.
The young prince was having dinner with his mother, the one woman he would never stop appreciating. A day unique considering that it was her birthday, and she paid her son, thr only boy carrying her bloodline, a visit.
With such a special occasion, they was no way she was missing out on this. 'It's been a long time since I've been spoiled by my son and his love for me. I cannot let it pass me by.' She thought, looking at him with a smile of content.
'My baby, you've grown up to be a young fine man, and mommy is proud of you. On the other hand, we as your parents are growing quite old... I hope you give me grandchildren before and expire, fufu.' Her thoughts, continued in serenity.
The special celebration had just begun, and they were not even ten minutes into it. But they were beyond happy nonetheless.
But unfortunately, misfortune always strikes when people are at their most joyful moments, as a bad event took place just as they were about to continue to celebrate.
"Your highness, your highness..!!" A guard budged in, panicked and out of breathe, only to stumble and crumble down right on the doorway of the dining room.
"Sir, what's the matter?" Adonis and Ella were startled and hurriedly stood up in shock, rushing towards the fallen guard in concern.
Yet the man cared less about his state of well being, and incoherently blurted out, "His majesty... His majesty has fallen sick..!! He's, he's dying..!!"
"What?!" Both mother and son exclaimed in fright, color draining off from their complexions, making them look as white as blank papers. "What did you say? Please repeat that."
Adonis urged, his words laced with disbelief and unprecedented shock. Most important, panic. "I've heard that the king... the king is dying and being tended by–"
The guard blurted out the words he heard, still in shock and out of breathe. Yet Adonis did not wait any longer and burst off out of the room at full sprint.
"ADONIS!!" Ella cried out, helping the guard during the process and running after him. She picked up her dress into her hands, took off her shoes, and sprinted.
The scene was kind of comical, but also appealing. Yet nobody focused on that, as the current topic was too dire to not take serious.
She arrived outside, and yelled at the coachman as fast as she could, "Sir coachman, sir coachman!! Please, hurry!! To the castle, to the castle, now!!"
"Y–Yes madam!!" The young coachman forgot to even greet her, and just flew onto the carriage and drove off right when Ella jumped in.
A moment ago, he was just marveling at the top speed that Adonis achieved when he rushed out of the castle. It was so fast, he couldn't even call out to him.
But now, seeing as Ella, the mother, was also in such a rush, he guessed that the matter at hand was not a light topic. 'What, what is going on? Is it a terrorist attack..?!' He panicked, rushing his horses that ran like lightning.
In a few minutes, they reached the castle's entrance, snd there, they found Adonis out of breathe, and another two carriages that just made their stop.
From one, came out Alison, who seemed worried and in panic. "Adison, Adison, are you okay? What were you thinking man? How can you rush out such a distance on foot?!"
But it seems his worry and panic weren't aligned with those of the others. "I'm... okay... don't... don't worry... about me..." Adison forced out his replies amidst swallowing large breathes of air.
Alison sighed in frustration patting Adison's back, in attempt to help him get his cool and bearing. 'Seriously, brother, you should learn to control your emotions.' He thought in even more frustration.
At the same time, from the other carriage, came out Bella, who professionally did a courtesy to everyone present. "Greetings your highnesses, greetings madam Ella, greetings madam Hannah."
She said, and the others briefly greeted her back, but at this point, Ella, now sure that her son was okay, was rushing deeper within the interior of the castle. Hannah rushing behind her.
"Hm..? Wait, Mrs Emily, where's is big sister Adriana?" Adison realized that no one else was within his older sister's carriage, either than Bella herself.
"My apologizes, your highness, her highness was not feeling well today, and chose to rest for the night. But she has sent me in her stead, and requested that you write down a letter to her, about tonight's meeting." She said, keeping up a professional attitude.
"Ah, I see... but, is she going to be okay? It's not a serious matter, is it?"
"None to that level, your highness. She should should up by tomorrow morning, if not the next morning after."
"I see..."
"If you're so worried about my lady's health, I do not mind giving you reports on her current state of health every day, until she is okay, your highness." She suggested, and he nodded in appreciation.
"Thank you, I would really appreciate such act of kindness." He said, then left with Alonis, both of them literally rushing towards their father's living courters.
"..."
Meanwhile, Bella remained standing for a little while longer. 'My lady, is this really...' She sighed, cutting off her thoughts before they could continue.
She was but a servant, and would do as told. Anything else, and she would not entertain it, as long as Adriana remained safe and sound. And also satisfied.
She then went after them, her pace collected, her thoughts idle. The lives and deaths of anyone else within this family, having no effect on her heart. One born extremely ice cold, with but a hint of silver and gold.
Meanwhile, the siblings finally arrived at the door of their father's room, and there, they found their oldest sister and older brother already pacing back and forth.
Ella was also here, alongside the rest of their mothers. They could not miss out on such an important matter, after all, they still cared about Allianz, unlike Adriana.
"I don't understand. What's the meaning of this? Suddenly dropping down?" Their oldest brother, Axel, inquired with a light frown of displeasure on his face, his pacing increasing.
The same question tormented almost everyone's mind at the same time. How could something like this happen? Especially to their father out of all people.
"I think we should properly interrogate the guards." Amy suggested, and being the eldest sister of the family, her words were taken to consideration.
Plus, they made sense. Hence the two guards personally watching over the throne room everyday, where called over, and they hurriedly kneeled before them.
"What happened? Tell the truth, and maybe you shall be spared." Amy said as a greeting, her words cold and murderous to the bone.
The two guards felt their blood run cold, and they hurriedly forced out replies according to what they saw. "My lady, your highnesses, we are not sure of what truly happened. It all began–"
"Cut the crap and off to the main point. What did you do to my father." She frowned, and squinted her eyes at the two of them. The others watched in silence, and said, nor did anything to help.
Hence the pressure for the two only accumulated to unforseen heights, and they almost could not speak. They felt all the words being formed within their mind, sinking down to their stomach never to rise up again.
"So? Why can't you speak? Guilt caught you strangled up?" And Amy kept the pressure rising, not giving them a chance to formulate anything at the moment.
"My... my lady, we are just guards, and have no contact with the king. All we saw was that he stood up to admire the moonlight through the window like everyday, only to clutch his chest in pain." The second guard forced out such words, then the first hurriedly added.
He took the opportunity to shift the blame away from them. "The–the chefs, the maids. They... they are more likely to be the suspects, my lady. Please forgive our lack of knowledge in this matter."
"They are speaking the truth, elder sister." Adonis finally took the moment to help the two. He had long desired to help, but felt like he would only make himself seem suspicious by shifting the blame away from them.
But now that they brought out a logical reply themselves, he could help them to an extent. "Indeed, I see no flaw within their words." Alison also decided to support them.
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