Rogue and Riveting

Chapter 9 Sad Eyes

"What do you mean by that? What do you mean by cruel and brutal?" Adelia asked Ester because it was not some simple description that one gives another for their sibling. Cruel and brutal are descriptions of someone that Adelia thinks does not match her husband's character, so it confused her big time.

And Ester knew that she was going to get confused. Ester stood up to face her, but not to argue with her or something like that. She just wanted to talk to her face to face, as opposed to being seated on the round dining table. "He is not what you think he is, Your Highness. He is not a saint and he gets angry pretty easily. That's why when he says no, it has to be a no."

"Okay...? But that doesn't make sense to me... everyone gets mad and angry all the time..." Adelia reasoned out.

"That's true, but this is the King of Romeodel that we are talking about, Your Highness. He is just not an ordinary person, even in the standards of the royal family."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He's a very difficult person to read, Your Highness. That's all that I will say to you about him."

Adelia's heartbeat went back to normal after escalating so fast when Ester told her that last bit. "Thank goodness, that's it. I thought that you were selling out your brother to me that he's some kind of an abuser."

But instead of denying that, Ester just walked to her close enough for the two of them to talk but not loud enough for other people in the dining room to hear them. Ester even looked around to check if someone else was in the dining room with them, but there was none. But still, Adelia knew that whatever Ester was going to say to her next might be something that other people might don't need to hear, so she looked around too. And when both of them saw that there was no one other than them here, Ester began talking to her again.

"I'm not making a good advertisement of my brother, do I?" she said smirking at Adelia. "I feel bad that I have to say this, but you must be warned at the very least because I could that you have already harbored feelings towards him. And I'm going to repeat myself again, Your Highness, but you really should not fall in love with the King. Just stick to what people have expected out of your relationship. Make it business-like. Or just act civil towards him."

"But why?" Adelia repeated her question too. "Why would I take your advice if I don't know the logic behind it?"

Ester hesitated but then decided to answer that. "Your Highness, my lips are tightly sealed and my mouth is shut about my brother's secrets. But I am concerned about you. That's why I have decided to give you a warning if I deemed it necessary for you."

"Secrets. Enoch has secrets," Adelia repeated what she said. "What kind of secrets?"

But Ester shook her head. "Let us just say... that once you discover what that is, you will no longer look at him the way you do. And if I am not just afraid of my brother, I would have told you about it the moment I first saw you. But we are all cowards here, most especially now that he is now the King."

Adelia did not know what to think of that, and Ester already left her. She went back to her seat and continued her meal. But Adelia was now more confused than ever. Not only because Ester was absolutely not making sense, but her husband's sudden actions had made her believe that maybe Ester had a point. And didn't she hear her back when she first came here to this palace? Didn't she say to Enoch how she doesn't trust Adelia, but she also pities her? Is this the reason why she said that before? Because Enoch might do something bad to her?

She wanted to talk to Ester more about it, but she felt like Ester is someone who is loyal to her brother. She may seem concerned about Adelia, but that doesn't mean when times need it that she wouldn't be on her brother's side. She is still his sister. They will always have each other's back, and now that Adelia thought about it, she suddenly realized how alone she was.

***

A full week have already passed and Enoch was still missing in action. Adelia could no longer deny it. She knew that she terribly misses him now, more than she had expected. And despite all the things that Ester had said about him, Adelia was still patiently waiting for his return to the palace. 

But the odd part about what was happening is that everyone in the Palace seems to act like the King missing for a week is a normal thing here in Romeodel. Even the members of the chamber, which served as a council of the country, seemed unperturbed by Enoch's absence. This led to Adelia concluding that maybe things like this had happened in the past and that everyone knew that the King will be back.

And that's what Adelia wanted to know. At least she needs to know why things are happening this way so that she wouldn't worry too much about Enoch. Ester clearly told her that Adelia's husband king is not what she thinks he is, but she has not told Adelia in what ways was Enoch different than what he shows Adelia so Adelia is really clueless now.  Adelia feels that the only thing that will lift up the worry in her system is when Enoch comes back and she finally talks to him about it. But he's taking his time, and her patience is slowly fading away.

On the eighth day of her husband's absence, Adelia finally cried again. But this was mainly because she felt more alone than ever. No one has ever asked her if she was okay, and her father was not here in the palace so she had no one to talk to. So she attended meetings and went to gatherings alone, and that somehow people began talking about how lonely she looked. She was even on the front page of a gossip magazine that ester showed her the next morning. 

