Rogue and Riveting

Chapter 8 Brutal

"It was an emergency."

That is what Mr. Burkin told Adelia when she asked him where did her husband go so early in the morning. It was not even morning yet, technically, so Adelia had imagined the worst. She had at least thought that maybe someone was able to get into their cottage and take the King away. She did not know if the crime rate in Romeodel was as worse back in Sanjolia, who everything could have happened. 

But when Mr. Burkin, the head of the security team that accompanied them here on Red Ivy, told her that Enoch went back to the capital for an emergency, she could not believe it at first. Maybe she was just being selfish, but she could not comprehend how Enoch did not even try to wake her up when it only have caused him a few seconds. She is a light sleeper. She could have heard him right away if he just tried to call her. And it was their last day on the island that morning. She could have just gone with him. But no, he purposely left her and now she will go back to the palace on her own.

She cried in the bathroom after that sank into her mind. Adelia was not sure why she was hurt so deeply by her husband's action that it took her half a day to stop herself from crying, but she did. Maybe since it was the first time that Enoch did something bad to her that her mind wouldn't accept it. But of course, when finally she was able to recover from that, she started feeling guilty too that she reacted that way because what if that emergency was so severe that it made her husband panic and forgot anything else aside from going back to the capital to solve the problem?

She kept saying to herself on the plane back to the capital that she must not judge her husband for that single mistake that he must have even been feeling guilty about right now already. That she will only get angry at him if he will not be able to justify what he did to her. She also tried to think about it logically, even though for her, no amount of logical reason could stop the pain from hurting her. What's done was done. Her husband left her without a single word and now she was thinking if she deserved that or not.

Back in the palace, Enoch was nowhere to be found. It was only Ester who welcomed her back, together with Regina, her cousin from the royal family. Ester told her that Enoch will be gone for a few days, but she could not tell Adelia directly why. Ester couldn't even say to her what was the problem that the king needs to resolve. She just went on saying that what happened is a normal thing in the life of the King of Romeodel. 

Adelia could not take it though. She asked for her husband's phone number from the people around her so that at least she will be able to call him, but no one has given it to her. Mr. Burkin told her that her husband don't have a phone, so it was useless, and that's when Adelia gave up.

"You must be worried about my brother so much that you look so frustrated," said Ester when the two of them met at the dining room. It was already dinner time but Adelia did not feel hungry. She had not eaten anything yet since she arrived here from Red Ivy, but all she could feel right now was an extreme wave of worry for her husband who she don't have any clue about his whereabouts.

"Have some food first, Your Highness. You can't worry for the King if you collapse from hunger."

Ester had a point, so she took some spoonfuls of food into her mouth. She must have looked ridiculous and not so classy with that because Ester was looking at her with her mouth gaping. "I'm sorry. I'm just too stressed out to even think about table manners."

"Normally, that would have been something that I won't just let go, but this is an understandable time for you, so I'll allow it, Your Highness," Ester replied with a smile. "But next time, even in the hardest times of our lives in this palace, we have to act like royalty, Your Highness. And as the head of the palace's chamber, I have the role of reminding you about that."

"I'm so sorry again," said Adelia who now stood up. 

"Where are you going?"

"To my room. I no longer have an appetite. I guess I know what is happening to my husband, I will not gain back my desire to eat."

"Okay, then you should just rest, Your Highness. I will send some food back to your room too later, in case you start getting hungry. But please, eat, Your Highness. The King will find it sad if he finds out that you are starving yourself while he is gone."

Instead of responding to that, Adelia faced Ester and asked her the question that she had wanted to ask her since she came back here. "You know where your brother is, right?" Adelia confronted her. "I'm having this feeling that no one wants to tell me about what is happening with my husband, but I don't want to believe that unless you confirm it. So if you're not hiding anything from me, could you please tell me where is Enoch?"

It took almost a minute before Ester responded to that. She drank wine from her goblet before she replied to her almost interrogation. "Well, the reason that nobody tells you where is my brother is because my brother himself ordered everyone to specifically not tell you where he is. It's as simple as that."

Adelia could not believe what she was hearing. "But that's unfair! I am her wife! I am the Queen, am I right? So shouldn't I have rights to the whereabouts of my husband?"

"Yes, yes, Your Highness, that's what I also told your husband. But he is a stubborn man, in case you haven't noticed it yet. He will only listen to himself."

"But that's not right!" she said indignantly. 

Ester nodded. "I know. But what can we do? We just have to wait for him to come back."

Adelia knew that Ester was not going to tell her anything even if she forced her to, so the best thing to do in this situation was to just accept it, but she considers herself to be stubborn too. "You know, you can just tell me where he is, or what is happening to him. I promise that I won't tell anyone, Ester. Just tell me. I want to have my peace of mind back."

“You really care for him, don’t you?” she said, clicking her tongue like someone who was very disappointed. “Your Highness, by any chance, do you already love my brother?”

Adelia was taken aback by Ester’s question. “What are you saying? That’s not… That’s not what we should talk about! I’m asking you about my husband’s location!”

“But that is an important question too, Your Highness. You see, when I first heard that you agreed on marrying my brother, I was like, ‘she probably only agreed for the sake of her country, so I’ll not object to it.’ That’s what I thought. But seeing how you are reacting now, maybe I have read you wrong? Do you have any feelings about the King?”

“I… I can’t tell you anything about that if you’re not going to tell me anything about my husband too…”

Ester smiled at her again when she said that. "I'm very sorry, Your Highness, but I can't. If I do that, your husband will find out that you knew where he is, and that he will find out who told you too. And that's what I want to avoid at all cost."

Adelia was confused by her answer. "But why? What will happen if he finds out that you told me where he is? Is he going to hurt you?"

"Not in the way that you are thinking," she replied with a serious expression on her face. "I didn't want to tell you this but my brother is brutal. He will surely punish anyone who doesn't obey him. And that includes you."

"W-What do you mean?"

"You married a cruel man, Your Highness. That is why I warned you not to fall in love with him."