Chapter 77 - Uncovering Some Secrets (Part 2)

Redivo led Vaughn and Zenia to where the maid was detained. Vaughn still made Zenia wear a face veil. She went to their bedchamber to retrieve another face veil. She told Vaughn that she would follow them to the dungeon. Vaughn gave a signal to Harnen to wait for Zenia and guard her. 

The woman sat quietly behind the locked bars in the dungeon. Vaughn could sense the stubbornness of the woman. 

"Open it!" Vaughn commanded the guard on duty.

He and Redivo stepped inside the prison cell. The woman's disheveled hair, unkempt clothing, and cracked fingernails suggested that she tried every means to create trouble for the guards.

She did not lift her head even when somebody entered her prison cell. She was already determined not to cooperate with the Crown Prince's party. She remembered what the Ninth Prince told her in the afternoon of her arrival. She intended to hide from the Ninth prince for a while and did not let them know that she was already in the capital. She was already there when the Crown Prince got married.

She received news that the Ninth prince already knew the whereabouts of the man she was searching for. Elida always believed that the Ninth Prince was someone dependable and knew that he had some news about the man she was looking for. She did not expect that the news was a bad one. 

"We did gather information about the man you are looking for, but the Crown Prince already killed him."

"T-That's impossible! Why would the Crown Prince do that?"

"That man is one of the secret guards of the Crown Prince. He joined my band of assassins to be Vaughn's spy."

"That can't be. He did not look like one when I met him. He was clearly a Young Lord of a prominent family."

"You were fooled by his looks, you delusional woman! You always thought that anyone who showed you a bit of kindness was interested in you."

"I know that he was true."

"Fine, do you want to recover his dead body?"

"Even if we can't be together alive, I want to be the one to bury him."

"I can help you recover his body if you can help me find out the secret of the Crown Princess."

"She's an ugly wench without talent, and everybody knows that. Why waste your time with her?"

"Because something tells me that she's not like that at all. I have a hunch that she has something to do with the chain of failures that happened to me."

She agreed to Damien's proposal in exchange for allowing her to bury the dead body of her lover. She even agreed to swallow a small insect that would start gnawing at her innards after twelve hours. She should take the expulsion pill, which was in Damien's possession, to expunge the insect out of her system. It was almost eleven hours since she took the mission.

Damien told her to join a band of new maids who would enter the Palace of the Crown Prince. She did as she was told and became one of the maids. The moment she found out something, she should send a message to Damien so he could send her the pill. If she failed her mission, she would die.

Elida pressed for time and tried her best to uncover a meaty piece of information. She was elated when she heard what happened in the afternoon. The Crown Princess was not ugly at all, and it looked like that her horse was extraordinary. She was hoping to get some bonus from Damien for delivering an important piece of information.

She had decided to exact revenge on the Crown Prince for turning her lover into a spy. If he did not recruit the young lord, they could've been together somewhere far away.

It was all the Crown Prince's fault. Elida did not budge from her position and no longer cared about her life. She was doomed to die since she wouldn't be able to take the pill. She had less than two hours and the Crown Prince would surely not let her off.

She cursed at her misfortune and began to dream about reuniting with her lover in the afterlife.

"Is this the maid? What happened to her?" Zenia asked quickly as soon as she arrived and saw the woman.

Elida was startled when she heard Zenia's voice. She lifted her head up and saw a young woman wearing a face veil. She looked at Zenia's eyes and tears welled up in hers.

"Y-You're alive…" Elida stood up and slowly walked to where Zenia was standing.

Zenia was shocked to see Elida. She recognized her as the madwoman from the Principality of Ismund. Vaughn shielded Zenia and kept her behind him. The maid looked like a crazy woman.

"Young Master, don't you recognize me? I thought you're dead. The Ninth Prince told me that the Crown Prince made you do abominable things. Young Master, please take a look at me. I am Elida, the one you met at the Principality of Ismund." Elida tried to break free from the guards that were holding her.

Vaughn finally remembered Elida's voice. It was the same as that of the woman whom Damien talked to in the inn where he and Zenia stayed before. It was the woman who was searching for Zenia and wanted to marry her.

"You are insane," Vaughn pulled Zenia out of the prison cell and just wanted to get out of there.

Elida bit her lip. The Ninth Prince lied to her. They never found the body and just wanted to use her for the mission. How could they find the body when the young master that she met was very much alive and kicking? She wasted her life for nothing. 

"Wait! I will tell you everything that I know about the Ninth Prince's plan and secrets if you let me see the Young Master for one last time. I don't have much time to live. Take it as a dying request from a comrade."

"We'll see." Vaughn held Zenia's hand and left the dungeon.

"Your Highness, let me go see and talk to her as the Young Master she met at the Principality of Ismund. We may uncover something from her." Zenia reasoned with Vaughn.

"Isn't she the one who was sear…" Vaughn managed to stop himself from saying anything further.

"She's what, Your Highness?"

"My prince, what should we do with her?" For once, Vaughn felt grateful at the sudden appearance of Redivo while he was alone with Zenia.

He thought for a moment and decided that making the young master appear may not be such a bad idea. He turned to Zenia and patted her shoulder.

"I'll leave it to you, Young Master."

* * * * *

Luckily, Zenia had male clothing in the backpack that the old man brought. She arranged her hair in the same way when she met Elida for the first time. She looked at herself in the mirror and decided that it looked perfect.

"Are you ready?" Vaughn greeted her when she went out of their bedchamber.

"I think it's best if I go alone, Your Highness."

Zenia walked away, and Vaughn could only look at her departing back.

Elida tried her best to look presentable. She knew that Zenia would come to meet her. She was glad that before her death, she would still meet the only man that made her heart flutter. The Young Master was the only one who showed her what it meant to be truly appreciated. She knew that her pancake was not that delectable, but the Young Master savored it as if it was the most delicious food that he had ever tasted.

"We meet again, Young Master," Elida greeted Zenia when she saw her.

She looked lovingly at Zenia and did not do anything outrageous. She smiled and Zenia felt like she was suffocating. Zenia knew that the lovely smile was meant to camouflage a broken heart and spirit.