"The Queen sad's eyes while at work catches everyone's attention," said Ester when she read the headline out loud to her. Adelia was in the palace's enormous garden having tea and Ester went to her to show her the magazine. "Somehow the people of Romeodel are with you," Ester added. "Good job, Your Highness. You have captured the heart of the people."

"But I didn't do anything," Adelia replied with a confused look on her face because she could not understand why the people are sympathizing with her this much. It felt like they knew something that she didn't, and that they also feel bad for her. 

"Exactly! You didn't know anything, that's why the people are talking about it. They think that you're taking it all by yourself."

"Taking what by myself?"

Ester looked like she regretted saying what she just said. "Well, taking your husband's absence by yourself."

"I don't understand what you are trying to say to me, ester. Just tell me directly if there is something important that you wanted to tell me."

"You still don't want to give up learning more about your husband, right?" Ester asked her shaking her head at Adelia. "Even if you now perfectly know that everyone here on the palace will not tell you a single thing."

Adelia nodded. "Of course. I have decided to be a wife to Enoch, so at least I should be curious about what he is doing right now. Or where he is. But I know now that nobody is going to tell me about those things, so I'm just going to find the answers to my questions myself."

That made Ester look taken aback. "Your Highness, if you still care about your safety, you will not do such a thing. Enoch will get mad at you!"

"But why? Why will he get mad? I'm his wife! I need to know where he is!"

Ester raised her hands to calm her down, but Adelia was already irritated by the fact that people around her, especially Ester, doesn't tell her anything but still expect her to remain calm. Who would be calm when your husband is gone for a week without you having any kind of information about where he is? Or what is he doing? For all she know he might be in trouble right now because for some weird reason Adelia could tell that no one had accompanied Enoch to wherever he went.

And that's what's making her not calm down. She had learned by now who are the people whose job is to make the royal family safe--- which is the security team led by Mr. Burkin, but Adelia found out that none of the members of the security team is gone. Every one of them is here on the palace, and about half of them are dedicated to protecting her. She was not a hundred percent sure, but

Adelia had come to the conclusion that no one is with Enoch. Her husband is alone and is all by himself!

And now, to make the matter worst, the people of Romeodel had thought that she was sad and lonely because her husband king has left her alone in the castle just weeks after they got married, and tons of gossip had already sprung and some of them even reached her! The worst piece of gossip that reached her was that Enoch had decided to call it quits and left the palace!

And when her father called her that night to ask her how she was doing, Adelia could not even tell her father how miserable h]she had become because her father might get worried. Although her father assured her that it was not at all a problem that her husband is gone, Adelia could sense that her father was holding himself back too from saying anything that will just make her anxiety worse than it is now. In short, the two of them had been trying to not make it worse for each other, so Adelia felt even worse after her father's call. She even wished that she could just go home now to Sanjolia. She cried herself to sleep, and not even the security personnel outside her door could hear her because she muffled her cries, just like what everyone expected her to be.

***

Adelia was woken up by the feeling that someone was looking at her. She could feel someone's presence while she lay there in bed, and she was scared to open her eyes because she did not know what she will see when she opens them to look at the space just beside her bed. 

She could hear this person's low breathing, and she could sense that this person had been here in her room for quite a while. It scared her though because she knew that she locked the door, and the only way to open it was either to destroy it or to use the key that was with her. The idea that someone was still able to get inside her room was horrifying for her, so she just shut her eyes tight and pretended that she was still asleep. 

And then this person suddenly moved, and Adelia could also sense it. This person was moving around the room with the faintest noise that this person could use, and that only made Adelia's heart race faster than ever because who would do such a thing if not someone who had bad intentions, right? It might be a burglar or someone who wanted to hurt her if she was being realistic. Adelia was aware that not everyone likes her. She is not that dumb.

She had read the articles and the comments on the Internet. Some groups of people are opposed to her becoming the queen because she was not from Romeodel herself. Ester had called these groups 'purists' because they feel like the royal family had committed another crime when it let the king marry a foreigner. And these purists sometimes could get extreme, so what if one of them had successfully snuck into the palace and is now trying to strangle her in her sleep?

And then Adelia suddenly felt the night chill when she realized that the window just right next to their bed has been opened. The cold was coming from the air blowing in, and that made open her eyes. She stood up and looked at the person in front of the open window, the blowing silk curtains, and she gasped when she realized who it was. It was her husband, King Enoch!