Chapter 47: Warning (1)
"Don’t you need a female companion? I understand that the Duchess is unwell, but for appearances-"
"I already told you it will be fine. This banquet is for the second prince, the children will be the main focus, not me."
Anna tried her best to convince him to take her. She wanted to make her presence known in the society, what better occasion than the royal banquet where all the of the nobility congregate? There was resentment building up in her, he was being absolutely unreasonable. She was doing this for him, if he came to the banquet without a proper partner, the Emperor would be offended...
As if this wasn’t enough, she had to worry about that brat telling his father everything. She had been keeping them apart successfully until now. Who knows what they would talk about when she wasn’t there?
Everything about the Duchess was kept a secret. She wished she had more information on hand but the Duke had a way of controlling the disseminating of information. She couldn’t get anything on her.
She passed on the message to one of her servants to send Benedict a message asking him to meet her in the gardens. She might not be able to extend her influence over the Duchess but she was still able to contact Benedict.
Benedict heard from the servants that Anna wanted to meet him. He didn’t have the motivation to meet anyone. It had been a while since he visited his mother.
Still, Anna is the only one who seems to advise him and guide him. Though reluctant, he decided to go and meet her.
"Benedict. It’s been a while. How have you been?"
"Oh- I’ve been well." He hung his head low, in shyness or guilt he couldn’t tell.
"How is the Duchess?"