Chapter 0060
Violet
For a moment, I let the silence hang between us. I watched him get more irritated. He must be used to intimidating a lot of people by throwing his title around. A bit of irritation prickled at the back of my mind. It wasn’t fair to be upset with Theodore for letting his brother take over the throne or abdicating his right to succession. He had some damn good, traumatic reasons for his decisions, but couldn’t he have killed Owen first?
I took a deep breath, pushing that thought down. It wouldn’t be good to have such bloodlust on my mind when in closed quarters with someone irritating me. Whatever the spell Theodore had cast on me didn’t return me to full strength, but judging by what I knew about Owen and his figure, I probably didn’t need my full strength.
I took a deep breath and slipped my hand into my pocket, checking to see if my phone was recording. It wasn’t.
Damn it. Was my watch? It would be the most iron–clad defense against him if he decided to trump up charges against me about whatever might happen next.
“You really shouldn’t make more enemies,” Theodore said, stepping into the room behind him. Owen went stiff and pale, but his eyes were still narrowed and glaring at me.
Theodore glanced at me and his smile grew tense, brittle almost.
“You really can’t afford any more of them.” He sighed. “Though I guess you get that from our dear old man.”
My gut flipped at the way he referred to their father. The heaviness in his tone, the darkness, was there. It was almost suffocating.
“If you don’t want to end up like him, I’d suggest you start looking for a good suit for our ceremony, bestow your blessing, and never try to have a private conversation with my wife again… I’d rather not let the press have any reason to think we hate each other.”
Owen worked his jaw. He flushed with anger.
“Violet?” Theodore said my name softly. “I promised you a walk through the gardens, hm? There’s probably just enough time for it while we’re getting packed.”
We were leaving tonight? I smiled.
“That sounds great.” I nodded at Owen. “Your Majesty, have a good night.”
Owen’s eye twitched. “I was under the impression that you would be staying the night.”
“Things happen,” Theodore said. “We have business back at Midnight, and you did say you had no further use for us.”
Owen bared his teeth. I walked around Owen to reach Theodore.
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+25 BONUS
Chapter 0060
“Are there really lunar flowers in the pond?” I asked.
He slipped his hand into mine, squeezing tightly and leading me down the corridor.
“There were years ago, but I don’t know what they’ve done with the place. For all I know, they’ve rearranged the whole thing.”
We walked quietly outside into the fresh air. I felt relieved, but not exactly relaxed. Once we were several paces away from the doors, Theodore glanced at me, the anger in his eyes
softened to pure concern.
“Are you alright?”
“Of course.” I smiled. “Off topic of discussion to have, but let’s talk about it later, hm?”
The moonlight felt alive on my skin. I gasped, seeing the stone start to light up as we walked.
“The garden on the Donovan Estate is just like this,” I said, bending to trail my fingers across the glowing stones. “Well… sort of.” 1
“What do
you mean?”
“My mother set the garden up,” she said. “My father said it was a place that reminded her much of where she grew up. We’d go to her home country and pick out new stones for the garden’s pathways.” My eyes burned. “We were… I haven’t updated the garden in a while.”
Just the thought of doing so without her made my heart ache. I trailed my fingers over them, curious about them. But the surfaces were unexpectedly bare and smooth.
I tilted my head. “None of the stones here are carved.”
He crouched down beside me. “Carved?”
“With glyphs…” I trailed my hand over them, searching for some indication of the glyphs that had to have once been there.
I lifted my gaze about to as, but when I met his gaze, the words died. There was a longing, a questioning longing in his eyes. They were glowing brightly, likely reacting to the magic of the stones. I bit my lip, scanning the area, trying to piece together what he might be seeing.
These stones had been here far longer than his mother would have been here…
