Rogue and Riveting

Chapter 12 The Noble Service

While there might still be a chance that Enoch was still the one that sneaked inside her room that night, or that he was the injured person who splattered his blood on the garden where the dreadful, abandoned greenhouse was, Adelia was no longer convinced that it was him. Her husband's tears were enough for her to believe him, as she could feel that they were tears of sincerity and pain. 

Unless Enoch was a sociopath and a good actor combined? Because that would be possible too, but right now it just sounds absurd to Adelia, something that a seven-year-old would not even dare to consider as a possibility. At this moment, Adelia had thrown anything at the window that might point out that her husband was some crazy man responsible for her sleepless nights. There is just no way that this crying man in front of her is the one that was made her fear for her dear life. 

"How are you, my lovely wife? You are as beautiful as ever..." he even said to her then he kissed her forehead, and Adelia could not help herself but turn red. 

"I'm f-fine..."

Enoch nodded at her, their eyes still locked with each other. "But you are not okay." It was not even a question, so Adelia did not even have the time to deny it. "Ester and Mr. Burkin told me what happened when I was gone. Come on, we need to talk in our room," he added, and that sounded so good and so nerve-wracking for Adelia. He then took her hand and led her the way into the grand staircase leading to the upper floors, while some of the staff of the palace, particularly Mr. Hugo, the head minister, was about to stop us from going to our room but Enoch waved his hand in front of them all.

I'm so sorry, guys, but my wife and I have something to talk about first. Wait for me this evening. I will deal with everything that I left behind," he said in a matter-of-factly tone that even the stern-looking Mr. Hugo had no choice but to just nod and wish us well.

Adelia looked at Ester and the other council members and they looked stunned at what was happening, and deep inside Adelia's heart was swelling with joy. It was because now that her husband is here, she could clearly tell that he sees her far more important than any other work in the palace. 

It was a different kind of bliss for her. Seeing how Enoch treated her right now made her just feel guilty that she even suspected him in the first place because how can such a man do that to her? And what's worse was that everyone around her was telling her the exact same thing that she just realized now, but she wasn't listening.

And when they went inside their room, Enoch led her near the window and they stood there like they were looking down at the garden. Then her husband took a deep breath and faced her with a gentle but worried look on his face. "Adelia, I heard what had happened. Are you really alright? Tell me how you feel, my dear wife," he asked her before he pulled her again in a tight embrace, and that just made her more speechless and she didn't even know why.

Or maybe she did. Maybe she was just overwhelmed by how she truly appreciated and how she like that it was the first question that he asked her. Plus the fact that they had a lot of skinship between the two of them since he arrived. It really made her feel like her condition was all that mattered to him. And maybe it was. Maybe Enoch had already fallen for her too, and just thinking about it gave Adelia the shivers.

"I'm... I'm... not okay," she whispered to him but it ended as a whimper. She could not hold it anymore. She wanted to tell him that she was fine, that there was nothing to worry about, but she changed her mind in the middle of her response. She could not just lie to him when he was this willing on asking her what was wrong. Heck, Adelia was even dumbfounded how he could tell that something was wrong with her when everybody else on the palace thought that she was just fine. Nobody even asked her if she was traumatized by what happened. All everyone did was try to convince her that she was hallucinating, but no one even asked her to go and see a doctor if they really thought that she was just hallucinating.

Only Enoch asked her how has she been.

It was only him who understood that maybe she was not still okay, that there might be a chance that she was traumatized by what happened. 

"It's alright, my dear wife," said Enoch who was caressing her back as they hugged. He was resting his head on hers, and somehow that was just what she needed. She didn't even feel that his head was heavy when it should have. Enoch was a full head taller than her, so it should have made her feel uncomfortable. But Enoch was just so gentle with her. 

"I was so s-scared..." Adelia continued. "I was so scared that I was not able to sleep since it happened..."

"I'm so sorry..." said Enoch. "I should have gone back home sooner."

