The redder Count Mikael’s face beca, the more the King and duke could tell that he was getting angry.
If it were only Duke Desmond and the count, he might blow up, but since the monarch was there, he was managing to hold himself back even though he was clearly shaken by having woken up only a short ti before.
Desmond sowhat wished Stephano wasn’t there. He wanted to see the man explode on him. It would give him that much more of a reason to knock his head off of his shoulders with the blunt side of his sword.
The duke took a deep breath that cald the rageful thoughts he had for a few monts.
"Y-Your Majesty," Count Mikael began shortly, barely containing himself. "I don’t believe any of this."
His voice was sharp and Stephano felt himself feeling hotheaded. However, he was no longer the prince who could hide behind the excuse of still learning. He was a full-blown monarch who had to justify each one of his decisions. Every action ant sothing to the loyal subject.
Even if Count Mikael didn’t like him and preferred his greedy father because of the way he benefited him, he had no choice but to bend to Stephano III.
"Your inability to believe doesn’t make it any less true," Stephano managed to say quietly despite how much he wished he could grab the man by the collar and give him a good shake. "And you are still being accused of involvent with black magic, so, before you have to appear in front of the Royal Court, please tell how you plea to this accusation."
Count Mikael’s eyes darted back and forth and he had to break away when the disrespectful gazes of the younger n started to eat away at him.
"I plead not guilty!" he mustered up. "Of course! Does this have to do with my late wife? The one who left a widower with two children to take care of."
Desmond imdiately chuckled at that. Perhaps the children he truly fathered were even less than that. Stephano had to nudge him to make him stop, otherwise, because of the fragile state of the man, the King feared any more news might be what killed him.
"I don’t find any of this funny, Your Grace," the count snapped. "These are serious accusations that could cause to lose everything."
"If, perhaps, we decided to give you the benefit of the doubt, what would you say to your daughter being the main suspect in this case?" Stephano asked.
The room was quiet for a mont.
The King and duke witnessed a change fall over the count, but it seed like he was acting and not a bit of it was authentic. He had the gall to give a sad frown even though it was such a drastic change to his anger before, it was clear that it was a show he was giving rather than an authentic feeling.
"If that is the path Leonor has gone down, I fear that she has always had issues with simply being normal," he uttered. "Her morbid curiosities... It’s been a lifelong issue."
Desmond felt his head beco hot. He had pulled his hood over him to hide the scars and ghastly appearance before walking into the room, but it suddenly beca too hot for it. The wood floor underneath him creaked as he took a step forward, determined to confront the pathetic excuse for a man accusing his wife of such heinous cris.
However, Stephano put his hand backwards, stopping the duke. He could get in trouble even still, but the King wasn’t going to let Count Mikael get away with what he was saying.
"How dare you?" the King snapped. "You will always only see what is convenient to you. The daughter I’m referring to is Lady Anna. Black magic all over your manor like you wouldn’t believe. She even went so far as to find soone knowledgeable enough to make blood sacrifices. The fact that you aren’t in your grave is because of Leonor’s involvent, my lord. Tread lightly."
Count Mikael began feeling warm with anger again and his eyes widened, but there was a glimpse of a mory coming back to him that he couldn’t deny.
He recalled a sense of coming back into his mind. It was the first ti in a long ti he knew who he was. There was a mory that wasn’t easily accessed until the n brought up the possibility of sothing amiss.
"That can’t be true," he uttered pathetically. "She would never do that..."
Stephano and Desmond believed their point had finally co across when the count could no longer argue his case. He was speechless. Sothing must have happened in the past that tipped him off to the situation if only for a mont.
There had to have been signs.
"For over a year, I was out of my mind?" The count continued his uttering, but that ti he glanced at the King and the duke. "I don’t recall anything for the past two years except..."
"Except what?" Desmond inquired coldly.
He wanted a clearer answer as to whether the count was involved or not.
"There was a brief mont of realization that sothing was amiss," the count admitted. "It was still cold outside. I found myself in the township wearing little clothing. I went door to door asking for help. That’s all I recall."
It was plausible. Unlike when he feigned sadness for Leonor, his confusion and emotion felt real. Stephano was used to having to read people to see their true intentions while Desmond learned to read people for the purpose of taking them down as a soldier of the kingdom.
Even though he seed innocent, the n decided he could recover his health in his house in the capital under strict guarding until the situation was solved.
The black magic practitioner and Anna wouldn’t see the light of day any ti soon. They wouldn’t be out of an imprisoning magic circle for a very long ti. Eventually, a trial would take place in the capital when the count recovered.
The day had dragged on and, as Desmond sat in the study of their impermanent residence in Burien, a maid ca to him saying his wife was awake. He had been catching up on a stack of things from Gideon, but luckily it wasn’t anything too intense because the man did a good job of managing things while he was away, as did Leonor.
A maid ca into the space, rushing and hardly able to give him a proper appearance. Her shoulders heaved.
"The Duchess is awake again and has requested you," she explained. "I would hurry she–"
"Said that she would co to if I didn’t go there quickly," Desmond interrupted and finished the maid’s sentence for her.
The maid gave him a questioning look but she saw that his gaze was over her shoulder.
The Duchess stood on weak legs with a wide-eyed expression. She seed scared about sothing.
Desmond t her halfway before she could collapse entirely to her knees.
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