A whole week has passed after his poison, Every second of his absence felt like an eternity, It pained me to see his body shaking with pain while he was unconscious, The heart wrenching pain was extended 7 days before he woke up and finally he opened his eyes, when he did he called for me I was ready to face him, I knew it was my negligence which caused this and I was ready to do anything to pacify him. I was ready to lose a limb or two If he asked, just to be by his side, just to make sure that he wasn't going to send me away with all these thoughts in my mind. I headed to his room, bowed my head ready to face the consequences.
I didn't hear the curses I was expecting and upon lifting my head I saw a whole new person standing before me starting from his head to the toes, his hair color changed, the way he treated me changed, he changed into someone who could genuinely appreciate others feelings, For the first time in the past few years he hugged me. I could feel his hands holding me gently as if I was the most precious one who existed in his world. It wasn't like we didn't get to embrace each other in the past few years but all those were nothing but a display of affection only for others to see, there wasn't an ounce of warmth in them.
His changes surprised me. I wasn't expecting this, though happy with his changes, I couldn't help my suspicions from raising because they were instances, when dark magic users would take control of others bodies to fulfil their purpose.
My suspicions didn't last longer, he was genuinely in love with me this time I could feel it, his embrace, his touch were soothing every touch of his was sending shivers down my spine.
I was ready to do anything he asked for but he had to do it himself and I respected his choice because the one standing before me was, no longer the calculative man. Of course, he was cunning, but for others, not for me. Then I had no reason to let him lose confidence in me, So neither did I nor did I my followers intervened in his plans.
Staying away from the palace. It's not something a Prince who was right in the center of the ongoing struggle for throne would do, I didn't know what was in his mind nor did I ask, all I had to do was help him with everything I got, so I prepared myself to face the consequences the moment he laid out his plan. It wasn't an easy task even for a minister like me but I vowed to manage it all by myself, Days passed and the pressure on me was mounting. The only relief in the situation was that the emperor didn't ask for the second prince, If he did then I had no choice but to lie to him lying to the sun of the empire was a grave crime, but that didn't matter as long as I had the support of my love. The emperor loved his sons, but his love for his second child was known all the people working in the palace. Lady Amaya Ashvold, mother of second prince and only woman the emperor ever loved, she died years ago, emperor was heart broken from her sudden death.
In her death bed he promised to protect their son for ever,
and him not asking for his son made me believe that the second prince might have informed the emperor of his decision.
That thought bought me undeniable relief, but that didn't last long the first Prince wasn't one stay low.
He was spreading rumours of his of the second prince's bad health and was regularly requesting an audience with him.....
Today his highness sent me coordinates and asked for me,
I knew it had to be one of the tasks that he had for me. But, the thought of meeting him excited me that I rushed to him, leaving everything behind.
I expected him to shoot the task right away. But he took his time, he proposed a date saying he had to discuss something to which I agreed and we ended up in a market. People around were looking at us. His Highness was attracting attention despite the illusion magic I placed on him, his hand was holding mine our fingers interlocked, the warmth of his touch was reminding me of the day we met.
After strolling through the market for some time we ended up sitting on a bench and that was when he starters spilling the beans. He told me everything that happened in the past few days.....
For someone who left the palace just a few days ago, his achievements were incredible, discovering a crop that grew throughout the year, didn't take much time to grow and was also edible, was admirable I didn't know he was this knowledgeable, but his discovery might be a breakthrough.
If this plan was followed thoroughly than this could be the discovery of the century and it might revolutionize the way the people in the east border were living and might change their views of the empire.
Securing a merchant even before the product was ready was another impressive feet, Merchants were people who worked solely for-profit and making them believe in his the abilities might have been hard but he pulled it off.
( If only she knew the merchant he was talking about would be one of her future sisters)
Lastly , he said he was able to reach an agreement with the barberians.This was remarkable because, historically Barbarians didn't share good relations with the empire and making them believe in him might have been tenacious but he did it.