"I thought it was you," Adelia admitted. "That man... the one who intruded here and jump out of this... this very window... He looked like you, Enoch. I thought it was you and that you finally came back... But now I know how wrong I was... You would never do that to me, even if we just knew each other recently..."

"But I'm still so sorry about it, Adelia," said Enoch again who looked like he was also traumatized for some reason. "I am blaming myself for what happened. That man would have never dared to come here if I was here... And he had the guts to copy my face. What a maniac."

Adelia was taken aback by that. "That could happen?" she asked him. "Could someone really copy your face?"

Enoch nodded. "Adelia, Romeodel is a highly advanced country when it comes to technology. I guess that man printed a 3D mask so accurately and wore it when he came here. Maybe he was going to lure you and hurt you by posing as me. Masks like those are often used by criminals."

"Oh. I haven't thought of that," said Adelia sadly and suddenly she could no longer meet Enoch's eyes. She feels bad. No, she feels worse. Worse than bad. How could she not think of that? If that is what really happened, she really owes her husband an apology.

She even thought that he was faking his travel to wherever he went. "I'm so sorry, Enoch. I thought that it was you... I suspected you..." She was crying again, but this time it was louder. She could not just believe how dumb she was for not thinking about the possibility of another person posing as her husband to get her when it sounded like it should have been the first thing that she thought. 

Adelia was so ashamed that she wanted to disappear right now, but Enoch was holding her hands so tight that she felt like he knew what he wanted to happen, and that he would not want to permit it to happen. And for Adelia, that was everything. "Listen, Adelia. You are not at fault for thinking that I was that man. That was his intention. He wanted to fool you. And I am not mad at you for that. Not in the slightest. Of course, you would think that way when you saw someone who looked like me inside our bedroom."

Adelia nodded. "I don't know how he did it. H managed to get past through security and he even survived from jumping down from this height."

"That's what concerns me," Enoch admitted to her which made her finally look up to his smiling, handsome face again. "It was weird. Someone who could pull off that type of stunt is not an ordinary person. That is why when Mr. Burkin informed me about it, I immediately ordered the Noble Service to investigate it."

"N-Noble Service? What's that?"

"It's a secret agency dedicated to mysterious crimes and such," Enoch replied. "They are directly under me, so no one else knows about their actions and what they do other than me. That is the reason why nobody in the palace is investigating the crime. They all knew that I will hand it to the Noble Service to do the investigations."

"Oh. Now it all makes sense."

"And my lovely wife, that's also the reason why I couldn't tell you why I was gone."

"Huh? What is?"

"The emergency that occurred when we were on Red Ivy on our honeymoon. I got a call from the Noble Service telling me about an important mission that I gave them that they might have just solved."

"Oh. Is that so? Can I know what kind of problem they solved?"

Enoch nodded. "Of course. You can, darling because it concerns you."

It took Adelia a couple of seconds before she realized what her husband has just told her. "What do you mean?"

"Adelia, I ordered the Noble Service to take a look at the mysterious killings back in your country. And they have found out something when they called me at Red Ivy. Though they were in danger that time, so I had no other choice but to send some reinforcements. And I also wanted to be personally there too. It was something that bothered you. I wanted to be there when we finally solved it."

Adelia could not believe what she was hearing. Enoch and the Noble Service finally solved those terrible, elusive killers? That fast?

"Oh my God. You did, really?"

Enoch nodded and gave her a cute smile. A smile warm enough to melt her heart. "We found out what was the cause of the killings, my lovely wife."

"What is it?" Adelia eagerly asked. "Is it a person? Or are they a group of people?"

But instead of answering her questions, Enoch gave her a naughty smile and wiggled his eyebrows that making him more boyish. "I will tell you all about it, my lovely wife. But please give me my reward first for solving that problem that fast."

Adelia went beet red again when she heard that because she knew what her husband wanted from her right now. She could even feel it from him as his body was pressed on hers because they were still hugging. "What do y-you want as a r-reward?"

Enoch was all smiles, and his toothy grin only made her more nervous than ever. "Let's make love this whole night, my lovely wife," he said in a husky voice so deep it sent chills to her spine.