Rogue and Riveting

Chapter 11 His Return

Adelia only have a few minutes to inspect the old greenhouse and the dried blood on the topiary before her security team realizes that she is no longer in her room, so she took the leaves of the topiary with the bloodstain on them and put them in her pocket. She was ready to go back inside the palace, but she could still hear the sound of the emergency alarm on the whole palace building so she decided that maybe she could linger in here a little bit more.

And she was prepared this time. She took the face mask that she asked from one of the chambermaids earlier from the same pocket and put it on her face just to be safe. And when she thought that she was ready to go, she walked towards the old greenhouse and saw it closer than the first time that she saw it. 

And she was right about being suspicious about the place because just on the outer walls to her left, the same bloodstains were visible on them and her heartbeat just got faster when she saw it. "I can't believe this," she whispered to herself as she examined the walls closely. Although she kept at least three steps away from the wall itself, she could still see the bloodstains clearly as they were still fresh even though they dried up already. "I think my theory is right. Whoever sneaked into my room that night is the one who splattered their blood on the topiary and on these walls... They are still fresh... And since everyone knows how dangerous this place is, you would only come in here in life-threatening situations... Or if you are scared that you might get caught..."

Adelia then took her phone and took pictures of the bloodstains and the surroundings. She felt scared and excited at the same time because she was playing like some sort of detective, but she was also genuinely worried that if this person was actually Enoch or someone who actually looks like Enoch, then this might be a person that nobody knows that well. Or perhaps his very existence is something that is some kind of a secret? That is also possible too. 

After doing everything that she ought to do in the place, Adelia finally decided to leave and go back to the palace. It was lucky for her that everyone was still busy trying to find the 'fire' so she snuck in back to her room and then dialed her phone. She was calling a friend from Sanjolia.

"Hello?"

"Martha? Is that you?"

"Oh my God! Your Highness! I am so shocked that you called me!" the woman on the other end of the line almost squeaked like a weasel in excitement, as she should be. Adelia was known back in Sanjolia as someone who doesn't use her phone for calls and you also can't just call her without her permission first. Her number is even connected to the Sanjolia palace, so even if you accidentally call her number it will be redirected to one of the palace's phones. That all means that the chances of getting a call from her are just like winning a lottery. 

"Yeah, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Martha---"

"Oh, not at all, Your Highness!" squeaked Martha again. "I am just so shocked, but I am also happy that you called me! I even thought that I was just seeing things on my phone screen!"

That made Adelia laugh. "Seriously, I feel bad about that. I haven't called you since I gave you my number, right? I should have texted you first."

"Your Highness, you don't have to think about it that much. You can just call me whenever you want to," said Martha, who was Adelia's second cousin that lived in Moorey, a Sanjolian town near the Border city. The Border city is the biggest city in Sanjolia, where Adelia attended some classes back when she was younger. Both the Border City and Moorey were near one of the mountain borders between Romeodel and Sanjolia, which is why Adelia could still call her cousin despite being in Romeodel already. This is also why Martha is so shocked because she probably didn't think that the new Queen could her from where she was. 

"Thank you for understanding, Martha. Anyway, I just called to invite you to come here to Romeodel at the palace in the capital. I need you to do something for me. Can you come?"

There was a couple of silence over the phone before Martha answered. "Of course! I also wanted to visit you! I went to the palace and talked to your father, so I heard about the rumors about you and your husband. I have been wondering how to contact you after that, so I'm glad that I could come and talk to you there! I miss you so much, Your Highness that I'm so excited right now!"

"I miss you too, Martha. Although I can't still be okay with you forever calling me 'Your Highness' from now on, I need you to be here for something that I can't speak on the phone."

"Oh, right, Your Highness," replied Martha who was laughing now for that remark about her calling her cousin 'Your Highness.' But she has to do it, since not only her cousin was technically the Queen of Sanjolia, but also of Romeodel. Even if the two of them had been close since childhood, and that they studied at a royal school at the same time, Martha had to call her honorifics fit for a queen because that was the law. 

So when Martha's visit to Romeodel was finalized, Adelia ended the call and went to take a bath, thinking of the things she needed to do to further confirm her theory. Because nobody has paid attention to what happened that night. A man was captured on the camera videos that she asked for, alright, but nobody seemed to deem the even too alarming for them to at least panic a bit. It seemed so casual for everyone in the palace of Romeodel to not look more into what had happened. Adelia didn't even hear that an investigation of that was going to occur, which was strange for her.

And it only made her think that the man was actually her husband.

Because if it was not her husband, and just some random man who thought it would be fun to enter into the Queen's room while she was alone, wouldn't be the first reaction of the whole of Romeodel was to get enraged that someone had the guts to do it? And wouldn't they search and hunt this perpetrator? 

Unless the whole palace actually thinks that this w=man was someone who they could not dare to touch? 

And this brings back Adelia to her original theory. It was so obvious. Enoch was here that night and was clearly doing something... strange. 

Was this the thing that Ester kept warning her about? She did keep on repeating that her brother was not someone Adelia thought he is. Is this what ester meant by that? 

"Everyone thought you were just having a bad nightmare," said Ester when she told her how odd it was for the people at the palace to not look more into what had happened that night. "I did not want to say this to you, Your Highness, because I know you will get upset and offended, but the reason why the people here especially the security team is not making a big deal out of what happened to you is that because they think that no one actually entered your room. As simple as that."

"What? That's crazy! You saw the footage! There was a man in the corridor! And there was blood! On the topiary! I was not lying! Someone was actually there!"

"I am not saying that you were lying," Ester explained. "Of course, when you are hallucinating, everything looks real to you---"

"I said that I was not hallucinating!"

Ester nodded, but Adelia was sure that she was not going to believe whatever she said from now on. "Listen, Your Highness. I know what you are thinking. You are still thinking that the King was the one you saw, right?" Adelia nodded at her question. "Then that's going to be solved by evening. The King is finally arriving, so why don't you just ask him that by yourself? I'm pretty sure that he can give you a straight answer."

Ester had a point, so Adelia just waited until evening came. And when the time for her husband to finally arrive, she dressed up and waited with the Ester and the chambermaids on the great hall, sitting on her throne while the whole palace was busily preparing for the return of the king. And when Adelia heard the chorus of the trumpets, she stood up because she knew that it was already her husband.

And there he was. He strode into the great hall, still looking hot and handsome, and when their eyes met he smiled and raised his arms for her, expecting her to embrace him. And that was what she did. She even ran towards him and gave him a tight warm welcoming hug before he kissed her. She could smell the scent of flowers on him, and then she began to wonder.

"Where were you?" she said, and she couldn't help herself from crying as she submerged her head into his chest while the rest of the great hall was watching. "I missed you! I worried about you so much! Please don't leave me like that again! I was so scared..."

Enoch lifted her head using his right hand, and she saw that his eyes were wet too. He was silently crying. "I terribly missed you too, my dear wife. And I'm so sorry for making you worry. I promise this is the last time that we will be apart from each other." Enoch sealed it with a kiss, and at that moment, Adelia was willing to give up everything. She now knows that she truly loves this man already, and the reason she was so determined to find out who that man was is just simply because she missed him so much she badly wanted it to be him.